ASK Italian - Stratford-Upon-Avon — Restaurant in Stratford-on-Avon

Warning-tip culture venue.. Our group of four couples recently dined at Ask Italian in Bell Court, Stratford-upon-Avon, and had a generally delightful evening. The restaurant’s atmosphere is cozy, making it a perfect spot for our small gathering.

The food was good, service was excellent throughout the meal. Our server was attentive, friendly, and managed our small group with ease. Drinks were refilled promptly, and our courses were timed perfectly. The staff’s professionalism and warmth truly enhanced our dining experience.

However, one aspect did leave us all somewhat annoyed. The automatic addition of a service charge to our bill felt presumptuous. This was only seen by us allafter the meal, and after we paid. We discussed this after leaving and our views we unanimous.

While we understand that tipping is a part of dining culture, it would have been more respectful to allow us to decide the amount based on the service we received. Each couple added extra to the total amount on each tab, making it a double tip all around. Being a group, it is understandable to have a service charge, but not to highlight it on the bill. Not one of us saw the automatic 10% tip, and this is why we gave EXTRA to the waiter, who decided to keep quiet..

Ask Italian provides excellent food and great service in a lovely setting, making it ideal for group gatherings. Nevertheless, the management should reconsider their approach to tipping, allowing guests to show their gratitude in their own way and highlighting the added tip on the bill as well as educating the staff to be open about what was added to the bill innthe first place. I hope the staff enjoyed their 15 - 20% tip....yes this is why you get a three star not a 5. FOR THIS REASON, NON OF THESE COUPLES WILL RETURN...

I'd have got better service in Shawshank Prison 😂 We went for my partners birthday, honestly couldn't fault the food at all but the staff were rude! I can appreciate it must be stressful being back open after so long and with restrictions, however after repeating our order several times half of the tables order got forgot about! My partners food (after we asked and they said we didn't order it in the first place) arrived nearly 2 hours after we arrived. Trying to get hold of staff was a nightmare, we repeatedly asked for help with ordering as the ordering system didn't allow us to change things to accommodate for food requirements and repeatedly got told (rudely) to sit back down and they'd come to us. It took 3 times asking and almost an hour before they came to us. There was only 2 other tables at this point. Also got asked for ID (completely fine, I'm 25 but I do look about 12 😂), but the member of staff quizzed is that for you? To which I said yes, and she said I need your ID, you look really young. Which on its own wouldn't be bad but the whole vibe was off 😂 they seemed to be very attentive to other tables but avoided eye contact with us 👀 I've never wrote a bad review in my life so would feel guilty if it wasn't for the fact of how rude everyone was and my partner was upset as finally can go out for a birthday meal but it was so uncomfortable. Not once did anyone appologise for anything and couldn't find anyone before we left to say goodbye 😂...

This one star review is purely for the person who was managing the Stratford Upon Avon branch on the evening of 19/08/25. My daughter and I arrived and were greeted warmly and sat promptly. Our order was taken quickly by the person managing who was friendly and seemed efficient. Drinks arrived almost immediately and starters also arrived within 10mins. Why am I complaining about this person you may ask!! After our starter plates were taken we waited about 25 mins and I asked if our mains would be much longer, well we saw the other side of this person very rudely told we only have one chef. No sorry or I will check for you. The people sat behind us then received both their starter and mains at the same time, well in fact their mains first and their starters immediately after. I feel their mains had be cooked instead of ours. The person then came back to our table and told us that the issue was that we had had starters!!!!! I pointed out that I thought perhaps the kitchen had cooked the people behind us food instead of ours, she strongly denied this but went straight to that table to apologise. Our food arrived after a 45 min wait with no apology and no eye contact from any of the staff. It was so obvious that we where being ignored especially by the person managing this restaurant on that night. The food was lovely but this one person needs some training and perhaps isn’t suitable to be in a...