Santinos — Restaurant in Sunderland

I would have normally given this 5* but tonight's experience started off very well. We got seated u der a flickering light so asked if it could be turned off, it couldn't so we were very kindly moved to another table. I suffer from migraine and the flickering of the light kep making me think I was getting one. We got our starter, which was lovely and then we waited and waited and waited and, you get the picture. I looked at my phone and said to my daughter " eeee gosh, it's half 7". One of the staff must have heard me so she came to our table and said, "I will go and check on your food, sorry for the wait", our food eventually arrived, my. Hickey had been microwaved as half of the top of it was very rubbery and hard and I couldn't eat that bit, apart from that, it was ok. Then, we were waiting for the desert menu as it was a set price which included desert and the girl behind the till came over with our bill and said " do you want your bill"? I said "no" she said "are you sure" I said "yes I am sure" so she went away and came back 5 mins later with the desert menu and said, " you want the desert menu". We gave our order to the waitress and 2 seconds later she plonked the little box with our bill in on the table and walked away, ok, we don't want any teas or coffees or anymore lime and sodas. We paid our bill and went elsewhere for coffee. We found it to be really rude and that is why I have given this 1 star instead of 5 as I have in the past. It is now called Santinos and not Santinis, I wonder if this is why the wait and the rudeness, 1st class when it was Santinis. I will never set foot in this place again. I must say though the blonde girl that sat us down and got our coke and lime and soda was lovely and...

Really disappointing meal here recently. Their spaghetti polpette (spaghetti & meatballs) was terrible, with all three constituent elements of the dish - the pasta, the meatballs, and the sauce - lacking in their own way. I'm certain the pasta wasn't fresh pasta, but instead was out of a box, and I found a few clumps where it hadn't even been separated in the pot. The sauce was overly acidic, and average at best. The biggest disappointment of all though, was the meatballs, which is what I was most looking forward to in the dish. I highly doubt they were made fresh, but the fact they lacked any seasoning makes me think they actually might have been, as I can't imagine a catering company not seasoning their food. They were totally dried out, as if they had hardly any fat content, and totally tasteless. So all in, totally disappointing. The bill also added on a £1 more to the dish than the menu listed, which the barmaid said was due to "the computer sometimes adding ingredients" by itself. Very suspect. Also, and perhaps the most troubling, is the real fire hazard there - our table was under a mirror with a wooden frame that already had 3 distinct and large burn marks in it, caused by the long candle holder placed directly underneath. When I pointed out the hazard to the manager, he said they just keep an eye on it, which is ludicrous - why not use a table height candle holder for that one table? Why use something that is blatantly a hazard? Also why hasn't the fire inspector taken them to task for it already? Anyway, I won't be back there to find out. Btw, the other dishes we had were average at best too - a garlic bread with tomato & mozzarella, and a chicken...

Fourteen of us went for a meal here on Sunday at 430 pm. What a torturous experience it was. The only prompt service given was for 13 of the first drinks received. My 3 year old grandson wanted an apple juice and we had to ask the waitresses for it twice before we got it. The first time we were told that the bar was busy, despite it being empty and having a waitress behind it who didn’t appear to do anything! That should have served as a warning sign for the eternal wait we had for our starters and then our main courses. We were not offered an explanation or apology for the delay that ensued in us being there for almost 3 hours. Given the fact that there were only two other tables which were occupied, it is hard to see what caused the unreasonable delay. The quality of the food with mistakes made on some orders and puréed vegetables and over cooked Yorkshire puddings did not justify the ridiculously long wait. Most of us had lost the will to live by the time we finally got our food. If we expected a reduction in our bill by way of apology we were disappointed. There was no apology or concession. One of our family members actually had to leave for work before the meal was finished. Despite the glowing reviews from other people we shall not return and had it been just me and my partner, we would have walked out and found somewhere...