San Carlo Cicchetti

I was expecting this to be the best Italian after hearing so much about this place but I really don’t see the hype and was really disappointed! The staff were awful and seemed like that you the paying customer was lucky to be in there! I didn’t think the menu was Upto anything and thought it was just box standard. Don’t get me wrong when the food did finally turn up it was nice but when the bill came and I saw how much it cost I really didn’t think you was getting value for money!

Buena comida. Atención. Ambiente. Me encanta. Fácil acceso y precio si pones calidad al lado. Definitivamente el mejor en comida italiana en manchester

This is a great little place. I come here for cheeky celebrations or a birthday. The food is incredible, they have loads of Italian tapas portions which are great so you have tons of small dishes. They really look after you and the food is amazing :)

Went on a wet Monday night in July. Was packed — which to me is a good thing as it shows it must be good. And it was.
Quick service, good food and reasonable prices. Drinks are expensive and they don’t do pints which is why I didn’t give it 5 stars.
Many celebrities have visited the place if the photos on the wall are anything to go by. Not that we saw any — although there was a chap there who looked slightly like Paul Hollywood, if that counts.
I’d definitely go back if that’s anything to go by.

I’ve now been here two times when traveling to Manchester and have been blown away each time. Food is prepared to impressive perfection and service is attentive and knowledgable. Quite simply, I don’t think you can go wrong here.

What is all the hype about? This place was meant to be the bees-​knees when it came to a good Italian in the city so I was excited to go after booking my table for a Friday evening.
When we arrived we were left standing at the bar for at least 30 minutes in the hustle and bustle it was anything but the relaxing atmosphere I was looking for. After checking with the waitress 2 – 3 times to ask what the hold up was we were eventually seated in the packed floor of the restaurant. I am not a fan of the layout to say the least — the tables are packed together so that you feel like you are sat with those strangers on the next table over who are having a domestic mid-​meal.
I tried to not let this bother me as our drinks order was taken moments later — after prompt service we both ordered a pasta dish. I went for the lobster ravioli and my friend opted for the black pasta. Both arrived looking delicious however I wasn’t sold on the taste. They were so salty — I usually like to season my own food however that option was already decided for me.
Unfortunately I won’t be back in a hurry — with the food being below average and nightmare wait at the beginning of the meal it has put me off for life! The value of food and drink here is way overpriced and isn’t reflected in the ambiance. Stay clear if you are looking for an upmarket Italian!

This is the review for the main San Carlo Manchester restaurant. Not the the one inside House of Fraser — which is actually called San Carlo Cicchetti.
Been here 3 times. Gradually getting worst unfortunately (several years between 1^st and 3^rd visit). First time was shortly after going to Milan so I had a taste of what proper Italian food should taste like. I had a seafood spaghetti (same as what I had a couple times in Milan) and it was delicious. Not quite as good as Milan but still really good. From what I remember, the service was good too.
Another time I went I came I think was with my parents and brother. Once again I went for the seafood spaghetti. Maybe it was because I had such a good one the previous time but it was «pretty good». Certainly would go back again and nothing particular wrong.
However, the latest time I went was about a week ago for a friends birthday meal. It was a Saturday lunch at about 1pm and not too busy when we arrived. Its a big restaurant and there was maybe about 10 tables occupied. One thing I did notice was lots of staff. I counted about 15 front of service staff — so more staff than tables occupied.
Even though this was the case, it didn’t feel like they were 100% attentive. On at least a couple occasions we tried to get someones attention but they all seems to be talking to one another.
As for the food, for starter I had the calamari fritti. When I arrived I was a bit disappointed how it looked. Very pale. Taste wise it didn’t have that much flavour. Also, it came with a loud of green chills which seems a bit odd. Strangely the chillies didn’t give any kick to the calamari itself, even though the chillies were spicy — when I tried one.
For main I had, once again, a seafood spaghetti — I do love my seafood. It was a slightly different one to last time. I think previously its been a mixture of seafood — some prawns, clams, mussels, squid etc. This. This time I had the Spaghetti Alle Vongole e gamberoni — basically clams and prawns spaghetti. Tasted OK — nothing special at all unfortunately.
Another issue was with my friends meal — the birthday girl — who had the whole sea bass. When it arrived, she found it it had not been de-​scaled. She questioned this and they ended up just removing the skin — which wasn’t ideal since she wanted the skin. We asked about the fish and the de-​scaling and apparently they don’t bother de-​scaling fish when its a whole fish!
Its well known that San Carlo is a place lots of celebs go, it seems especially footballers. If you go to the toilets, you will pass lots of photos of all the celebs who have been here.
So my rating of ³⁄₅ takes all 3 visits here into account.

Overrated, filled with minor celebs and girls who want to marry them. The food is ok but by no means great.
This restaurant is good ONLY if you come with someone the manager wants to keep happy, otherwise he’s a snob and the service is not what you expect for the type of restaurant they’re trying to be.

The San Carlo name never lets you down. I tried the bolognese tagliatelle and spaghetti carbonara and its as good of an italian food as it gets in Manchester. The portions were very decent for about £6 per plate. It is even cheaper than Zizzi and it is so much more delicious.
Can’t believe I haven’t been here while living so close to it. Will definitely be back soon to try other food.

Still perfer San Carlo across the street though. Me and other three friends came here for dinner tonight. I dont know if its because we didnt order well or what. Im not really impressed by the dishes. The selection of bread comes first, i expect it to be warm but it isnt, and it tastes not fresh. Then the Margherita lights up our faces. Crab with Avocado is not seasoned properly but the chicken breat salad does a good job on that. I had Ossobuco with risotto for main from daily special board. The ossobuco is cooked very well, its juciy and tender, well seasoned. Apart from that the risotto seems pretty boring for me. My friends had seafood spaghetti and lasagna and risotto lobster. They said they are pretty good. Finally the only thing I was looking forward to try since I missed that last time at San Carlo’s, the dessert palette! Though there are few disappointing dishes but the dessert truly made our night! Hahahah. Btw staff are friendly and its not busy for Monday night so you can get a table easily. However, i would still recommend San carlo if you want some decent italian tastes.

I’ve been wanting to try San Carlo Cicchetti for a while now, so on New Years Day I popped in with my parents for a late lunch.
Upon entering I could see that the interior was sophisticated and quite upmarket, yet still managed to have a welcoming feel to it, and the host who greeted us was very polite and instantly showed us to a table.
Our authentic Italian waiter explained all about the Venetian culinary custom of cicchetti — which are small to medium sized dishes to share or eat alone, similar to the Spanish tapas. He recommended about 6 – 7 dishes for the three of us, took our drinks order and left us for some time so we could choose our dishes.
He also explained that the dishes are served to the table as soon as they are made, to keep the food fresh and hot — so the food may arrive in ‘stages’.
We ordered olives and tapenade to nibble firstly, followed by bruschetta and the crab and avocado salad (that I didn’t manage to get a photo of because mum scoffed it too quickly!) These dishes were all lovely. The Pigeon Breast pâté was very rich, but outstanding!
Next followed a Lasagne Al Forno, Ravioli with spinach and ricotta, Queen Scallops and prawns in chilli and garlic. All of these, again, were delicious.
My dad also tried a Pizza Fritta — much to his delight was pretty much a cheese and ham doughnut. It wasn’t for me, I found it odd but dad seemed to like it.
Overall it was a great meal. It doesn’t quite have the relaxed atmosphere that Spanish tapas has — it seemed a bit formal to be sharing plates and reaching over tables etc. But still, it was lovely and I would recommend this place to anyone.
As always, the cost mounts up the more you order so if you’re really hungry then you’ll spend a fortune here.

Always love San Carlo for special occasions and surprised there aren’t more reviews since it’s one of the most well known restaurants in Manchester. This is the original and best of the San Carlo chain, located on King Street West opposite its little sister restaurant San Carlo Cicchetti.
Went there for my mum’s 60^th and as usual in December, it was packed to the brim with rather inebriated people and decked in fairy lights. Great atmosphere, dress code is dressy. By dressy I mean girls in sparkly dresses that barely cover their underwear and heels that make them walk like bambi. There’s a bar near the door where you can grab a drink before your meal and you’ll see photos of celebrities and footballers who’ve visited San Carlo all over the walls. It’s highly likely you actually will see someone recognisable in there. Venue is big and rather noisy– lots of people watching to be done.
The food is always of a high quality and authentic– typical Italian dishes including pastas, bruschetta etc. I had the tuna carpaccio off the specials menu, followed by the spaghetti bolognese and the panna cotta for dessert. My mum had the melon and Parma ham followed by the Saltimbocca A La Romana. Portions are pretty big and filling, I could have happily had a starter portion of the pasta. Thoroughly enjoyed my meal.
The restaurant is on the pricier side– total for 3 people with two glasses of wine came to £117. But with San Carlo it’s always a bit of a treat and you get the atmosphere. All the waiters and staff in there are Italian and the food comes rapidly– can’t complain about the service. Have been here a few times and would always go back.

Pretty but expensive facsimile of the real thing
There’s a trend in evening dining for small dishes for sharing, accompanied by a glass of wine before moving on to the next place. Tapas, dim sum, sushi, canapés: these are the ones you already know.
Cicchetti is the Italian version and that’s what San Carlo offers, but only for its starter menu. Okay portions but quite expensive for what you get: I’ve had the real deal in Venice and it was glorious.
This was okay, a glamorous version of finger food with very good wine, but I would be wary of suggesting that it’s really cicchetti to visitors. Possibly more Italian than many chains, but not a must-​visit.

Based on breakfast only.
Some ingredients were good quality, namely bacon and black pudding, but sausages were cheap and everything was poorly cooked.
Poached eggs were hard boiled and the replacement scrambled were too rich.
The standard coffee included was possibly recycled dishwater.
Service is of the Euro style snooty and patronising as it is across the road.
To conclude; good value, worth a try, but definitely not worth regular trips.

Ridiculously pretentious. This is a 4-​star restaurant posing as a 6-​star restaurant (if there was such a thing).
The food was good, but not great. So why does this restaurant deserve no more than 2 stars? Pretentious– and lousy– service. Despite the fact that there were almost as many wait-​staff as guests, all strutting around in smart suits, it took forever to order, then the order was wrong. Worse, the waiter was absolutely useless when I had questions about the menu. My queries seemed to be quite an imposition, and he had nothing useful to offer. At till time my waiter begrudgingly accepted my corporate AMEX, as tribute I imagine to his royal waiterness.
If this establishment wants to earn 5 stars, they need to be brilliant with all three of these: Quality of food, Excellence of service, and a fair and reasonable value. At this point it has none of these 5-​star qualities.

I thought that this restaurant would have been reviewed already because it is, I am told, very famous in Manchester and many of the Manchester United players wine and dine here. (David Beckham was there the following night I read in the local newspaper.)
It’s a very big restaurant and very crowded. My Norwegian friend was visiting with his brother and so he wanted to go there so the 3 of us made reservations. Well an hour after the reservation, we were seated. I’ll bet Beckham didn’t have to wait that long!
It isn’t a cheap place to eat but there are some reasonable dishes on the menu that aren’t overly expensive compared to other Manchester restaurants. The food was very good, which is a plus. Was it fantastic, as my friend kept boasting about… nah, not really. It was very good but perhaps having lived in Italy for 5 years has made me skeptical.
I recommend this place if you have a hundred quid or so to blow on a really nice meal.

As soon as you walk in the place you are amazed. Had three course meal and everything was fresh and delicious. Portions were pretty big, but still found a room for Tiramisu. Not only food is great there but also atmosphere. Great service!

AMAZING food — its worth a visit, especially when there’s live music.
Best gnocchi I’ve ever had was their chicken dish with a mustard cream sauce. Their caprese was incredibly fresh and their tiramisu was the pheonominal topping to already wonderful meal.
Make reservations and go — you won’t regret it.

Ah, San Carlo. It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the Mac Daddy itself, curled up in splendid opulence behind Kendals, a place I’d often bring visitors to as a means to impress them, to prove that Manchester could do high price sophisticated dining with the added spectacle of waiters shouting at each other in Italian. Well, these visitors, my friends, were very rich, and one once gave a homeless man on Deansgate a 10 bob note after a good fee glugs of wine here, despite my protestations. See, these people knew very little about city living.
I’ve yet to have been back to San Carlo for this very reason, as most of my visits here were during a time in my life where I was making massively unwise decisions. Shame it’s tarnished a restaurant (as it has a few, ugh) but that didn’t stop me checking out THIS San Carlo offering. When Jamie B informed me that they’re open for breakfast from 9am, I couldn’t resist. Especially after scoping out their menu. Unilocal Breakfast Club, here we come!
Apologies if anyone rocked up after 10.20am, but I’d scurried off to pick up my new phone. I already knew what I wanted to order before I arrived! For once I made the decision instead of my other half — rare, seriously — and opted for the full breakfast to share, with some blueberry pancakes and syrup. Now as soon as you enter this place you’re instantly aware of how different it is to its big brother. Pale colours and silver granite patterns play off the decorative splashes of yellow, and the gold fairy lights add something unique too. It’s far quieter, relaxed and more sophisticated — people come here for a completely different ambience, and it provides that in spades.
I’ve only had the breakfast so I can’t comment on their small plates, but I’ll definitely be back to try them at some stage. We encountered a few moments of confusion upon our visit… One involved the coffee. The full breakfast is served with your choice of a pot of tea or coffee, so we ordered ‘the full breakfast with the coffee, and the blueberry pancakes’. After the order had been taken we were asked what kind of coffee we wanted, Americano, cappuccino, latte… We responded that we just wanted the coffee that, er, comes with the full breakfast. ‘So regular coffee,’ we were asked. I got the feeling we might end up with the wrong coffee.
When our breakfasts did arrive, we were handed two black coffees. This was a bit odd — it definitely says you get a pot of tea or coffee with the full breakfast, but perhaps they’re used to folks ordering it separately? Anyway it was nice coffee, and the orange juice was great too. Of the full breakfast the stand-​out stars were the sausages, the bacon for me (Chris didn’t like the way it was cooked but I just loved how salty it was, and other than that, it was all about the pancakes. The poached eggs have left us with a hilarious future story… My husband to be Googling ‘are eggs with dark orange yolks safe’. Yes, they are. It’s to do with the hen’s diet, apparently. The poached eggs were perfect in texture, but little else on the plate excited us.
The pancakes were exciting. Reasonably priced and definitely something I’d order again. Despite being called blueberry pancakes they were simple, plain pancakes topped with blueberries and strawberries, and I’d have been interested to see blueberries strewn through the pancake batter to burst upon frying, but really they are good. They’re done in a similar way to the ones at Gabriel’s Grocery, and we all know how much I love those. I love them unhealthily. Obsessively. Dangerously. It’s nice to find ones almost on par this central in Manchester. Wait, is it actually?
So a few snags, but overall I’ll be back for sure. The pancakes and the intrigue of the small plates, plus indeed brilliantly entertaining toddlers (well, that was just that morning, but still), have all been strong enough to warrant a return.
Uenerry

Simply the best restaurant in Manchester!
I’ve never been a massive fan of the original San Carlo mainly due to the service, prices and my fellow diners. However, Cicchetti is perfect on each of these scores, the service is relaxed but attentive, the prices are fair for the quality of the food and there aren’t as many WAGs and scallies as across the road.
So, to the food, I love the fact that everything is small it means that I can order loads of different dishes and try them all. I’ve read that the ingredients are sourced from Italian markets (who cares about food miles when the food is this good) and you can tell this when the smallest things like tomatoes and mushrooms, taste so much better than normal tomatoes and mushrooms.
Everybody should go to Cicchetti if just to sit at the bar with some wine and olives and soak up the atmosphere.

San Carlo is well known as being amazing.
Even if you book you normally have to wait a little while to be seated. There are quite a few tables crammed in to a relatively small space to it feel quite full. Going at lunch time, there’s less atmosphere than in the evening
For an evening meal, be prepared for some C-​list celebrity spotting — Kym Marsh and the like, maybe some footballers if you’re lucky so that’s quiet entertaining. The cocktails are incredible so sit at the bar for a drink before going for your meal. If it’s not too busy, build a rapor with the one that serves you and they’ll treat you really well. Check the blackboard for the constantly changing drinks specials.
The seafood is really good — get the Mixed Fish Mediteranneo to share. King prawns, sea bass, salmon, tuna steak, mussels. cooked in a tomato and wine sauce and served with bread to mop up any extra.
However, as steaks go it’s fairly standard and I can say I’ve had better. Also, a friend of mine had a mussel starter where half the mussels were dead and therefore would have been dangerous to eat and would have made her incredibly ill. Fortunately she spotted it.
I think San Carlo is more of a destination restaurant because it’s a celebrity haunt and has built up its reputation well. It is a great restaurant and totally worth a visit or three but be aware there are other great restaurants in Manchester.