Pinocchio, Brighton

Chris and I went here for dinner a few months back and loved it.. right in the middle of the lanes and it was really quiet! The staff were very friendly and when I asked if they had something I liked that I could’nt see on the menu they offered to make it for me!!! :-) I was very impressed, however declined their offer. All in all a lovely meal, very friendly staff and in expensive= AWESOME!

I love Pinocchio - the food is beautiful and not too expensive. Situated close to the Royal Pavilion and the Theatre Royal, there is a great atmosphere and the place is popular with families especially for birthday parties and other celabrations. The service is excellent and the staff very helpful and friendly. My only complaint about the restaurant is that there is no toilet on the ground floor but they allow disabled people to use the staff toilet which is situated on the that floor.

When I fancy a cheap Italian, I normally head to Donatello’s (http://www.qype.co.uk/place/66800-Ristorante-Donatello-Br...) in The Lanes. Seeing as Pinocchio’s is owned by the same people and has exactly the same menu, I thought I’d head here for a change of scenery. I’ve heard appalling things in the past from friends about their service, but I wanted to find out for myself.

At first glance, Pinocchio’s is perfectly pleasant - all bistro-style tables and gingham tablecloths. We were seated upstairs by two very welcoming members of staff and our drinks order was promptly taken. So far, so good. After perusing the familiar menu, one very nice waiter informed us of their ‘special’ dish – meatballs with either pasta or rice. Being gluten-intolerant I thought offering an alternative to pasta was a nice touch, so I went for it as part of the set menu along with garlic mushrooms to start. The starter came out quickly and was, well, exactly the same as Donatello’s. Still good. Then the main course came out. It was, in essence, a bed of risotto rice topped with six meatballs and generic tomato sauce poured on top. Not so good. I could have made it myself and done a much better job - I should have stuck with my gluten-free carbonara. To make matters worse, after the waitress said she’d go and get parmesan and black pepper, we watched her serve two other people and stand chatting to her colleague before finally looking over to us and seeing us waiting for her. True, she was very apologetic, but still...

So, after a slightly disappointing main course, I decided I’d give them a chance to redeem themselves with dessert. Although there’d been less than ten minutes between our starter and main, our dessert didn’t arrive until after 20 minutes I called someone over to ask what had happened to it. It was then brought over immediately by the fifth person to have served us that evening. I had my usual Coppa Pietro (lemon sorbet, meringue, whipped cream and lemon sauce) and it was as lovely as ever.

I don’t mean to do the staff a disservice, as nobody was rude and they all seemed like lovely people, but they were highly disorganised and didn’t really seem to know what they were doing. I’d hate to go here in a larger group as I’m sure it would be a total disaster. I think I’ll stick with Donatello’s in future.

Due to my experiencing an inexcusably poor meal here I’m very surprised by the amount of positive reviews Pinocchio has received. Perhaps I visited on a particularly off day but one has to question how a restaurant can be so sub-par one day and seemingly of 5-star quality the next. Either I’m wrong or it’s just very inconsistent. That said, I can only judge it from my own experience and frankly, that simply wasn’t very good at all. I’m sure most Italians would liken the food served at Pinocchio to that served in their native motorway service stations. Admittedly it is cheap but to be honest I could buy my own ingredients for the same price and make something much more satisfying. It’s definitely not the kind of place you should go to get an authentic Italian experience although I would imagine it would make a great place to grab some lunch. Just don’t expect anything better than local diner standard grub.

Had dinner here lots, it's a great place to grab a quick dinenr before going to the theatre too. Lovely people as well.

An italian food restaurant which serves excellent food and gives great value for money, much like it’s larger sister restaurant Donatellos. The only difference between Donatellos and here is that Pinocchio’s is smaller and as a result the staff seem less harassed, the food is slightly better and eating here feels more of an intimate affair.
The menu offers a good range of dishes and starters, mains and desserts are all on offer. I have to recommend the pizza as this has to be one of, if not the favourite dish of mine that this restaurant serves.
If you have never eaten here, do treat yourself one evening - you are guarenteed a lovely meal at a decent price with a good atmosphere.

Pinocchios is part of the local Donatello’s group and follows a similar format of simple, cheap, tasty dishes. There are good set menus available where you can get a selected starter, any pizza/pasta dish and desert for less than £10. This makes it excellent value and the food is always very nice. The restaurant is always busy, and is particularly popular with theatre goers.

Pinocchio’s has been a presence in Brighton for many many years and is still a family favourite for simple wholesome Italian food. It is far better than it’s sister restaurant Donatello’s I think mainly because it’s smaller and easier for the staff and chefs to cater for their customers. It’s also a cosier and more friendly atmosphere than Donatello’s and a perfect place to go before a night at the theatre.

Much nicer than it’s sister restaurant (Donatellos).

Although the menus are the same for some reason the food here is fare better ! It’s a smaller restaruant and not as busy as Donatellos.

Seating is on two floors - and there is a private room on the second floor which can be booked for parties.

Gets extremely busy pre-theatre (due to it’s location near to the Theatre Royal) but if you tell them you have tickets they are experts on serving you quickly.

Good value for money.

another great italian restaurant, which is owned by Donatello’s. it is situated opposite pubs, which can come in handy

Good location and fills you up but dont go expecting anythig special. The food is ok without being great.nice atmosphere though

The ideal place to eat before going to see a show at either the Theatre Royal or the Dome.

The food is great with a wide range of pizza, pasta and other dishes. We went for the 2 course deal which is only slightly more expensive than a main course, so saving a fair bit. There is also a 3 course which we didn’t have time for, but saves even more.

I would however suggest that you don’t sit outside when it’s raining. Even though the seats have a canopy over them, I still ended up getting wet as the water poured of the canopy, hit the flower pots and splashed back onto me - much to the amusement of my campanions!

The staff were friendly and helpful, even though it took us a long time deciding wether we would be sitting inside or out, who was sitting on what table and what we wanted to eat.

good food and service from waiters. food is outstanding with a good selection of drinks. brilliant for going to before going to the theatre royal. good parking and easy to get to by bus