Alfresco

Have eaten here many times and the food is very tasty and good value. Great place to eat when the weather is good as there are large outdoor eating areas. The service is appalling but the food makes up for it and as long as you can ignore the rude waiters, it can be a fairly pleasant eating experience. On one occasion when I ate here with my family, the waiter accidentally knocked over my almost full bottle of water and it went everywhere. He mopped it up in silence, no apology at all and even worse, did not offer to replace the water, hence we left no tip. You have been warned but the food is consistently good. 

I have been to Italy many times and to many different regions and this restaurant has the feel of the kind of place you normally get in a warm seaside part of Italy. Even down to the toilets that seem an afterthought and usually require you going out the back past a store room or kitchen. The deck out the back is great with doors that open right up bringing the outside in and was lovely to sit out on a blisteringly hot sunday evening, the setting and the heat made it feel like a holiday. The trouble is it seems that the whole of Whetstone was in the garden with us. The tables were so crammed in you are on top of other diners and the noise of chatter is so loud that it ruins the ambiance, it is a classic example of plain and simple greed by the owner. The waiting staff, of which there were many, didn’t seem to have a section so it was a bit of a free for all on who served you. To the point where one cleared the bread and olives from our table and asked if we wanted coffee or dessert and I had to explain we hadn’t had our mains and could I have my bread back. The waiting staff were all a bit surly too, I didn't get one smile from anybody at any point. However the food was good without setting the world alight. I had the Ossobuco and my wife had the Stinco del pastore which were coincidently both dishes mentioned by another reviewer and were very nice, although the lamb was hugely under seasoned. The prices I felt were pretty reasonable for an Italian restaurant, we had a nice bottle of wine for £20 and they didn’t add service charge but left that to your discretion. All in all not bad food but it isn’t a relaxing romantic atmosphere because you're packed in like a popular pub during an England match with no thought for the customer, I won't be rushing back but I suspect many still will and it will justify the owners descision to put profit ahead of customer satisfaction. 2.5/5

I love this Italian restaurant.  Sometimes it becomes quite crowded as it is a favourite with many people.
All the food on the menu is great - I particularly like the veal with lemon sauce, the slow roasted lamb "stinco del pastore" is yummy, as is the Osso Bucco (slow roasted veal knuckle) and the pizza is lovely and thin.  The desserts are great: Cannolli, Semifreddo Torroncino Ice cream, which is very difficult to find anywhere, and Torta della Nonna - yummy sponge with pastry cream in the middle.
The atmosphere is warm and friendly and in the summer there is a lovely deck surrounded by Leilandii evergreen trees - I can almost imagine there is a lake on the other side! 
I would say it is priced between budget and average, but certainly you get great value for your money.

An all time favourite of mine. The Rigatone alle Melanzane (possible misspell) is what I usually get, and is very tasty. The seared tuna is a solid choice as well. Om nom nom!

well, I have been twice in Alfresco and both times food was lovely, very weel made and service was ok, i can’t complain, poor choice of desserts for my taste, thats why i normaly never order sweets in any UK restaurant.

My wife and I took 2 Italian friends there. Terrible service and a rude and argumentative waiter. 3 of us got sick the following day. Have told all our friends to avoid this place. It’s certainly not what it used to be. We’ll never return! How do I give zero stars????

This used to be my favourite restaurant and me and my kids used to come here often. Its not a very comfortable restaurant as they have so many tables you are very squished up which we used to put up with because the food was so good but unfortunately they have put the prices up so high that we can no longer come anymore. Five years ago the steak was 13.80 for a nice decent sized piece of meat now it is 19.70 and much smaller. Its also very noisey because they cram so many people in. We came to this restaurant for years but sadly its just far too expensive now and its not justified. Unfortunately they have become very greedy.

Terrible!

i was there last friday night
A table for 6 the waiters were forgetful and we had to tell them when we were ready to order at each course. They were happy to leave up sitting there all night waiting for them to ask us.

When the mains came they for got 2 sides, we asked 3 waiters for them over 20 minutes in the end we got them. I asked 4 times for a drink and each time was told to wait a minute, in the end I had grab the manager and he actually got it for me.

Finally the dessert menus arrived, we chose and waited over 30 mins and again had to almost shout to get the attention of the waiters. We were very unhappy by this point I asked for the bill instead of ordering desser.

When the bill came they had charged us for 2 extra sides and added a service charge as we were a group of 6. I went straight to the manager and complained he did not seem bothered, but did take off the service charge and 25% of the bill.

We used to love this place but it has gone down hill over the last couple of years in terms of service and food. I will never go there again following this last visit.

An authentic Italian atmosphere in this very popular restaurant. Always a queue at the weekend so remember to book. The food is good if not outstanding but the prices are very reasonable with a good selection of pasta and pizzas. In the summer the terrace is open for outside dining.

This is a lovely large restaurant serving quality Italian. Friendly Italian waiters, a well decorated restaurant and a good atmosphere. I like to think of myself as a bit of a bolognese connoisseur, and Alfresco serves one of the best I've ever tasted. The spaghetti al tonno (tuna) is good too.