Reviews of Don Salvo Ristorante, Birmingham
Review by Sandra Donnelly on 9th October, 2010
Add your review Date visited: October 2010
I have been to Don Salvo, many times over the last couple of months, and have always found the food and Service above expectations, i would always reccomend Don Dalvo,
Great eating place.
Like the Free taxi upto The Grand Theatre.
Review by Manny Singh on 4th November, 2008
Add your review Date visited: 27/10/08
Previous comment writers,
It was a special moment 4 me and my wife,as it was our 1st anniversary.
id rather go 2 frankie and bennies instead of bella
Went to Don Salvo.
probably the best restraunt in town
food was 5star
Review by Mike H on 25th May, 2008
Add your review Date visited: 24/05/08
Wolverhampton Don Salvos. Never mind Don Salvos, just Don Go There... 4 of us went last night. Starters were edible. I'd really like to be more positive, but we eat out a lot and I'm not going to be polite here. My buddy had steak - when he asked he was told it was sirloin. He asked for it to be medium rare. Honestly, you could have bought Asda Smart Price or whatever it's called and cooked it better and it would have tasted and looked better. Awful just doesn't come close. 3 of us had pasta dishes that were tasteless, bland, and as my friend put it "Heinz canned bolognese is better", and that's saying something. You may be thinking "sucker - you paid for that" in the true British tradition. Fortunately I don't do that. If I'm being charged the prices that Don Salvos ask, I want quality food with excellent service. We got neither. The waiting staff were ok, smart, polite. The manager is rude, aggressive, disinterested.
A real shame.
Do yourself a favour - next time you see me in the Dog and Gun, buy me a pint - I have hopefully just saved you a ton. Go to Romagnas or Bella instead.
Review by am doran on 26th April, 2008
Add your review Date visited: 06.04.08
We went on a sunday night, brothers birthday. The resturant had about 8 other patrons when we arrived. Very cold. We kept our coats on. Waitress came with bread and olives and that was the last we saw of her for about 20 mins. We were just going to leave when she came back. Starters- my brothers soup was cold so he sent it back and waited and waited for a replacement. We had our main (with overpriced basic extras- potatoes, veg) and left. No dessert, no coffee, go again NO WAY. No atmosphere, lack lustre servers, overall a very expensive disappointment.
Review by Mrs Mandy Bhath on 2nd April, 2008
Add your review Date visited: 29/03/08
My husband and I were celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary and decided to go for a special meal at Don Salvo-Wolverhampton. What a mistake that was. We had pre booked our table a week before and when we arrived we were greeted by a well dressed middle aged man. He asked if we had booked a table, when we advised we had he never even bothered checking. He led us to a table in the corner. Where the table was far too close to the window.
When we were seated a waitress came and plonked a basket of bread on our table and walked away. As I looked around I noticed the other tables had olives on their tables and a couple had arrived after us and they were given a bowl of olives, but we were not. I never thought anything of it and just shrugged it off to the fact that they just forgot. Later a waitress came over to take our order and I ordered the sea bass grilled. I asked the waitress what the sea bass was seasoned with and she didn't seem to understand me. She kept telling me I had to order other dishes on the side and the sea bass came on its own. I tried to tell her I was aware of that as it was not the first time i had ate at a restaurant. In the end I gave up and oerdered the sea bass with a side salad and potatoes. When my meal arrived, low and behold it came with a salad. So I ordered another salad for nothing. There is also no communication between staff, as we had 3 different waitresses ask us if we require more drinks, but none seem to come back with any. Then we had 2 different waitresses ask about dessert. It seemed to me the right hand refused to talk to the left and who we thought may be the manager was far too busy entertaining a party of diners celebrating a 30th party. Suppose he thought the tip would be bigger there.
I am sorry but it was an anniversary I will never forget, but for all the wrong reasons. Don Salvo-Wolverhampton is over priced, over publicised and overly unproffessional. It is definitely a dining experience. Never to be experienced. Gordon Ramsey, please visit to show these people how it is done.
PS. My tip. Pepito's School Street. Loads better.
Review by Sheila Bradshaw on 7th November, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 15th October 2007
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I understand Don salvo has recently been taken over!! I think this was a previous franchise. The new managment are truly now focusing on Quality, Customer Service etc. My experience was very positive, great friendly staff, my main meal was ordered and on my table within 20 minutes, the waiting staff were very professional and made me feel special. So all I can say is Good Luck to the new Management!!
Review by Karen on 22nd October, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 19/10/2007
We visited Don Salvo's in Wolverhampton last Friday to celebrate a friend's engagement. What a mistake! The service was appalling: our table was booked for 8.30pm and admittedly most had a starter, but our main course didn't arrive until turned 10.20! Those of us that didn't have a starter were on the verge of eating the table cloth at this point!
The meals are overpriced and the portion sizes are small. I had gnocchi - it barely covered the bottom of my dish. My partner's cannelloni looked like it had just been slapped on the plate. And both cost nearly £9 each. Appalling. One friend returned his main course because of the portion size - by the time he got his meal back we'd all finished ours.
Not once were we asked how our meals were or even offered black pepper! The staff basically served the main course and then abandoned us for the rest of the evening. We sat there for at least half an hour after our finishing our main meal with empty plates - not once were we offered the dessert menu or even coffee!!
My partner complained to the manager but he didn't really seem all that bothered. Considering there were 18 of us and the bill came to over £400, you'd have thought he may have made an effort. Surprisingly, I don't think a single one of us will return and I certainly won't be recommending anyone go there!!! A dreadful experience!!!
Review by Carrie_Ann on 12th October, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 01 Oct 07
Had an awful meal here - took a business client to Don Salvo's. The poor service was actually an embarrassment and I was infuriated by the rude staff who were milling around the restaurant with nothing to do.
The meal was very boring, with nothing really to redeem themselves.
Very very disappointing. Luckily, drinks at a second venue saved the day.
Review by Marc Ingram on 2nd October, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 28 Sept 07
Be aware, be very aware. When you enter Don Salvo's on Temple Street in central Birmingham, you will be greeted by a very affable man who will offer you a nice bottle of Chianti to have with your lunch. When you accept, the wine is brought to your table, and you eat an acceptable lunch, accompanied by the Chianti.
Then you get the bill and you discover that the wine was £40 a bottle!!!!!!!!!!!
The wine cost as much as two main courses, two desserts and coffees!!!!
OK, it was my mistake for trusting the waiter and not confirming the price. Not a mistake I will be making again, but I dont expect to go to a restaurant and learn how not to trust a waiter.
However, as I have emailed over 600 business contacts and warned them of dining at Don Salvo's and written countless reviews on my experience on the web, hopefully, I will cost them far more than they cost me.
Beware.
Review by harriette muff on 4th July, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 29/06/07
Me and a group of friends came into the mailbox don salvo where we were greeted by a pratt who tried to get us to eat when we had already stated we only wanted drinks.In the bar we were greeted by 3 very beautiful and friendly girls who very entertaining and made us a random cocktail pitcher which went down very well the price was very resonable and the service was excellent! It is so nice to see young girls with pride in their work whilst having a good time they made the atmosphere. We will definetly be back they made our night!!It is also nice to meet real italians in an italian restaurant!! Keep up the good work girls!!!!!
Review by Gina on 2nd July, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 29.06.2007
Don Salvo - Wolverhampton
Service was appalling, we weren't asked once whether we would like drinks or whether the meal was okay. We had pre-booked a week in advance and ordered our food that morning so they had absolutely no excuses. We had bread on our tables, but no side plates and when the side plates came we never had bread knives - we had to use out starter knife!
Table was booked for 9pm and starters didn't arrive until 9.45pm & we had pre-ordered!! One of the starters was wrong when they eventually arrived. Then the mains came and all the steaks were supposed to be well done which they weren't and one was still bleeding! My meal was nothing like the menu (stuffed chicken in a wine sauce), turned out to be a dry bit of chicken (not stuffed) and in a bit of butter. We got six salads instead of six potatoes! Bare in mind again they had had the food lists that morning!
Then we were left, not once did we get asked if we would like dessert. But by this time it was too late to eat any more so we asked for the bill, which took ages to arrive. When it did arrive they had charged us for an extra starter, extra main and several extra side dishes including chips, which we never saw. Luckily we had been tipped off about this so had a spreadsheet of exactly what everyone had - there were 13 of us.
Review by Tony Haran on 21st June, 2007
Add your review Date visited: June 2007
I completely agree - I had a similar experience visiting the 'new' Don Salvo on Temple Street.
Having been a faithful fan of San Carlo I decided (now wrongly it would appear) to try something different and visit the new neighbours. SC was busy and I thought how bad can it be to try Don Salvo, a seemingly similar Italian restaurant.
On arriving we were more or less ignored at the door. After ten minutes we were shown to the table but offered no drinks. A further ten minutes passed as we ordered from a rather unfriendly waiter.
Our drinks and bread arrived a further ten to fifteen minutes after. By this time are party were visibly annoyed and the waiting staff made no apologies or effort to rectify the situation.
The mains arrived and the were adequate but the attitude of the staff and the earlier treatment tainted the experience for us.
I will not be returning to Don Salvo.
Review by Tom Barrett on 3rd June, 2007
Add your review Date visited: 02/06/1981
Avoid this place they are an inept bunch.
We waited well over an hour for our mains which were not presented to a very high standard. Some examples were clams being replaced with mussels, white wine sauce swimming in oil, and over cooked halibut. Luckily we had good company so the long wait was not a problem.
When our mains arrived the waitress was not in the least bit attentive, she simply plonked the meals down. No offer of black pepper or Parmesan. Neither did she ask if we needed anything else, I waited for over five minutes before I had to hunt out my own spoon. Apart from the quality of the cooking the presentation was terrible. This restaurant does not meet minimum standards for any restaurant, let alone one of the best cuisines in the world!
After receiving abysmal service we were a little appalled by the fact that they had the cheek to add a £23 service charge. Which contradictory to what another person said you do not have to pay. Service charges are not enforceable regardless of whether they are printed on the menu. I told them due to the poor service I would not be paying this. The waiter proceeded to have a full blown row with me in the middle of the restaurant, and threatened to all the police. He then had the cheek to ask for a tip!
The manager was cowardly, he did not intervene to remedy the situation, he simply watched from the other side of the restaurant. There is a terrible arrogance about this place and the food is of a poor standard. I can cook better Italian food and I am not Italian. If the people of Italy knew this place was representing their cuisine they would be appalled. If this restaurant is not careful it wont be the Don they need it'll be Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, to save them!
Review by Dearle & Henderson on 22nd December, 2006
Add your review Date visited: 15 December 2006
Having worked in the Mailbox for some 5 years now, we decided this year to go to Don Salvo’s for our office Christmas lunch. There were thirteen of us and we all previously ordered our meals from the standard Christmas menu. Our table was booked for 1:30pm and we all duly arrived some five to ten minutes beforehand. We were told our table wasn’t quite ready and therefore purchased drinks for everyone from the bar. The clock ticked on and more drinks were purchased and after waiting one hour we were eventually shown to our two separate tables, which is not what we expected for an office meal.
We then ordered the very expensive wine and other drinks and waited for the starters to arrive. About half an hour later the starters began to appear. Those who had the soup had to constantly ask for the bread that should have accompanied the soup, all the other starters certainly lacked in quantity and quality. When we then got to the main courses we can only say what a bad choice it was having the lamb cutlets. These were overcooked and so tiny you would say there is more meat on a sparrow’s leg. The sauté potatoes and mixed vegetables were then presented on a total of six dinner sized plates for all thirteen of us. This was split between the two tables with two vegetables and one sauté potatoes on one table and visa versa on the other table. The quantities of these were so poor that each person only had the tiniest amount to go with their meal. We did ask for more, but nothing further arrived, although we asked a few times to each of the waitresses.
We then reached the desserts those that chose the cheese and biscuits, were in for a big surprise, the waitress held the plate out and stated she was sorry but they had run short on biscuits and that there was only enough for one biscuit each and please would we not blame her for this. This was the final straw for all of us and she was told to take them away and maybe use a little initiative and go upstairs to Tesco and buy a box of Jacob’s crackers. The headwaiter then appeared, made some poor attempt at an apology and offered us an alternative dessert. We were later told as an goodwill gesture there was a glass of champagne for us all on the bar. The drink wasn’t actually champagne, but some cheap sparkling wine. As it turned out, it now appears that the price of the standard Christmas meal included this glass of Italian Proseco, which we should have had on arrival.
The bill was then presented to us at a cost of over £500 for what we can all say was the worst Christmas meal we have ever had. The meal, service and overall event was disgraceful. We are all making sure everyone we speak to hears of it and hopefully they will never venture through the doors of Don Salvo. Maybe our big mistake was going in a group of thirteen, which was certainly unlucky for us, but we guess this was a simple coincidence. As a conclusion those that shortly after went to the Handmade Burger Company in Brindlay Place had some excellent burgers for a fraction of the price of this disaster.
Review by Clare Corness-Parr on 8th December, 2006
Add your review Date visited: 9th June 2006
It has taken a while for me to write my feedback but what a truely terrible restaurant, memorable for all the wrong reasons. Wolverhamptons Don Salvo was over priced & awful. I has the buffallo mozarella which had a nasty hard skin on the outside and a limp salad with pine nuts sprinkled over it. The tomato element was bland and tastless- no vine ripened here. The pasta for our main course was reheated and another bigger version of the salad for the 1st course appeared but with added orange slices -vile! The service was very poor as the waitress was unable to recommend wines and appeared vacant when we complained. We could not be bothered to fork out for a rip off dessert but decided that Ramsay would find plenty of content for his kitchen nightmares. Just hope that we save a few others from the 'dolmio experience'
Review by Rachel Pearson on 18th July, 2006
Add your review Date visited: 29/6/06
I was really happy when I was invited for dinner at the new Don Salvo in Wolverhampton. First impression were very good, nicely decorated a real transformation. The upstairs bar was extremely pleasant and I almost forgot I was in Wolverhampton. The dinner was okay, nothing special considering the bill came to £80 for two pasta dishes , 3 sides and a half bottle of wine. We left our table to go for a cigarette , making sure we informed the waitress. When we returned ten minutes later , they had given our table away. We were shuffled back up the stairs , nobody actually apologised and we were made to eat our sweets in the smoking area , which I thought was against Licensing Laws. The didnt have the decency to offer us a free coffee or complimentary drink as compensation , I mention this to the head waiter on the way out and he was obviously unconcerned that we were leaving the premises dissatisfied. I have twice emailed Don Salvo asking them for details of whom I can write to and I have had no response. Looks like I am not the only one to be forgetting that they are in Wolverhampton!Hardly Gastro Central!!
Review by John Dobson on 21st May, 2006
Add your review Date visited: 20th May 2006
How far the mighty have fallen, Don Salvo in its original position was a fine restaurant, worth travelling 50 miles for an excellant meal, well cooked, well served and fairly priced. The shadow of itself in its new location, directly below The Ramada hotel is appalling, not worth travelling 50 yards for. We visited the restarant lasst night and the dining experience was awful. The standard of the food was very poor, veal with bacon instead of parma ham, tinned tomato sauce that tasted like they had just sieved out the Heinz beans, my wife had a tasteless lamb shank fresh out of the microwave. Complaints to the manager were met with a response Basil Fawlty would have been proud as an example of customer service - I'll speak to the chef !!. Never again, avoid the disappointment, avoid the ripp-off.
Review by Tim & Jen on 23rd October, 2005
Add your review Date visited: 22nd October 2005
On visiting Birmingham about a month ago we decided that the Restaurant looked excellent with a fantastic menu. So we booked a table a few weeks later and turned up 5mins early at 8:55PM. We saw the Head Waiter and he said it would be a short wait.
9:20 Offered a small coffee type table which we decided against.
9:40 Finally Sat Down after standing at the very small and cramped bar for 45 minutes.
9:45 Took Drinks order and food order. We had 2 starters, 2 mains with sauted potatoes and fresh veg which was extra cost and a bottle of wine.
The wine was Excellent but thats about it.
9:55 Starters arrived, smoked salmon was good, King prawns were very average.
10:25 Main Course arrived. Sea Bass was very good, but king prawns in wine / garlic sauce were to say the least tasteless. So sent them back. Then some more arrived which were equally tasteless but had a lot more Garlic on and so ate them anyway. The Sauce was very poor, it was more like wine with nothing added but crushed garlic. The vegitables were poor and the Sauted potatoes were poor.
10:45 We were out of there after being forced to pay a 10% non optional (even though the service was poor) service charge.
The surroundings were OK but the room was very hot and uncomforatble even after our pleas to open a windows.
So to sum it all up the meal was very expensive and extremly average (£90.00). The service was very poor except for the waiting staff and the room was very uncomfortable.
I don't think we will return!
Review by John Miesner on 30th August, 2005
Add your review Date visited: 28/08/2005
I was up in Birmingham for the weekend for the first time in three years and was impressed with the look and ambiance of Don Salvo as I arrived. Sadly this is where the good impressions stopped.
Having asked the waiter if the main courses were accompanied by anything, we were told “No,” “so if we order the Veal we just get a plate with veal on it?” “yes,” was the waiters reply. We were left to find the side orders on our own which pretty much amounted to a plate of veg or fries. Not what you want to accompany a £15 plate of meat.
It then took a good 40 minutes for our meal to arrive and 30 minutes following us finishing, for the Maitre d’ to fetch one of the waiters to take our plates away. Then add in another 30 minute wait before having to wave down the passing maitre d’ for the bill. At this point we had given up on getting offered a dessert menu or coffee so spoke to the maitre d once more, to inform him that we wouldn’t be paying the service charge and to politely inform him why.
The final insult came when the maitre d left his position at the door as we rose from our table to go and stand at the bar and chat to his mates turning his back on us in the process.
Never in my life have I experienced such insulting and ignorant service. My only regret was that I didn’t have the guts to get up and walk out without paying during the long periods where the staff appeared to disappear. I can only assume they were all off being taught the art of customer service by David Brent.
Review by Mimi La Valle on 2nd April, 2005
Add your review Date visited: 3/20/2005
Very good. The food was excellent and the atmosphere is very nice. Reservations are highly recommended for the weekends. The temperature in the restaurant varied quite a bit depending where you were seated. We were very hot, people by the door were cold. Overall, I would recommend it. The spaghetti carbonara was delicious.
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