Artista Restaurant & Pizzeria Reviews

I've been to Artista not so long ago and I loved it, the service was good and the food was delicious. I would recommend everyone to go there and for the price of £4.99 the quality is excellent and I'm very happy to go back there anytime.

I eat at Artista on a regular basis, most weeks at lunchtime, and I felt I should balance the criticism that another reviewer left. This is not a pizza chain where you get met by a uniformed staff and who will jump at your every request. It is a very friendly, family run establishment where they do not stand on ceremony but the friendliness of the welcome is unmistakable. Yes they do not have multiple waiters running around, the chef owns the place and his wife waits the tables, and sometimes their four kids are in the corner well behaved enough, in the school holidays. For £3.99 you can get a real freshly made thin base about 10-12" pizza like you get on the continent, which I think is really nice. The pastas are also made freshly but I find the sauces a bit too rich for my liking and not particularly remarkable, but for the price they are excellent value. The tables are definitely not crammed together and are average for any restaurant, or dare I say it more spacious. And yes the chef does struggle to keep up with demand if they have a big group in, but this is a rare occurrence and in the six months I have been frequenting this place only once have I been rushed to finish my meal to get back for lunch. The chef is very accommodating and if you are in a hurry, just let him know and he will tell you if he can do it.

I had a great time at Artista – it’s a very strange mix that only the Europeans can present - the restaurant itself is friendly and informal but the food is great and quite scarily well priced. There’s a £3.99 menu of popular favourites like carbonara, spaghetti bolognaise and various pizzas and risottos as well as the al la carte meat and fish. The owner is also the chef and came out to check if we liked the food, which I thought was great. All in all it was a great meal out.

After reading mixed reviews on this restaurant I thought of trying it out so I did, and I have to say I was very disappointed. On arrival we were not met at the door by anyone so we had to walk through to be met by a lady dressed in a pair of jeans and a baggy shirt who was working with a man also dressed in jeans and a different scruffy shirt. It wasn’t a good start. We then ordered in the hope the food would make everything better. However, after watching two tables arrive after us and have their starter and main course brought to them before we had even had any food was enough for me. I left after waiting for an hour, so I can’t tell you how good the food is. It was a terrible restaurant with lots of tables crammed into a small place and no smart friendly waiters-waitresses. It was a complete waste of time and I don’t give it long before they close, so if you want to treat your wife to a nice meal like I thought I would then this is not the place to go.

Excellent food, excellent service, wonderful atmosphere, transported me back to the days when I lived in Italy. Would highly recommend to anyone who genuinely appreciates fine Italian cuisine. The likes of Zizzi, Ask and Pizza Express pale by comparison. From the moment we walked through the door and were greeted by the charming and welcoming manager our eating experience was nothing less than exquisite.