Amazing food, exceptional service and such a lovely atmosphere. I went for a lunch with sister and my little boy which is 6 months, we've been served with lots of smiles and our boy could not be happier being carried around and checking all the fresh fishes! Amazing Italian restaurant with true Italian feeling! Will definitely be back! Thank you so much!

Would leave more stars if i could. In spite of some hiccups with the service, being sat in the wrong table and with items arriving in odd orders (main first, antipasto second, etc.) I still have to leave 5 stars because the food is just SO good

I wish the service here was good, it would make it the perfect Italian restaurant. Unfortunately it’s absolutely terrible however the food is absolutely outstanding. You’ll struggle to find a better example of Italian food in Manchester and therefore you must visit just be aware that you’re going to wait and unfortunately the restaurant is a honeypot for celebrity wannabes.

Seen similar reviews of rude and racist staff. I have never experienced this from any restaurant but there’s a first for everything. I was ordering my main and asked the staff member for the dessert menu as I wanted to order both at the same time to which he responded if you just want a dessert you’ll have to leave this is not the restaurant for you. I ignored it and told him I just wanted to order both at the same time not just desserts. But still I could hear him afterwards pointing at our table and giggling about it speaking in italian. Such a shocking experience and I will not be returning to this branch.

My first time trying this restaurant,and was very excited until I walk in the place. Was greeted by the incredibly nice doorman who was apparently the only one with manners and respect for the customers. Once seated I was sat looking around thinking were in the world have I just placed myself in. Staff were on a ego trip and thought that they were better than everybody else and didn’t have any kind of manners they didn’t check back on us once to see if the food was to the standard the restaurant attempts to create and also didn’t say good bye or any response when I said thank you as leaving the restaurant. I think this restaurant lacks basic customer service skills which would create such a great atmosphere if they added checking back on customers ,greeting them on arrival and saying good bye it could really up their customer service.I can understand it’s busy but it’s a case of being polite. In terms of food basic and as you can see it looked bad. Overall will not be returning.

A great place for dinner in the area, the Italian cuisine is to a really good standard and the quantity you get is also substantial enough. We found the service to be absolutely brilliant, constantly topping up our glasses from our bottle and very speedy from taking our order to the arrival of food. It was also very busy, I would say maybe it’s too busy though and does feel a bit crowded at points with a big open plan arrangement of tables. Overall I would say I’d definitely recommend, especially with friends or a group of people. It can get pricey, but well worth it.

One of my favourite restaurants in Manchester. I have been many times, the atmosphere is superb, service is great and the food is fantastic! The Lobster Thermidor and the Lobster Linguine were fantastic. They have a really nice bar area too! We stay at The Lowery Hotel which is a 5 minute walk to the restaurant. Always book in advance.

Nearly perfect. Food was phenomenal, worth every penny and the decor inside was wonderful. All the waiting staff were fantastic. The let down was the lady welcoming the guests. Very poor attitude and really not helpful at all. Once we got past her it was plain sailing with a great atmosphere.

A lovely restaurant, was recommended to us and I'd recommend it again! Great atmosphere, Happy Italian waiters who have worked there for years! Book in advance! We went on a Tuesday evening and it was rammed! The only disappointment was, we wanted Lobster but they had sold out by 19:45.

Amazing experience, lovely food ,though drinks and food 'classic' is the word . Started off with choosing from the Bruschette E pane . Chose garlic bread with tomatoes then my main from the gluten-free ,I went for Tagliolini Lobster 🦞 (if you're a lover of sea foods like me )and send the food down with Sauvignon Friuli . Amazing is the word . A really nice place to visit I must confess . The rest room is amazing ,very neat and smells really nice . Good place and value for money though drinks at the bar are abit over priced but for its value ,you cant ask for less .

Food: Starters and main courses were amazing. All very tasty and a good choice of vegetarian options. Would definitely recommend for a good quality meal. Location: great location, just off Deansgate so close to the main roads and lots of other bars / shops. Service: Good service but could be improved. The busyness of the restaurant means that it’s hard to get attention unless the server is attentive. At one point we had 2 rounds of drinks because 2 different waiters took our order and then a server dropped the cutlery on a guest - slightly chaotic! Atmosphere: Good atmosphere, authentic feeling and spacious meaning it is a nice place to relax and have a nice meal

San Carlo, has a reputation for being a great restaurant. Which is it is, but sadly not the best. We visited for a dinner date, the bouncer was lovely. At the door, we were ignored by a woman who was on the phone. As soon as the she put the phone down, the phone rang again she smiled at us but then went back on the phone. Leaving us a 5 min awkward wait. We arrived on time for our reservation, but were told there would be a wait as previous table ran late, sat at the bar and told a 15 mins wait, so order cocktails and chill out. We put an order in at the bar, and I kid you not, within 30 seconds she came back to say the table was ready. The waiter was excellent, suave and fun. One glaring issue was the fact there is way too many tables stuffed in that there is no chance at a romantic or private conversation. There was several larger tables of families with children who were on tablets and playing video games, letting the entire vibe of the resteraunt down. Although we were not expecting 5*, we weren't expecting the laid back customers. We had a full 3 course meal each, the couple next to us came for a date too, only wanted a main as they too, were disappointed. The food itself is excellent. Well worth the visit. The biggest issue I had, was that due to the closeness of tables, other tables waiters and customers kept hitting the back of my chair every 5 mins or so, which began to get very annoying. The food as aforementioned was sublime, and a great wine menu of choice. However, only the mains and desserts were spectacular, the starters were pretty average on balance. I'd recommend skipping them to any future booker. 12.5% service bill was totally unneeded which took our bill even higher. 4/5 resteraunt overall.

Atmosphere: A very stylish, elegant and luxurious atmosphere, with colourful plants arojnd the bar, boasting their daily fresh seafood on ice as we walked to our table. Service: One of the managers took our order, he was very stern looking but polite and patient, and repeated our order back to us. Food came out very quickly and all came out around the same time. They forgot our drink orders so we gave them a couple of reminders as we were already halfway through our food; however, due to an issue with another customer, they forgot our drinks again. We just asked to cancel our drinks and moved on to order our desserts. *it did take 20 minutes to get someone's attention to get our bill at the end* Food: Ravioli Lobster £11.95 Nice texture to the Ravioli pasta dough; the sauce on top was just the right amount; however, we could not taste the lobster filling and it was more of a powdered consistency. 3/10 Lasagne Emiliane £9.25 Piping hot, rich tasting mincr beef with a lovely creamy white sauce. The cheese was grilled to perfection. The lasagne was the best thing that we ordered, could not fault the dish at all. 10/10 Spaghetti Shelfish £18.95 Super fresh tasting clams, mussels and Prawns in this dish. The tomato sauce was perfectly seasoned with the pasta and seafood, and was also nice to dip our garlic bread in. 8/10 Panna Cotta £6.95 One of the best panna cotta we had ever eaten. Such a smooth, creamy and rich texture - melted in our mouths. The coulis and berries added some citrus which helped to balance the sweetness. Very generous on portion size. 10/10 Creme Caramel £6.95 We really wanted to like it as we eat this dish often; however, this dessert was really disappointing. The creme caramel came out falling apart on one side, the texture was eggy like scrambled egg not silky at all, and there were lots of bubbles in each mouthful. Caramel was nice and sweet. 2/10 Overall: 7/10. We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience, with the food coming out quickly, tasting fresh and very authentic. A nice place to go for celebrations or if you fancy treating yourselves. All of the staff are Italian and each person showed a lot of enthusiasm and passion when talking about the food.

A very slick Italian restaurant. Some very good dishes , prices vary , tend to be on the slightly high side . The service is excellent but my only gripe is that it is impersonal as in the waiters are just going through the motions . Don't get me wrong , they're good and know exactly what they're doing but need some personality. After a couple of jokes my issue was rectified and a very pleasant meal was had . Scallops, Rib Eye Steak , Truffle Fries and a chocolate torte . Only gripe the steak should at least come with one side or some veg rather than nothing besides the sauce . So from the couple who shared the desert on top of the pizza box , top meal with a bit of Dolce Vita .

One of my Favorite Italian Restaurants in Manchester. I loved their Sea Food Pasta with mussels and Calamari 🧡 Looking Forward to visit soon 😉

Absolutely amazing experience and delicious food. Staff are fabulous and super friendly. Highly recommend going there for a lovely meal or to celebrate special occasion. Super busy but no delay in service. I definitely will go back there again. Loved my chicken breast with breadcrumbs, rocket salad and cherry tomatoes. Very delicious and cooked tender and moist. The picture says it all. 😍

Really nice high end Italian restaurant, great ambience, mouth watering foods, warm caring service. Staff's are great and makes you feel really special. Been there for our office Christmas do - Love it!

What an experience. I’d never been to san Carlo before but I had heard all about it. It blew my mind. The food was amazing, the attentiveness of the servers was incredible! I loved the atmosphere! We went for my Nana’s birthday and they came and sang to her with her dessert!

A really fancy restaurant but with affordable prices. Great for a dinner date or special occasion. Think Prezzo prices but fine dining. Location: conveniently located in Deansgate, on a corner with bright orange canopy. Best accessible by foot. Parking can be found at Spinning fields NCP parking. Or if your having a day out, park in one of the other NCP parking places and walk around town. Food: was amazing. Tasty, unique and flavourful. Well presented with proprietary cutlery and great flavour combinations. The truffle pasta is what I ordered and I wish I had more because it was so delicious. Order the Arrancini, because its light, crispy and moist on the inside and packed with flavour. Service: is top notch as always, and exemplary as you would expect in a fine dining restaurant. Decor was brilliant with a slight manhattan new york feel but classical Italian touches. Very sophisticated, modern and clean. Definitely recommend this place anyone. Fast service, great food, incredible atmosphere and casual dinning prices. Great for a treat or first date.

Lovely Italian restaurant in Manchester city centre, great choice if you have a large party as the restaurant is huge. Super menu and food is to a very high standard. Service is good even though they were extremely busy. Highly recommend this place as it also seems to be a celebrity hotspot in manchester.

Amazing experience with divine lobster, overpriced wines all in a crazy busy loud atmosphere. Antipasti are really good value, bread selection is enough for 2 to share. Tried one of each lobster (theramador and garlic ) well got to try it haven't you 😋 And to wrap it all up we we went for Ferrrero ice cream sharer for 2. Which comes presented in a large bowl. This is then mixed meticulous by the waiter for form a large ball of chocolate and hazelnut wonder. (Sadly the image of the waiter moulding the ice cream reminded of those horrible kids that get ice cream in buffets and just play around with it!) ...Thankfully, the end result was much nicer, presented in a glass high balls with wafer and a piece of Ferrero. For me, I don't mind paying a bit more for nice food but would expect the wine to cost to be reasonable, they were however over priced. And you have a set time (2h) to finish your dinner. So 4* only.

A real mixed bag so need to break it down Beef carpaccio 3/10: they put mayonnaise on it, disgusting, also very small amount of beef but tasty once you scrape all the mayo off. But a generous slab of cheese Buratta 6/10: was ok, not very creamy. Nice balance with the tomato and herbs. More basil needed though Lobster Thermidor 10/10: simply divine, the lobster is what this place is all about. Well worth the 50 quid Wine 4/10: overpriced and forgettable Panna cotta: almost inedible, so stodgy, like a very thick jelly with some jam on top. One of the worst I've had anywhere, stomach is still hurting. Was expecting it to come with some kind of fresh berries like in another review. My wife had a go at me for eating it but I'd paid for it! Service very attentive, they're busy but easy to get someone's attention 10/10 Absolutely packed in there on a Friday evening but great atmosphere 10/10

Overall average experience. Having had better Italian food I wouldn’t go back again. Quite pricey for the lack of effort in the food.

Loved San Carlo Have been coming to San Carlo for years with family and friends and always loved the food. We attended on this occasion for a friends birthday. Food was delicious. Only downside is due to being very busy felt a little rushed for the time on the table.

Trendy, Expensive and a restaurant that people like to visit in order to be seen! Starter of 'slow cooked cod and potato'! This turned out to be dried up little lumps of cod and big lumps of potato (cold - but I suppose it was meant to be...Pretty awful) Main of tagliatelli with monk fish and lobster.... Sadly the most impressive part was the title) Had upset stomach the following day but I am not blaming the restaurant.....probably just coincidence! Having said all that, it was an enjoyable night with friends!

When we booked this place I thought it was a 50 cover independent Italian. Silly me. It’s 10 times that. It’s probably the biggest restaurant I’ve ever been in. Absolute respect to management and staff for controlling it. It must be incredibly difficult. Anyway. The food was great, four different past dishes in our party of 6. But, my Diavilo pizza was pretty awful. Very little topping. In fact it annoyed me on how they’d skimped. Hence the star off. It costs pennies to make the difference between skimping and generous 🤷50p more of topping and I’d have given 5 stars. Also, not sure who, in this financial climate, they’re targeting with their wine prices!!! MU, MC footballers! See picture.

As someone from Italy, I don't consider this as the NO.1 Italian restaurant in Manchester, the taste is neither local nor "Italian". For anyone searching great Italian restaurants, Don Giovanni and Salvi's are both great choices for dining and Rudy's for Pizza. By the way, the staff service was awful as well.

What a stroke of luck that we found this place, surely one of the best restaurants I have been to, the atmosphere was so vibrant, with all staff looking after the clients as if they were their best freinds. Food was five star, and very matched the restaurant setting. Well done to San Carlo management and staff keep it up and your success will follow you

The food was just absolutely delicious. We ordered many dishes and desert and loved it very much! My personal favorite from desert was the Pavlovna!!!!!

Best restaurant I’ve been too. Amazing food but the best part was the service. All staff was very friendly and was nice to my young daughter.

As a vegetarian guy... For me there are few choices over here. I'm sure if you go there, and you are vegetarian you can feel it. The rest of things are okay. The ambience is great. I had a great time.

Wasn’t what expected. I met frinds there, the place look amazing. The service was good. But the food was less than expected. We got the calamari which wasn’t cook well. The spaghetti was dry the wasn’t enough sauce.The only good dish was the ravioli.

Fully recommend this for anyone looking to enjoy a classy Italian meal. Top notch service and even better food. I think the number of celebrities that dine there is its own review! A+++

Went in with my daughter. Service was great. Food was really really nice and quick to the table to say how busy it was. Definitely recommend going.

Very nice restaurant in the heart of Manchester. Everyones meal was superb, save for the two of us who had the mixed seafood platter. The king prawns were a fail. Aside from this small mishap, everything else was excellent, and the staff first class.

Pros: Decent food. Good portion sizes. Nice atmosphere and friendly/helpful waiting staff who were very accommodating and added a candle to the birthday cake we brought in. Cons: Some of the food is low quality considering the price. The food: The aubergine pasta was excellent. The arrabiata penne was very mediocre and tasted of canned tomato sauce. The pizza was good, thin and delicious with a good sauce-cheese-crust ratio. The lasagne was great, very generous portion. The fries were subpar, very oily and tasted like cheap takeaway fries. The green beans were delicious, very buttery but in a good way!

Came here for dinner with a party of 4. Quite disappointed the service doesn't compete with the other san carlos. Meal came in incorrect... it was quickly rectified but we found the staff quite rude in some comments we overheard. Dessert was beautiful but I'd recommend going to the San carlos across the road from this one.

Excellent dinner, though the place gets extremely busy and noisy. The portions are big and yummy

Read bad reviews but everything was first class when I had a lovely meal with 9 friends. I wore a mask as it was crowded when accessing the toilets which also involved lots of stairs

Visited Manchester for a few days and this was the highlight restaurant hands down. Exceptional service and food was incredible. I would happily have returned again during my short visit but had to try other places to realise this was top tier! The little detail of everything San Carlos personalised did not go unnoticed as a wonderful touch and entire restaurant had a very “homely” feel

Expensive, but you get what you pay for. Lovely decor, and a perfect goldilocks atmosphere. Would recommend the garlic bread & cheese (but I eat that everywhere). Steak was cooked well too. Can't complain at all

Keeping this review short and sharp. Excellent high quality food. The service was excellent and the staff were very helpful. Go for the oysters! They were amazing! But to be honest, everything they we had was excellent too. You won't regret dining here.

I've been to this location a few times now and can honestly say it's one of the most beautiful restaurants from the friendly hello when you walk in , the phenomenal service throughout ❤ the gorgeously prepared +served food (I had the Frittura di Pesce Portofino🤤🙏 + The Penne Romanoff. I just want to say a personal thankyou for making this experience yet another amazing one