ASK Italian in Birmingham

I have just been for my Mother’s Day meal here and am not usually one for complaining or writing negative reviews, I usually love ASK and we return often, however I have never had such shocking service as I have just received. We waited an hour before even getting our first drink. Waited over the odds for our starter, the table hadn’t been cleared before the main arrived. My son had to wait for a fork to continue his meal. We waited over an hour after ordering our second drink which never actually made it to us. When busy I’m sure most people can forgive a delay in food but really an hour between drinks?!!! When I pointed this out to the manager she proceeded to tell me what a bad day they had had- I’m guessing this was due to the fact of their busyness due to Mother’s Day but maybe getting more staff in would of been sensible. It was most frustrating to see that they were still allowing people to walk in even though they knew that they couldn’t deal with the people they had already got in. When we lost patience and asked for the bill we still ended up paying over the odds as we had had our starter and main from the Mother’s Day set menu and not even managed to get our desserts. Something we couldn’t get the manageress to see. It became frustrating and embarrassing so we just payed the bill and left. To top it off we were cold and miserable from sitting in a draft. Will be taking our custom elsewhere from now on I feel.

Excellent food, excellent service. Served by Lauren, a hard working young woman with a friendly smile. Nothing was to much trouble for her and she never stopped smiling. Ask Italian, and Lauren, we had a meal that melted in our mouths and the welcome atmosphere made it a very special night. We will definitely be back

Food was reasonable but the service was dire. Seemed short staff but those that were in attendance seemed to have perfected the art of ignoring customers. Staff were just walking around, almost making a point of not looking or making eye contact. Eventually had to go and stand up and lurk near the till to get someone to take the order. Would have order by the app but initially couldn't get it to work. Later found the app was expecting a 3 digit table number but the number on the card was only 2 digits - you had to add a zero to the front to make it 3. Drinks eventually arrived followed by the food. Sweets took so long to arrive that I almost missed my train home. Thankfully we'd mastered the app before that as that gave a (hidden) option to leave no tip. Seems mean, and I normally give something, but they really didn't deserve a tip as the service was so poor. Acknowledge customers, talk to them, clear away the dirty plates and glasses, and, if you don't have something ordered, tell the customer don't just invent something. Basic stuff all sadly lacking on this visit.

Yes!We spent the weekend in Birmingham with my best friend, we wanted to have a quick meal before our train was due and came to this place as our last meal in Birmingham.I think George was greeting us(sorry if I missed your name) and followed up with excellent service from our waitress… could not catch her name, but on my receipt is Emilia(I believe she was a manager).I had seafood pasta and my friend had vegan AND gluten free pasta. It is nice to know that this place can accommodate people with different food beliefs and on the top of that they are making us welcomed. Definitely will be back!

I definitely recommend ordering the cheesecake for dessert, it’s amazing! The restaurant was very busy that day but the food was still good and the staff very friendly

Flora was a very pleasant and offered a good service. She always had a smile.

Whenever I come in to order takeaway I takes at least 30 min to leave the place. The food is really good, just a shame it needs reheating when I get back home. Staff is highly professional and polite.

The garlic bread with mozzarella cheese was the BOMB! The best I’ve ever tasted. 🤤

The food is pretty good although I think it got a bit worse over the recent years. The dough is not so crusty and fluffy. Ingredients on pizza were put in a lazy way, all the onion in one spot, some cheese on one half but none on the other etc.Anyway, food is still decent, I'd say 4/5.But the service was terrible. The order was taken by a waitress (not via app) and despite reassuring me that it's not a problem to replace the Prosecco for a beer as part of the Festive set (I asked about this 3 times including when they brought Prosecco instead of beer), the beer has been eventually added to the bill as a separate item.We spent there 3h 10 mins in total because food and drinks were so delayed. We waited almost 40 mins for the desserts after the main meal and they forgot about one anyway. No one was checking on us so the table was a mess with all the empty bottles, plates and glasses.In the end, the "optional team tip" (as named on the bill) wasn't optional - no one asked us about it, it has been added without our knowledge and waiter didn't even ask if we want to pay it when we paid by card.I understand that during busy hours service can be a bit worse, although it should be prepared for this (that's managers' job, I've been there) as busy weekends are not a surprise.Lack of transparency is however unacceptable.

Good value family meal, perfect portion for little ones and speedy service. Was half empty but still people being turned away, not sure if covid related or a staffing issue, our meal was unaffected though.