I'm so happy that my office is only 5 minutes from here…read more Luciano's is an Italian restaurant and deli hidden in a corner next to The Macron Stadium - the home of Bolton Wanderer's FC. I've been here a few times for lunch, but I usually grab a sandwich to go from the deli counter - today, i decided to sit in and catch up with a friend. They do everything here from sandwiches at lunch time to a full dinner menu - with all the usual Italian dishes making a appearance. I have only been here for lunch, so I can't comment on the dinner menu, although it looks varied with everything from antipasti, to pasta, pizza, steak.. you name it, they do it. So i'm quite excited to pop back here sometime and try this out. But for salads and sandwiches at lunch - spot on!

Sometimes an impromptu decision is the best decision. I had…read moreevery intention of coming to Luciano's for a well earned coffee and ended up having a really nice meal. When you walk in, it has a good atmosphere this place, not too open, not too cramped. There is a nice display of Pannatones, Coffee grounds, Pastas etc to buy, a great selection of wines and a well stocked chiller full of soft drinks. The waiter asked where I'd like to sit, I explained I would just like a coffee and that wasn't a problem. Here's where the seasoned pro sales skills come in... "I will leave a menu here in case you fancy anything to nibble" he said...well done, because it worked and before i knew it I had ordered the early bird special of any pasta dish and either a glass of wine, a peroni or a soft drink for £10.95. I asked if could have a coffee instead and that was fine... Damn you non existant will power!! I ordered a cheesey garlic bread side and the Gnocchi Etna. This was Gnocchi with spinach, chilli and sausage. As I sipped my lovely flat white, 20 minutes passed by and the food arrived. It was presented very well, there was easily enough Garlic bread to share if you needed to! The Gnocchi was really nice, not too spicy at all and the sauce was a nice consistency. It was maybe a little salty, but that was mainly due to the sausage and the pancetta that where in it I'm guessing. The waiter did a check back, which is good (if not it's a bit of a bug bear for me) and brought me the bill promptly when asked. Grand total of £13.90 which i thought was a bargain as I was well and truly full! I would recommend Lucianos to anyone that fancies either a nice relaxing coffee in different surroundings than your usual chain bought one and now if you fancied somewhere for a casual, yet still somehow sophisticated, light evening meal for a bargain price.

Styling itself as a place of fusion, that is, offering a real variety of Oriental cuisine - from…read moreIndonesian Nasi Goreng to Japanese Stir Fry Udon, this is a place of quanitifiable selection - but no real substance. Service was a little rushed and the food was good, but not great.

Our first time visit. Much as I was confuse by the fact that I had to order my rice separately as…read moretheir curry wasn't served with anything at all. Despite that, the food was devine & their staff were really friendly. Would definitely come back again

Ask Italian is situated in the middle of a busy retail park in Horwich and only a few minutes walk…read morefrom my office. Any time we have a team lunch out - it's always here and it's always great. Pizza is, obviously, always my first choice here. Their pizza bases are thin and crispy and they love to experiment with a huge choice of toppings too. The pizza pictured, was lovely! I have tried some pasta dishes here too - the mushroom tortellini being one of my favourites. If you ever find yourself in Middlebrook retail park and get hungry - I would recommend Ask.

I have wanted to try out Ask, in Bolton for a while now, located at the Middlebrook Retail Park in…read moreHorwich, it is in quite a nice location, next to Bella Itallia, just up a lif in the retail park, as this is located in a large retail park there is alot of competition for this cusine type such as Bella Itallia or others, including Nando's for Chicken and Chiquito for mexican food. The staff here did seem quite nice, and inside it was the quite a nice place as well with some italian decor going back to the roots of this restauraunt, this was nice. I ordered a Gluten Free Margharita Buffala pizza, which simply is a Margharia with Buffalo Mozzerella, it was quite nice, albeit there was probably too much buffalo mozzerella, and big lumps of it, the base was quite nice too but sadly it was a little soggy. I also ordered some potatoes to go with my meal, they were quite nice with the oil they put them in and a nice gluten free side, if you are a coeliac like myself. The service did seem quite quick, but I felt rushed as they come over when I hadn't decided what to order yet, and then came nowhere near me so I had to do a huge wave across the restauraunt, like a kid would do to say goodbye. The pricing seemed reasonable, especially with my Tastecard which gave me 2-4-1, albeit this was only one lot despite there being 4 diners overall, which was a shame. Overall, this is quite a nice place, but is sadly too much on the average side to warrant anything over 3 stars.

Nando's at Middlebrook Retail Park is a pretty large branch serving halal chicken only. I consider…read moremyself a Nando's regular, so I was looking forward to finding out how this branch compared as one thing I've found with Nando's is their branches and food tends to either be excellent or terrible and it is rare that a branch is in-between. On a personal note, this ended up being my final review of 2019 and was #937 for my yearly total and #2973 since joining Yelp in April 2014. Firstly, the store was rather busy so there was a short wait for a table before I came in, the waiting area wasn't too nice as it was in a small drafty porch with no staff on hand to greet you straight away or even nearby, which as you don't directly walk straight into the restauraunt would have been nice. One thing I noticed straight away was the high amount of staff in the store and most of them were students, I've never seen so many young people working in one place at once, there probably wasn't a single staff member over 25 which is an interesting observation. I liked how the store had two small stands with water and fizzy drink machine as well as some sauces and cutterly, this is especially needed in such a large store and made it easier. When my food came originally, it was drowned in sauce, when I had to pick it up to put it on my side plate to send it back to the kitchen (as it was cold), the sauce just seemed to drip everywhere and even the plate underneath the chicken was covered, it was sliding and rather unpleasant. My chicken which was originally served cold was returned to me back as a new piece in a few minutes, it still had slightly too much sauce and I also didn't like how they wouldn't put my sides under a hot plate or something similar to keep it cold, as obviously I ordered sides to go with my food, not as a starter. A large Nando's store which was almost full - they had so many staff on that even being almost full shouldn't have affected them but sadly it seemed like it did with the food and waiting time seems to be much worse than other branches, I also don't like the fact they serve halal chicken either and don't even offer regular chicken (I understand some people need halal but why not offer both?). 2*

Tasty food. Good service. Good atmosphere in the building and the service workers are kind.read more

After the local rumours regarding the standard of food and the re-inspection and re-grading of this…read morerestaurant we wanted to give this restaurant another try. Me and my partner arrived before the rest of our party and were shown to the bar area where our drinks our was quickly taken and the drinks soon arrived. We were left with menus, which didn't appear to have changed since my last visit over a year ago. After the rest of our party had arrived our order was taken in the comfort of the bar, we were only shown to our table as our starter of poppadoms with a selection of dips, I had never tried the dips and they tasted very fresh and were full of flavour. The waiters were extremely attentive offering more drinks when needed. The mains were enjoyed by everyone, the waiters were accomodating of my partner who wish to try a sample of the hottest dish on the menu! All in all I would say this restaurant has made a terrific comeback!

Me and my family have been going here since its opening some 10 years ago now the food has always…read morebeen superb and excellent service

Been coming here for years with family and always been happy with the food and the service. I last…read morevisited on 29/05/24 for my parents birthday (mid70's) after not having been for at least 6 months and the food quality and service has declined. The quality of the food was cheap, I recognised the meatballs used in the starter from the bags of frozen meatballs you can purchase in Asda,not actual 'meat'balls. The butter used for my chicken milanaise was overpoweringly cheap margerine flavour, the lasagne looked good but was not up the the expected standard consistancy and flavourwise. We are not a family of complainers so we ate what we could, we wanted to order dessert and a lady said she was on her way to take the order but was found 15 mins later talking and giggling with her collegues on their phones so we asked for the bill instead and the same issue occurred so we went to pay at the counter and left. I hope this experience is a one off but I'm not sure we will be returning.

After my disgraceful experience with Bella Italia on Duke Street in London, where I was given a…read morepizza containing gluten in, passed off as "gluten free", I was given £50 in vouchers from head office, and decided to use them to try and restore my faith in the brand, so I gave Middlebrook the tough job of deciding the fate of my Bella Italia future. Will I come back? Will I avoid it? But... I'm pleased to say the team here did very well! The service was a little slow I admit, and I did have to put up with a rather naughty child, throwing things on the floor and crying, but the staff did apologize for this, which was a nice gesture. I decided to order a gluten free margarita pizza, I told the staff about my past experience, and he seemed quite nice, and knowledgeable about gluten free, he shown sympathy and offered me advice in spotting a gluten free pizza in the future when visiting Bella, whose name basically translates to Beautiful Italy in italian. This store is quite a nice store in general, and is separated from the rest of the retail park, up a lift on a higher floor, which I like as although it is with other restaurants, it is quieter, and does have nice views, and parking up there to make it easy for people, who are just calling in for a meal, rather than shopping in Middlebrook its-self. My pizza was actually quite nice, it did taste fresh and the seasoning and herbs, also made the pizza quite nice, and definitely up there with one of the best gluten free pizzas I've had, along with Ask Italian on Baker Street, and even the likes of Pizza Hut and Zizzi are up there and deserve a mention. The store its-self is quite nice, and does have some features associated with Italy, such as photos and a motorbike. They also have gluten free labelled on both the regular and christmas menu's which i like. This place isn't perfect, and when you consider the service time, it is way below average on that, but still it is above average on food, and some staff did seem to be nice, and knowledgable about gluten free, so I do feel 3 stars is a fair rating for Bella Italia, and I am pleased to say after this experience, my faith has been restored in Bella.

We thought we should give Chiquito a try as we've not been here in a while due to long waiting…read moretimes but today was record breaking, no queues or waiting for tables. Good tasty food, great atmosphere. Friendly staff & speedy service. What more can 1 ask for after watching England give Sweden a whooping . We'll definitely be coming back here soon.

Service was friendly but the waiter kept trying to upsell us cocktails when we were just drinking…read morePepsi. Our starter (platter) took so long to come out that the waiter came over to confirm we hadn't had it. Main course took a while too, and sadly was pretty bland and unimpressive. Nothing special, especially considering the money. We mentioned this at the end, and as a goodwill gesture we were given 2 of our 4 drinks for free. Didn't stay for dessert as we no longer expected it to be worth the extra wait. The actual restaurant is great though, love the decor and artwork. Probably won't return any time soon though.

Not bad at all. The same format as the rest of the chain, including free salad bar access, and a…read moregood selection of classic pub food and some tasty desserts at a good price, especially some of the offers they run. The venue itself (although identikit to the rest of the chains) is modern and relaxed, with earthy pastel tones and chunky furniture, as well as the kitchen being on open view, with the grill taking stage right by the 'viewing' hatch, allowing the sights and smells of the cooking to drift through the dining area, as well as cooking chickens on a rotisserie spit for the same effect. It works well really to be honest! On the opposite side of the restaurant is the main bar area, which has the same decor and styling as the restaurant, but focussed more on relaxed social seating. There's plenty of parking here, as it shares a car park with a hotel and another restaurant, it's also within a 5 minute walk from Horwich Parkway Rail Station.

Great family restaurant. Good selection of food from both adults & Childrens menus. Waitresses &…read morestaff are always friendly. Atmosphere is generally good & not too noisy. This is always our go-to place on random days. Recommended for families with children.

One star is being generous would rather give 0. Ordered on…read morethe Just Eat platform at 13.30 and food turned up almost 3 hours later. Food quality was poor and not worth the price in the slightest, mixed grill steak was cooked like leather. The sausage is cheap catering sausage when paying £20 I'd expect a little more quality. I had a side of peppercorn sauce which was just water and cornflour it seemed with 0 flavour. Wife's rump steak kebab was simple looked good and wasn't really any complaints from her. Sons burger, the patty was over cooked making it nigh on impossible to chew with out breaking his teeth. Whilst ringing the establishment regarding the delivery I had a few sorrys but there was no remorse. It was also clear I was lied to as when I first rang up after 2 hours I was told the driver had left and will be with you 5-10mins, half hour later still no food so rang again to be told the driver has just left. Over all absolutely disgusting and shambolic experience which no one else should have to endure How this establishment is still in business with service like that is beyond me. This is not the first time these things have happened but I always gave the place the benefit of doubt but no more this is the last time these cowboys steal my money.

When the signs first went up in Horwich for Empire, promising a cocktail bar and restaurant, there…read morewas an excited chatter amongst the residents. Although Empire opened at first just as a cocktail bar due to further planning being required for food, it is now a fully fledged bar and restaurant, and steadily gaining popularity and fans. Situated next door to its partner venue, Avocado, on Chorley New Road, it comes alive at night when Avocado goes to sleep, and is bathed in theatrical lighting and flame heaters outside in the darkness. The main issue if you don't know Horwich is a lack of parking, but there is street parking around the place, and a small car park behind it. The vibe when you get inside is more akin to Manchester's Northern Quarter, complete with the current popular style of Industrial chic, with chunky furniture, filament light bulbs, leather booth seating and dark cosy lighting, whilst large framed photos of Audrey Hepburn, Prince, and Elvis Presley add to the American feel . The upstairs area is a dedicated bar, whereas downstairs is the restaurant, which looks every part as high quality as you'd find in Manchester. Nothing has been scrimped on here. The menus and the specials menu are very tempting, and the offerings are more of a special decent meal rather than a quick "that'll do" style meal. Given the descriptions, they sounded like they would be quite substantial, so this time we chose to skip a starter in favour of leaving room for a dessert, but we couldn't QUITE turn it down altogether, so chose to share a garlic bread between us. And I'm glad we did! What came out was a super fresh dough with semolina dusting, and a subtle but delicious garlic butter. Fresh bread. Not dry. Superb. It came on a big wooden board with a large pizza cutter, allowing us to slice as we felt free. For our main, I couldn't resist the idea of the Empire cheeseburger with triple hand-cooked chips, whereas my partner opted for the home-made pie of the week, which was a steak and ale. Who could resist the idea of that? Whilst we waited we chatted to the staff, who were friendly and professional, and as its Christmas at the time I write this, they were all in their Christmas jumpers, joining in with the festive spirit. It wasn't too long a wait before our food arrived. There was a definite "wow" when our food was placed in front of us. It was beautifully presented, but still good and wholesome looking, making you want to tuck in straight away. So we did. The burger was huge, and I could barely fit it in my mouth! However, the meat itself was juicy and excellent quality, and superbly seasoned. It's often a shame when you get somewhere that does big burgers to find that the patty itself is bland, but that is definitely not the case with the Empire cheeseburger! The tasty cheese really complimented the flavour, and the mustard added a superb little kick of flavour without blowing my head off. The chips were perfect. I can't describe them anything more than that. Perfect. Exactly what good chips should be! The pie had an excellent quality pastry, and the filling was absolutely spot on. It came with perfectly prepared seasonal vegetables and a tiny saucepan of gravy, which was jam packed with flavour and really finished the dish off. I have to confess at this point that I couldn't finish the burger... nothing to do with quality or anything, it was just huge! Talk about getting your money's worth! We could probably have shared it! Now, as we were still happily reeling at the quality of our mains, we decided to choose our desserts! I had my eye on the sticky toffee pudding since I first read it before I even ordered drinks, and my partner chose the mixed berry crumble with custard. We didn't luck out on dessert after a great main... the desserts were sublime! The sticky toffee pudding was a beautifully deep flavoured sponge and moist as hell, with a lovely big scoop of ice cream on top, and sat in a puddle of sticky toffee sauce.. and once again, this portion was quite probably the biggest portion of sticky toffee pudding I've ever been given in a restaurant, and I've been to proper food pubs in Yorkshire! The mixed berry crumble was excellently fruity and screaming with flavour, it also came with another tiny saucepan of truly wonderful custard, and a couple of pieces of shortbread. Best way to end a meal. Really good filling food followed by a really amazing set of desserts. Price-wise, Empire may be a touch more than the average Horwich restaurant, but it's very well priced compared to places offering similar quality, and definitely better than those nearby chains offering a similar price for nowhere near as good an experience or quality. Well done Empire, you're on my favourites list and we will be back!

This time last year, there wasn't even a building standing here! Coast To Coast is the newest…read moreaddition to Bolton's Middlebrook Retail Park, and has had the good fortune of having a unit built especially for them between Pizza Hut and McDonalds, where there was formerly some parking that wasn't used very much. As you approach the restaurant, it's nice to see that they have a stylish and pleasant outdoor seating area which I can see being popular in summer. A nice touch is that the pots on the tables are actually fresh rosemary plants which smell great. When you walk into the restaurant itself, it definitely has a "wow" factor. It's very stylishly decorated in dark woods, padding, and with theatrical lighting and spotlights to give it a nicer atmosphere, very much in a New York Loft style. The decoration is very focussed on its American theming, with wall boxes containing artifacts and pictures of different US States. Even the toilets are bright, stylish, and pleasant. The seating is split into different areas and a bar area, there are standard tables, tall tables, and cosy booths, all padded in blacks, deep blues, and reds. The condiments on the table tell you ahead of time that you're in for a good quality trip. High quality vinegar, Tabasco, and Budweiser BBQ Sauce (delicious!) with tactile salt and pepper shakers have you ready for the experience. The menu is extensive, expensive, and very tempting! I say expensive, as it's a bit more than the average cost in the area, (their cheapest burger is £10.45), but they have some really good weekday lunch offers where you can really get a good deal compared to the main evening menu. Our server was a pleasant guy called Joel who told us about the specials, things not available, and his personal recommendations. He was friendly and professional through our visit, attempting to up-sell a few times (sides, desserts etc) but without being obnoxious or pushy about it. We ordered from the lunch menu, and chose to start with the loaded skins and the battered mushrooms. These didn't take long to arrive, and were absolutely superb. The battered mushrooms weren't little button mushrooms like the usual offerings, but big mushrooms, in a perfectly crispy batter! The potato skins were loaded with cheese and BBQ Pulled Pork, which was mind blowing! I've not had pulled pork in a loaded skin before, and the flavour and texture was sublime. I didn't even need to touch that mayonnaise! It's a nice point to notice that the dishes are prepared so their logo is at the top of the plate, and facing the customer, almost like a piece of artwork. For our mains we went for the classic cheeseburger and the southern fried chicken burger. Once again, these were nicely presented. We both chose different fries as our accompaniments. The normal fries were nice but nothing amazing, however the sweet potato fries were crispy, delicious, and morish! I'd definitely get those next time! The cheeseburger was juicy and meaty, and perfectly cooked. The southern fried chicken burger had the most perfect crunch, and was seasoned just right without turning into the pepper-fest that so many chicken dishes fall into. We didn't order dessert (we were stuffed!), but Joel told us about how his favourite dessert was the warm fudge brownie, (complete with "mmm! nom nom nom!" after describing it). The food was very good, particularly given the lunchtime price. I'm not sure I'd be as happy with the price if it was the full evening cost, but as somewhere to come for a special occasion now and then, Coast To Coast delivers, even if it's not somewhere you'd go as often as some of the other cheaper chain restaurant options on the leisure park. However, I can see those other restaurants quaking in their boots a bit, as Coast To Coast is doing what they're doing, but better, and may steal their customers! The service is really superb, from the host greeting you at the door, to the server, and even the folks bringing the food out to your table if your server is busy. We felt taken care of, and looked after. It didn't feel like we were just another bill, and we didn't have to crane ourselves about looking for staff. I'd dine here again. It'd be great for a birthday or anniversary visit. There's much more I'd like to try from that menu! I have my eye on the sliders...

Quick stop for food before heading off on the long drive home…read more There are loads of eateries in this leisure park, after having an initial look around this one drew our attention, easy to park at, inviting exterior and well lit On entering we were almost immediately seated by a the lovely hostess, very polite and smiling. I liked the decor of the interior, there was a lot of booth style seating which made it feel very luxurious and private from other diners We were promptly given the menus and asked for drinks again by a gentleman who was very welcoming and helpful That's the reason they get the two stars so far...... Cause after this .... Nothing was that great The food took a lot longer than expected to come out, over 30 mins from ordering, looking around the place wasn't even 1/4 full, this made us wonder how they coped on the busier nights We spotted our food on the hot plate and it sat there for some time before we finally had it served, I guess this was why we got warm food instead of hot food The food itself was very blahhh What I mean by that is .... I ordered a burger and chips and the burger was quite small in the bun, no real flavour and each bite was rather bland, even the presentation was boring and lacked any appeal. Buffalo boneless chicken had plenty of sauce and I'm glad as the chicken itself was very dry Onion rings tasted like week old dirt oil leaving them quite greasy. The hot and spicy calzone was neither hot nor spicy The food was very underwhelming and frankly disappointing From a place that visually appeals up until the plates are placed in front of you