Il Primo

This business is unclaimed.

Owners who claim their business can update listing details, add photos, respond to reviews, and more.

106 reviews

#20 of 29 Restaurants in New Ross€€ - €€€, Italian, Pizza

+353 51 425 262+ Add website

Write a Review

Hours

Sun

12:00 - 23:00

Mon

15:00 - 22:00

Tue

15:00 - 22:00

Wed

15:00 - 22:00

Thu

15:00 - 22:00

Fri

12:00 - 23:00

Sat

12:00 - 23:00

Improve this listing

What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

3.0

106 reviews

#20 of 29 Restaurants in New Ross

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

This business is unclaimed.

Owners who claim their business can update listing details, add photos, respond to reviews, and more.

Claim your free listing now

CUISINES

Italian, Pizza, European

Meals

Lunch, Dinner

FEATURES

Takeout, Reservations, Seating, Highchairs Available, Serves Alcohol, Table Service

Location and contact

18-21 South Street, New Ross Ireland

+353 51 425 262

Improve this listing

Can a vegetarian person get a good meal at this restaurant?

Yes

Unsure

Details

Manage this business?

CUISINES

Italian, Pizza, European

Meals

Lunch, Dinner

FEATURES

Takeout, Reservations, Seating, Highchairs Available, Serves Alcohol, Table Service

Contribute

Write a review

Upload a photo

Ask a question

We perform checks on reviews.

Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews

Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.

When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.

Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.

Learn more about our review moderation.

3.0

106 reviews

Excellent

Very good

Average

Poor

Terrible

GPH91

Dublin9 contributions

Cheap but not so cheerful

Feb 2020 • none

From the start, we didn’t get great vibes from the waitress. I rang to make a reservation and just received grunts down the phone. We then arrived to be met by one of the waitresses who showed us to our table. She was not overly friendly but we looked past this. After a very long wait, our starters arrived. We got the oven cooked Feta which was ok. Our pizzas then followed (literally seconds after) which good. All in all the food was ok but that particular waitress really let the place down, even when going to pay, she was rude and awkward. Also, decor like something from the 90s! Fish tanks and fan heaters..

Written 17 February 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jarlath O

8 contributions

Avoid if it more that a pizza you want

Oct 2021 • none

Had dinner with my family of 4 on the October bank holiday 2021. My wife and kids got pizza and chips which were fine. We had a bottle of wine 26 euro OK. I ordered a started which came out the dish scalding but the food cold inside. Clearly reheated in a microwave. My main was chicken with mushroom white sauce on pasta... chicken was terrible, clearly not fresh , brought in precooked in bulk warmed up and slapped on top of average overcooked pasta with a lumpy sauce.

Written 27 October 2021

Stefano

Boyle54 contributions

Nice food

Aug 2021 • family

Booked for a Monday evening. Restaurant is a fine room with very good atmosphere. Place was fairly busy. There was clearly not enough staff working the floor, 2 people 1 being new. Although service was slow, despite both floor staff working extremely hard I really enjoyed the food. I went with chicken wings followed by fillet steak. My wife had a seafood spaghetti dish which was very nice. My daughter had pizza which was beautiful. All in all we enjoyed our meal. Maybe 3 or 4 floor staff instead of 2 would speed up the service.

Written 30 August 2021

Eibhin M

61 contributions

Absolute disgrace of an "owner"

Jan 2020 • friends

Food was lovely was having a nice time with friends. Went to pay with card and because it was under 20e they would not accept my card. I said to the waitress 'well what di I do' and she shrugged her shoulders. She would not give me a reason as to why I could not pay for my dinner. I then asked to speak to the manager and she very quietly said she was so I asked her again 'are you the manager?' To which she said no and pointed at a chef. He came over and said that she was the manager and the two of them starter laughing together. He was so rude to me and laughing and mocking. My friend was not around and I went out to tell him and he came back in to let him know he had upset me and he'd apologise. When I re-iterated to him that he was so unprofessional he said 'you say we so professional I want to give you a kiss' that alone disgrace don't care how good the food is!!

Written 4 January 2020

Eamon1804

5 contributions

Avoid unless you want Covid 19

Jan 2022 • family

We have visited and enjoyed Il Primo many times but I'm sorry to say we won't be back. No complaints about the food but the lack of Covid measures here is unacceptable. When we arrived we showed our Covid vaccination certs which were glanced at from a distance but nobody was particularly interested in them. We were shown to our table and we gave our order. Food arrived reasonably quickly and, having 2 small children with us, being honest we were distracted by them and didn't notice at that time that our waitress was wearing no mask or face covering of any kind. As we were eating we observed her going to other tables again with no face covering. We eat our food as quickly as possible and called her to ask for the bill. I said when you're bringing the bill please wear a mask. She arrived with the bill and a mask under her mouth across her chin. I asked her to please wear the mask properly and her reply was "you can't tell me what to do". She then said she has asthma and cannot wear a mask. We said she should then wear a visor, which she just ignored. Other staff members in the food prep area were also mask-less so nobody appears to care. This restaurant should not be supported when there are plenty of other businesses doing their best to comply and keep their customers safe. Il Primo obviously don't care about their customers.

Written 3 January 2022

Trish hayes

11 contributions

Awful experience won’t be back

Sept 2022 • solo

Ate here Friday 16th Sept2022. Was staying overnight in new Ross and apart from takeaways this place seemed to be only place to sit down after 7pm. I happen to be travelling solo and when I asked the chef ( whom I assume is also the owner) for a table for one he looked around and said I don’t have a table for one despite there only being about three tables eating at the time and loads of room and then looked over at a small table for two in the corner with a wonky chair leg so asked if I wanted that so I accepted but was still in shock at his initial reaction. I was so sorry I didn’t just turn on my heels and go to a chipper instead. I think I had the menu 2 mins when one of two very young inexperienced untrained staff came over and asked me if I was ready to order. I said I only just sat down. At this stage I should have been asked if I wanted a drink to start but no. I let it go and 5 mins later I ordered a starter and main course with a glass of 7up and a glass of Merlot. My starter was lovely but it was the only nice bit of the whole experience. I still hadn’t gotten my drinks when I had my starter finished although I was provided with water and afterwards a random plate of two slices of white cheap bread and butter??? I again asked the other young waitress for my drinks as I didn’t get them. She looked at me as if I didn’t speak English. Eventually I got them. Before my main course came out there came an influx of about ten kids plus two adults for a kids birthday party (at an Italian can’t you believe this) and where were they sitting only directly behind me despite the rest of the restaurant being practically empty. They were kids being kids but banging the back of my chair and generally being annoying and there was more fuss made out of looking after them then there was of me despite being there before them. If my main course was worth waiting for I’d say something but it was basically a breast of chicken with bland spaghetti covered over it with no taste at all. Hence I left most of it. Even the wine tasted off. I couldn’t wait to get out of there so got up to pay but neither waitress were able to make out my bill and had to call I’m guessing the owners Italian wife but she was so busy serving yet another family that the same ignorant chef to make out my bill with a grunt never asked me if all ok and just shoved the receipt in front of me. Hence I didn’t leave a tip and it was €36 I will never see again. And I’m usually a good tipper. All next day I had stomach cramps just to top it off. Stay well away from this place. Much nicer places deserve your business.

Written 18 September 2022

ciara210

Cork3 contributions

Avoid

Jul 2021 • couples

Came here with my partner- he had reserved a table. Had read reviews and didn’t expect much however when we arrived it seemed to be quite busy. Seated and after 10 minutes had our order taken. Waited over half an hour for the food to arrive and when it did it was beyond disappointing. My partner had a chicken dish,I had ordered a pasta dish which had a hair in it. When I sent it back the man who had brought the food abruptly asked did I want anything- I didn’t. A little while later the same man came over and explained that he did not know how the hair came to be in the food as the chef was bald? I didn’t really need an explanation the restaurant pretty much spoke for itself. Asked for the bill and noticed the uneaten pasta dish was on it- explained to the waitress and she removed it however I could hear it being discussed about whether we should pay. We got the amended bill and quickly paid and left. Would not return again.

Written 30 July 2021

Dining Guest

Kilkenny1 contribution

Avoid at all costs

Apr 2023 • family

Called to book in late on a Saturday night and was immediately booked in for a table of 4 which seemed a bit fishy, presumed it would be difficult to get a table so easily on Easter weekend at such short notice. Anyways we arrived and ordered our food, 2 fettuccine carbonara’s, a seafood spaghetti and a fillet steak, followed by a bottle of the house white wine. The server who was rude in the first place and barely understood us, never asked how the steak should be cooked. Upon realising minutes later, he was called upon and he was notified that he never asked and he just lied and that it was asked for it to be cooked medium, despite never asking in the first place. The steak came out and firstly, it was not a fillet but quite clearly a sirloin, and secondly it was well done not even medium rare as requested. The steak was sent back and it was said that a fresh one would be out in 10 minutes. Low and behold, 20 minutes later the steak came out, while every other meal was cold and everyone was finished eating. There was literally no taste whatsoever to any of the pasta dishes, the carbonara’s were made with cream rather than egg, and were ridiculously bland. The crab in the seafood spaghetti were literally chopped up crab sticks from Lidl. The house wine tasted corked, it was incredibly sour and nobody could stomach more than a few sips. No word of a lie the best part about the meal was the bread and butter. Every single one of us started feeling unwell about 15 mins after leaving. Genuinely one of the worst dining experiences any of us ever experienced.

Written 8 April 2023

EireBear

Kilkenny43 contributions

Had to leave without getting dinner

Mar 2020 • friends

Arrived with friends at 6.45 on a Wednesday as I was in a show in the theatre across the road from it at 8. At 7.30 after been told twice our food was on the way I had to leave without getting anything to eat. My friends dinners were a further 10 minuets after that again, which they had to wolf down in order to get to see that show I was in. A full 50 minuits wait. Shocking poor service. I’ll never be be back...

Written 5 March 2020

Murt

Kildare4 contributions

MEDIOCRE AT BEST.

Nov 2020 • none

I got a takeaway there last week, Their version of spaghetti Bolognese is a far cry from any other Italian food I’ve ever had before. It was more like a tub of Pasta with ‘a promise’ of meat (see photos) the flavour was average at best and the garlic bread was chewy and slightly burnt. The girl front of house looked like she’d rather be anywhere else and made me and my work colleague feel uncomfortable to be honest and that we were an inconvenience, I mean why work in that environment if you can’t be pleasant to the people that help pay your wages. Another gripe I have is that they wouldn’t accept our credit or debit cards unless we spent over 20 euro, so this meant that you’d either had to spend more money or pay in cash, neither of us had cash so we had to combine our bill and pay that way, not ideal for essential workers who need to claim expenses (which we were) and not ideal during this pandemic to encourage the use of cash so much. Overall this was a disappointing experience.

Written 30 November 2020

Marion S

2 contributions

Very disappointed…

Mar 2022 • couples

I have to say that we got very disappointed. The salmon was over cooked, the sauce had no flavour, served on top of baby potatoes… My partner’s plate was not what he expected either! The presentation should have been much better as well. We both didn’t finish our plates… For the price, we won’t come back… It is definitely not worth it. I do much better at home for half the price. Sorry but we were definitely not impressed, I even feel that I am being generous putting you 2 stars…

Written 28 March 2022

Emma B

1 contribution

😞

Mar 2020 • family

restaurant was freezing, can get over that, we were "greeted" by a chef who didn't look very happy to see customers, thrown some menus which have seen better days. partner ordered pizza it was a circle of greasy dough and a portion or chips which where clearly frozen chips and soggy and under cooked. I had the pasta and 9 hours later I can still taste it! the coke and 7up were flat as pancakes, and I had to put the baby in a high chair that was well past its sell by date, I scrubbed it with a milton wipe and hoped for the best! avoid.

Written 8 March 2020

Tourist37818247251

2 contributions

Save your moneyyy

Apr 2024 • family

Really poor service and food quality, I don’t even know where to start 🙃 starter bruschetta was just brown bread with some salad on it, two steaks were ordered 1 came out with the wrong sauce 1 came out as 2 minute steaks on top of eachother - both ordered medium and got WELL done. I got a spicy pasta algoli and it was very sweet. Asked for extra chillis, did they mistake it for sugar??? The two Carbonaras were nice the other 2 members of our party got to be fair. Then when we paid they said we couldn’t split the bill for 5 people, there was literally a sign that said you can’t split it for over 5?? I pointed this out and he said “🤷🏼‍♀️sorry” - so ignorant. So one member paid for all and then another member went to pay for theirs after we had paid for everything and they were actually going to take for it again??? He defo wasn’t getting a tip anyway - avoiiiid

Written 29 April 2024

owen f

41 contributions

Enjoyable

Aug 2021 • family

Having read some questionable reviews our expectations were a little heightened for disappointment. However, we were quickly seated to a lovely table. A mature Italian man was quick to make us feel at home and take our order. Pizza's and pasta arrived and we tucked in. Thumbs up from everyone. The atmosphere was a mix of chat and laughter. Despite swollen bellys we chanced the deserts, another winner for two sugar fiends! Can't find fault with our experience and hope to return.

Written 23 August 2021

Mama G

17 contributions

Customer Service Gone Mad

Sept 2023 • friends

We were looking forward to a night out and were delighted to see that Il Primo was busy BUT we came out disappointed. The food was OK - the salads were really lovely and fresh - but the service left a lot to be desired, unfortunately. While we were eating our starters, the waiter came with our mains not once but twice and was rather rude the second time we asked him (and we were polite) if we could finish our starters, muttering something under his breath. There was one young guy there who also served us and was really lovely and helpful. He was very professional and well, the other guy could learn A LOT from him.

Written 2 September 2023

…

Showing results 1-15 of 102

Best moderately priced restaurants

See all