Gusto

A great sized restaurant with a buzzing atmosphere. Although it’s a chain it feels like an independent restaurant, which I really liked. Tables for 2 are quite close together but we didn’t feel too much on our nextdoor neighbours laps! We went for the tiger prawns & the calamari to start — no photo as I got way to excited and dived right in. The calamari was absolutely amazing, to the point where I didn’t want to share with the boyfriend (I think he had the same sentiments). For the mains Tom went for the prawn & lobster spaghetti and I went for the flattened rump steak. The steak was cooked to perfection & seasoned amazingly (garlic, chilli, peppercorn & sea salt), however I made the error of requesting the peppercorn sauce which was far too overpowering & sadly didn’t compliment very well. The spaghetti looked delicious, with the lobster cooked really well. Of course the only option for dessert had to be the sticky toffee pudding, and it didn’t disappoint!
Our 2^nd order of drinks didn’t appear so we had to chase up but the manager sorted it out and offered them on the house for us, which we appreciated! I’d recommend trying out this place on a quiet night — you’ll be guaranteed great service & lovely food!

Didn’t get the chance to try the food. Terrible customer service, i.e. we had not booked on a Saturday afternoon, however, reluctantly a place at a party table was available until 2.30pm. My husband and I accepted as the place did look lovely and it was warm on such a cold day. Waited at the table and nobody acknowledged we were there, not even to ask if we wished to order a drink. We left after 5 minutes. I will never go here again.

Enjoyed 50% deal in early January 2015, with 3 dining companions on the 1^st Sunday evening of the New Year (around teatime, as they say !). A good time was had by all (especially with the 50% offer !). Our main meal order was actually received and wrong (for the next table)-although myself and dining companions had not properly noticed this. The staff brought this matter to our attention and had it sorted very quickly and very professionally. Can recommend the cheese board (starter), BBQ pizza/​with fries (main) and chocolate/​coffee mousse (dessert). Lovely bar area too, with nice overall ambience. First time I had visited Gusto and recommended, and look forward to visiting their new establishment in Manchester City Centre in the near future.

I know its a chain but I can’t fault it.
The staff are very nice and smiley. The food is just lovely, I had crab pasta last night which was great. Just so you know I can’t eat enough crab at the moment so it was just what I fancied. There is something for everyone on the menu. Its quite a family friendly place but still chic enough to make you want to put on your new dress.
With two for one cocktails before 7pm its great place to start an evening. The cocktails are good and so is the wine.
If you don’t finish you pizza or pasta do ask for a doggie bag its good cold too.
I was hoping for glam loos but clean and well lit will do.

I have been to Gusto a couple of times with friends and both times we have all really enjoyed the food. The place had a lovely ambience and feel to it. Both bar staff and waiter/​waitress were really friendly and warm, both occasions we went Gusto, it was extremely busy, despite this we felt looked after by the staff and service was really good. The food we had was absolutely lovely and served warm, although limited vegetarian choice what we had was very tasty. Great place if you fancy pizza/​pasta, ooh by the way keep space for deserts as they are scrumptious! Would definitely recommend to family friends and oh yeah I will be back too!

This was my first visit and I will admit that I feel a little bit harsh putting three stars; it just really didn’t quite meet my expectations. I found the service to be good enough at first then just tailed off a little during the course of the meal — it felt as though they just lost interest (they were around half full).
The highlight of the meal was the starter — the calamari seemed very fresh and very well cooked. The main — duck rigatoni — was, however, rather disappointing. The course was tiny with very little actual duck and just didn’t fast of a great deal. The steamed spinach side (extra £3.50) was nice but somewhat overpriced for what actually arrived.
Finally, rice pudding for desert. I really liked that they had a few out-​of-​the-​ordinary desserts like this but if you order this particular sweet make sure you like cinnamon (I do, but not quite that much).
So, I would go again — and given the other reviews I would try the steak or pizza. I did feel that the prices were overall reasonable (starters around £6, mains between £9 and £16 — apart from lobster). It’s also worth noting that you could get starter sizes for most of the mains.
Good wine selection and also reasonably priced.
Sides are rather overpriced and the main courses were just a bit *too* small — although that does mean that three courses are possible.

I love Italian and I always want to enjoy an Italian meal. I was largely underwhelmed by gusto.
Whilst the menu was interesting and had some unusual dishes in reality the food was average. I had the goats cheese salad, muscles spaghetti and cheesecake. The spaghetti was the highlight, the cheesecake was bland.
Would I go back? Probably not. I might go along if someone else was keen. It seems a bit mean to give 2 stars, probably deserves 2.5 however it didn’t stack up to other Italians in the area.

There are several Gusto locations but it still feels like a great independent restaurant. The food is excellent, we’ve eaten here many times and never had a bad dish. It’s my go to place for a night out with my best friend, a date with my boyfriend and family meals. We celebrated my Mums 60^th there last Friday and, as usual, it was perfect.
I generally go for the steak as its great here and a good tip is they offer starter portions of the main pasta dishes if you fancy trying one. There was a new dessert menu since I last visited and I tried the new chocolate mouse with espresso cream. I highly recommend this dessert, add an espresso martini and you’ll be in heaven!

I was pleasantly surprised here with the quality of food. I had steak and it was cooked perfectly, sides were extra but again very good. Would definitely visit again.

Really tasty food and friendly service. We went along for a Sunday lunch in a small group and were all really pleased with the quality of the food. Nice interior also :) will be back!

Gusto Gusto Gusto… YUM. I love this restaurant and have been numerous times. The outside seating is so perfect for summer dining, enclosed in the trellis fence lit up with fairy lights. The staff always give a warm welcome and encourage you to sit at the bar if you’re waiting for a table, where you can try the delicious cocktails. Try the Ginito (I’m a huge gin lover so this is right up my street) which is a Mojito variation so tastes really fresh.
I have to say I disagree with Elliot, the lobster is definitely worth a try! With just the right amount of garlic it’s a real treat, especially in the gorgeous setting — aim to get a booth if you can. Or go in a group and reserve the big marble table in the middle.
The Wild Mushroom Risotto with extra bacon (£9.50) is really good as well as the Griffin pizza (£9.25) so plenty to choose from. The very best part of any evening at Gusto is the Nutella and Mascarpone Calzone with vanilla ice cream (£5.50). This is literally the most delicious dessert! Depending how much else you’ve already eaten, it may be best to get it to share but really if you can eat it all yourself — do.

My trip to Gusto was a bit of a mistake. Me and the boyf had been planning on going out for tapas, but the tapas place was closed. So we kind of wandered round Didsbury looking for somewhere to eat, and happened across Gusto. Now, when I was living in Didsbury, I’d stand at the bust stop next to Gusto every darn day, and yet I never really noticed it. How bizarre. It’s lucky that tapas place was closed that day, or we’d never have discovered this lovely place.
Nowadays, it seems like everyone’s getting in on the act with Mediterranean foodstuffs, and let’s face it, pasta’s not exactly a revelation. When you think about it, most of us cook and eat ‘Italian’ most of the time. I know I do, as I have a weird habit of making massive lasagnes about once a week, and freezing huge slabs of the stuff. Obviously I am subconsciously preparing for some kind of nuclear disaster, in the event of which, we will be sustained by lasagnes until help comes.
Er, where was I? Oh yeah, Italian food. It’s not the most exciting genre, really. But Gusto, well, Gusto’s pretty exciting. A small chain based in the North West, Gusto serves quality authentic Italian grub at very reasonable prices. Their pasta dishes are all priced under the £9 mark (apart from lobster linguine, obviously) and you can grab an 8oz sirloin steak for £13.95. The wide and varied pizza menu is priced from £5.95 to £9.95 and satisfies any pizza need, from margarita to peking duck.
The wine list has a wine for every palate and pocket, with a range of fruity, heavy, dry and sweet plonks starting at £14 and going up to over £50. They also offer a great cocktail list, and they use the good tequila in their margaritas, always cause for kudos from me!
The setting of this restaurant is really nice, from the intimate leather booths to the stand-​alone tables, the low lighting and soft music makes it an ideal date venue, though the booths can seat larger parties if you don’t mind getting a little cosy…
All in all, a lovely place to eat, in a lovely little bit of Manchester. It’s worth the occasional journey from the city centre, too.

Great place for a slap up meal. Not cheap, but although it will leave your wallet that bit lighter, you won’t feel ripped off.
I had the pork belly which was superb and I fully recommend.

I don’t go to Didsbury often but I was recommending going to a restaurant called Gusto by a couple of my friend. A few weeks ago I went and I really had a great time, I went with 3 other friend and the service was great, the food was amazing and the environment was an all round happy one. We booked a table for 8 on the Saturday night and we got there, had a drink at the bar and were seated at 8:15, the starters came pretty quick, the main meal took a little longer but that didn’t really bother us. The staffs were quick to clear the table and quick to take desert orders. If I was going again the only difference I would make is booking a bit earlier, it was quite busy and a little crammed. The price was not too bad as the quality of the food was quite high

I went to Gusto due to the fact that I was in the process of moving house (I couldn’t be bothered to cook midweek) and I had a hi-​life card (thus getting one meal free). Sadly, I think I would rather have bought a pizza from M & S food.
I decided upon a Caesar salad, which was okay, although would have been far better if they’d decided to toss the salad with the dressing, rather than leaving the dressing inconspicuously sat at the bottom of the bowl. My boyfriend played it safe with a pizza, which he said was fairly average, but probably overpriced.
But now onto the more serious topic of desserts. My boyfriend’s lemon tart was apparently quite tasty, but ridiculously small. I thought the pastry was a little soggy. I decided not to stick with my usual choice of ‘whatever’s chocolate’ and branched out with the tasty and interesting sounding ‘honey baked pear with warm gorgonzola and raisin bread’. Oh how wrong I was. The pears were dry and tasteless. The gorgonzola was overly salty and a very horrible kind of luke warm. And the raisin bread was burnt toast with no raisins in it. Oh dear. I was so disappointed I kept going on about it the next day like a crazy dessert-​bore. Of course, that is what I am, but I rarely admit it.

Located in Didsbury, this place fits snugly into this stylish and elegant district of Manchester. Entering a place with such good Feng Shui is always soothing.
Incredibly trendy and very upmarket. Prices are a gradiently steeper here but menu is a la carte and it’s a very popular place with residents.
High standards are set with all Living Ventures locations (previous owners of the Living Room, and current owners if this place and the Blackhouse Grills) and this place is no exception.
Diners can relax sitting around the theatre kitchen watching the chefs at work or else at the con amici table, designed for sharing and talking.
Lively, and a place you’ll enjoy.

Gusto is a stylish italian on the main street through Didsbury. It has a decent selection of Pasta, Pizza and other main courses of fish and meat. There is seating outside for a nice brunch or lunch or just have a coffee and cake. My one comment on the price of the wine is that it is a bit steep at £7 and the rest for a 250cl glass of mediocre sauvignon blanc. Apart from that its a fab place to spend an evening.