Good food (the most authentic around anyway). A tad pricey. Good service although not dissimilar from a conveyor belt. No real heart in the place, it's a big multinational with cash on the brains.

I popped in here for a coffee and a pastry the other day and they were both absolutely delicious. It's certainly on the more expensive side when you compare it to the other cafés in the area, but it really is very good quality, so if you have a little cash burning a hole in your pocket this is a great place to spend it!

I've been in here a few times, and I've always been very happy with the food. They do lovely stuff whether you're sitting down for a proper meal of you just want to pick up a quick tart to snack on. I haven't tried their coffee, but I'm assured that it is one of the best in Dublin.

It's normally busy enough, so you might not always be in luck if you just wander in off the street, but normally it's not a problem. They often have a good early bird deal (or other meal deal) on offer, so if you time it right it won't end up being especially expensive. Definite thumbs up from me.

I went for lunch today wuth a friend and was ok-ed by the experience. although i should know better, as im always just oked by italian food anywhere outside of italy.

i went for the 3 courses for 13.00euro so we shared the starter and dessert.

for the starter we had bruschetta which needed salt, which sucked cos salt wasnt on the tables and the waiter disappeared after dropping it off.

for mains my friend had the penne giardiniera : penne with courgette, chilli and fried spinach balls with Parmesan and garlic.

he asked if it was ok to add the chicken and the waiter replied " uhhhh i guess so."
my friend says " or is it not?"
"sure...cos that's a famous italian dish ; pasta and chicken."

i actually had no idea what he was getting at. he continued " the chef isnt italian so it's fine. before i had an italian chef, and if i would ask him to add chicken, he would say some not nice things." he liked the dish but i thought it was just ok and a bit plain.

i had the ravioli stuffed with ricotta & spinach. which actually ended up being quite oily and covered in butter. the filling was good, though...if that counts.

this time i asked for salt in advance and they brought the tiny dish made for finger scooping. i hate those. god knows whose fingers have been in there.

my friend was in a hurry to get back to work and told the waiter this while we ordered dessert. the waiter said " sure, right away!" and clapped his hands, walking away . i didnt like his attitude and he's part of the reason this place gets 3 stars. to be fair, we only mentioned being in a hurry because after his wine, my friend asked for a glass of water and it never came.

he dropped the dessert which was actually good and we got our 40 euro bill. it was ok but im not rushing to go back.

I've been in here once or twice, never for coffee, but I am very impressed by their selection of biscuits and pastries! This is the place to go for delicious Italian treats, and I highly recommend their tarts.

Recently I've started venturing to Carluccios for lunch as they do (what can only be described as) an epic Chicken Milanese panino, but be warned it's not very healthy and it's extremely popular - arrival before 1pm is strongly recommended in order to avoid inevitable disappointment.

Went to this restaurant for the first time this week and really liked it. There is a real Italian feel to the place, with the lovely food counter and displays of Italian delicacies on the way in. The staff were very friendly and efficient. I'd give it 5 stars except the pork in one of our main dishes was pink in the middle. So 4 stars it is!

Great food, lovely deli and shop. This restaurant is a great alternative to Milano's, the food is not bad value and the food is very tasty. Also lovely bits and pics in the shop at the front.

This place is trading on the name of a chef who no longer has any associations with it.

The food is disappointing to say the least. Any half hearted foodie could produce a better Italian meal than the two I've had here.

Save your money. Buy some nice ingredients, google some recipes and you'll have a much better meal.

If you ask, they do a lovely bowl of linguine with pesto. That with a nice espresso is a lovely. The place is nice for truly Italian service, (i.e. you wouldn't want to be in a rush)

Happy to report they're still serving espresso with a glass of tap water here (unprompted)... must be one of the only places in Dublin doing this - upgrading my previous review from four to five stars on the back of it!

Great deli counter and shop too, expensive but the real McCoy!

I used to live next door to a Carluccios in London. Agree with the previous reviewers, the food is not outstanding, but the coffee is the bee's knees. I've found that common across several outlets. They do a gorgeous rich chocolate cake too!

The first thing that strikes you about Carluccio's is the design. Both the interior and exterior looks great... I must admit this made me a little bit nervous as I'm always wary of stylish Italian things - take Alfa Romeos for example, nice to look at but not hugely reliable! For me, Carluccio's is reliable. Now I must be honest, I get the gnocchi with spinach & gorgonzola every time I go but there's something else that makes it stick out from the Italian crowd and that's the fact they serve a glass of water with your espresso - this is very Italian and not something I've ever experienced here in Ireland before... and to think a free glass of tap water is what floats my boat - four stars from me!

Took the family out for lunch and decided to drop into Dublins newest spot - Place looks great, all very modern day Italian style but I have to be honest I thought the food was very average and below on certain options - I had the antipasta to start which was soaked in olive oil - nothing compared to the Unicorn anitpasta. Main cousre obviously had no impact as I can't remember what I had.

It was a shame and haven't been back since - Hope to try it again and maybe proved wrong. I think its might be a fad for a while

I've had lunch and dinner here and on both occassions it was pretty packed - there were three of us for dinner and we were given the option of either waiting awhile for a small table or sharing a bigger table with other people - Waggamama-style. The food is awesome - had the lemon calamari with lettuce to start and the gnocchi with spinach & gorgonzola sauce for my main - and the place has one of those menus that you could happily work your way through; rather than picking out things you might like. The waiting staff were good and always at the ready. It's reasonably priced so wins on that front too...only reason it's 4/5 is that my lunch-time panino was a bit on the dry side (I've had better).

I was really looking forward to trying this place and went on a Sunday afternoon for lunch. I have to say I was a little disappointed. The place looks great, there are plenty of Italian waiters buzzing around the place and the deli and bakery counters look really appetising. But the pasta dish I got didn't live up to my expectations, I ordered the special which was orichiette with pancetta and brocolli. There were a couple of small bits of broccoli and then a mountain of pancetta mixed with the pasta which annoyingly was stuck together. It was tasty but not fantastic. I also ordered a salad on the side which never came so I ended up cancelling it. Great espresso though