Caprese - Don Costanzo

We've been excited to try this out for months, but kept thinking of it on a Sunday, when they are closed. Finally we made our way over on a rainy Thursday night. We arrived at about 10 minutes to 6 and it seemed like they were still setting up for dinner (oops) but they seated us anyway. After perusing the menu and consulting Yelp, I ordered the pollo vino bianco with a side of broccoli, and my companion ordered a starter of fried zucchini and the agnolotti (ravioli) for his main (technically from the pasta menu, but there are no vegetarian mains!)

My chicken was delicious in a tasty sauce, and the side of broccoli was massive (see pictures for evidence.) His zucchini looked really nice and he called it "addictive" and the pasta was enjoyed as well. Since the portions weren't too crazy, we both still had room for dessert - he went for the much-loved on Yelp tiramisu and I opted for the gluten-free option of strawberries and ice cream. Both were really nice.

My only complaints in the experience are these:
One, I wasn't fully prepared for what eating in an authentic Italian restaurant would be like, ordering-wise, so I was kind of surprised about the build-your-own-meal-adventure approach to dining - for example, when I ordered the main, based on the price, I thought it would be a full plate (meat + veg + starch), but actually, you are meant to order these all separately. Again, I take responsibility for this because I'd just never dined in this style before. Once you know what to expect, it's a great way to make sure you get exactly what you want!

Two, the expenses add up quickly. The food is very nice, but go prepared to pay for your experience. My chicken main cost £16, which was for a hearty chicken breast in sauce with a little salad next to it. My side of broccoli was £2.50, my dessert was about £4.50 (they were charged together on the receipt, not sure of the breakdown so there's my guess) and my small glass of house wine was a good deal at £3, totaling £26 for just myself.

To leave this on a high note, they have gluten-free pasta available, so you can still go enjoy your starchy goodness. One of the family members in the restaurant has Coeliac, so they are knowledgeable about gluten and careful - always much appreciated by this gluten-free girl! As for vegetarians, there are no mains, but plenty of starters, sides and pastas to be had.

All in all, a good experience.

Came here for a family get-together. It's a pretty typical Italian. I may be doing it an injustice by only giving it 2 stars and reviewing it on a group event, but to be honest I wasn't that impressed by the food or the service on this occasion.

The menu is not that extensive but it has a reasonable variety of dishes to cater for most tastes. I had the calamari to start followed by the day fish special. Both tasted fine, but lacked pizzazz in the presentation department.

In general, I thought the food was OK but not particularly outstanding; there are better Italian restaurants around.

This place is family run and prides itself on that friendly atmosphere, so the service is cheery if rather laid back. I know we were waiting on other folk arriving, but we sat there for 45 minutes without anyone offering us so much as a glass of water. A wee aperitif would not have gone amiss.

I love that the majority of people have tried here because of Pammi G. I'm adding myself to that list. I was half an hour early for our booking which was not an issue and I sat read my book and watched the world go by.

This place is your stereotypical old school italian eatery, loved by many. I loved that all the staff knew Pam, but were equally as friendly towards me. I had the calmari which was incredible, so light and fresh and not at all rubbery tasting. Plus that tartar sauce! *heart eye emoiji*

Now for some carb loading, in the form of the 3 largest meatballs ever, with a huge helping of spaghetti and some delicious tomato sauce. It was very Lady and the Tramp style and was amazing. I will definitely be taking my brother here for some proper pasta.

The tiramisu was light, fluffy and boozey. All the best combinations. My Mum has high expectations of tiramisu so will be taking her for her opinion. An amazing Glasgow gem, that I am so glad I finally tried!

I think I have a new favourite Italian restaurant.

Pammi G suggested a trip here for dinner and, knowing that she tends to make excellent decisions when it comes to these things, I was eager to try it out. We arrived at ~7pm on a Saturday evening to the warmest of welcomes and the smell of delicious food.

Soon we were settled at our table with glasses of wine and menus. I ordered the Tonno con fagioli to start, a salad of tuna and white beans with tangy sticky balsamic vinegar drizzled over it. It was delicious, fresh and perfectly balanced. It was also huge. I worried I might struggle to eat my main.

For my main course I had ordered the spaghetti and meatballs from the specials menu. Three enormous meatballs showed up with a generous serving of pasta and one of the nicest tomato sauces I've tasted.

Here came the only downside to this meal. I have a minor (ok, major) tiramisu obsession. I'd been so excited to try the tiramisu here but unfortunately, they had already sold the last piece. Hardly their fault, I'll just have to come back. Instead I chose the chocolate profiteroles with a scoop of pistachio ice cream. No complaints there.

We rounded off the meal with coffees and liqueurs and a tiny sense of regret that we were unable to eat it all over again. Then again, there's always next week.

Since Costanzo's is now under a new team in the form of the Dons 2 daughters Ilia & Lidia I thought an up to date review was due - Spoiler it's still amazing!

The decor is changed slightly in the form of freshly painted cream walls and a few less photos on the wall. But other than that the vibe is still the same - it's cosy traditional trattoria that would have you believing you were in Capri.

It's the same team in place at Caprese, who continue to be the warmest and friendliest in Glasgow.

For the moment they are continuing to use the old Don Costanzo menu until Lidia finds her feet in the kitchen, but there are plans to change it in future to perhaps a slightly smaller menu.

I started with a massive portion of freshly made calami with made in house tartar sauce. The calamari were cooked perfectly - soft centred, slightly crispy batter and slightly tart tartar sauce so fresh and flavourful I would climb over someone's dead body to get to.

For my main I went with one of my favourite dishes Spaghetti Meatballs. When my dish arrived with the statement 'Lidia's not got her portion control right yet' I'm not going to lie I was a little scared! :-)

On my plate were 3 massive meatballs which was what I expected and enough pasta to serve about 4 people.

The food was insanely good - meaty perfectly seasoned meatballs that were still juicy, and the spaghetti was served al dente. All of this was coated in a simply tomato sauce which was slightly tangy and heaving with delicious fresh herbs. It's was gorgeous.

I also had sides of gorgeous zucchini fritters and sauteed potatoes - both excellent.

Naturally there is no way I could leave without dessert...normally I'm a tiramisu fiend, but there is a new go to dessert for me at Caprese - Don Costanzo. Homemade apple pie with salted caramel and ice cream - sensational!

Sweet thin short cut pastry packed full of soft delicately sliced apples which still had bite, drizzled with lashings of salted caramel and topped with a scoop of porellis creamy vanilla ice cream. It's my fav dessert at the moment....flippin' amazing!

For two 3 course meals and a glass of wine our bill came to £65 which for the amount of food we ate is brilliant value for money.

I love Caprese - Don Costanzo, the food is just as good as when the Don was in the kitchen and the staff are wonderful.

Quite possibly the friendliest restaurant in Glasgow! The only issue is it's hidden from sight so you have no idea it is actually there. Thankfully we were shown the way last night and we will be certainly back for more.

The inside is like stepping back in time to what Glaswegian Italian restaurants were like around 20 years ago. None of the modern finishes here. The walls are covered with photos of Italy and of previous famous dinner guests. The staff are amazingly welcoming and the owner/chef was speaking to us for ages and even ran through the main specials for us.

I picked all specials. On Pammi G's recommendation I had the pork, tuna mayo and peppers to start. It sounds strange, it is strange, but it tastes soooooooooo good. I also got to try the calamari and it was also well tasty. For mains I had the veal chop with potatoes and zucchini fritters on the side. It was all lovely and the rich dark sauce really set it all off. Totally great food so far. The the dessert! The best tiramisu in Glasgow? Maybe. Certainly one of the best I have tasted,

Great friendly family run restaurant doing beautiful food. Step back in time for an evening of fantastic food. I am looking forward to going back for music night!

I'd never even heard of Don Costanzo before Pammi G told me about it so I was excited to read her rave review and have the chance to check it out. It's tucked along Woodside Terrace and you'd be best off checking the map on Yelp before you head there, lest you head to completely the wrong place. No bother though, we found it eventually!

It's a basement restaurant but it has a large windows at either end so it's not dark and dim like you might expect. I really like the decor - to me, it was like stepping back in time but in a tasteful, charming way. There's loads of photos all over the walls and you can tell it's had a lot of love put into it.

I had a glass of rosé while looking over the menu which was really tasty - so tasty that I couldn't resist a second small glass with my main. For starters I had the caprese salad which was served with a whopping chunk of buffalo mozzarella. Everything was so fresh, light and tasty that it was totally perfect in its simplicity. I loved the generous slices of whopping huge tomato and even though the mozzarella was massive, it was a refreshing starter.

For main I had the veal milanese with pasta. About 3 years ago (possibly more), Graeme had this dish at an Italian restaurant and I've had food envy ever since. I never forget food envy. Mine was served with penne napolitana but you could opt for a spicier spaghetti if you wanted. The veal was delicious, soft and buttery and the pasta was heavenly. I got a very generous dusting of parmesan (the way I like it). I did struggle to finish mine though (I had to save room for dessert).

The tiramisu was wonderful, soft, fluffy, boozy and the lovely richness of coffee. I couldn't finish my portion but they happily put it in a ramekin for me to take home - so lovely.

The bill was pretty pricey - around £40 per person, but then that was for a 3 course meal with drinks so it's actually not too bad. My favourite thing about here (apart from the food) was definitely the service. The staff are so lovely and welcoming that you really do feel like you're part of their family. Nothing was too much trouble or difficult for them, and we got really mouthwatering descriptions of the menu from the Don himself. He would pop out from the kitchen every now and then to see how we were doing, and made sure he came by to say goodbye as he had to be up early for the fishmarket in the morning.

A charming hidden gem in Woodlands - I can't wait to return.

I can't believe it took the news of this restaurant closing down to actually get me along to eat here, it was so good. Amazingly good. Please don't retire Don!

I headed along for lunch with Pammi G and we had such a delicious lunch in this wonderful hidden gem of a restaurant. I say hidden because you could easily walk past it not realising that such a fab and relatively big space was there.

I had really high expectations of the food before I arrived and I can happily say that I enjoyed every single mouthful. The menu is pretty extensive and there are also daily specials, Pammi and I couldn't decide what we wanted (because we could happily have had one of everything!) that we ended up ordering dishes to share. It was brilliant! We split the calamari and a baked aubergine dish for starters, both were perfect. The homemade tartare sauce was exceptional - it has red peppers and gherkins in it which add the most wonderful flavour.

For mains we shared the meatballs and giant ravioli. I loved both. And I finally got to try the zucchini fritters. We were happily stuffed after our feast and ordered coffees as we were having too much fun to leave. Through our meal the staff were chatting away, recommending dishes, explaining the homemade items and making us feel really welcome.

Before we knew it we were ordering dessert! Again we couldn't decide and went with tiramisu and apple pie to share. It was one of best lunches I've had in a long time. I'll definitely be back before they close and recommend you try it to.

- All photos taken by Pammi G -

Today the lovely Pammi G introduced me to Don Costanzo's, and I loved it!
Hidden away in a basement off Woodside Crescent lies this homely and welcoming Italian restaurant!

The menu is moderately priced, though they do offer a "Business Lunch" Monday - Friday, from 12.00 - 14.15. With 2 courses for £11 this is not a bad deal.

Today I had a warm garden vegetable salad to start. It was delicious with courgettes, carrots, and green beans cooked to perfection, with a lovely oil dressing and parsley and lemon. I love this sort of food; simple dishes that bring out the flavours of the ingredients without too much fuss or intervention - often only enjoyed when in mainland Europe.

For main I opted for dish of the day which was Penne Amatriciana. Tomato, bacon, onion, and chilli - I devoured this tasty dish!

Pammi and I also shared a side of Zucchini Fritte - delicious courgettes wrapped in a light crispy batter - very moreish!

I have been lusting over pictures of Don Costanzo's Tiramisu posted by Pammi G on Twitter, so was disappointed when I didn't have room for dessert at lunchtime. However, the Don wrapped up a portion for me to take home and enjoy. I have just this minute finished my portion of Tiramisu, and it tastes as good as it looks. Fluffy, light mascarpone cream with chocolate and coffee soaked sponge - this is a winning combination for me, and the Don's is one of the nicest I have tried. I love a splash of rum through my Tiramisu, but couldn't really taste any booze in this one?

I had my 1 year old with me today, and though Don Costanzo's don't have a kids menu as such, the Don happily whipped up a generous serving of Penne with Napoli sauce for my little one. She gobbled the whole plate up in record time - so a big thumbs up from my little food critic too! ;)

I throughly enjoyed my lunch at Don Costanzos, and look forward to visiting again. A lovely venue with lovely staff and super food! Don Costanzo's - I salute you!

Okay - Firstly I'll state my score is a 3.5, but I can't pop the half star on!

Came here on the back of my fellow Yelpers raving reviews recently. We booked in for 5:30 on a Saturday evening, which meant we were the first people in, as they were still setting up for evening service from opening at 5pm.

Very warm welcome and ushered us both in to a table near the far end, overlooking Charing Cross. Offered a drink & the lady recommended we start with a glass of prosecco, which was delicious. However, no offer of water for the table.

Don himself came out to reel off the specials. I went for the meat stuffed pepper. As everything else on the starters were cheese based or soup, Fiona stuck with the bread. Sadly, the butter was rock solid just out of the fridge. Not the end of the world, but it is one of my pet 101 hates having rock hard cold butter in a catering wrapper.

The stuffed pepper was nice. Sweet flavour from the pepper, but nothing really stand out from the meatball inside.

For mains, I went with the Veal chop and Fiona, the tiger prawns with rice. I was graciously offered a bib, which I took up! Now this veal is big, but mainly due to the size of the t-bone and once you trim off all the fat, it's a fairly reasonable piece of meat. The flavour of the gravy was simply sensational and the meat, beautifully tender. The Prawn and rice though, just wasn't that stand out as a dish. More prawns would have been better & as Fiona said, felt like something she could cook easily enough at home & she doesn't cook.

The sides of garlic spinach was disappointing. It just tasted of wet cold spinach. The zucchini (courgette) fritters were lovely, if not a little al dente.

We decided to go for dessert & I had to get the tiramisu. It was brilliant! Fiona tried the special of poached pears with a caramelised sauce and ice cream. Now whenever pears are poached, you have to - HAVE to, remove the skins. These had the skins left on & it just leaves a grainy taste with each bite and ruins the point of poaching.

So, one starter, 3 drinks, 2 mains and 2 desserts & that was £82 before a tip. The outstanding part of this place, is the warm friendly family welcome. It's one of the best we have witnessed, so I would give that 4 stars alone. However, apart from the veal and tiramisu, nothing else really blew me away. As for value for money, I don't think it was, as we both felt hungry afterwards. Would I try this place again? Yes, but it will be for the service first.

You Gotta Eat Here - For Sure! :-D