Il Padrino Restaurant

First you need to know that in Ireland, especially Cork, they do not typically use Yelp.

Everything is on Trip Advisor.

Wonderful place!
Great ambience and excellent waiters!

Sí different entrees and pizzas and all were amazing!
The white chicken lasagna was as good as I've ever had anywhere.

Inexpensive but very decent wine selection.

This small alley restaurant in Cork City had an old-world charm. We made a last-minute reservation and I got the sense they squeezed us in. The Host & Hostess were not welcoming or warm. I got the sense our 8:30 pm reservation was not what they wanted this evening. Overall the Service was good and the food was good. Nothing to rave about, the kids had spaghetti and meatballs, which they said were good. The pasta was very good, most likely house-made. The oldest daughter ordered a pizza, she is a pizza snob like her father and gave it a mediocre rating. The two servers that supported our table were very nice and efficient. The location was the deciding factor in going here as it was within a block of our hotel. I would recommend for a casual Italian meal while in Cork.

Was looking forward to trying this place with such a high rating. The food was mediocre at best, the arancini was dry with a mayo based dipping sauce which in my opinion did not go well. My husbands lasagna was fine and so was the tortellini- but certainly nothing to write home about. The service was sub par, our waitress clearly was about to be cut so when it came time for dessert she came over and said "you guys don't want dessert or coffee right?" When we said we actually would like to see a dessert menu, she came back put down the menus without a word and we never saw her again. Someone else eventually came over, we tried to put in our order and were told they didn't make tiramisu in the morning so they didn't have any. Seems like something that could be told when the menus arrived.

All in all, had the meal been a little less expensive it would have rated a little higher. When I pay for a pricier meal I think the food, service and ambience should match- sadly, it did not.

Excellent! The tomato basil bruschetta was my favorite thing in Ireland..I'll go back just for that! Delicious food and great service! Highly recommend

As a Cork local, my friend and I come to this place at least once a month! It is our absolute favorite for a really delicious Carbonara. We even went to Italy recently and did our own little Carbonara taste test and Il Padrinos Carbonara beat out ALL places we ate at in Italy except for one, meaning we were even more impressed with it after that! While we are those sad people that love what we love and never branch out to try something new, we always look at what is being ordered around us and it always looks wonderful.

The staff is always so friendly and accommodating, the atmosphere is really great and the space itself has a lot of character. The last time we were there there was some miscommunication between waiters and we didn't get menus for about 5-10 minutes. After apologizing profusely they immediately offered us a starter of our choice on the house and I was very pleasantly surprised with their service. (If you are from the states you will think this is what EVERY place should do but I promise you the customer service standards in Ireland are very different and so this was very special and impressive service!) I have had a great experience EVERY time I have come here.

I work in a tourist shop in town and always recommend this place when anyone mentions Italian or just a nice meal, and I recommend it to you as well! Enjoy!

It should be 2 1/2 stars. The stars are mainly for the fast and friendly staff, certainly not for the food, which in total was a disappointment. As starter I had Bruschetta, which was completely tasteless, the salad on the side was not fresh, the leaves looked old and dry. The garlic bread was disappointing as well. As main course I ordered Fusilli con Gamberetti, the prawns were not fresh, they were frozen before, fresh prawns just taste better. With the food I ordered Rosé wine from France, what they offered was average. As dessert I ordered some cake, which was definetively not "home made", but bought somewhere. Overall it was an average, but overpriced meal. The godfather ("il padrino") would not be happy about the food. I was there with some friends and one of them is a professional cook, he confirmed my impressions. That was a one time experience.

The manager of this place deserves a medal. He had the ultimate in obnoxious customers the night we when (it wasn't us, promise).

It was a busy Saturday night, and when we arrived at 8.30, the foursome at the table next to us were just after paying their bill. An hour and a half later, they were still there. Just chatting, completely oblivious to the fact that restaurants are not charities and occassionally like to seat other customers. The manager was gracious enough to just give them a few subtle hints that they were inconveniecing him, but they went unheeded. I'm all for relaxed dining, but it's tough for restaurants to make money at the best of times, it seemed like they were going out of their way to be annoying.

Having to watch other diners be turned away because of these people was heart-breaking, because the food at Il Padrino is really great and the wine was fantastic too. Oh, and the crème brûlée is the best I've had in Cork.

I'm from out of town. Chose this place mostly because it looked popular and I was craving Italian. Loved my night here. I dined alone which gave me the opportunity to watch the staff and the restaurant do their thing. The customer service is excellent. I had conversations with several staff including the owner. It's very clear that he has a high attention to detail and that he keeps an eye on everything in the restaurant. You can tell he truly cares about his customers. My waiter was Luccio, he's great!! He was so kind and incredibly attentive. My food was good, the montipulcciano wine was nice. The setting was lovely, and I highly recommend this place.

The mediocre experience started with the guy at the door, who was clearly having a bad day and was not polite at all. Food was nothing special, and while there were no major issues with the service during the meal, it was also nothing to write home about.

Lovely surprise that the food here was so good and the service friendly- the waiter suggested a half portion for our 10 year old. Carbonara was amazing! Family pleaser.