Many years ago when I first moved to Hertfordshire to get married I started work on a local newspaper and was allocated Stevenage and surrounding areas as my "patch." I haven't been back for many years so was pleasantly surprised to see the huge range of family-friendly food and entertainment options available in the town.
I was there specifically to take a look at the Italian food fave, Prezzo, which is based on the bustling Stevenage Leisure Park which has a cinema, bowling, one of those trampoline parks and a very exciting looking "crazy golf" venue to name just a few of the attractions.
I booked for 6pm on Sunday evening thinking it would be quiet but with the last weekend of the school holidays coinciding with a great price deal at the cinema, Stevenage Prezzo was busy. I was mildly concerned that might affect the service but I'm happy to report that with an excellent and efficient General Manager, Kamila directing a great team including our lovely server Michael our experience was not impacted at all.
Before settling down to peruse the menu I wandered round to admire the glow-up. Prezzo in Stevenage has been redecorated with a modern Italian vibe giving the large venue a light and airy feel, with table and booth placements arranged to give an element of privacy and some soundproofing for diners.
I loved the little decor touches bringing a touch of the outdoors in with greenery dotted around the restaurant and some quirky elements like the Fiat car drinks cooler and the orange gluggle jug and some lovely lamps.
Of course a restaurant can be pretty as you like and it is no good if the food doesn't live up to the surroundings. Actually in this case I think the food exceeded my expectations of a large chain restaurant on a leisure park. The food we ate in Prezzo would not have been out of place in a chic independent Italian eatery. In fact I'd go as far as to say much of it was on a par with our favourite restaurant in Rome!
A moment of silence please for the excellent oven-baked spicy king prawns in chilli butter, served with toasted focaccia bread and garnished with parsley and chives. Our server Michael asked how we were with chilli and seeing our hesitation suggested he could ask for less chilli in this dish. We agreed and the level of heat turned out to be absolutely perfect for us and made dipping the focaccia into the flavoursome butter a real treat.
We shared the prawns and a serving of calamari to start (delicious chunks of calamari not rubbery rings) then we moved on unashamedly to fishy main courses. I chose rigatoni in a creamy mascarpone, garlic and white wine sauce with juicy king prawns, smoked salmon and spinach, finished with rocket rather than the fresh parsley listed on the menu. I was not complaining. There was lots of smoked salmon in the dish which was lighter than I expected from such a creamy dish. delicious!
My husband opted for handmade ravioli filled with crab and lobster served in a velvety rich lobster bisque with prawns and cherry tomatoes and finished with a handful of rocket and a drizzle of chive oil. Obviously I had to try it and can report that there was enough lobster to make this feel like a really luxurious dish.
Now as a professional food blogger/restaurant reviewer I feel it's my duty to sample as much of the food as possible, That's my excuse for downloading the Prezzo app which gave me a free portion of triple cooked Nutella doughnut balls to eat alongside that timeless Italian classic Tiramasu. Prezzo do a portion to share (an excellent recommendation from Michael) which is light and tasty and not sickly at all.
I also ordered the sticky toffee pudding which was nice with a generous serving of caramel butterscotch sauce and vanilla gelato, but was the only thing we ate which felt like Chef Mike had prepared it. At least it was still soft and gooey unlike the last one I had in a restaurant.
We enjoyed a lovely bottle of white wine with our meal and iced water but had eaten too much to have room for coffees. FYI Prezzo in Stevenage has a lovely cocktail bar with reasonably priced offerings ranging from classics including Expresso Martini and Pornstar Martini to Italian holiday faves like Aperol Spritz and Peach Bellini.
My husband spotted that Prezzo Stevenage offer a very good value bottomless drinks package at £21.95 per person (price valid August 2025) for beer, wine and prosecco. An extra £3 entitles you to bottomless cocktails too! With that kind of deal plus a dedicated kids menu and activities no wonder we heard the servers singing "Happy Birthday" so frequently.
I think that is the beauty of Prezzo. It's somewhere you can take young children but still get good quality fresh food, somewhere where everyone from Gran to your toddler can find food they like, somewhere that offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options making organising that office night out a lot easier, somewhere that feels nice enough to book for date night but is also perfect for a last minute walk in after shopping, cinema visit or when you just can't be bothered to cook.
Although our meal was gifted I would not hesitate to revisit on my own dime. Prezzo have venues across the UK -click HERE to find your local.
Disclaimer: Our meal was gifted for the purpose of writing this honest review.