Leo’s Italian Restaurant

I took 3 of my staff here on a Friday night following a recommendation. It reminded me of a Bistro from the eighties (showing my age!) but that’s not a negative. It’s the size of restaurant I prefer, small and cozy, perfect to create a good atmosphere. The staff were very friendly but not an Italian accent could be heard, not even a phoney one. As for how authentic the food was I can’t really comment because we all had fillet steaks. In keeping with my eighties theme, I had the Diane sauce, it was excellent and the steak was the best that I can remember, cooked to perfection. Not all chefs can get the timing right with steaks but we had rare, medium rare and medium on the table and you could see and taste the difference and everyone was very happy. I had delicious sautéed potatoes with mine and a good portion of mushrooms. I think I also enjoyed my Tiramisu desert but after a couple of bottles of a rather nice Merlot, I can’t be 100% sure. In summary, if you are looking for a laid back place to enjoy good food and drink you can’t go wrong here. I’ll be back,

One of my BF’s best friends is called Leo. Yes, I’m outing someone with an ACTUAL NAME, only because I find Leo to be an unusual and rather attractive name. And look at that, he has two restaurants in Manchester named after him. One great, one not so great.
This is the great one. It can’t do more than what it says on the tin really, it’s an Italian restaurant and it belongs to Leo. Not our Leo, unless he’s moonlighting as a restauranteur between giving drum lessons. It’s in Chorlton (OUR Leo lives in Chorlton!) and does get rather busy and popular, so booking is definitely advisable. The food is cooked fresh to order and the kitchen’s open, which is always a good sign. The food alters seasonally with frequently changing specials, and alongside plenty of room inside there’s a large area for al fresco dining, if we ever get that far this year.
Leo’s is also a place that was here long before the bars at this end of Barlow Moor Road made the place all cool and classy. It’s a Chorlton stalwart. Sometimes the traditional dishes can be a little hit and miss, but as far as I’m told (I’m sorry I’m unable to sample them) the steaks are to die for. While this takes the emphasis away of the Italian-​ness of the place, I suppose you’ve got to take the positives and focus on them. Kudos for Leo’s for managing to stick around in a suburb that changes its restaurants as often as we change our socks.