Aria Restaurant - Birmingham

This was not our first visit to this restaurant because we find it is perfectly situated for pre theatre when attending the Symphony Hall. However and this is a big but I'm afraid; this is not the first time that we have been having to watch our timing because although we had allowed plenty of time the service was slow and on this occasion exceedingly slow! We had only two courses and felt under starters orders for the whole time we were eating, with dessert barely touching the sides as it went down! It was approximately 45 minutes from when we ordered to when our main course arrived; we were told that this was because of the time it takes to cook two of the dishes. My suggestion is that if something is going to take an unusually long time to prepare then I suggest that item is noted with the explanation and then an informed decision can be made. It really spoiled the enjoyment of our meal and all could have been handled much better by the attending staff. The food however was delicious and we wish we could have taken our time to savour it.

A group of four of us enjoyed a beautifully presented and delicious pre-concert dinner to celebrate a special birthday at this restaurant. We highly recommend their 2/3 course dinner options with set choices before a concert at Symphony Hall, which is conveniently accessed by an internal walkway. However, we were disappointed upon arrival to learn that the restaurant had no knowledge of our booking through Open Table and was not open until 5:30pm (despite Open Table only offering a 4:45pm reservation time for the pre-theatre dinner). Despite this initial setback, we were eventually accommodated by other helpful and efficient staff members. Overall, while our experience was positive, the initial confusion was embarrassing in front of our guests. Aria, please improve your communication and coordination in the future.

We booked the table for 13.00 with advice we may be a little late as we were travelling from London. Arrived at 12.45 to be told the restaurant was busy but we could have a quiet table in the bar where we could eat if we wanted to would have gone to a pub if we wanted that) or have a drink. Still said a few times about being busy and when we said it was not good enough we were ushered to a table in a near empty restaurant and in 10 mins it was totally empty. Food was good but that spoilt the day.

We are big fans of Aria and have dined here multiple times in the past. We appreciated the fact that the staff recognized us from a previous visit. The quality of the food is consistently excellent and we had a fantastic experience celebrating our anniversary dinner there!

Polite and efficient staff, and prompt service, essential for pre-theatre dining.