Caffe Luigi - Southend-on-Sea

Decent food at affordable prices. Prawn cocktail £5.50, steak and chips £12.50, fish and chips varies depending on the size £6-£10) but my friend said it was lovely. Nicely presented dishes, good prices and exceptional service from luigi and his team. Ill definitely go back.

Food was decent cafe food but I would not recommend this cafe. Firstly the staff were not quite ready to handle the amount of customers they had managed to get business for. It was a busy Bank Holiday with the sun out so the cafe was very busy. I found that the turn around time for the tables were not as fast as they could have been. We ended up sitting at a table with another group's half eaten meal in front of us before needing to specifically ask for the table to be cleaned up. Service at the cafe was slow too. Another table complained they had been waiting over an hour for their food with 4 adults and 3 kids. We were a group of 4 adults and we had been waiting almost 1 hr too for food. Not exactly a quick bite. As for the price of the food, it is in a very good location to the main attractions of Southend so its not exactly cheap. 1 decently big cooked breakfast, 2 coffees (separate from breakfast as not included with food) and a milkshake cost £14.50. For the price compared to the food quality and service, it's just not worth the price. I have been to many cafes that can still handle the same if not more customers in a timely manner albeit not as good location for a cheaper price (even in London) and manage to pull off a better job than this cafe did.

This is a fantastic restaurant with beautifully prepared fish. I ordered the squid and chips, which were a generous portion. Plus, they offered extra chips for free! It would be helpful to have a note on the table indicating that they only accept cash.

The service was exceptional! We arrived with a group that included a toddler celebrating their birthday and an infant. The staff accommodated us by providing a high chair and allowed us to bring in a birthday cake with candles to sing for the toddler. When the little one got upset, they offered a complimentary lollipop and even helped with it. They were incredibly child-friendly and understanding, making us feel at ease despite our initial embarrassment. They also treated us to free drinks to celebrate the birthday. The food was delicious with generous portion sizes, and I would highly recommend it. We even lingered a bit after our meal to chat with the staff. It was a heartfelt and unexpected experience. We brought them a cake and left a tip, which felt like the least we could do for such wonderful service. They truly deserve even more!

The Italian ice cream here is outstanding, served in generous portions and at a great price. Choose this spot for ice cream instead of the disappointing Mr. Whippy places on the beach.