We visited Ramona last week (13/5/21) when no proper dining rooms were open, hence socialising had to be done within beer gardens and outside areas.  The seating areas were comfy, there were heaters to hand and it was a great place to sit and catch up with a loved one.  To be fair, you could say that about absolutely anywhere at the moment.

What I will say is that long after the current shackling is ancient history, this looks set to continue to be one of the city's best outdoor spaces.  The plot which Ramona occupies is absolutely massive, it was buzzing on a Thurs night, and will be a nailed on go-to destination for outdoor food and drink once the sun finally graces us with its presence

Not much at all.  A slickly put together place, which served its purpose and intended personality, ideally.

Now I've long been a champion for eating and drinking out being generally more expensive.  I don’t expect you as a potential punter to agree, but profit margins are often super-low in the hospo business, largely due to huge competition and a saturated market.  That has a knock on to staff wages, and it also means that many operators work on a razor's edge in terms of balancing the books.  They rely on being busy much of the time.  Now all those points have been put under the microscope this year.  The days of being able to go out and eat a freshly prepared main course for the same price as a chippy tea, should be over in my opinion.  We should all be tipping more, we should all appreciate the industry more, and part of that means paying more.  Time will tell as to how that sentiment actually pans out in reality.

So, based on all that it's pretty stingy to moan about prices at the moment.  We should all happily pay more for our hospitality experiences, forever more, because what was your social life like without them?

Having said that; £7 (the most expensive option) for a 5x4" slice of pizza, is pushing the boundaries on value really.  The £4.50 Margherita slice felt better.  It's very hard to put £2.50 of toppings onto a small square.  The truth behind pizza being so popular with vendors, isn't because it's delicious; it's because they are uber cheap to produce and hence that profit is chunky.  We were restrained in our ordering and for 3 people paid £85 for 3 'slices' of pizza, 3 portions of tots, 2 pints, 2 glasses of wine, and a cookie, plus the service charge which we added with pleasure.  The cheapest bottle of wine came in at £24 and retails at £8.  Expensive?

I guess if you had a great time, which we did, then that doesn’t matter.  But still.  We say overpriced, when you look at all the other pizza/casual prices around town, as much as we happily paid it after a long layoff.

One thing that we do really well in Manchester is pizza.  In fact it's now probably what we do better than anything else. Regardless of your preference in style, you can get it in Mcr, from more than one venue, to a good standard.  Detroit style is the name of the game here.  A thick focaccia style dough, with tomato sauce, and your desired topping with a little cheese etc on the top.  Crucially, the crust is baked with cheese around the edges, giving a cheese 'crown' which results in a super savoury and crunchy hit of cheese with most bites.  We suspect that Ramona use 8x10" baking trays, which yield 4 x slices of 4x5" pizza.  As every slice we had was a corner, with lots of that cheesy crust!  The well flavoured bases have clearly been given plenty of slow proving time, and toppings were good quality.  Simple, no messing, and fun.  The tots were also delicious.  Drinks wise, we were driving so had to behave, but the list was compact yet comprehensive with an emphasis on Margaritas.  Next time….

I don’t think that the thick crust style is for everybody. People generally prefer topping focused pizzas, and by nature these are very crust heavy.  And let me order a whole pizza too, along with a few more topping options.  1 slice isn't really a portion, but then £30 for a whole 8x10" people would feel eyewatering.  I won’t go over that again though.

It was amazing to be able to sit down and be spoiled by somebody after so long.  The unconsidered luxury of being able to relax and be tended to be a professional for the evening is something which we all absolutely take for granted.  The lady who ran our table was lovely, friendly, and as much as she was looking after around 50 people in her section alone, was always a pleasure.

It has to be said; things were more than a little slow at times.  Our drinks order was initially forgotten too.  But remember, these people have been away from work for a long time and many staff are working in brand new jobs, in venues which are super busy at the moment.  There's going to be a certain amount of ring rust.  Be kind, be patient, and bear with servers at the moment.  And still tip even if things are less than ideal!  You could be sat at home eating yet more ready meals…

Ramona has a real identity, and looks set to become one of the city's flagship pizza and outdoor venues.  It's pretty hard to not have a good time here really, and after such a long time away from dining rooms, it's exactly the kind of venue which the city has missed.  Simple, sociable, and fun.

Probably overpriced, but based on all those people who were happily paying it, why charge less?