Ornella Trattoria Italiana
“but the waiter said also they had a special chestnut fettuccine with a pistacchi & white truffle cream sauce.”
“No need to even look at the menu bc Giuseppe will always recommend the freshest dishes according to your mood and taste.”
“The duck meatballs are quite unique and the burrata and pasta very "homemade tasting" as my dinner companion commented.”
Ornella Trattoria Italiana
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
So they post all their negative yelp food reviews on their bathroom. LOL. Maybe it's some weird tactic to keep people from posting negative reviews or the owner must be as salty as his foods… yikes. Lets see if I make the bathroom hall of fame.
I was actually going to give this place a 3 or 2 star till I got my check… Continue reading or just read the bottom part and you'll see why I gave just a single star.
Before I begin, a message for the owner. If you were to put in half as much effort into making your foods as you put into obsessing over yelp reviews, your food would probably taste MUCH better.
Literally, 5 stars better.
Anyhow, I went here with 3 friends for a birthday dinner since two of them are December babies. We had a reservation and were seated right away. Though it was Wednesday night so the place was fairly empty. The owner seemed like a nice dude and so did our waiter.
The food… the apps were great.
Duck meatballs – a bit sweet but pretty good.
Prosciutto with cheese, pears, and walnuts – also solid. Nothing to fault here.
The main meals were just okay.
– The chestnut pasta was on the heavy side and required some wine to eat properly. I get that this is the Italian way but drinking wine with food should not be a requirement. The wine should enhance the experience not be necessary to consume the food.
– The stuffed pork chop was underwhelming. My friend regretted not getting the rib instead.
– The clam linguine was similarly underwhelming. I expected more of the clam flavor to be in the pasta but was instead met with a fairly flavorless dish. I needed some cheese for it to have any flavor. Speaking of which, they don't grate their cheese… they just sprinkled on powdered parmesan… are you kidding? Even cheesecake factory grates their own cheese… Legit Italian… Yeah, okay.
– The chicken/tomato pasta was meh. At 17 bucks, nothing to write home about.
So at this point, it was going to be a 2 or 3 star depending on how the rest of the dinner went. I sneaked off to ask the waiter if they did anything for birthdays and they said yes, would a tiramisu work? I replied, great. The waiter came out with the tiramisu and it was extremely tasty and a great finish to the meal…
And then he charged us for it. I'm okay with getting charged for desserts but this was a bit out of the blue as most restaurants (even high-end ones) tend to not charge the dessert for birthday events. I wouldn't have minded paying for it if he at least just mentioned to me that it would not be complementary.
It's so strange since everyone else seem to be praising their top-notch service. I personally don't think it was worth the trip from Bayside. For the price point and how the food tasted, I can't justify dining here again. Friends should have stuck to DiWine…
Edit: LOLOL I made it guys! Are you kidding me? Who's gonna order a bottle in the middle of the week when everyone has to drive back home… DUI is not cool. I also don't recall harping on the pricing at all, just that at the given price point, the food's not all that great. I mean, especially in this area! I don't mind paying $50, $100, $500, etc. for my food but I expect them to taste to match the price. Christopher C. down there put it best, "Overall I can make better food at home which is the point of going out." Pretty much sums up all of the pasta dishes…
And did you seriously write this to another reviewer who gave you a negative review? "My suggestion to you is that next time just review the owner and not the food" I have no idea how there are so many good reviews.
I don't give out stars for free food, I give them out for good service and good food relative to the price point. Stop being so salty, Giuseppe. Use your time to trim down your menu to just the well received foods and focus on improving those. You are not doing any favors for your restaurant with this nonsense.
Was so looking forward to showing this place off to my mom when she came to visit for my birthday. I'd had such a great experience before, but coming here for birthday dinner (or as a way to show off the culinary delights of Astoria) was a mistake. The atmosphere felt burnt out and lifeless, whereas before it was vibrant and charming. The food was oversalted and minimal on the flavor. The seafood was rubbery. The service was very disappointing. Gone was the kind, attentive enthusiasm from my previous visit.
All that said, it's still kind of cute and they have some great specials, like two-for-one pasta night (just don't get the seafood). Would I come here again? Yes. For a special occasion? Definitely not.
Totally digging this place. I don't know why I didn't visit this little gem sooner.
The pasta is great, the service is personal, and the prices are reasonable. As a recent bandwagoner of the gluten-free train (not by choice), it was awesome to have a variety of delicious and interesting GF pastas to choose from. They were even happy to change up my dish with a different pasta to accommodate my dietary needs.
Also, check out the bathroom. I had a nice giggle.
Hands down, some of the best (if not THE best) Italian food I've ever had. I don't normally like duck at all, but their duck meatballs are insanely delicious and I could have eaten them all night. I also got Cordon Bleu and, again, they hit the ball right out of the park. I sampled some of the other dishes that my family got and was impressed by all of it, especially the risotto.
This place is family run, which I really like. The servers were all friendly and helpful, which was nice. I also appreciated that they were open on Christmas Day… running around like that on a holiday making food for other people can't be fun, but they did it and they did it well.
I gave this place four stars but could very well change it to five after future visits. The reason I gave it four is because we made reservations and still had to stand around for an hour before being seated. I get it, it's a small place, it was Christmas and therefore very busy. However, I don't really like the way it was handled. Not once did the owner apologize for the wait, but he actually handed us menus and wanted us to order while we were standing cramped in the entrance! I thought that was kind of rude; it felt like he was trying to rush us because they were backed up.
I will hands down be going back here because, overall, I had a great experience and the food is something I definitely want to eat again.
I came here on a late Thursday afternoon with my two friends for dinner. Thursday happens to be $10 pasta night, which is such a great deal. They only have the basic pasta dishes on the $10 menu, so don't expect your chestnut pasta to be on it LOL. When we came here, there were no other customers in the restaurants so we were given all the attention. The waiter was so attentive to our needs and kept asking us if we are satisfied and comfortable and if we needed anything else. The owner also came out and said hello to us, which I really appreciate because I don't see a lot of restaurant owners interacting with their customers often.
Anyway, it was my first time at this place and I came all the way from flushing because my friends and I heard that the food here is really good (plus you can't beat $10 pasta). After reading all the reviews, I was itching to try the chestnut pasta! It also sounded pretty peculiar and so out of the box that I had to get it, even if the other $10 pastas were calling my name at the same time…I opted for what I thought would satisfy my taste buds best.
When the plate arrived on my table, I was not disappointed with the QUANTITY, the dish was around $17 so I better get the amount of food that I paid for right? When I took my first bite, I told myself "Wow this is really unique and delicious" but unfortunately for me, after a few more bites, I just couldn't bear to swallow another bite. It just got overwhelmingly sweet for me and I guess I wasn't expecting that; I've been so used to savory pasta and not sweet pasta. I could't finish my plate at all and I gave it to my friend who found it delicious and agreeable to her palate. So in the end, I believe it is a matter of acquired taste, I wish I had ordered something different, I was just soo caught up in the hype of the infamous chestnut pasta. I might come back in the future, but I definitely would need to order something else.
I've been going to Ornella about once a week for a couple of months now. I am the grandson of Italian immigrants, "going out" for Italian isn't something I do often, and of course I'm very picky.
Giuseppe: I love your place, truly I do. Most Italian restaurants cater to customers looking for red sauce and polpette. But you serve the food that Italians eat in their homes. You and your staff are always very enjoyable hosts. Your food reminds me of what I would eat at my own Nonnas table. I also greatly admire the manner in which you stand up for yourself against negative reviewers. You have earned a customer for life in me Mr. Vitale. Keep up the fantastic work!
One request for my most favorite dish in the world. Not often found on menus: How can I convince you to place Osso Bucco on the menu?
So we were in town on business and we were looking for a good Italian restaurant before going to the airport. I really had to use the bathroom and to my surprise there were negative Yelp reviews posted all over the bathroom walls! Very strange! As an aside, the bathrooms are not the cleanest and super small. The outside dining area is nicely decorated and nice dining music faintly playing in background. I ordered one of their specials…some type of fish basa frances for $26. My co worker ordered pasta frite de mare for $24. Both were delicious. At first I thought mine was very salty but then it grew on me :). The service was great but then again we were there on. Thurs night at 4 pm so it helps when were the only ones in the restaurant:). But I would definitely stop by again before leaving good ole NY again from Laguardia.
Update:
I had the chestnut pasta and it was as good as what other yelpers have said. Also his tiramisu is the best I ever had:)
I went with a group to have a bizarre eating night, where we ate off menu items. I tried tripe for the first time….well, the tripe and pasta is on his menu, but had it not been a fixed price menu of 7 things to try, I would have never ordered it because I heard such bad things about it. I know that Americans typically refuse to eat tripe, but you have to try the tripe at Ornella…it's not chewy and it's really tender and goes well with the sauce.
With this being said, the liver is the best I've ever had. Unlike most liver, the taste isn't overpowering, so it's subtle and pleasing.
I wish he'd put the lamb head on the menu, but I understand that not everyone wants their food smiling at them:)
Giuseppe and his staff are nice and attentive, and they take pride in their food and the quality they serve. I am intrigued by their chestnut pasta pasta, which I will try next time I go.
It's 100 yards from the N and Q train, so there's no excuse not to go!