Ortobello Restaurant
“Apart from the fact that Ortobello is owned by the family of a former student from my Brooklyn High School days, I would love it anyway!”
“The baked clams were delicious and, when the staff heard my mother is crazy about stuffed artichokes, one appeared a little while later.”
“If you're looks for a family run Italian spot with incredibly cheesy atmosphere and HUGE portions, look no further.”
Ortobello Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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This seems like an authentic classic old school Italian restaurant. It's small with a homey vibe. Looks like a family run business. To start we had the mussels marinara. The portions were huge and the marinara sauce was great. We dipped the free bread that they gave us in the sauce and it was wonderful. For entrée, we had the pollo marsala, which is chicken in marsala wine sauce with mushrooms. This I wasn't a fan of. The taste was light and not a flavorful dish. But, if you prefer something light this is a good choice to get.
Also ordered the tortellini bolognese. I love the bolognese sauce, which is like a minced meat and tomato sauce. The tortellini is a type of pasta stuffed with cheese. I didn't know that it had cheese filling or I would've chose something else. It wasn't the type of cheese that I like either, so it was too much cheese for me. I would've enjoyed it much more if it were a different type of pasta with no filling.
And last, we had the shrimp marinara. You can't go wrong with this dish. It has big shrimps and clams in the dish. The spaghetti coated in marinara sauce was just delicious. The portions here are so big that we couldn't finish everything and had to take the leftovers to go. I highly advise you to not over order. One entrée can definitely be shared between 2 people. Even the appetizers are humongous. They accept credit cards, but tips need to be in cash. Prices are in the $20's, which is reasonable for the portions that they give.
Oh dear Ortobello. Why is your food so good? If you're famished, you should skip this spot, because quality food does take a while here. However, if you manage to stay alive with the complimentary bread, then you will reap the benefits of a hearty and yummy meal. The portions are gigantic. I got the veal parm and it was bigger than my face. Their seafood linguine is ginormous! It could've feed all six of us! They don't skimp on the amount of seafood or the variety. Our seafood linguine had mussels, clams, squid, octopus, fish, and this other shell fish that I can't think of the name. When the guy brought out the dish, he even took the scenic route to make sure all the other patrons saw the dish before arriving to our table.
I think most people who venture out to this part of Brooklyn will probably flood to another more notable restaurant, but wait until more discover Ortobello!
I might've had my expectations set a little too high for this restaurant. I was expecting something out of this world but it was just good old Italian food. Don't get me wrong, I love Italian food but didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary.
The only dish that I absolutely loved was the seafood salad. This refreshing dish is perfect for a hot summer. Actaully, it'll be good on any given day. It's super light and tangy. Everything else was pretty good but not jaw dropping good. Prices are fairly steep for a Brooklyn restaurant but I guess the large portion makes it worth it.
I also really liked the fact that this place is run by Italians who can actually speak Italian. It feels extra authentic. I would definitely be returning to try more dishes and of course for that yummy seafood salad.
Came here one Sunday afternoon with the bf and his parents to try it out for the first time. I've lived in Bensonhurst my whole life and used to pass this place on the way to school on the bus each morning, never thinking it was a place to eat. It has one of those old rusted looking signs, but that just added to the authenticity of how long it's been there.
We walk into a small but intimate space with an "at Nonna's* house" type of feel (exercising my 7 years of school taught Italian and Bensonhurst upbringing ). We must've gotten lucky because no one else was there so we had free choice of seating. Only half way through our meal did a couple walk in for their lunch.
We ordered the "best mussels in town" in red sauce, baked clams, linguini with red clam sauce, chicken parm and rigatoni alla vodka and a bottle of wine($35).
The mussels were ok, but was a large portion and the sauce was very good. The baked clams were great! Tender and the breading and sauce were delicious. The linguini with clam sauce was also very good with good flavor. The rigatoni was good, but a little too creamy. The chicken parm was heaping and pretty good as well. Most things were priced decently for the portion size and they also have 3 course meals where you can pick an app, entree and dessert starting at around $27.50 and I believe you can also get this to go. Portions were big so we had some leftovers for lunch
Wouldn't mind trying it again and would definitely get the baked clams!
Huge Portions! Wonderful wait staff and the floor manager for the night was super friendly. He had a pleasant smile and was great to every table and patrons. It's bare bones decor but you really come here for the food. Had nicely fried up and huge portions of fried calamari. Went nicely with the house sauce which you see had chunks of tomato in it. Ceasar salad was good. Lot's of parmesean and ceasar sauce that enveloped every green leaf. The chicken parm was the standout. Crispy edges, a wonderful sauce, and the melted mozz on top had the right amount of crisp. The chicken masala tended to be a bit salty but the chicken itself was cooked perfectly with huge mushrooms. Plenty for dinner and for leftovers the next day. I'll be back.
I had the shrimp marinara, which was a decent size portion but it wasn't overwhelming, finished the entire plate. The pasta was cooked perfectly, not too hard. Prices are Manhattan prices but bigger portions. It is not a huge place and can fill up quickly. I was here on a holiday and they serve a special menu. Their regular menu offers more options.
If you're looks for a family run Italian spot with incredibly cheesy atmosphere and HUGE portions, look no further. Chicken parm was solid. They don't accept Amex, though, and tips only accepted in cash.
I came here because my friend was raving about this place and said this is the closest I'll get to authentic Italian food. I stopped by one Friday night with some friends and I'll definitely be coming back here again!
It felt very homey inside and everyone was very friendly. The food took a little longer than I expected but I didn't mind because it was delicious.
Can't wait to come back here again! 🙂