Cornells in Little Italy

“The food was delicious. I got chicken marsala. The pasta was very good. The service was very good. Our waitress was very friendly and stopping by often to ensure we were good. The atmosphere was nice. If I were to say one thing negative I didnt like there wasn't alot of people when we went and we were all sat on top of each other. Besides that I would go back in a heart beat and highly recommend.”

“The veal Rafael was amazing! The presiutto was so tasty and melty cheese in the center. Best thing I've tasted since I went to Italy. The house made cavitellis were great. My wife had the vodka pasta which was also very good. Easy to park and get in. If I have 1 gripe it's that the portion of the Utica greens we got as an appetizer was small but so good I should've just ordered 2. Would go again!”

“Can’t beat the food here. Everything is fresh and they were very willing to customize (two of us ordered chicken parm with vodka sauce instead of red sauce and they enthusiastically accommodated our request). Our party of 6 got our appetizers and bread quickly. Staff were very nice and attentive and were not pushy at all even though our visit was late (last reservation before closing time). We took a slice of chocolate cake to go and that was delicious even after the ride home. One of our top Italian spots.”

“We went to dinner there last night. Ordered the Utica greens for an appetizer which took 45 minutes to get to the table. The greens were good. My wife ordered the chicken Milanese and I ordered veal Raphael (veal rollatini wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with cheese). When our dinners arrived, my wife was served Milanese with veal (not chicken) and I received beef Braciole. My wife sent the veal back for what she originally ordered. They brought back chicken Milanese and it tasted like cardboard.After a few bites I was trying to figure out what I was eating. I called over one of the waitresses (not our waitress) and told her this is not what I ordered. She responded, “the Braciole?”. I explained to her that I ordered the veal Raphael which I’ve ordered several times in the past at Cornell’s. She summoned our waitress over who took my plate back to the kitchen only to return moments later stating that the chef said it was in fact veal. I wasn’t going to argue but the server agreed to take the dinner off of the tab and she comped us desserts. The waitresses were very nice and polite, however, we will not be back.”

“I have never been more disappointed in a restaurant in my life. We waited at the bar for 30 minutes past our reservation, only to be told we could either wait five more minutes to be seated or sit immediately—in the bar. The room we were supposed to be seated in was Galentine’s themed, which was a major reason we booked this place in the first place. We paid for the overall experience and ended up getting none of it. To make matters worse, we were getting dirty looks from one of the servers (the one with the large eyelashes), as if we had caused some sort of problem—despite doing absolutely nothing wrong. That same server then sat at the bar openly trash-talking customers, which was extremely unprofessional and uncomfortable to witness. There was also constant confusion around payment. Despite the fact that we prepaid, our waitress asked us twice if we had already paid. After confirming yes both times, we were still brought a check at the end of the meal. We were then asked if we had already left a tip or not, which made the situation even more awkward and uncomfortable. The food was equally disappointing. $60 per person for bread that was hard as a rock, a Caesar salad with no dressing, and a fried chicken cutlet that was as tough as plastic and completely inedible. When we finally reached the dessert course, the tiramisu was frozen in the middle. When we spoke up about the overall bad experience, we were offered a “free dessert”—despite the fact that dessert was already included and paid for in our Valentine’s package. It felt dismissive and showed a complete lack of understanding of the issue. As someone who works in the restaurant industry, I try very hard not to leave bad reviews or complain—but this was genuinely one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. The only positive from the entire night was the fast and friendly service from the bartender. Inserted photos below- wish I could add the video of me tapping the bread on the table but google will not allow a video. Absolutely not worth the money, the hype, or the reservation.”