gina cataldo

Hand to God this was the best Mother’s Day of the past 20 years that I’ve been holding that title. Cornell was the main reason. oh and the fact that we had the best waiter in all of the Tri-City area named Ross immediately because he was so young I just assumed he wouldn’t know what he was doing, but not only was he super intelligent, confident speedy he knew how to communicate with the nine-year-old father-in-law and the kids and my drunken self I mean, it only took me a glass and a half of wine, but he used a heavy hand 🤚🏻 I had filet mignon with lobster butter sauce, twice baked potatoes, and broccoli to die for literally. I’m not a person that usually orders an ant but it was the best one I’ve ever had anywhere. There was a special menu for Mother’s Day on top of the regular full menu which I thought was great. There was no limitations. And everyone must try the Utica greens. They’re not easy to make as perfect as Cornell does. You’ll never have better. This place is not cheap. I’ll be honest, but it is worth every penny. I’ve been talking about this meal for the past couple of weeks and I’ve been going to this place since I was a kid and I’m young as we are all WELL AWARE 🙄 a huge thank you to Ross the best waiter ever!!!! Nobody, nobody could put up with my family as best as you … Your tip was well-deserved WE WILL BE BACK

RainbowSlid3

Me and my husband are newlyweds and decided to come here during our honeymoon. We got the grilled salmon and 16oz ribeye a few mocktails and some gelato for dessert. Everything was amazing and the salmon was the best salmon I’ve ever had! 100% would recommend!

Kim

I tried the baked brie, Italian bread with olive tapenade, a delicious Tuscan salad, Chinook salmon, penne alla vodka, and dessert was zeppoleI. Waitresses were so nice such a great experience.

+1

Marco Alexandre Jr.

I was very pleased to have visited Cornell's in Little Italy. If high quality service and wonderfully delish authentic Italian dishes are in you or your families wishes, you certainly have to stop here. I took a bar seat and my tender Chris was very helpful and a wise chat. I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for as everything looked enticing. I was more than pleased with my selection and the perfection the chefs provided. Hats 🎩👒 off to the entire staff for this level of service. ⭐✨ ⭐

+8

My husband and I had a gift card here for our anniversary and we had a nice time. I wouldn't call it the most romantic date night location because the lights were at 100% brightness and the tables in the dining room were so close together that I had trouble getting up at the end of the night without hitting the person behind me (definitely felt like we were a part of the girl's night happening across from us (can you believe her neighbor doesn't pick up after her dog??)). My husband loved the spaghetti and the chicken Marsala was good but the first piece of chicken I cut into was very woody and chewy and it did kind of throw me off the rest of the meal. I also got charged an upcharge for getting mashed potatoes although the menu listed "pasta or potatoes" as the side options. As a mid-twenty-something I naturally paid without complaint. All that being said, probably the best mashed potatoes I've had in my life and I will be going back with the remainder of my gift card for cocktails and potatoes alone.

Lori Brown

My first visit to this family-run Italian restaurant was pleasant overall — warm service and flavorful dishes, though the chicken francaise portions were extremely small - two tiny thin tenders… and one appetizer seemed off. We were very surprised that our braciole didn’t come with pasta :( I hope they rethink that choice... I’ll certainly return for a second visit, as I always like to give local places another chance.

Clara LaPorte

I was super excited to attend the Mother’s Day brunch after a wonderful meal in April. I was sadly disappointed that all the menu options weren’t available at the time we were seated (10AM). Our meal was completed by 11, but I was hoping to get some of the cannolis. I waited until 11:30 but having a 1 year old, I couldn’t stay any longer. For the prices charged, this shouldn’t have happened. UPDATE: the owner called and apologized. She also had someone deliver cannolis to our home. Made an excellent end to the weekend! Thanks Cornells and owner, Maria, for making it right!

Robert Fernandez

We went for the flaming cheese wheel meal. Frankly, I was disappointed. I expected more of a show. The shrimp appetizer was excellent. The bread "course" was ice cold, with 3 slices of bread for 2 people with a couple of pats of butter. The unlimited pasta course was a mixed bag. The portions were generous but inconsistent. My wife's pasta was very dry, but mine was soupy. The flavor was good and made with high quality ingredients. The dessert course of two chocolate chip canollis was very good. I do want to give Cornell's another shot. The restaurant is beautiful, the service was outstanding and except for the pasta dish and bread, the food was great.

Jmn4

I had heard that this place is a must. Took my father and stepmother for my father's bday. Was very underwhelmed and a bit disappointed. Beautiful restaurant. Service was the biggest let down.l of the visit. We were the only guests seated in our particular seating area and we waited for our first round of drinks for about 20 mins. The place was not busy at all. We out in an order for broccoli rabe and artichoke apps, the artichokes did not come. Everyone seemed happy with their entrees. Mine was ok. I got the Milanese and I thought the sauce was much too lemony. The wild mushroom pasta and and my dad's veal turned out great. Ordered desert and a samboca, the guy basically said he couldn't make my espresso because the machine was broke. The samboca pour my dad got was MINISCULE. They also forgot the additional to go order of home made pasta I requested to be brought out at the end of dinner. This was a let down for me. Not in any rush to go back with places like Scottis, Stella, and Appian Way so close.

Went tonight 4 restaurant week. Sorry, I wasn't impressed. The 1 meatball had to flavor, extremely bland. Steak pizza island was very tough. Not tender as I would have liked. Ran out of Polenta w/ cream sauce. Had tenderloin steak over pasta w/ red sauce. Then my Penne ala Vodka. Came after my entrée. Dessert was also OK. Would have liked the Zeppoli was ok. The Carmel was great, but at the bottom of the glass. I was so hungry. I hadn't eaten all day. Ariel was incredible!! Very personable. Being my 1st time there. I was disappointed.

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.

I was very disappointed tonight with our dining at Cornell’s. So much so, as I have never left a review in my life, and feel the need to now. It was TERRIBLE from beginning to end. I brought my daughters for their birthday. I had a reso and they sat us in the bar. (They are 13&14) I was hoping for a nice dinner in the dining room. The calamari was probably the worst I’ve ever had, same with the bruschetta. My martini was disgusting and didn’t even kind of taste like a martini. I drank 3 sips. They both got pasta & meatballs-said the meatballs were gross and couldn’t eat them. My chicken/eggplant parm was good. One of my daughters got some donut dessert that was so bad, the other got cheesecake and said it was good. Our server wore a mask and we couldn’t understand a word she said. Somehow our bill was $189 and I left there spending $227 with tip 🤦‍♀️ (unless they sneakily already added the tip and I didn’t realize) Also-these was a gross smell. Never again. Major disappointment.

Just went to Cornell’s for restaurant week. Used to love this place. Hadn’t been in a while. Menu looked good, so we decided to go. Me and my girlfriend both had the stuffed flounder, someone else in our party did as well. None of us ate it. It was basically rotten. The shrimp and lobster stuffing tasted like it was made weeks ago. The cavatelli was just as good as it used to be. But we basically got served old rotten fish. $210 later got 4 people, and not a single one of us will ever go back. Place is nice, service was decent. Food was not good at all.

We had dinner there during restaurant week this week. First off they did not tell you it was the restaurant week menu only. I have been to many of the restaurants participating and you can order off the reg menu or the restaurant week menu. We came as a family with three kids and they didn’t have a kids menu either. So if you don’t want to buy a 40 dollar meal for your 7 year old you’re out of luck. That should be listed on their website I would not have gone having knows you were bound to the small menu….. esp bc the options on the restaurant menu are not really the “Italian staples” the pasta course was good. Everything else was weak to be honest. Flavorless and very mass produced and reheated type of thing. The service was ok. Def disappointed that we spent $250 for a family of 5 and left very unhappy.

Peter Goldman

First time (and last) at Cornell's and was very disappointed with the experience. First off, the restaurant itself is very dated and had musty odor. We had a booth in the bar area that was torn and taped over, while the tablecloth had white craft paper over it making it appear extremely tacky. We started off with the arancini as an appetizer along with an order of meatballs. The arancini was over-fried and dry inside. The meatballs (2) were small with a tiny scoop of ricotta and definitely not worth the $15 they charged. Both appetizers were obviously microwaved prior to being served. We should should have stuck to the .25 cent chicken wings being offered for happy hour at the bar. The main courses, unfortunately, were no better. We had veal francaise, chicken francaise and chicken milanese. The waiter couldn't tell the difference between the dishes and mixed them all up which really didn't matter because they were all equally terrible. Both chicken dishes were dry and not seasoned properly while the veal was overcooked and tasteless. All portions were small and again, all were microwaved. We spent over $180.00 and walked away hungry a d disappointed.

Eric Bresky

We have been going to Cornells for years now and always had a great experience. Last night, was quite the opposite. We first arrived and the host told us there was no room, we then asked if we could be seated at the bar, and she said she had to ask. We were then seated and the bar was completely empty. we were served 2 glasses of wine and ordered our meals. After an hour went by, we still hadn't received our meal. we inquired about it and let them know we had to leave in a few minutes for a 7pm event. We ordered our meal at 5:30. The middle aged blond haired manager then had some choice words with us that were jaw dropping. i told her we'd have to leave because we had tickets to an event and i was disappointed because we were also going to get $200 worth of gift cards to their restaurant. She said, " you can take your money someplace else because we don't want people like you here anyway." We said, "people like us?" I then told her i ran a business and I'm sure the owner would not like her speaking to guests that way. She said you can leave now and we walked out. We have never been so insulted and will be hesitant to return to a family staple of ours.