Andrea Trattoria Italiana — Restaurant in Cape May

I’m not usually a big fan of Italian food. Gave this place a try in a group setting, unfortunately, it only cemented my opinion.

Our group ran into a couple leaving the restaurant who had nothing but rave reviews for the chef, whom they follow around as he opens new restaurants.

Positives, service was relatively fast and they were able to seat us right away without a reservation.

The restaurant itself is rather cramped. Chairs against the wall, trapped in a corner kind of cramped. There was a banister separating tables, but it felt like dining with strangers. The atmosphere was dark and disconcertingly quiet before more diners began to come in.

They do separate their menu into first course and second course. While some items on the menu seem like traditional appetizer fare (calamari for instance), many of them are pasta dishes (which I personally thought was strange). The servers did mention that the so called “first course” dishes are meant to be appetizers and are smaller portions. Note this place is BYOB.

They had three specials: branzino, cod, and strip steak. They brought out a small basket of bread with some olive oil for dipping.

First courses ordered: carpaccio di polpo (4/5, tasty, decent portions, arugula gave it a nice freshness); calamari fritti (4.5/5 tasty, standard, didn’t overdo the breading); Spaghetti alla chitarra (2.5/5 clams were sandy/not properly cleaned, dish was bland); taglioni neri con gamberi (4/5, comes with 3 shrimp, not properly deveined); linguini alle vongole (3/5); soup of the day (cream of tomato, 3.5/5, made with real tomato)

Second courses ordered: orata alla ligure (4/5, part of skin was crispy (good), juicy and good balanced flavors with capers); costolette di manzo (2.7/5, cooked inconsistently half was tender and other half was dry).

Other things: service was nothing special. One of our group had a small wound and requested a bandaid, and the restaurant was unable to supply one.

The flavors weren’t anything special and tended to be more on the bland side. We noticed that the diners on average were older, so perhaps they’re used to catering to a specific kind of palate. Overall, not worth the price for the quality or experience. Portions are not gigantic but adequate, no complaints there. Flavors are rather lacking and the dishes didn’t really stand out. Not a fine dining experience, so don’t expect...

My parents invited my husband and I to join them for dinner to celebrate their anniversary. Overall, the meal was wonderful, both food and service.

My father and I both started with the scallops appetizer which was fantastic. 4 perfectly-cooked scallops on a tasty lemon cream sauce and nicely wilted spinach with "pancetta crisp" (which I'm 99% sure was just regular bacon but added a nice element nonetheless). My husband and mom both got the arugula salad with "truffle Pecorino" and artichokes. It was not particularly truffly (which as someone who doesn't like the smell of truffle, I appreciated) but was a nice salad. I had a bite of artichoke and it was good.

My dad then got the veal Valdostano and my mom a special tilefish with crab, which they both enjoyed. My husband and I, pasta lovers, had the ziti alla vodka and linguine with clams.

And for dessert, my mom and I split the "chocolate fudge" which was a nice dense chocolate torte-type dish and the men enjoyed the NY cheesecake with blueberries.

Our appetizers, especially the scallops, were excellent; the entrees were good and a very reasonable price for Cape May; but if you are looking for pasta, go somewhere else. Not that the pasta wasn't good, but it was so absurdly overpriced, I don't know where they get off putting it on a menu.

We have spent a lot of time in Italy, we make fresh homemade pasta all the time, we know that pasta is actually meant to be served in small portions unlike a typical American restaurant, but this was a joke. The portions were comically small, truly appetizer size (which they do tell you) but they cost more than the most expensive entree size pastas we've ever seen. $25 for the ziti, which was mediocre at best, something we frequently make much better ourselves, and $29 for the linguine. To their credit, there was a full dozen steamed clams on the linguine, which in itself can run you upwards of $15-18 around here, but still. Both pastas were also undercooked. I like my pasta al dente, but this was a bit too under. Not to the detriment of my experience, but again, at that price, it had better be the best pasta I've ever eaten and it was far from it.

In summary: Lovely new restaurant with great food and reasonable prices (for the area) - as long as you skip the pastas. They're decent but...

Andrea's would not seat us when we arrived. Our whole party had to be there. This is not a big deal, but it started the anguish early on. When we sat, we tried to order appetizers, but the menu is really not clear as to what is appetizer and what is entree. You may be able to get an appetizer as an entree, not sure. The first thing i look for when I get seated at an italian restaurant is bread. We were celebrating my birthday with my kids. The bread came sliced extremely thin and cold. The bread was not fresh baked, it was cold and maybe a day or two old. Now with the prices of this place, I would have definitely thought I was in a 5 star place but that is not the case. Our waiter delivered good service, but he is only adhering to the "Rules". First step, bread was only delivered sparingly 5 thin slices for 5 people, when we requested more and that it be warmed, they were taken off guard as if this is unusual. None of the bread was warmed after the first request and I asked the waiter to bring warm bread. A woman appeared with a larger bowl than before, and the bread was warm. I said, Oh thank you for warm bread. She said, I am the manager, is there a problem here? I said, well its my birthday and we couldn't get seated til my whole party was here as well as order apps. She stated, that's our policy, I was like ok, then I said the bread is cold and thin and not fresh and she stated that's the way we serve it. I stated, so I have to request to have it warmed and she said, yes. I said ok well that is not ideal for an italian restaurant and she delivered her policy statement with an attitude. The manager had a very sassy attitude as if we were doing her a favor by being at the location. They can definitely rest assured that we will not return. The portions were tiny and tasted good, especially appetizers. My salmon was a nice size, but nothing to rave about. The waiter and manager came and sang happy birthday, but the damage was done. I don't think this "Italian Restaurant" has to be a stop on your plans in cape May. Sappore or Acamia is much better in their food options....