Ferrari's Ristorante — Restaurant in City of Schenectady

This one has me so overwhelmed I am not sure where to start! Show at Proctors and my old favorite under new ownership and a big disappointment last time. My daughters research and great reviews brought us to Ferrari’s.

We called, explained we were seeing a show at Proctors Theater and asked what time the we should make reservations for to be out in time. We were told 6 would get us there in plenty of time.

Arriving shortly after 6, we called and advised because of traffic. In hindsight not sure that mattered as numerous parties with 6 pm reservations were standing in the very crowded bar area. No hostess just upset customers. No comment from the two bartenders that were waiting on 8-10 seats at the bar. At 6:20, Aunt Maria appears and as several customers bombarded her with I have 6 pm reservations. She responded with “I am Aunt Maria, you can’t get mad at me”. She broke into song and then proceeded to tell one customer “relax, you are going to get fed”. I do appreciate because of the show we got taken in first.

Now inside, she takes our party of 3 to a 6 top. Are you sure this is where you want us, there are only 3 of us. We were then told “no, you made a reservation for 5”. We countered with why would we do that when only 3 of us? Going back to her notes told us we were right. It is now 6:35 and we are finally seated. Dress warm with layers. It was freezing below vents and when kicked off became comfortable.

Wait staff immediately served a bread basket with Villas and another delicious option, butter at the bottom. Requiring you to touch all of the other bread to get to it.... once you find it. Waitress quickly took our drink order and dinner order. We explained the show time was 8. She assured us no worries. Salads were brought out quickly. Dinner was served at 7:20. The restaurant seemed very loud but in part may have been the three children who were completely disrespecting nana and papa over dinner. Or the gentleman who continuously farted so loud and so long that we would turn in disbelief. I gave the credit card when the waitress served dinner to expedite process. Clearly no time for eating, coffee or thought of dessert as we needed to drive to theater, find parking and get to seats before 8. We inhaled dinner which was VeRY large servings but not everything I thought would be for the reviews I had read. Plate size piece of chicken, personally would have preferred more cheese less chicken. It was so thin not a lot of flavor in little chicken I ate. Sauce was delicious but sparse on my pasta. Ironically they offered more for the left overs when boxed up! My daughter enjoyed her Alfredo. Boxed up and running from the restaurant we raced to Proctors. We made it to our seats at 7:59. Not the relaxing evening out we had hoped. When I raised the question, would you want to try it again on the way home the radio silence...

My wife had an amazing meal here a couple of months ago and has been wanting to bring me since. Schenectady has no shortage of amazing Italian restaurants so the bar was set pretty high.

The impression you get when you walk in is that not much has changed since the 1960s! The small bar is easily imagined with old friends and cigarette smoke after all hard days work. The restaurant is fairly small and it was crowded and somewhat noisy but that is certainly understandable on a Saturday night. We were seated in about 15 minutes having made a reservation.

The service was great even though they were obviously overwhelmed. The menu was full of southern and Northern Italian dishes, including things like a red, roasted pepper and provolone appetizer. You don’t see that on many menus. We were probably presented with a basket of bread which tasted like it came from Perreca’s. There was butter and no dipping oil. There is a lovely cocktail selection each very unusual and two of us went for the.Revello, which is blood, orange gin, Cointreau, orange juice, and club soda. It was great, even though a bit strong for my taste. The salad was served family style, which was a lovely touch. Amazingly fresh with lettuce, tomato, celery, black olives, and small cubes of provolone. Served with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing wonderful.

The first issue is that our entrées came out too soon. It’s an unusual complaint but when you are enjoying a salad like that and may want to have seconds out of the big bowl, it’s nice to have a little bit of time. That being said as busy as it was, I’m not sure they had the luxury of optimal timing.

As for entrées, one of us had chicken francese, reported as being wonderful. The eggplant Parmesan, likewise, and it was lightly fried or sautéed, and did not have a breading on it. I should report that the portions are very large. I had the seafood platter, which is more like a.zuppa de pesce, which I had in red sauce, but you can have in white sauce as well, which contained a huge amount of clams shrimp calamari scallops. The shrimp were large 16/20 or possibly larger.

The one food issue of the night is the haddock piccata. When my wife first ate here, she found this dish to be amazing and brought some home and I agreed. What made it amazing is it had a very light coating and was sautéed. The coding seemed like just egg and flour. The haddock piccata we had last night was deep fried with a thick breading. It totally took away from the dish, and the breading prevented the sauce from mixing with the fish. I’m not sure if it’s a difference between chefs, but if they read this, I hope they go back to the prior preparation. We did not try the homemade pasta, but it is available as an up charge.

We left full and happy and will be back. We were in no shape for dessert although I’m sure...

An Unforgettable Dining Experience at Ferrari's Ristorante

Our visit to Ferrari's Ristorante in Schenectady was nothing short of spectacular! From the moment we walked in, we were warmly greeted by the host and promptly shown to a cozy table. The atmosphere was inviting, and the service was impeccable from start to finish.

Our server took the time to let us peruse the menu without any rush and helped make our dining experience smooth and enjoyable. For appetizers, we started with the Fried Calamari, which was paired perfectly with an authentic marinara sauce. We also tried the Shrimp Vesuvio, and it was absolutely phenomenal—bursting with flavor and prepared to perfection.

For our entrées, my wife and I both chose the Chicken Melenzano, a delightful dish combining chicken parmigiana, eggplant, and a rich red sauce. Adding homemade fettuccine with even more of their incredible red sauce elevated the meal to the next level. The entrées also came with a crisp, fresh salad topped with an authentic Italian dressing that tied it all together. A bottle of Tuscan wine rounded out the meal beautifully, pairing perfectly with the red sauce, chicken, and eggplant.

Dessert was another highlight of the evening. We ordered the Tiramisu, my wife's favorite, and it was hands down the best we've ever had. The recipe was incredibly authentic, and Ferrari's attention to detail truly shone through. While chatting with some friendly locals, we were enthusiastically told to return and try the cream puffs, which we can't wait to do on our next visit!

Overall, this dining experience exceeded every expectation we had. From the warm service to the outstanding food, Ferrari's Ristorante is a gem worth the drive—even though we live an hour away. We’ll absolutely be returning for another memorable meal! P.S. Don't forget to try an true Italian Coffee on...