Collina's Italian Cafe — Restaurant in Hedwig Village

Matt & the crew make it happen, every time.

I've been eating at this location for 7-8+ years and the food has always been consistent & fantastic. Service is always friendly too! However over the last few years, staffing shortages have caused tons of problems for my favorite restaurants all around town. And on our last few visits to Collina's, this location has been BUSY and there's been less staff working than in the past.

I went in last night with my family for a Mona Lisa pizza and was thrilled to see that Collina's was PACKED! Almost not an empty seat in the entire place!! (Great for a small business, but definitely hard on the staff working.) With just a quick glance around the restaurant, it was clear to see there were just 3 people working the front of the house and they were overwhelmed.

Matt however did come over to our table shortly after we sat down, and explained he was running a hair behind, being that they were super short staffed. He apologized and said that if we could be forgiving, understanding, and have a little patience with him that he would make sure to provide us with friendly service, ice cold Peronis, and delicious hot pizza. Matt did not fail to deliver on that promise! He was focused and attentive in his approach, running around the restaurant NON STOP. Although he maybe wasn't able to swing by our table as much as he normally would have liked to have done, we never had empty drink glasses and had anything we needed and asked for.

We understood that the restaurant needed probably 3-4 more staff members to tend to everyone in the place last night, but they didn't have the help on hand, and the staff that was there did the absolute best job they could have done.

We at no point ever got upset and ran to Google to whine and complain and give a 1-Star review like others seem to do. It doesn't seem reasonable to harp on staff that are already working their butts off. But eh, some people are just...

I ordered the Spaghetti with meatballs, the price says $12.99 on here when I get there I was charged 16.23 the manager from the Richmond store said and took a picture. The in house menu the price is $14.99. Wow, I have had pizza before it was fantastic. But since this new system it doesn’t tell you about how many points you have or what the points is actually for. I think this a kool place but the google prices are wrong they say. That’s a false advertisement. This is 3rd time this has happened. I pay different prices for my pizza’s. Not a happy customer. If I ask you what comes with the spaghetti you say salad and breadsticks? What kind of salad a side salad or Caesar salad. Okay give me the Caesar with no croutons. I get there there’s a up charge for the Caesar, you being the New manager from another store. Should no better and explain that. Also my noodles to my spaghetti is cold with a Luke warm sauce. The breadsticks are Cold and tough. Cold dry meatballs. Wow nobody cares about the visual of food, the temperature of the food. Then I get pasta I didn’t ask for with the sauce. So please explain to me why I should go back! The New manager had an odor like he doesn’t wear deodorant. the smell was loud. They just lost me as a New customer. I’ll buy pizza from somewhere else. Never again. I first discovered the Richmond location with friends from First Colony Neighborhood. We drive alway across town to eat pizza. So when I discovered they have locations 5 minutes from I was happy what a...

I went to lunch with my coworkers who have been going to this place every week for YEARS! It must be good for someone to eat there literally every week. I was expecting it to be fair, but I was blown away! It is a cute little space with the classic Italian red & white checkered tablecloths. They start you out with delicious warm bread. The tables all have oil and grated cheese which makes a tasty dip for the bread. They don't have sweet tea, but they do have pink lemonade. So far, we were off to a great start with those items. I started with the wedge salad. I prefer ranch on my wedge since I am not a fan of blue cheese. This wedge was perfectly dressed in terrific ranch, bacon and tomato. For my main course, I ordered the Fettuccini Tetrazzini (no onions). This dish was big enough for 3 people to share. It was the best Fettuccini Tetrazzini I have ever had! Tender pieces of chicken and savory mushrooms are blended with a creamy white sauce then presented over a bowl of fettuccini. It was super fresh and steaming hot when it arrived at the table. I can see this being a craving when the weather gets colder. My coworkers had the pizza and even though I thoroughly enjoyed mine, I had a little food envy. I will definitely be back to try the pizza! The service was fantastic, the energy was calm, the atmosphere was charming with slightly dim lights, the restaurant was spacious, there were lots of customers, yet it was quiet enough to hold a conversation with our group. I am very impressed...