The Ladies of the Dukes — Restaurant in New Castle

I’ve only ever had family eat here and bring me back food. I usually opt for the Ravioli and a piece of chocolate dream cake. However, I was off work today, which never happens, so I joined family and dined in.

My thoughts on our experience and the food is ‘meh’ honestly. We ordered Zucchini Planks, Chicken Parmesan, Eggplant Parmesan and a Large Ravioli

I really love their sauce. It’s not too acidic or overly seasoned/sweet. It’s pretty basic, but delicious. I wasn’t crazy about the bread. It was brought to the table cold and you could tell it was bagged bread. I also really loathe when restaurants bring cold butter with bread. How are you supposed to spread it when it’s a hard cube. Salads were ok. Just lettuce mix sprinkled with black olives. Very underwhelming. The zucchini planks came out overly cooked, 1 was completely burnt, including the zucchini and hard as rock. The batter itself just tasted like oil and no flavor at all. Very greasy. The breading on my daughter’s chicken parm was super salty and over seasoned. They also don’t pound out the pieces of chicken, so it was one big chewy chunk of chicken. My eggplant itself was delicious but, again, the breading was SO SALTY and over seasoned. It takes away from the meal. I’d rather add salt or seasoning to something a little bland vs not being able to enjoy my food.

The only favorite was the ravioli. It seems to be the only thing they got right, or in my experience, get right every time.

For the cost and the quality, I’d probably never dine in again. I’ll always say yes to someone bringing me home ravioli and homemade dessert though!

I also want to add that the service was pretty good. There was a wait and they got us in rather quickly, plates were bussed pretty much immediately and the server was really friendly. You can tell it’s more of a turn and burn establishment, so don’t expect...

All-time Favorite Italian Restaurant:

Every time we go back to my wife's hometown, New Castle, PA, I make sure we make a trip on Sunday to Ladies of the Dukes. This place is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! If you love Italian food, this is a must and so worth the drive, as far away as Pittsburgh! We're talking little old Italian ladies making the best homemade pasta you've ever tasted! This is just like my Nanny's cooking!

This place isn't fancy...similar to a 1950s style diner run by an Italian Matriarch and pay close attention here...they're only open on Sundays! So plan your visit to ensure it lands on a Sunday. What's even more amazing is the fact that you can take your big cooking pots up to LOTD's and have them fill them with sauce and pasta, a bag of salad and Italian loaf bread. Whenever possible, I bring our cooler from VA so that I can bring some home with us. I'm not even kidding, when I go here, I feel that I've been transported back in time and I'm sitting in my nonna's kitchen! The strong, mouth-watering smells of garlic, seasoning, and homemade pasta instantly puts you in comfort-food mode. If you look around, everybody is laughing and smiling and twirling their spaghetti with their forks and spoons, sopping up their leftover sauce with their Italian bread.

I have had several different entrees and everything I've ever had is outstanding! Desserts? Homemade and delicious! Just thinking about LOTD's makes my mouth water. If you're fortunate enough to find yourself in this rural small town, 45 minutes outside of Pittsburg, do yourself a huge favor and visit this 1950s style Italian diner....

First and foremost, we have eaten in this restaurant or picked-up take out for many years since I was young. The service and food have been steadily declining. Related to this incident, we purchased several meals for our family. When we got home I found the pictured dinner which was ice cold and looked like it was scraped off somebody else’s plate, disgusting. We thought the other dinners would be fine however they were not. We all got sick for several days following the food from this restaurant. To make matters worse, I called immediately when I got home to advise of the dinner pictured, left a message with my name and telephone number however nobody bothered to respond. I called a few days later after we all got sick and, again, nobody bothered to return my call. Unfortunately, this place just isn’t what it used to be, declining service and food. This seems to be a problem when a restaurant forgoes customer service and proper food based on their prior reputation. Based on what the dinner pictured below looks like, what other corners are being cut at the expense of customers health and well-being. Since the restaurant won’t bother to respond, I’ll follow-up with the Pennsylvania Department of Health…I can’t have it on my conscious to allow others to get sick from this place. Very disappointed to see a former New Castle staple fall...