Tre Scalini Restaurant — Restaurant in New Haven

In celebrating our anniversary, my wife reserved a table at this restaurant. She knows I love Italian food, in fact, so much that I did a 2yr course in Italian cuisine in Rhode Island. Anyhow- here's my honest and sincere review from the atmosphere to the service and the food!

ATMOSPHERE- The restaurant is reminiscing of an old Italian eatery, nothing super fancy or 5 star. For me, it felt very homey, a la Brooklyn style, little Italy eatery, and I was ok with it, but my disappointment was that the tables could have a least used small LED candles or candelabras to five it a more elegant and personal feel to it. Especially when layer into the night, the lights seemed to have dimmed a little!

Furthermore, having the small electronic candle on each table, especially ours, would have set a very romantic setting for my wife and I.

SERVICE- As for the service, I think the staffing did very well with making sure we did not run out of water, or bread, but sadly, the staff didn't look happy and joyful, nor were they engaging in neither small talks or offerings!

FOOD- We ordered meatballs a la pomodoro, Penne pasta a la vodka, Alberto Chicken and a side of parmesan risotto. The meatballs in Pomodoro sauce were delicious, probably the best we ever had, the penny a la vodka was at first disappointing but they quickly correct it the issue and the Alberto chicken was very succulent, but the risotto was also a disappointment!... the risotto tasted more like truffle oil then parmesan, and was very oily. I did not ask for it to be corrected cause I did not want to hold my wife back from eating her food while waiting for the risotto!

So the question remains; Would we return and do we recommend this restaurant?!... My answer is yes to both. We definitely would return and hope to see happier faces, and definitely would recommend this place, the flavors of the food...

Update: Joe, I never said anything about a special menu. You did have specials that night, which we ordered and in my opinion, the price for them was not justified. Nowhere in my review did I say that the price was not as advertised. You did issue us a refund. The problem is that the final charge included a $50 tip that was added WITHOUT our authorization. We left a cash tip as I said in my original review but the final charge on the credit card reflected a different amount. I originally didn't want to leave a bad review at all, but I want people to be aware.

We have been coming to Tre Scalini for the past 4 years, however, our last experience was subpar. My husband, my mom, and I went for an NYE dinner. The service was good, and the food was just okay (overpriced, I understand it was New Year's, but quality vs price did not match up). The biggest issue we had was when after three days we realized we were charged an extra $50 tip with our dinner (we left a cash tip)... The owner's response was- "oh yeah sorry, you'll get refunded". While I understand that mistakes can happen, the complete disregard for this issue is unacceptable and unfortunately, we will not...

I went here for my birthday and the food was amazing!!! No complaints at all and I would go again! I ordered the calamari as an appetizer and it was amazing. Not oily and the sauce with it was perfect. It had the perfect crunch and it was very light. For dinner I had order the Gnocchi Saporiti but the waitress brought me Pappardelle Al Telefono. She mistake what I wanted and I wasn’t upset at all. I’m scared to trying new things and I didn’t even noticed what she brought to me because I was just really hungry and I was excited to try good Italian food. The papperdelle al telefono was to die for! Lol I never tried lobster before and I would order that again! The best surprised was my boyfriend and the witness surprised me with the ‘New New York Style Cheesecake with Creamy New York style cheesecake and oreo cookie crust’. It was creamy and light! I could only have a few bites since I was full from my dinner but it was really good. The witness (I wish I remembered her name, I’m sorry) left bad that she messed up my order and gave us a free shot on the house which she didn’t have too but it she made my day. I really appreciate it! :) thank you!...