Caffé Palermo — Restaurant in New York

Lapin and I were in the mood for Italian food and since he never been to Little Italy, we thought it would be a good idea to stroll around the neighborhood to find a good restaurant. We saw a sign saying “Cannoli King”, and decided we had to try this place. They had an outdoor fridge with pastries which was pretty busy so we took it as a good sign. We were promptly seated by an older women. She wasn’t very nice and just put the menu down and left. As soon as we sat down another one asked what we wanted to drink without giving us a moment to remove our bags. The older women mutter something under her breath causing the two of them to exchange words right in front of us. Our waitress was mediocre at best, half way through the meal she handed us (and just dealt with other tables instead of us) off to a younger waitress who was really nice but at that point we already had bad taste in our mouth with the mediocre food and service. At one point, when we ordered the pizza our waitress (another one from the two) said are we done yet...while we were still eating.

If you were like Lapin and I, trying to locate a food menu online is nearing impossible. Which should have been another sign that maybe we should stick to ordering pastries. I guess we should note we were the only people in the restaurant ordering food. The entire food menu was one page while the pastry menu had an extensive around 7 page menu. Looking bad, I should have seen the red flags. Lapin and I ordered two glasses of white wine. The waitress said they ran out about half of their wines they listed. When she bought the two glasses of wine, Lapin’s glass was extremely smaller than mines. But, both of the glasses had a generous pour.

For the appetizer, we ordered the only appetizer available which was the antipasti appetizer. For $19, it was an utter disappointment. It was a half of deli tasting cold cuts, cubes of Polly-O mozzarella cheese and a handful of olives. The entrees were no better. I ordered a chicken parm($16) and Lapin ordered meatball sliders($12 for 3). For the price, the taste and serving size was underwhelming and definite a avoid option. The food tasted like a beginner learning to cook and the time we spend waiting felt like they were Googling recipes. Apparently, they do have a pizza option (it’s not on the menu but on a small piece of paper on each table behind the wine menu). We ordered the chicken and pepperoni pizza...my god..that thing was awful. The waitress bought us stale garlic that wouldn’t come out no matter how many times you knock the container or poke at it. She then bought us black pepper to replace the garlic. The cannolis, we were praying to be the saving grace. Unfortunately, they were mediocre at best. They were tasty but not the “king” level they claim. We were going to order the black and white cookies but we saw them unloading them from a box that said “Harvest Bakery Black and White Cookies” that they bought from the basement. Basically, the same cookie you can get at a deli counter and 200% markup.

I feel like they were doing well when they were just a bakery and wanted to expand. They should focus on tweaking their menu and recipes before rolling out to the public. By the way, don’t order the salad. They stored the bagged salad (looked like Fresh Express brand from the packaging) in the front fridge and just dump it on a...

I'm absolutely devastated about what happened this evening. My husband and I had dessert on our first romantic date at Caffe Palermo in 2010. Caffe Palermo has been my absolute favorite restaurant in Little Italy. I took my 3 children ALONE to NYC for the weekend as a quick holiday getaway from Maryland. I decided to take them to caffe Palermo on our last night for dinner. My 5, 3 and 1 year old were very excited for the Italian cookies and pizza. And I was ready to indulge in an amazing Italian dish with dessert to follow. Sooo we did not eat most of the day before getting to the restaurant. After a long day, we got lost on foot and couldn't find our car.. coming from brooklyn. Which delayed food even longer. Finally found it, we were on our way. Found parking 7 blocks from Little Italy. We FINALLY got to the restaurant and the waitress suggested our stroller would probably not fit inside. So I parked the stroller outside. Holding my 1 year old, we were sat down. My 3 year old was exhausted and very hungry. After waiting awhile for our waiter he finally came over and was ready to take our order. I tell him, please hurry bc the kids are really hungry and ansey. As I'm saying this, my 3 yr old daughter begins screaming while fighting with my 5 year old son over the chair they were sitting in. I redirected them while the waiter went to get me an updated menu so I can order dinner. When he returned, I was approached by a customer who stated, you need to get ur daughter under control. Or otherwise you should leave, alot of people are not happy in the back and the owner is annoyed as well and thinks u should leave. In disbelief I stared at him for a moment...my daughter is 3, she's starving, she's exhausted....God himself is not getting this child in control...so to say this to me I was shocked..and the OWNER!?!??!? I looked to my waiter and said, what!? Is this for real? Am I really being asked to leave? Waiter said, idk please don't take this out on me? I said, no but please go ask if this is true, bc I do not want to give you my business if this is the case. He came back a short while later and said, yes its true they suggested if you can't get her into control you should leave. I said, well I'm sure once she eats she'd calm down but I can't believe this is happening and so we will not give you our business. I went outside and cried my eyes out!!!!!! I could not believe we waited all day to go to this restaurant and to be treated so disrespectful over my hungry, temporarily loud child. And not even be offered anything to help me calm her down a bit.

What's worse, is that as we left one of the men who had been seating customers in the front with a black fur coat on, began LOUDLY singing throughout the ALREADY LOUD, SEVERLY CONGESTED restaurant!!!! I'm sooo upset about this. This truly ruined my spirit!! Completely devastating and broken hearted!!! And I didn't even get my darn cannoli or cookies...

I have been visiting Cannoli King for years and have also had them shipped to our home. Last night after enjoying the best Cannoli “on the planet”, we ordered The Best Sfogliatella in the universe which was served warm and had the most delicious filling. My guests in the party had the Espresso martini and said it was bar none the best they’ve ever had. I decided to try the Baci Martini which tasted like chocolate Jello pudding pops from back in the day. Made white Godiva choclate and chilled to perfection. I just know I will never have another chocolate martini that was that good anywhere else. They have an extensive list of not just delicious desserts, and truly the best Cannoli you will ever have, but everything from sandwiches to salads and a very selective wine and speciality drinks menu. I also ordered the espresso, and just like my beloved Italian late Uncle use to serve it, they added the three coffee beans to the Sambuca on the side. Our waitress Jennifer went above and beyond to seat us outside with our puppy Louie. We ordered a side of a couple meatballs for him, and after my kids tasted them, said “Mom, nobody makes meatballs like you do, but you have some serious competition here”. I had to try a bite and agree, they were the best meatballs we have ever had up and down the Eastern Seaboard. You could hear The Cannoli King, “Baby John” in the background attending to each client personally and welcoming everyone like family. It is no wonder he is renowned for his secret ingredient in The Cannoli and embraced by locals and celebrities alike that travel from near and far to acquire the best cannoli and enjoy his vibrant personality. We had the added pleasure of Baby John greeting us and welcoming us at our table and sending over a nice Italian Lemoncello for us to try with our dessert. One thing is for certain, his love for his family and his love for his customers. Between his vibrant and welcoming old school Italian personality, and making everyone feel like they are going back in time in Italy, it is no wonder both The Rachael Ray show and Ryan Seacrest have had him share his piece of history on their shows as well as the best Cannoli’s on planet earth. If you are going to be on Mulberry Street and in Little Italy, or in NYC, you must visit this iconic gem, Palermo Caffe' a/k/a The Cannoli Kind. Otherwise, you will have missed out on the best Cannoli, and what true Italian Old School hospitality and authentic Italian food is. Salute and thank you Baby John, and staff, for a wonderful evening. We wish all of you and your families The Best in 2022 and in the years to come. Salute! L, C and L...