Villa Valenti — Restaurant in New York

I was back at RPI as an alumnus after a long absence and had $5 discount for Villa Valenti. Rather than have lunch at one of my old favorites, I decided to try a different part of town I'd never much explored as a student.

I really wanted a reuben so I chose Villa Valenti just a 15 min ride east of campus. I was greeted like Norm on Cheers as I walked through the door to a front bar populated by regulars watching horse races on several screens. There was a screen for a numbers game. I settled into a booth and my server, who was also bartending, couldn't have been friendlier or more gracious.

I was surprised a corner pub had pumpkin beer (Travelers Jack O Pumpkin) on tap. I ordered that along with the reuben which came with cole slaw and a choice of 4 different varieties of french fries. The beer was presented with cinnamon spice around the rim. The sandwich took a while since the server said they wanted to slice some fresh corned beef. It was a hearty reuben, I only wish the meat had been a little hotter. It seemed refrigerated compared to the toasted rye and melted cheese.

But that's a minor quibble. I'd...

I live around the corner, so I go in here occasionally. Every time I do on a weekday, I get the impression that they are surprised to see me. It's very much a "regulars only" vibe- slow service, staff seem anxious to get back to their conversations, etc. (On busier nights, the experience with staff is a little more pleasant.) I think they do Trivia Nights on Thursdays, and that's cool.

Pros: Food is excellent, portions are HUGE for the price, and they have a well-stocked bar, so huge plus for all that. Cons: Literally every surface, from the menus to the tables to the chairs to the walls, is unpleasantly sticky. Compounded with unfriendly staff, maybe not the best choice if you're looking to impress a date.

Overall, good place to get some good food if you...

I would never order from this restaurant again: this is a place we have ordered from several times, they not only charged us full price for the original order we placed, in which they made a mistake and did not deliver! We ordered 2 pizza’s, one, plain pepperoni and cheese, the other a Cobb pizza. They delivered a 10 cut cheese and meatball pizza. We had 4 children and 2 adults we were feeding; certainly not enough food. Upon calling, the person answering the phone, Frank, was beyond rude and swore at me. He promised to correct the error and send out the correct pizza, which never happened. We were still charged and never received our pizza. Absolutely unacceptable. This person does not have the capability to operate a business or handle mistakes or...