Osteria — Restaurant in Nichols Hills

I recently had the pleasure of dining here multiple times, and there’s plenty to commend about the experience as we have all been excited to be able to try Osteria food again. The culinary offerings are nothing short of exceptional—the menu is a creative mélange of flavors, and each dish arrives beautifully plated and bursting with taste. From the perfectly seared entrée to the delightful dessert, every bite demonstrates a true passion for quality and innovation.

The ambience sets the perfect stage for an evening out. Soft lighting, tasteful decor, and an effortlessly chic vibe create an environment that’s both inviting and relaxed. It’s clear that great care has been taken to provide a setting that encourages lingering conversations and a sense of celebration.

The cocktails, too, deserve a special mention. With a well-curated selection that ranges from classic favorites to inventive signature creations, the bar is a testament to excellent mixology. Each drink is thoughtfully crafted, with a perfect balance of flavors that only elevates the dining experience.

However, despite these standout elements, the service left something to be desired. While the staff were knowledgeable about the menu and capable in their craft at the bar, the overall hospitality felt underwhelming from service on the floor. Nicole our server for both occasions that lacked couth when speaking or addressing something with our table. The first instance was when my friends and I wanted to go in for a wine and dinned outing. Accusing us to be ok to drive off two bottles of wine when three people were at the table enjoying wine was baffling. I understand wanting to keep track of guest consumption there is defiantly a better way of either addressing your concern than " are you sure you guys aren't drunk and can drive". I choose to let the slide as the delivery was horrible, I understood her concern at least a bit. What I could not let go last night we went in to enjoy the late bit menu as advertised all over social media. As soon as we were greeted, we were told they would be closing in 20 minutes. Again, not a big deal didn't read too much into that and honestly just wanted the damn amazing cheesecake you all have. When it came to the payment it was placed all on one tab which we then proceeded to talk amongst ourselves to figure a split on the tab. When she returned to try and get the way we wanted to split her comment was "seriously guys do you all not have venomo or something". The intrusive thoughts are always in our heads what Nicole lacks is the understanding of keeping them in her head and not make her guest feel criticized. What could have been an unforgettable dining experience was somewhat diminished by service that didn’t quite match the caliber of the food, drinks, or atmosphere.

In short, Osteria excels in the culinary and aesthetic departments and offers a drink selection that truly impresses. I'll be taking a reprieve for a bit, and I hope they continue to refine their service, as the potential here is...

After reading about Osteria in some food magazines and looking at the reviews, I thought this place was going to be knock-you-outta-the-park amazing. Unfortunately, the evening was a sad let-down that left me and my party never wanting to return.

Atmosphere: We were seated outside since there was no seating available inside and there were no more reservations available for the day (and we did not mind sitting outside). However, it was a cold, windy day and somehow it was deemed “ok” by the management to seat people outside and not have any outdoor heating or windscreens (which almost all other restaurants have). At first the person seating us took us around the side of the building to an area where the wind was even worse and we had to ask to not be seated there. You would think it would be common courtesy to try and seat people in a LESS windy location, but this restaurant is not the realm of the common or of sense. So we were seated instead at a relatively less windy spot and we spent the next 10 minutes holding onto our menus for dear life against the wind as we chose our food.

Price: The menu pricing is, honestly, a huge rip-off. The basic lettuce salad (the cheapest thing on the menu) was $10. If you wanted to add a meat to the salad, the cheapest option you have is chicken for $6. You can buy two pounds of chicken at Sprouts for $5.50. When it comes to the entrees, the cheapest entre is $20 and that gets you plain old spaghetti with some grated cheese on top. You want to add some meatballs to that? That will run you another $11. Maybe I am getting old, but when did sauceless spaghetti with a couple of meatballs set you back $31? The pièce de résistance is that Osteria is rated just $$ on Facebook and $$-$$$ on TripAdvisor. It is seriously unbelievable that they are getting away with this egregious discrepancy in pricing.

Food & Service: From the reviews, it seems we were supposed to get complimentary bread. Well we never did. Perhaps we were not worthy enough. The cocktails were quite small and were really nothing to boast about. The Luxardo Chery Limeade was watered down with so much ice that you could barely tell it was an alcoholic beverage. The saving grace was their pizzas, which were on par with the Nichols Hills scene. The Margherita pizza had fresh shredded basil and just the right amount of mozzarella and the Tartufi pizza was brimming with mushroomy goodness. However, when it came time to have desert, we were not offered the option by our server and so we decided to ask for the check and save ourselves the struggle of sitting in the cold any longer than we...

We come here at least 3 times a month since it’s been opened. I always order the same thing everytime I come so I was initially excited to come here to celebrate my birthday during dinner time. We ordered the weekend special and the lemon and clam linguine. I would like to start off with the service and wait staff, they are amazing and very helpful and kind, no complaints on them whatsoever. However, due to training of new kitchen staff it took almost 35 minutes to get our food. When it arrived, the lemon clam linguine did not taste anything like the one I always get. The clams were shriveled up as if they were cooked to too long and a majority of the shells were empty. The flavor was not remotely comparable to the plate I know and love. It was missing ingredients and other ones were added that didn’t belong. The weekend special was the scallops and risotto, it sounded like it was going to be heavenly and to our surprise it was not as amazing as it was capable of being. It’s came out very bland and the risotto had no flavor and tasted very watered down. Since the special was not on the menu, the price was not disclosed to us upon ordering but figured we’d give it a shot assuming it would be somewhere around the same price as the other menu items (factoring in maybe $10 more). When wait staff came by I let them know about the linguine flavor and how it didn’t taste anything comparable to what they usually cook up. They were able to get that fixed and have the main chef make me a fresh one to go (just the smell alone comparing the two was night and day) and that they would adjust the ticket. At that point we didn’t feel like we needed to say anything about the other dish not meeting expectations. We figured we’d just buy his plate and take care of our servers. To our surprise the weekend special ended up being around $43 in which was definitely not worth it. Overall, this made for a very disappointing birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant. I normally never leave reviews but the experience was very heartbreaking and expected the same great food we always get. It makes me sad to write a review like this but for the amount of time and money invested in this spot this was truly a sad and...