Mr. Martino's Trattoria — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I really wanted to like this place, based on its reputation and reviews, but was really disappointed.

Went with 3 others for a 7pm dinner. The atmosphere is really cool. A small, cozy place where you’re packed in, in a good way though. That’s about where the positives ended.

We ordered a soup, the broccoli rabe and the polenta as an appetizer. One of us ordered an espresso. It took about 20 minutes for the espresso and over an hour for the starters to make it out. When it got to us, we were pretty underwhelmed. Broccoli rabe was missing the taste and the polenta was great, but it was such a small portion we barely got a forkful each.

It was nearly two hours before our entrees made it. VERY small portion sizes. I got the veal tortellini with Gorgonzola, I think there were 4 (admittedly oversized) tortellini. It was pretty solid but I didn’t get any of the Gorgonzola in the dish, and hardly any veal at all.

One of our party ordered spaghetti with sausage sauce. They brought him penne. When he asked about it, the server told us the kitchen was backed up and that she wouldn’t be able to get spaghetti. This was kind of weird to hear, and it was made worse by the fact that it was essentially a side dish of pasta.

We grabbed dessert because we were still hungry. The lemon tart was solid, as was the chocolate pudding. Got out soon after.

By the time I got home, I was making a small snack. I’m not one for massive plates of pasta that a lot of cheaper Italian spots do, but I don’t want to spend an average of $50/person wait nearly two hours to eat, and still leave a restaurant hungry.

I don’t think we’ll be back as there are a ton of other spots...

The decor of this place is awesome, it has great vibes and is a really beautiful space.

Kitchen is small and gets backed up, had to wait a long while. Still not too bad, but the food was underwhelming.

Pasta entree was lukewarm and under seasoned, sausages were overcooked, chicken was well cooked but didn't taste good, spinach ravoil were good. Baked ricotta app tasted rubbery. Small pasta portions.

Service was solid, the waitresses were very nice, the owner who goes around and talks to everyone is nice enough, if not a little handsy with the customers and the waitresses. Lower back grabs, shoulder grabbing, a lot of touching of female customers for never having said a word to each other previously.

It's close quarters, so I understand needing to touch your coworkers in certain circumstances, but all of his behavior mixed together left my female friends feeling uneasy. It was seemingly innocent but detracting from the experience and possibly triggering for certain people. There's no need to touch/grab/hold...

We ate Sunday evening dinner here with a group of 6. It was a very comfortable and homey atmosphere, totally enjoyable! The owner and the waitress were both friendly and welcoming, and the waitress was able to answer every question and obviously knew the kitchen process and the choices extremely well. There was even a risotto for those of us going gluten-free, and the other choices looked amazing as well. Everyone enjoyed their food; the portobello mushroom and polenta appetizer was delicious! Tortelloni with sausage were reminiscent of my grandmother's kitchen! Lemon tart was perfect and the next time I'll get a whole one for myself! Whoever thought the owner was "creepy" is sadly mistaken--he is quite friendly and proud of his restaurant, as well he should be! A very delicious and...