Dante's Italiano — Restaurant in Raleigh

Used to frequent this place, and it used to be great. I went here with my wife and daughter Tuesday 10/7/25 and the place was almost completely empty, that should have been a red flag, but we persisted. Our server was nice, however some of the other servers present were quite loud and awkward, we overheard one complaining to others about the lack of tips they received for the day (sorry for them but that's an odd thing to announce loudly in a quiet restaurant around others).

Our food was really bad.

I'm not sure what has changed with the kitchen, but something is massively different from what it once was. Wife and daughter ordered simple pasta dishes, both pastas were way overcooked / mushy, the sauces on the pastas were bland, and one of the dishes had a massive amount of extremely bland mozzarella slopped on top of the dish, like a comical amount to where the dish was even hard to eat because of the ridiculous amount of cheese being pulled with each pasta bite.

I ordered chicken parmesan, the chicken clearly had been pounded thin and breaded then frozen and fried directly from frozen. The chicken was extremely tough and a stringy texture. The red sauce with the dish had raw hard bits of chopped garlic in it, and lacked any other seasoning.

Also the price.. If we got this type of food at olive garden or some other fast casual Italian place, I wouldn't be upset, and kind of expect it. But this place is charging a significant premium. Overall we ordered 2 pasta dishes (with no protein), a side order of vegetables, and a chicken parmesan, 2 sodas, and a water, and it was almost $70. This food tasted like it should have been $35 for what we ordered. With tip the bill was over $85. Steep for...

I’ll start with this used to be my favorite local Italian joint… Went on a date night here with my husband last night. Our server was friendly and mostly attentive. Ordered a Caesar salad with my entree, way too much dressing on it but I sucked it up. Entree was decent but not what it used to be, their marinara sauce on eggplant parm used to be amazing-not anymore. When it came time for boxes our waitress disappeared, we didn’t get drink refills as requested, a different waitress boxed our leftovers and immediately brought the check. I wanted dessert to take home but whatever. While waiting for our check I watched a waitress whose last table left (it’s about 8 pm at this point) go to the bar and pour a glass of wine. No big deal she was off shift. We paid and left. When we walked outside our “2nd” waitress and the waitress who was drinking wine were sitting outside. Again no big deal perhaps they were off shift, however, just seems unprofessional to be sitting outside the front entrance drinking while customers are still inside. Business hours are until 10 pm so perhaps they could have waited until closing.

Heated up my leftover eggplant parm for dinner tonight again just mediocre, few bites in and guess what I bit into…STEEL-WOOL/Brillo pad/scouring pad. Glad they’re cleaning their pots and pans in the kitchen but really could have done without the STEEL! I hate writing negative reviews but this place is really going downhill, doubt I’ll be back to give...

Enjoyed it again and again and again... Thanks all at Dante's. Service and food is still excellent!! 👌

🌟 🌟 🌟 Edited food rating: the last few times we went the food taste and quality did not seem the same. Quality, flavor and cooking changed. Sadly, Have not been back since but will give it another go. We did go alot and bring many friends with us so will try again.

The inside is lit well and on the dim side making it a comfortable atmosphere. It's family feeling! (See noted below)

Staff: super nice, friendly and very attentive. They really care. Having great staff is super important

Food: we go here enough and it's always very good. More authentic and flavorful. It's hard to find good/real Italian food (especially when you grew up eating it all your life) but for sure..give it a try and find your favorite. Gluten free: only thing GF is the pasta. So if that's your thing you can make it work with many dishes.

Bar: of course has many options for you and many wines to choose from to pair with dinner. (But eh glass or full bottle)

Price: for the quality it's worth it. More authentic and better ingredients

Exactly what you would expect from a fine Italian dining experience.

(About inside area; note if cold out and sit by the door in that section the cold air might bother you as it opens alot from patrons entering and exiting. Didn't bother me but for some that might be an issue. Just worth noting There are 2 sections for...