Pinocchio's Italian Restaurant. — Restaurant in Spencer

Not Salisbury/Spencer natives, my husband and I have lived in several large cities across the country from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale to NYC and Washington D.C. We like living here, but occasionally miss some of the diverse, major city restaurants...Pinocchio's always makes us happy to be there! The new owners, Amy and Anthony, are wonderful...warm and wanting to please. Their wine menu has a nice selection of wines, both domestic and Italian, with half-priced bottles on Thursdays. AND the food...is always EXCELLENT! EVERYTHING from their entrees and appetizers, to their delicious soups & desserts, made by Amy, are pretty much as good as it gets. Dining at this charming Italian cafe is not like any other in this area, small with limited seating, candles on the tables, tablecloths, and soft music in the background, it's the perfect place for "date-night," and private conversation. We recommend highly!

As an addendum: I read some of the negative reviews here, and would like to point out that Anthony and Amy are NEW owners. We also had some similar complaints with the previous ones, but this young couple are working hard to make things right, and to improve customer relations. BTW: some of the best, and most popular restaurants in NY allow customers to BYO wine to save the expense of a license. We appreciated it for several reasons. But, Pinocchio's DOES now...

After moving to North Carolina from Oregon, a food capital of the world, my wife and I have been fairly displeased by the quality of restaurants in the Salisbury area. Pinocchio's was a very nice change from that. The restaurant is fairly small, but the seating is done in a way that even when full and loud, we had no problem hearing each other. The best thing about this restaurant is the service. Our glasses were always full, the waitstaff was lovely, and while the food comes out at a more European pace, the waiter made sure we had everything we needed. The food. The chef at Pinocchio's makes food from scratch, and it was evident with the quality and taste. The downside to this was that an ingredient was neglected in my wife's dish which left it a little bland. That said, the restaurant was very busy and these things happen. The cost of our meal was very reasonable, about 80 dollars for an appetizer, wine, two entrees with soup, and two desserts with coffee. We arrived an hour before closing time and they let us stay well after the doors were shut. I would not bring our youngest children here, as the kids menu is quite expensive for such things and the wait would be taxing on them, but the over ten crowd should do fine. We will certainly be returning to Pinocchio's and recommending...

For small towns, Salisbury and Spencer are truly fortunate to have so many great, locally owned choices for dinner! For me, Pinocchio's is at the top of that list. This review is the sum of dozens of visits (we live in Salisbury). As background, I've lived all over the country, from FL to CA to VA, and I love good food! I've been to Italy many times, but I was on an aircraft carrier at the time, so I don't think that counts.

The setting is an older building. Not a hole in the wall, more of a small, intimate and (to me) surprisingly cool setting. I would suggest reservations. The interior is a bit older. I think beauty sometimes requires imperfections, but I'm sure that's just me. Personally, I love the interior.

Pinocchio's strives to use local ingredients as much as possible in new and interesting ways. Favorites stay on the menu while weekly specials showcase the chef's ingenuity and skill. Plating and presentation are always spot-on, as are the portions. Service is great without being intrusive. And the food never disappoints. I'm partial to the salmon, and would recommend it regardless of garnish-of-the-day. Desserts are always a delight. As to the wine selection, it looks impressive, but honestly I always get Prosecco, so I will let others critique the wine...