Pulcinella Neapolitan Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Oyster Bay

We went here to celebrate my sister's birthday. It was recommended to us as a great place for Italian food. We were greeted right away, but was ignored just as quickly. They couldn't find our reservation for 8 @5, on a Saturday. Half of our party was late so they wouldn't seat us, even though the place had literally two tables that where occupied. Once the rest of our party arrived, we waited an additional 10 minutes to be seated. We proceeded to order while noshing on the fresh bread, which was the highlight of the meal. We had the grouper, linguini w/clams, their penne Pulcinella, ravioli with a mushroom marsala sauce, and a stuffed tomahawk veal chop. We ordered one app., fried calamari because its our thing. Fried calamari, frozen. Grouper, was a special, it was way over cooked and salty. Linguini w/clams, the best meal other than the bread. No complaints, other than the heaviness created by too much butter and oil that was the sauce for the dish, the seafood was seasoned and cooked well. Penne Pulcinella, I would have really enjoyed this dish if only it wasn't so salty and all of the tomato skins, I had about a 1/2 cup of tomato skins in my dish, not exaggerating. The sausage (no casing) was tasty and the best part of the dish. I only ate about a 1/4 of this dish due to the saltiness. We asked for more bread (we had to ask twice before we got any), just to balance out the saltiness. The ravioli was dry. I don't think I've ever had a dry ravioli till then. The sauce was really rich and salty. Gosh, everything was salty as heck. She ended up eating two ravs, and proceeded to eat her dads linguini. Stuffed Veal Tomahawk, when I read that, the images of a perfectly grilled juicy chop, stuffed with all kinds of yummy goodiness fill my brain, well, don't expect that if you're eating at Pulcinella's, because the only thing tomahawk thing about this $40+ dish, is the bone. I AM NOT KIDDING! The dish is two thinly sliced breaded veal CUTLETS, stuffed with bread, with the bone tucked between the cutlets, then smothered in a mushroom gravy. Gross. Disgusted. Rip off. The wait staff, he took our order, they took our empty glasses and never asked if we'd like another (drink) which was a first, bus boy was on top of water duty tho! That about sums it up. Quick with seeing what we tipped tho. This was a Saturday night, and it wasn't close to being busy, that should have set off signals. Bottomline, eat at your local Pizzeria, its way better than at...

I would had given this place a 5-star review, if it wasn’t for our waiter that offered us a very poor service! We came to Puncinella’s tonight for the first time, after my husband’s client recommended it. We were very excited to go to after hearing some amazing feedback about it! We arrived at 5:30pm. The place wasn’t very busy, as it was still early. However, we felt rushed from the moment we sat down until we left. Our waiter had no personality and was not friendly at all. He was on a mission to serve us and get us out! We did not know why he was rushing us, as the place was not full! He was very knowledgeable about the menu, but it was our first time there, so we needed a waiter that was more “engaging”. He would not make eye contact with us, and he would only answered the questions we asked. He would not offer any additional information. For example, we ordered tiramisu for dessert. In the restaurant Instagram page, they had a panettone tiramisu served in a wine glass, so when we ordered it, we thought we would be getting that. However, when the tiramisu arrived, it looked nothing like it. So, I politely asked him if they had the tiramisu served in in the wine glass we had seen on Instagram. Without any eye contact he answered “no” and walked away. The table next to ours ordered a pasta that was served inside of a cheese wheel. We asked the guy that was preparing the dish what it was called, and he even made a joke of how our waiter was supposed to had mentioned it to us. But he didn’t. He read the specials so fast that we had to keep asking him to repeat the items. Again, the best Italian food I’ve ever had. However, I am not sure I would go back there, as we spent a lot of money and got a very poor service. I would think this type of restaurant would demand a level of service from their staff. I almost felt disrespected of how poorly we’ve been treated, and I am not...

“A dining experience truly worthy of Michelin Stars” Yesterday proved to be one of the finest dining experiences in quite some time. We were a party of three and started off with some stuffed figs and homemade sausage. The Stuffed Figs were cooked to perfection and served with a balsamic glaze; The home-made sausage was unlike any store bought sausage with incredible flavor. Then, we apparently visited Pulcinella’s when all the stars were in alignment as we were blessed with being served a side of home-made pasta with Cherry Tomatoes in a Christened Cheese Wheel that was outstanding. Our entrees included Braciole over Pappardelle Pasta that was truly reminiscent of those Sunday dinners after Mass. My wife ordered the Halibut with a light white wine garlic sauce with Radichio Risotto that was light and cooked to perfection. My entrée was the Short Ribs with homemade Rigatoni {similar to the size of Pacheri Pasta} with sauteed white onions in Brandy that made the flavor profile of this dish off the charts. For dessert we asked for the Chef’s choice sampler plate, and it didn’t disappoint. We were presented an assortment of fried cannoli’s, raspberry mousse cake, rainbow cheesecake and a trio of home-made Gelato’s. In closing, what made our experience so outstanding and memorable was the personal service and how Ruben, Antonio & Carlo greeted and interacted with us throughout our entire dining experience. We truly felt like family and enjoyed open conversation about menu items and what they suggested after hearing our preferences. Hats off and Bravo to Pulcinella’s of Massapequa. Thanks again for making our dining experience truly Michelin...