Canali's Italian & American Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Rotterdam

Sorry, this is long and detailed. We are extremely disappointed that we picked Canali's Italian Restaurant to celebrate our daughter's birthday. Once we were seated, we enjoyed the amazing bread! Unfortunately, after that the evening went downhill. It's an Italian restaurant that doesn't carry Italian beer. It was very busy, and service was slow, but that was ok because we were not in any rush. We ordered Fried Calamari as an appetizer and as soon as it was delivered to our table, we realized it was basic frozen calamari rings tossed into a deep fryer and not FRESH Calamari as we expected from an Italian restaurant. My husband ordered Linguini Louisa w/white clam sauce. He asked what type of clams they used, and was told baby clams, so he ordered that dish and asked for it to be served al dente. When his meal arrived the waitress immediately apologized, telling him they goofed up in the kitchen and gave him spaghetti by accident and it was not al dente. She offered him a replacement meal if that wasn't acceptable to him, but he didn't want to have to wait for a whole new meal to be prepared and he is NOT one to complain, so he said it was fine and he would eat it over the spaghetti BUT the real problem was once he tasted it, he could tell they were not FRESH clams and was completely disappointed they used canned clams. My 90 yr. old mother ordered the Garlic Veal Cutlet and although the veal had good flavor, it was quite literally drowning in the butter/sherry sauce. She actually used several napkins to soak up some of the excessive amount of oil on her plate. When we told the waitress she just said she would tell the owner. The birthday girl ordered Louisa's Fettuccine Alfredo w/chicken and her sister ordered Tortellini Alfredo both portions were large but tasted very bland. My friend ordered Chicken Marsala which is usually her favorite dish from her many visits to Canali's but tonight although the flavor was tasty her pasta was not al dente and was over cooked and quite mushy. I ordered Cavatelli w/Tomato Basil Cream Sause and had no complaints about my meal. Our waitress only came to the table once at the beginning of our meal to ask how things were, but at that time we really had not even tasted everything and then she NEVER returned after to ask if everything was ok or if we needed anything else. I saw she glanced over our table several times before noticing none of us were actually eating our meals, she came over and told us she Oh "I will be right with some to-go containers". My husband told her to tell the chef that he would be bringing his meal home to feed our chickens, and she asked if that was an insult and he said yes. She asked why we didn't tell her there were other issues and preceded to tell us she would get the owner. We waited for a little while so we could show him my mother's oil filled plate, but he didn't show up. As we asked the waitress if he was coming, and she said she didn't know so we asked for our bill and started packing up our food. She never even asked if we wanted coffee or desert. As she started to clear plates off the table, she overheard our daughters talking, that it was very unprofessional of the owner not to even care enough to come to our table. Then as we were putting our food in containers, so we could leave, the owner showed up to talk to us. He confirmed they used canned clams because it was his mother's recipe. He also confirmed they do not use the normal /traditional variety of Italian cheeses for their Alfredo sauce but justified it by saying "everyone raves about it". He also said it was normal for the veal to be smothered in butter /wine sauce and didn't seem to care her veal was swimming in the sauce. The owner said he took our disappointment as an insult and only offered the above excuses and a verbal "I'm sorry you didn't like our food" then walked away. We have no problem paying for quality food/ good service. We were not trying to get a free /discounted meal but I don't think that Canali's Italian Restaurant offers our style of Italian. We won't...

We tried Canali's last Saturday, after reading positive reviews on line and based on its popularity in the Capital Region "Best Of" poll from the Albany Times Union.

We made a reservation, and arrived a few minutes early, and chatted with a gentleman who I presume is the owner. He was friendly, gracious and accommodating and said that our table was being set and would be available in a few minutes. We were then seated and began scanning the menu. The woman assigned to our table came over shortly after that, took our drink order and returned with a the wine we ordered. We asked a couple of questions of her as we made our dinner choices, and she was helpful.

Hot, delicious fresh bread was delivered promptly, followed by our salads, which were also excellent. For the second review of an Italian restaurant in the Capital District in a row (we went to another restaurant and reviewed it the previous week) there was no option for a Cesar salad, but again, it won't stop us from coming back, based on everything else we enjoyed and noticed as we dined.

My wife ordered the Chicken Cacciatore, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and the portion was so plentiful she will be having what remained as her main course at home again this evening. I ordered the Sorrento - Chicken Parmigiana with Eggplant, and it was also outstanding. I also ordered garlic bread, which we split. Once again, the portion size was such that I will be enjoying about half of what was on my plate last night once again tonite.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was relaxed, and definitely "family friendly" - we noticed tables of 6 or 8 with children present, and everyone was enjoying themselves. As retirees, we felt comfortable and safe, wearing our masks when entering and leaving. The grounds around the restaurant appeared well maintained, and the rest room I visited was also immaculate (a criteria that I use as a "will or will not return" based on cleanliness. The wait staff and most other patrons were not wearing masks, which is their choice, of course.

Prices were very fair, competitive and reasonable, especially considering the portion sizes and quality of the food that was served.

To sum it up: If you go, you will enjoy it, and despite the distance from our home in Clifton Park, we...

My husband and I like to plan one nice dinner out each month. We were craving Italian and prefer traditional dishes, so Canali's seemed like the perfect place. They opened at 4 and we arrived just after. The decor was just as I had expected - very classic and nostalgic. The hostess greeted us warmly, and we were seated quickly. Our waitress appeared shortly and promptly brought us a carafe of water when we said that was all we wanted to drink. She was attentive throughout the meal as well. Warm bread came out first, and it was delicious! Plenty for the 2 of us, and it was hard to stop eating it so I could leave room. Next was the appetizer we ordered. I admit we could have picked something different, but I love mozzarella sticks and toasted ravioli. My mistake was assuming 1, if not both, would be homemade. The platter came with the expected jalapeño poppers, but the mozzarella sticks were the frozen kind as were the ravioli. And honestly, not even the best frozen ones I have had. No matter - we were excited for our entrees. I had heard great things about the chicken marsala, and it did not disappoint. The chicken was tender and nicely browned. And the sauce! It's possibly one of the best marsala sauces I have had. Not a thick brown gravy-like one, but creamy and light. I was so glad I had ordered it. My husband's Fettucine Carbonara wasn't as positive an experience. After watching him for a bit, I knew something was up. This guy had come here hungry and ready to eat, and he was just pushing food around. He said something seemed off - maybe bitter? I offered to try it, and my reaction was immediately the same - inedible for me. A sauce that should have been creamy and cheesy was absolutely bitter. I didn't say anything as it wasn't as though the dish was made incorrectly. I suspected that they might use a different cheese than what we were used to (cheese made from sheep milk, like pecorino for example, tends to be more bitter). We were both so sad as it looked absolutely delicious, but we split the Marsala instead. Overall, wonderful customer service, lovely environment, and some success with our food. We might return, but the menu options would be much more limited for us if we eliminated all of the entrees with sauces similar to...