Casa Rustica — Restaurant in Town of Smithtown

My boyfriend and I had the pleasure of experiencing a delightful Valentine's Day dinner at Cafe Rustica in Smithtown, and it exceeded all expectations.

From the moment we stepped in, we were warmly greeted and seated with genuine delight. Our waiter was incredibly attentive, patiently answering our questions about the specials and offering his recommendations on the most popular and tastiest entrees. Within minutes, we were toasting to another Valentine's Day celebration with perfectly crafted dirty martinis that set the tone for the evening.

The appetizers arrived promptly, and we couldn't have been happier with our choice of clams and oysters. The seafood was impeccably fresh, as if it had just been plucked from the ocean!

My boyfriends main course, lobster, was an absolute delight. Each bite was bursting with flavor, making it one of the most delicious dishes I've ever tasted! For my entree, I ordered my favorite, a classic beet and goat cheese salad, which always leaves me satsfied, and this salad was .

True to their excellent service, our waiter even remembered to wrap up the leftovers for me to enjoy as lunch the following day, saving me from forgetting it as we headed towards our valeted vehicle.

Overall, our dining experience at Cafe Rustica was splendid. The freshness, impeccable service, and cozy atmosphere made it a memorable evening. I can't wait to return for another dinner and indulge in their exquisite cuisine once again.

Highly...

I should have known that I was in for a rough night when I sat down at the bar waiting for the rest of my party to arrive when I had the worst dirty Martini that I have ever had...... So we sat down and the appetizers came, which we had tasteless but salty fried calamari, which was awful. We also had the Grilled Octopus which was a plate of lettuce with a couple of small pieces of octopus mixed in, which actually didn't taste too bad, but there should have been more and much bigger pieces.....We had the fresh mozzarella which was ok at best.... It was time for another drink, so I gave the Dirty Martini one more shot, now I said the first one that I had was the worse I ever had, and I told the waiter that when I ordered the second one, so you figure they would try to improve on it. Well I now had the worst dirty Martini EVER. There were oil bubbles all over the top which at first I thought were chips of ice, which sometimes happens. I took one sip and back it went, without even an apology from the manager......

My wife and I both had the stuffed veal chop, which was so salty that I got chapped lips from eating it.......

Espresso was good but the cannolis were a joke as well...... Needless to say, I am always willing to give a place a second shot, but this place was so bad I will never go there again, because on top of everything, it is way OVER PRICED!!!!!!! The picture is my oily dirty...

Whatever we took home never made it to the fridge! A friend recommended this place. Needless to say we are no longer friends. Anytime you see calamari on the menu and are served only rings, it usually means it is a frozen product. Let's face it, squid has tentacles. End of story. The fried calamari you can definitely skip. The cacio e pepe pasta was overcooked and appeared as if someone broke the pasta in half before cooking it. Venial sin among real Italians. What's more it was tasteless. My wife had the veal chop rustica and I had the veal chop valdostana. The former was a pounded veal chop, breaded and fried topped with some type of salad. I normally don't do entree's that are fried and for good reason. The bread crumbs were not seasoned and the salad lacked anything close to imagination. The valdostana is typically pounded thin stuffed with fontina, prosciutto, and spinach. Not here my friends. Looked like someone stabbed a pocket into it and stuffed so minimal amount of goodies in there that it was tasteless. Furthermore it had a gamey taste. Far from natured veal chops you would get at better Italian restaurants. Italian cheesecake was very dry. No drinks. 2 people. $220 which included a 20% gratuity for the wait staff whom were friendly and mostly attentive. I am certainly going to choose my friends more carefully. Save your money and go to...