Osteria Umbra — Restaurant in Town of Smithtown

Osteria is a gem of a restaurant truly. Chef Marco alongside his wife Sabrina ( head baker) have put their heart and souls into this restaurant. From the moment you walk through the front door you are met with sheer elegance. The very intense attention to detail is quite apparent. the front area has a beautifully decorated wall with vines and flowers. with this is a neon sign reading Osteria umbra , this little area is a lovely little spot for photo opps. directly alongside this Is a collection of osteria's bottled wines and bottled olive oil. this olive oil will be the best olive oil you've ever had. The best part? they aren't there just for decoration you can purchase them to take home!! Yes please!! once you are checked in the hostess will then lead you to your table. You are led though to the bar area which is dim and so very attractive, soft and cozy. The lounge tables are directly behind the bar underneath a gorgeous chandelier!! This room is home to the famous open fire oven. All of the meat dishes are prepared here and the glow and ambience it adds to the room is so relaxing and beautiful. This is probably my favorite area. The bar is charming and the people behind it are just as charming. Sabrina the bartender makes a mean chocolate martini! I'm actually missing the taste of it that is how yummy it is! All of the ingredients they use in their cocktails are TOP NOTCH! & TO add to this already awesome bar most of the sweet ingredients used in the dessert drinks have been homemade by Sabrina the baking chef. This makes osterias cocktails truly one of a KIND and i assure you you won't have another quite like them anywhere else! The steaks are of the highest quality. You can taste the difference in quality, my ribeye was cooked to perfection, juicy, flavorful and tender. chef Marco doesn't miss! There are so many amazing dishes and the presentation of most are a one of a kind expierience.. you get what you pay for!!! I see many comments on price ? if you want good high quality tasty food then come here if you want garbage go somewhere else. !! You can see that the intense attention to detail.i mentioned earlier extends further than just the decor! it is throughout the food and drinks as well. Every pasta dish is made in house by Sabrina(head baker). This makes osterias a stand out !! fresh pasta is something that is hard to find out in restaurants these days. others try to claim this but OSTERIA actually makes their pasta daily. Sabrina putss her all into the pasta and desserts! The cheesecake is out of this world! Have you ever had a cheesecake that was not so heavy and dense??! Osterias cheesecake is soon amazing, it is light, airy, fluffy and subtle yet it is still so iressistably.creamy smooth and tasty at the same time. the black berry sauce that it comes in is a real little trail of heaven!!!

If you aren't in the mood for food or to fill up I still highly recommend osteria for a cocktails visit or even a dessert drink and dessert visit. No matter what you are ordering here you will not be disappointed !! I promise Everything. from the ambiance to the food to the service .. it is all top notch. osteria umbra has the most knowledgeable serving staff. Boy, they know their menu and restaurant! No matter who you are sat with you will receive an exceptional experience that is over the top beautiful.. truly doesn't matter which server, they're all absolutely amazing. managers are always around, available and very happy to help. it's truly a team here. you can see that loads of heart and dedication have gone into this phenomenal restaurant, it's food, drinks and staff. give it a try! you won't be disappointed ! Keep on showing...

I actually wanted to take a couple of days to process what transpired sat night before writing my review. We made reservations for 14 people a couple of weeks ago to have a celebration dinner at Osteria Umbra. We asked if they could make a cake for us and was told they didn't do that & we'd have to bring one... ok no problem. We arrived, sat down and immediately the head chef (Marco) sent his waitress out to greet us and start forcing his appetizers on us. We all figured we would order our own since a hand full of my party has been there before and knew what we liked. So from there, we ordered some wine, a few drinks, some appetizers and our main courses which included 4 steaks, 2 lobster dinners, 5 pasta wheel dinners, a sea bass dinner and 2 kids dinners. The reason why I'm even sharing what we ordered was because a few minutes later the head chef had asked to speak with my sister in law (she originally made the reservation) and told her that we didn't order enough food to keep his business going. We needed to order more appetizers/dinners or... WE COULD LEAVE! The arrogance and rudeness of this guy Marco was nuts! She had come back to our table and explained what the chef had told her. We were also told that for each time the chef were to slice the cake that we had brought he was charging us a service fee of $5.00 per slice. I swear you can't make this stuff up! He would not make a cake for us and wanted a service fee per slice to cut ours. I have been on this earth for 49 years and have been to countless restaurants. Never have I heard of such insanity before. Further more my understanding is this isn't the first time this chef has pulled this circus act. Imagine this guy telling us we didn't order enough food to support his business. No one that I've spoken to has ever heard of this before! Bad news travels fast and this is one for the record books. Not only did I want to tell my friends about this experience I thought I should share my evening with google. Maybe someone will read this and think twice before booking a large family here for dinner. The head chef can respond to this any way he likes but facts are always better then fiction which is why i took the time to itemize my dinners, etc.

So needless to say we weren't staying. I can only imagine what this chef was capable of doing to our food at this point and there was absolutely no way I could enjoy being here for another minute. I payed my alcohol tab which was only the 1st round and was $150... and we left. Went down the road to another local establishment and was greeted with open arms. They also had no service fees for cutting our cake either! They earned our business Saturday night and Osteria Umbra lost ours. Maybe next time a family wants to have dinner at your establishment you should inform them on the minimum food requirements. It just amazes me that someone could be so rude and discourteous in the restaurant business... not to mention all the dining choices Smithtown and the surrounding areas...

One year later update:

Atmosphere: 9/10 Service: 9/10 Food quality: 6/10 Portion size: 5/10 Overall value: 5/10

After one year in business, they improved on many of my previous critiques. The service was notably better; almost a total redemption from my previous experience. The jalapeno margarita was amazing and consistent between rounds. Hats off to the bartender. One of my major critiques that still holds true is that this place misses on the small details that really separate a high end place from a mid quality restaurant. This time around, I got the oysters which were served on a plate without crushed ice. I ate them quickly so they didn't come to room temp and they were fresh and tasty. The other appetizers were very good but not great. The entrees were okay. The portion sizes were again very small. The pasta was 50%+ tomatoes and a small serving of actual pasta. Unfortunately, the waygu steak came out medium well in the center, well done on the outskirts and was way over-peppered. I never like to return food but the waygu had to go back. The other steak was cooked nicely to order and tasted very good. For desert we had the cheesecake and they comped us another dessert for messing up the steak (which was an awesome gesture) and both deserts were delicious. The wait staff was great throughout the meal. This place really could be great but they just fall short on some of the key details.

Original Review:

Atmosphere: 8/10 Service: 5/10 Food quality: 6/10 Portion Size: 3/10 Overall value for cost: 4/10

The restaurant has a nice atmosphere. Everything is updated and you can tell a lot went into making it look nice. We sat in the bar area. We ordered wine and one of the specialty drinks. Wine was good, specialty drink was ungarnished (not a big deal) but at a nice restaurant, drinks should be garnished. The two appetizers we ordered were Beef Carpachio (which was excellent) and the Scallops. The scallop dish comes out with 2 medium sized scallops and one that was less than half the size of a medium scallop. So 2 and a half scallops for 17 or 18$ (I don't recall the exact price). $6 a scallop?! Entrees were the suckling pig and Tagliele with "Lobster Tail". The suckling pig was delicious but the sides, mashed potatoes and bit of arugula, left a bit to be desired. The pasta was authentic and homemade but way undercooked and way under al dente. The "lobster tail" was a half of a lobster tail and maybe a half of a claw worth of meat - a very disappointing portion size. The flavor of both entrees was about average compared of other italian restaurants in the area. The restaurant seemed overstaffed but somehow falls short on service. Our water was not refilled once and wait staff seems a bit untrained. Overall, it is an okay place but has a long way to go if it wants to compete with other local italian restaurants in Suffolk. Unlikely to return in the...