Calabria

Friendly and prompt service. Food is delicious and reasonably priced. I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

I don’t usually get reviews but I had an exceptional time with friends food was excellent service outstanding we will be back

Great food and service. I had the fusili caprese with chicken and it was amazing. The service was super friendly and overall a great experience!

Great little find in a strip mall. Didn’t have high hopes based on the 3.5 stars, but got the fillet special. It was amazing and I’d say it was definitely comparable to Morton’s downtown.

Small family run place. Great food and atmosphere. Quieter than most restaurants, so if most places are too loud for you this is a great choice!

My husband and I have eaten at Calabria on several occasions. The owners are friendly and the staff provides excellent table service. The lemon chicken is very tasty as is the chicken marsala. We have never been disappointed in any way.
The atmosphere is pleasant, clean, quiet but we are comfortable taking our young grandson.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Calabria but I was a little taken aback by our service at our last visit. Dinner was FABULOUS as always, the Filet, Seafood Spaghetti and Gorgonzola Pasta, wine and appetizers are always a 10++++++!!!
What took me by surprise was the attitude of our server. We love to eat out and we tip well. Being told what our tips would be (she wrote the amounts on our receipts) because we were a party of 6+ and she would change the tip amounts because she had that right, was a slap in the face. We love treating our servers well but we do expect some service from them. We would appreciate our water to be filled up more than the 1-​time at seating, seeing her more than at taking our orders for food or when she brought the food. She may have checked on our meals 1-​more time before bringing our checks. We may have seen her 5-​times during our 2.5-hour stay.
We had reservations for a table of 8. 2-​came early and did not even get service at the bar before our table was ready. It was a Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., the restaurant was not full but busy.
Everyone has bad days and we get that. I hope our $ 40.00 tip (1-​tip of 4) made her happy.

We dined with family members on New Year’s Eve! The food was great and the service was excellent. Lisa the waitress was great and entertaining.

I came here with a friend after a Unilocal search for an Italian restaurant near where we were. We were both pleasantly surprised by how great the food was! The portions were large and we each enjoyed our entrees. The oil and bread were really good too. No complaints and we will be back soon.

Penne Carretierra is amazing! My husband got Pollo Marsala and it is much sweeter than what we’ve had prior. It was flavorful and amazing. The wine selection is impressive too. Vince was a fabulous server!

Rude and unprofessional. Not worth wasting your money here. Foods ok but not worth it for poor service.

A restaurant that goes the extra mile for their guests. Had the best time last night with the best food and best service.

All I can say is… prepare for disappointment. Better yet, don’t get your hopes up — this restaurant is in no way associated with the former Calabria in downtown Kirkland, despite what I had been told by several people.
First, the positives:
— The menu is small (a dozen or so entrees), which gives usually means that they know how to make what is on their menu very, very well
— It’s a pretty small joint, with maybe 18 or 20 tables, giving it a cozy feel despite being in a strip mall
— Ample staff to take care of all their clientele
— The wine list is somewhat brief, but not so much so that it’s lacking
— The staff is attentive and very friendly
— The atmosphere is casual (most of the staff were wearing Seahawks shirts/​jerseys) and easy, so we were all pretty relaxed
The downside:
— When we walked in, we asked for a table for four (my wife and I got there about ten minutes before our friends), and the host (the owner?) asked if we had a reservation… there were four occupied tables at 6:45pm on a Thursday night — when I glanced down at the reservations list, it was completely empty
— The menu being small is not an indication of the quality or authenticity of the food, despite my sincere hopes otherwise
— The dining area is tight, with little room between tables/​chairs, but there is plenty of room for servers and customers to walk freely to the restroom without obstruction
— The wine list is rather spendy compared to many other area restaurants, but not obscenely so
— Some of the staff is undertrained, and while I get that people have to learn at some point, being given free reign over tables, with minimal oversight on your second night, is not indicative of proper training or of a management team that cares about their customers
— No antipasti on the menu… seriously? Seriously.
— We had to ask for bread. Twice. We then asked why none of the dishes come with a side of noodles — a traditional side dish at most Italian restaurants, and at pretty much every restaurant in Italy — and our server said he didn’t know and that the entrees all came with fresh steamed vegetables. Poor kid. He did his best, but he had little knowledge and understanding of the menu, and I blame the owner/​manager for that failure.
— It isn’t cheap… four of us got out of there for $ 160 after tip, with just two glasses of cheap-​ish wine and two beers in that total
Most of the food wasn’t truly bad. It was just… underwhelming and disappointing, across the board.
Veal piccata — it was so-​so… the capers tasted funny (almost, dare I say, stale?), and good grief, they gave me about two hundred of the little suckers, the veal was way overcooked and had a texture that made me think it was likely a frozen cutlet, but the sauce had a decent lemon twinge that didn’t overwhelm
Bruschetta, with balsamic vinegar and goat cheese — excellent flavors, great crisp to the toast, huge pile of fresh tomatoes, but we had to ask for the balsamic and goat cheese
Chicken parm — also way overcooked, it basically had a quarter-​inch cheese slab on top of a block of very, very, very well done chicken, and the sauce tasted like it was straight out of a can
Caesar salad — tasted like a store-​bought dressing over wilted romaine leaves… did I wander into Olive Garden?
Clams — pretty darn good, and while not amazing, it was the highlight of the meal for the entire table
Chicken gorgonzola — just… gross… flat-​out gross.
ATMOSPHERE: C+
SERVICE: C–
FOOD QUALITY: C
PORTION SIZES: C+
VALUE: D
We will not be returning, and I will go out of my way to recommend other Italian restaurants in the vicinity. It’s way overpriced for the quality and quantity of the food provided, and despite the rock-​star status of the clams and bruschetta, our dining out dollars will be spent elsewhere.

Fantastic experience and completely disagree with some of the lower scores given previously by other raters!!!
Living very close by this little hidden Gem of a restaurant. Food was amazing and service very attentive all around. Had the calabria pasta which was delicious and the bruschetta. It is those dishes which define a restaurant and they were all beautifully prepared and presented.
Had a chance to meet Pete the owner who is a real nice man to chat with.
Definitely will be back for more and highly recommend this Italian restaurant in the mill creek area.
Chris

It is unfortunate but I have to write this because we had very high expectations. My wife and I had previously gone to this restaurant and had a wonderful experience. My family was in town from Michigan so we decided to go out for one last night. My wife and I insisted that we try this restaurant because of our first experience there. The owner is an incredibly nice guy and our meal started off terrific. We were going to try an appetizer of calamari but the waitress gave us the idea to try some dipping sauces for the complimentary bread because it would be good for the kids. We also ordered their special bruschetta appetizer. Our meal came and it was absolutely terrific. After the meal is when things got really weird. We had told the management when we first got there that we would be using our passport dining card which would give us an entrée for free. When the bill came we were shocked to see they were trying to make one of the appetizers the free entrée, that each of those little cups of dipping sauce were $ 10 each, the four pieces of bruschetta was $ 12. My mother had very plain brewed iced tea with one refill for which she had been charged $ 4.50 and an additional $ 4.50 for the refill. That is $ 9 for 2 cups of plain iced tea! When we first arrived we told the waitress that we would be on separate checks she said that would be difficult because they don’t have a computerized system, so we told her that we could figure it out at the end of the meal to make it easier for her. Come to find out at the end of the meal she insisted that because we were using a passport card that the entire table had to pay a mandatory 20 percent tip because it was all on 1 bill and not separate checks! When my wife questioned this the waitress told us that if we didn’t pay the 20% that she was going to report us to the passport card company (which is a benefit through her employer). The waitress became pretty combative and unbelievably rude. We even heard her yelling at the staff in the back of the kitchen which was extremely embarrassing and uncomfortable. What is ironic about this is we normally tip 25% for good service but not after the waitress tried to hustle us. Food is still very good there but the service is appalling and they will absolutely nickel and dime you to death. We called the Passport dining people the next day and confirmed the waitress was either badly mistaken or flat out lying. As active as we were in trying to bring people to try the restaurant we will be equally as passionate about telling people about this embarrassing experience.

Second time trying this restaurant and our expectations were exceeded! Very attentive Staff, amazing food (and huge portions for the price!) extensive wine list and wine knowledge… also Pete, the owner was very friendly and even offered our little 2yr old free ice cream. All together a great start to our Saturday night thanks to Pete and all at Calabria! We will be back!

Long time costumer and loved their food. Brought friends and family on many occasions. Went tonight and had a terrible experience. My sons meal came and was great. My husband and I had chicken Gorgonzola and tasted terrible. Like something burnt on the burner. Took a while to get our server to return to correct it which I understand, Busy Friday night! Our second attempt arrived and it was much better. Our son asked for more bread to munch on while we now ate after him. Our server then told us there would be a fee for more bread. Are you kidding me? A $ 132.00 dinner for 3 that was screwed up and you want to charge me for more then 8 pieces of bread. Owner was called over but offered nothing more then a free dessert. Which would have been great at the time but not 30 min later. Been a regular for years never going back. All over their lack of customer service. Paid full price for a crappy evening of us all eating separate. Never again and sad as it’s been a family favorite.

We walked in, 5 of us. The restaurant had about 5 tables full and Atleast 6 – 8 open. The first thing the woman said was «do you have a reservation?» We said «no. «the place was full of empty tables though. She then told us that they couldn’t seat 5 of us. Pushing 2 tables together would have taken 2 minutes but if we had a reservation it would have been different??? We said we’d go somewhere else and she said «okay!»
We’ll never go back. HORRIBLE customer service. They clearly didn’t want to work.

Fantastic! Intimate and cozy. Greeted at the door promptly, sat right away, and ordered at my leisure. Waitstaff was friendly and prompt.
I had the Pollo Limone, which was absolutely delicious. Not overly greasy/​creamed to death, and the veggies were light, fresh, and seasoned well.
Prices were on point, and the wine selection was extensive.

For our anniversary we decided to try Calabrias. It was a terrible decision.
We arrived before it became crowded, but received VERY slow to almost negligent service.
The food was far below the quality one would expect for the price. We were so frustrated at the total lack of good customer service that we left prior to our meal being served. We did eat or appetizer, some bread and attempted to eat a salad that can only be described as blanched lettuce, it was so soggy.
We headed over to Capris in the Mill Creek Town Center. Capris does it right. Their food is excellent, they have superior customer service and fair prices.
With so many choices of places to eat these days, Calabrias is one we will never try again.

December 20, 2014 — 2^nd visit — this time with good friends.
The experience was even better our second time around and our friends were impressed too! Great atmosphere, good wine and excellent dishes. This is a culinary experience you must treat yourself to.

Heres the basic headline: THE STAFF CALLED MY PERSONAL PHONE AT 8:30PM TO INQUIRE ABOUT THEIR TIP.
(I work in the industry and always tip) I had left a 20% tip in cash on the table and they wanted to make sure someone hadn’t ‘stolen’ it.
Lastly, their food has gone downhill. I remember putting up with the bad service from the bartender and the owner because of the food but now… I’d be embarassed to bring company here.

Most amazing Italian food I have ever had. Everything is fresh and made by hand. Any custom order you want, you got it. The service is warm and the setting is comforting.
I was really craving tortellini in some white sauce. I did not find it on the menu but I brought it up to the waitress and she told me that is not an issue. The chef makes all orders especially for each customer. I finished the whole plate! I am a small, small girl and the food was that amazing that I actually could not stop eating it. The white sauce was fantastically smooth and light and the tortellini so fresh.
A bit pricey but for the food you’re getting, it’s not an issue. Perfect for a once-​in-​a-​while date night or just a treat to yourself.
P. S. The balsamic oil dip is addicting. I don’t normally eat bread and I accidentally had 3 pieces of it.

This well kept secret has to be the best Italian Restaurant in Snohomish County. I ordered the full dinner special, Cesar Salad, Spaghetti di Gabriele and tiramisu. The sauce was a Bordelaise with a touch of cream. I was informed that this is not normally on the menu but if asked they will be happy to make it. This is also true for alfredo sauce. My wife had the linguini Puttanesca. Both meals were outstanding. The décor is very tasteful, no checkered plastic tablecloth here. Reasonable priced wines

Good ambience, great service, outstanding food will definitely come back again I was highly recommended by a friend and I see why best Italian place by far!

I used to go to the Calabria location in Kirkland all the time and have such wonderful memories of this place. I celebrated my 21^st birthday there with the fam. So much fun.
I was thrilled to find a location in the Mill Creek area — and on the Passport card. My husband and I were celebrating our anniversary and decided to come here.
The service was just lovely. Everyone was friendly, on top of things, we received our food promptly and water was refilled in a timely manner. Our server was really nice as was the man (maybe the owner?) who showed us our seats.
This place is in a tiny little shopping center that I’ve been to once before. It’s kind of in the middle of an apartment complex which seems odd to me — I’d expect this place to be more in a Mill Creek Town Center type of place but the location is cute.
I don’t really like bread but the bread here with the garlic olive oil is delicious. Like, wow. So fresh and good.
We started with the bruschetta. The recipe seemed pretty simple — tomatoes, olive oil, on top of toasted bread. It was nothing that I couldn’t have made at home but it was really fresh and tasty.
Then I had a cup of the minestrone soup which I really enjoyed. It was an unusual combination of vegetables — carrots and zucchini and not a ton else — but I really liked it and would order it again.
My husband had the 3 course meal for $ 21 where he had a caesar salad, pasta with cream sauce, and then tiramisu for dessert. He said that the caesar wasn’t really anything special but fine. We both really didn’t like the pasta with cream sauce. He thought it tasted burnt. I thought that it didn’t have enough salt and tasted a little off. However, the tiramisu was really, really good. Even though we were both stuffed, we both managed to finish it off. I had the fusilli with chicken. I usually don’t think of eating pasta with chicken in the sauce but I really liked it. There was a little too much sauce on the pasta but I definitely made the better entrée choice in my opinion.
Definitely a solid place though a little out of the way. I can’t wait to come back and try this place again — I know that it has great potential!