Trattoria Aroma

I really hate to do this, I truly do. I have had many excellent meals at Trattoria Aroma, but the last two have been quite sub-​par. The wife and I went to celebrate her birthday last night, and we had been looking forward to this all week. When I made the reservation, I specifically request Terry to be our server, as he is pro all the way and we have had many great experiences with him, dating back to when he worked at Mode (that goes back a few years). Sadly, when we arrived, they informed me his section was full, then 10 minutes after we were seated, they sat two more tables in his section. This was a minor annoyance.
Our server was a bit gruff, but quite helpful with the wine list and brought me two samples when I struggled deciding. However, the entire night, he always seemed to be looking at other tables while helping us. I find this terribly annoying with servers, as when you are standing at MY table, your focus should be on ME. I know it’s a hard job. I have done it. He never came back to check on how our food was, and the bus boy was all too quick to wrap up our leftovers and bring them to us, almost an «OK, you’re done, we need your table now» kind of move.
So the 2-​star rating. This is really based on our entrees more than anything else. Both of our dishes were extremely bland: I have the orrechiette special and my wife had the short rib. The orrechiette came with smoked chicken, corn, red onion, spinach, and a cream sauce. The only thing I tasted was red onion. The cream sauce lacked butter and the succulence you come to expect from a white cream sauce. The short rib was exceptionally fatty, and the corn risotto accompanying it was bland. At no time did our server return to ask how our meals were, as I probably would have told him. I don’t like to be rude, but they need to know when food is sub-​par — especially when you’ve already come to expect excellence.
Here’s the thing with pasta: if I’m spending $ 26 on a pasta, it better be damn good. I make my own at home, and am spoiled that way, but seriously? Bland pasta and chicken for $ 26? I shouldn’t have to reach for the salt and crushed red pepper.
I’m sorry for this review, Trattoria, as we have always enjoyed your atmosphere and proximity to home. But, next time I drop $ 100+ on dinner, it needs to deliver. When we left, my wife said, «Wow, our meal at Mac’s on Hertel was so much better for half the price!»

First of all, I have always loved this place. It’s really just delicious and a perfect date night. Upscale but comfortable and an almost continental atmosphere, and I’ve never had a bad time nor bad meal here, (ok except for New Years Eve like 7 years ago, and really all that taught me was to stop trying to eat out on New Years Eve.)
I also don’t love to eat dinner out on Sunday’s in general as I’m usually disappointed. Not tonight! Eric was our fantastic server. There were six of us and everyone loved their food and cocktails. Highlights: Rosso salad with roasted beets. Pollo Pizzaiola, Maille Alla Milanese, Pappardelle Alla Lepre. Salmone Arosto was mine, and it was literally perfect. I don’t take pictures of food normally but this Pinot Noir was server recommended and so good, I have to buy it for Christmas. I can’t remember the name of these crafted cocktails but there was lemon, vodka and prosecco in them and our splendid bartender made them with love.

Went here for lunch with a group as part of an interview. Great atmosphere! Delicious food! Very attentive waiter! We started sampling different house salads and they were all really tasty and delicious (and I’m not a salad person). For the main dish I had the featured pasta of the day, which had pork. This was kind of spicy, but Nothing you can’t handle. For dessert I had an awesome Chocolate! Yes! All the deliciousness you are expecting just from reading the word CHOCOLATE! Oh! And I must not forget the amazing cappuccino!
Would definitely go again when i come back to Buffalo.

Came here for dinner
Pros:
— Beautiful ambiance
— The meatball appetizer is delicious!
— The four cheese pizza with sauce is delicious!
— The Riesling and Rosato were yummy
— Clean two stall bathroom
Cons:
— The mushroom pizza with sauce was too salty

Hands down, best Italian place ever!
My bf wanted to take me out for my birthday and he saw this with great reviews. The wait on a Saturday night wasn’t bad at all. Love the décor, very vibrant and I felt that I was in the city. First off the beef carpaccio roll, amazing, if this was an entrée, I would order this without any hesitation. The mix of beef with truffle flakes is superb! Also the calamari appetizer is a great choice, only I wish I had a touch more calamari.
Now we ordered the short rib pizza. It was good, but it’s missing something which I can’t explain. It does need alittle more short rib but I feel that there’s an ingredient missing on the pizza. Which is why I took off one star.
Other than that, great service and the dessert was scrumptious! I would absolutely come back.

Always great. Fantastic food And good value. Great Service. Excellent beer and Wine selection. Great bar and ambiance.

WHY?!? I have been going to this place FOR YEARS! it has always been my favorite, how ever, I was here last Tuesday for a friends birthday and I was so disappointed. The service was SO slow! We ended up being there for 2 hours, and there were only 3 of us and there were empty tables. They also got rid of my favorite dish, lobster ravioli!!!
After we were finally able to place our drink order, it took for ever for our server to come back so we can place our food order. We ordered the rice balls for an app. They were good but there were only two! I had the Pollo Milanese which was actually very good and Huge! The food came out piping hot, it just took for ever.
I will say, the server was very knowledgeable and friendly. I’ve had him before with out any issues.
My main concern is this: the portion was so large I was only able to eat 1 of the 2 massive pieces of chicken. They boxed it up for me. When I opened the box the next day to feast on my left overs, ½ of the chicken was missing!!! WHAT THE HELL AROMA!
I’m sure ill be back, I’m just a little upset right now…

Won a gift certificate went to try out the place is off the beaten path of main corridor of the Village with off street parking. The décor and ambience is swanky and sexy for a date, food was very good and service top notch. Prices are on the high side but well worth it on occasion. This place is a Gem hiding in a residential neighborhood and I couldn’t believe how good my time was here.

Surprised about the 5 star reviews. It was okay, but I wouldn’t go back. The interior was nicely done and our server was a solid 5 stars, I also had a nice wine that he recommended, but the food… To be fair there were 4 of us and 2 thought their main course was fine, but I’m writing the review so this is my take on it. Started with drinks and an order of Parmesan fries to share. We didn’t even finish them because they were underdone. Nobody had more than one bite. I ordered the cioppino since it is one of my favorites and I have had it many times before. I must say this was the saddest interpretation I have ever had. For a $ 15 lunch portion it was very very small. It says it has crab and house made sausage. Well there weren’t any pieces of crab, just stringy bits and the sausage was all ground meat in the sauce. Lots of calamari though. My husband ordered the Tagliatelle Bolognese since it said there was beef, pork and veal. The Bolognese we are used to has a hearty sauce made with chunks of meat, this was just ground meat (probably their house made sausage). So he was disappointed. My sister-​in-​law had the steak sandwich for $ 14 ($ 2 extra if you want fries!). My brother had the Penne Melanzana because he loves eggplant in any form. They both liked their meals. We shared a couple of desserts. Portions were very small for the price and just okay. The final note — with the nice atmosphere and pricing it would have seemed more appropriate to have some Italian or at least «Italianish» music playing instead of the 70s hit parade.

Brunch is a must here, being that it’s my first time it sure will not be my last. Once I discover the unlimited bake goods and coffee I couldn’t have asked for more. The coffee is good and the mini pastures were delicious. Overall the good is good. Call ahead and reserve if you’re lucky enough to enough the beautiful summer morning out on their patio. Others the dinning room is good too.

Great brunch and super reasonable price. The egg Benedict is so yummy!

Comfortable atmosphere. Walked in and we were immediately greeted by Eric, our server. He was friendly and personable, but also super professional. Eric had an extensive knowledge of the food as well as wines. He was so pleasant and helpful.
As for our food… The Caesar was delicious… Old school equipped with anchovies. The arancini was the single tastiest thing I have ever eaten. It was crispy on the outside, creamy and flavorful on the inside. Our entrees were perfect portion sizes and wonderful as well.
We ordered deserts which were tasty and balanced, paired with dessert wines by Eric and the perfect end to our dinner. Food came out quickly, but not overlapping the previous courses, dishes and silverware promptly removed and water glasses filled.
Best dinner in along time. Too bad I forgot my leftovers… doh !!!

My boyfriend and I finally got around to trying this place yesterday after reviewing the recommendation on Unilocal.From start to finish we were not impressed. We were initially greeted by the bartender who gave us the first heads up that they were extremely busy and maybe we may want to come back another time. We told her not to worry we would wait. We were seated by another individual right away who again told us they were busy and that service will be slow. Our waitress arrived and informed us for the third time that they were busy and service would be slow.
We chose to just have water with lemon on the side to drink. When our waitress came back she brought water with the lemon in it, which completely grossed me out (lemons are VERY dirty and rarely washed). I chose not to ask for a replacement water because it took forever to get the first one. Both of us removed our lemons and placed the lemons and their seeds on our bread plate. When our waitress returned she poured garlic infused olive oil onto our already used bread plates with our used lemons/​seeds and provided us with a side basket of bread. My boyfriend and I both looked at each other and shook our heads because that’s was a quick and easy fix if our server was paying attention. The bread and olive oil were delicious once it was replaced on requested new plates.
We ordered the Calabrese pizza and the Griglia Formaggi panini to share. All you could taste on the pizza was tomato sauce, it lacked all toppings, was VERY small (4 small slices) for a $ 15 price and the crust was complete mush in the center. The panini was completely soggy on the bottom half of the bread and soaked with olive oil. The panini had no flavor what so ever except for the overwhelming taste of olive oil and there was no avocado found in it as stated in the menu.
Overall, we were very disappointed with the service and food. Slow service was expected, but not poor service from our waitress and chef. We’ve been waiting for over a month to try this place and looked forward to at least a four star experience and barely got one star.

I met a group here for brunch and it was good, not great.
The waiter didn’t tell me about the coffee and pastry table, luckily someone else in the group knew about it and let me know. On the plus side, there’s a serve yourself coffee and pastry table!
I got a breakfast flatbread. The bread was chewy and delicious. The filling was ok, but they forgot the cheese so it was a bit dry.
We got a pitcher of mimosas for the table and the other breakfast drinks looked tasty.
I liked that it was busy but not overly crowded. We could hear each other and didn’t feel rushed.

We came here for brunch and we were not disappointed. It’s beautiful inside and the staff is very polite and attentive.
We started with a pitcher of mimosas for the table which was about $ 33 and was enough for the 6 of us to each have a decent sized glass. They also have a bunch of different Bloody Mary’s that are very unique and can fit many different pallets.
They offer a nice table with free coffee and baked goods which was just an extra plus. We all enjoyed our food, not one little complaint out of anyone. I personally had the eggs Benedict which were perfect. The hollandaise was very well made and the home fries were nicely seasoned.
I’ve only been there for brunch but I looked at the dinner menu and it looks very enticing. I will definitely be back for dinner asap.

Every time I visit Aroma it’s a different experience. This time happened to be five stars.
Our waiter, Terry, was extremely welcoming and friendly. The bus person attentive but not intrusive.
The noise level was a bit subdued from my last visit as the place wasn’t yet full and they had recently installed carpeting. (We got there at 6:30.)
My friend and I both started with their house salad which was a copious portion of fresh field greens, Campari tomatoes, cured black olives, a few shards of Parmesan, and frizzled leeks. The dressing was a simple balsamic that would have benefitted from being emulsified with a bit of dijon mustard.
I had the Cioppino, a beautiful combination of crab, calamari, 3 tiger shrimp, clams, house-​made sausage, roasted fennel, red lentil, tomato-​lobster brodo, and crostini. For $ 15 this was plenty for an entrée and just teeming with flavor, texture, and visual appeal. I asked for a bit of freshly grated parmesan, just to add a bit of umami (the fifth taste), but the flavors were already assertive.
I don’t know about you, but when a dish is supposed to be served hot, I want it steaming. This delicious stew came out piping hot.
My friend had the pizza with herb-​grilled chicken, caramelized onion, spinach, and asiago. It was another photo-​worthy choice, and she absolutely loved it. From what I could see, the base of the pizza was thin and the edges puffy and crisp. The toppings were applied with a generous hand.
CAVEAT: I have had some wonderful meals here and some not so fabulous ones. If I could be sure they would all be like this, I would be there frequently. Consistency is the name of the game.

Aroma has been on my bucket list/​bookmarks for quite some time. Previously I had come here for some drinks and live music in the winter and had a blast. This time I visited the restaurant to eat.
I am not sure my experience was the typical dining experience due to the holiday (labor day) so consider that as you read the review.
I would give Trattoria Aroma 5 stars… however they get 4 due to the time it took to wait for the food.
The wait staff was very friendly and attentive (but only in the beginning). After we were served our drinks and ordered our food, there were long periods of time that passed between each visit from our waiter. During these long periods of time however the water boy was very attentive.
After ordering our whole table got our appetizers right away. I had decided to split the bruschetta with my boyfriend. The bruschetta came on top of 2 big chunks of toasted buttery bread. It was enjoyably flavorful, crisp and had a some cilantro freshness to it.
Our entrees then came 50 minutes after the appetizers.
I ordered the Pappardelle Piemonte which was very delicious and had just the right amount of parmesan cheese added to the top. The mushrooms on the Pappardelle Piemonte were honestly the best part and i appreciated their soft creamy coating.
The pasta itself in this dish was ok but nothing amazing compared to the other reviews I have read and heard. I guess I will have to try a different kind next time.
At the end of the night, the waiter gave each person at the table a small take home container of the oil that they had used with the basket of bread. We were all raving about this oil since it was so delicious. The waiter later told us the oil was a mixture of lemon, white wine vinegar and some specific type of oil.

There’s a reason why Trattoria Aroma is busy even on a Tuesday night. I had the duck pizza with gorganzola and pear and it was delicious. Salty duck, pungent cheese, fresh pear — you can’t really go wrong with this flavor combo. There was a good portion of duck confit, and it was nice and tender. The toppings were homogeneously sprinkled across the crust so each bite was complete in flavor. The crust was a 12-​inch crispy thin crust — not the best I’ve ever had but still good.
And then there’s my friend’s roasted rack of lamb, one of the daily specials. Even lamb haters could enjoy this dish, since it was not particularly gamey and so incredibly tender. This dish blew me away. And the portion size was quite hefty! There was something like 8 lamb chops on the plate.
While the food was excellent, the cocktails were less than stellar. I first ordered a scotch based drink with grenadine and sweet vermouth, and I kid you not, it tasted like cough syrup! It was suspiciously pink, you could not taste the scotch or peat at all, and was frankly the worst cocktail I’ve had in the last 5 years. I sent it back and re-​ordered the house Manhattan, which was surprisingly not sweet and mostly just rye with a little bit of sweet vermouth and bitters served on a large rock. Not exactly a well-​balanced cocktail, but maybe the bartender took the hint and gave me a nice big pour or rye. Haha, I’ll take it!
Bottom line? I don’t recommend the specialty cocktails here (maybe stick with wine and beer?), but you absolutely must go for the food!

Five easy stars, and here’s why:
Occasionally, a restaurant delivers appetizers and entrees that are both remarkably delicious and fully satisfying to the degree where you want to try dessert just because everything served was so good and memorable, and despite the fact that you’re already completely sated.
That happened to me at Trattoria Aroma. After my plan to «just try one of the desserts» was dismissed by my fellow diners, I ruminated that decision for days: «I should have stood my ground and ordered dessert. Maybe I could have enlisted the kindergartener’s support by showing her the world „c-​h-​o-​c-​o-​l-​a-​t-​e“ on the dessert menu. What if I said, ‘You just go wait outside in the freezing car, ok? I’m having dessert’».
That is how good our meals had been.
Some specifics: the pizza was a white sauce chicken thin crust, single-​diner portion (but still large enough to share) with a remarkably different but still delicious blend of seasonings. A special of salmon and vegetables was perfectly cooked (both in degree and flavor) complemented by similarly perfectly-​cooked vegetables.
Service was polite, attentive, and efficient. (After having just driven five hours through lake-​effect snow squalls with my mother-​in-​law in the back seat, I was particularly appreciative.)
The Spaghetti Carbonara was described as «the best carbonara I’ve had, anywhere». I had a taste. Her opinion was justified.
«And yet you won’t stay for dessert? You crazy, woman!» Alas, we didn’t, though we should have. If I’m ever in passing distance of Buffalo again, I’m going back. And I *will* try their dessert.

Whoosh, what a gem: for brunch, dinner, drinks and everything in between. After reading Joseph’s review of the brunch, I finally had to cross the Aroma brunch off my bucket list (yes my bucket list includes a ton of restaurants to go to) and all I have to say is that I already came here for brunch AGAIN (two weeks in a row). Maybe I’ll make this my Sunday ritual as the food is delightful, the ambiance classy and the service fantastic. Need I even mention the complimentary coffee, tea, pastries and cannolis?
First, if you’re here for brunch: some suggestions on what to order: the steak and eggs and the Aroma Benedict with Salmon are my favorite options. The Benedict is so tasty and unlike other Egg Benedicts you may tried and with the smoked salmon it’s absolutely perfect. The Steak and Eggs is also delightful as their steak is quite divine and the eggs perfectly assembled for your enjoyment. I’ve also tried their seafood Omelet Del Mar full of lobster, crab and other tasty fishes, but I much prefer the other two items. The Breakfast Piadina was a little lacking for my taste, but for those that love Burritos — it’s a delectable and classy Italian equivalent.
I’ve also come here for dinner once and it was a fantastic experience. Such a diverse menu: from lobster to braised rabbit to the most perfectly cooked pasta you’ll find in Buffalo leads me to be in the camp that says Trattoria Aroma is one of the best restaurants in Buffalo. It’s not cheap and dinner for two cost us around $ 70 – 80 (including a glass of wine), but no appetizers. If you’re willing to splurge though, do yourself a favor and get your values worth here. Vive le Aroma!