Cafe Notte

Went to dinner with 2 friends and was delighted with this restaurant. The cozy atmosphere with a wood burning fireplace was a nice setting for a cold night. The staff was friendly and efficient. The food was very good. I had chicken parmesan which consisted of a large very tender piece of chicken lightly breaded over pasta. We ordered a bottle of wine which was half price that evening. The only negative was we had to pay extra for bread. Not much but I think bread should just come with dinner. I plan to return soon.

For years, I’ve passed this restaurant and wondered, how good and what kind of restaurant would be in that location on very busy Rte. 65. Finally, my friend and I stopped for a quick dinner; a very pleasant surprise. We liked the fireplace, the ceiling with the twinkle lights, nice décor. We were seating quickly, (but we were there @ 4:30.) The five star” rating is for Jean; our waitress; great service; knowledgable, pleasant, cheerful, patient with all of our questions. I had a salad; average; my friend had the burger; she said it was «a very good burger». Surprised we had to pay for the bread and dipping oil? The bread was too dry; oil was tasteless. Our wine selection was excellent. Definitely will return, and try other dishes. I am recommending this restaurant to my friends.

Overall I felt the meal was ok, not spectacular, overpriced, and incomplete. This is an Italian restaurant and you have to ask for and pay extra for a slice of Italian bread? Are you serious? I ordered chicken parmesan and that is ALL I got; a piece of chicken over a small bed of pasta. Nothing else. No bread & butter or olive oil to dip, no small salad, no veggies, nothing. Had to ask for grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle on my chicken and I received a tiny little plastic portion cup ½ full. My bill with tip was $ 25 and I left hungry. The atmosphere and food were ok but I’m sorry to say there is no way I will go back. The other two folks I was with share the exact same opinion.

Very welcoming! The second you walk in the owners greet you like they are best friends with you. Our waiter, Angie, was very warm. Gave us a tour of the whole place. I loved the stuffed banana peppers! And my boyfriend said the steak was great (he is a picky eater) Thanks for a great experience!

I made reservations for my wife and I for a special evening out together.
After arriving we were greeted and seated promptly. The waitress was courteous and polite, and quick to get our drink order and tell us of the specials
The lobster bisque was excellent according to my wife and the chicken and dumplings were very good as it was their soup du jour.
My wife had ordered the eggplant parm and I had ordered the strawberry salad with grilled chicken.
This is where it came off the tracks a bit. Our waitress sat my strawberry salad in front of me and my wife’s eggplant parm in front of her. She explained that they were out of strawberries for my strawberry salad. She offered to bring something else or another fruit for my salad, but My wife’s entrée was already there and since they ready brought the salad, being politely frustrated, I asked for some mandarin oranges instead.
She brought 4 – 5 mandarin slices on a plate. I guess they were almost out those too.
The entrees tasted fine despite the lack of strawberries on mine. Also there was no bread and butter offered either with the soup or my salad, which seemed odd.
Then the bill came.
I figured for the oversight they would discount my salad, comp the salad or offer a dessert to make up for the oversight.
Full price salad… No deductions. No discount.
I asked our waitress politely if there should have been at least a discount for the strawberry-​less strawberry salad. She seemed perplexed and said I brought you oranges.
Then she said she’d check with the manager. They took about $ 4 off our $ 60 bill.
We will probably go back once more to give it it one more shot… But I thought they would’ve done more to insure that. We even told our waitress it was our first time there. Oh well.

I have gone to this lovely restaurant twice this month. The first time my husband and I shared a romantic dinner. It was delicious. I enjoyed the surf and turf. It was cooked to perfection. The salad was amazing with their own dressing I loved. It was an early dinner and we were not rushed. The manager showed us the around the restaurant it being out first time there.
Upon our return visit we invited friends. All four of us enjoyed our apps and dinners and the ladies of the group shared an amazing cannoli. It was so fresh, it was heaven.
During both visits one crowed and one quit we had the same sever, Hope. She was delightful and attentive. I look forward to many more meals.

While just outside the city limits, this place is truly a Pittsburgh dining gem. Firstly, the ambiance is top top notch including décor as well as in or outside dining options. The food is also excellent. While traveling extensively, I have never had better lobster bisque. The menu is diverse with both a variety of small plates as well classic entrees always with a tasty twist. Some places lose luster after 3 or 4 visits but Café Notte has always been ON POINT whether I’ve ordered lamb, beef, pasta, seafood or just appetizers. With that, There’s no need to mention a favorite.

I took a friend here for a birthday dinner recently. It’s an interesting place. From the exterior, it doesn’t look like there would be excellent food, but there is.
The menu is very northern Italian, with apparently some Asian influence. I’m not sure if that’s a recent trend with the chef, but this is my second time there and I stayed with the dishes they’re known for (Northern Italian)
We started off with the crab cake. Decent size and very little filler (I.e. panko or breadcrumbs) Taste was excellent. We also had the artisan cheese plate and the kalamata fillet. I enjoyed this one a lot. It has a red wine reduction drizzled on top of the rolled fillet mignon, goat cheese and kalamata olive.
I ordered the Notte Burger for my entrée. It was just a well done, very nice burger with quality cuts in there. It’s fresh ground in house I was told.
Overall, a very decent experience. I would definitely go back.

Had drinks and some food with a couple of other moms after a PTO meeting. We sat outside to listen Bucky on the guitar.
We were grateful for the heat lamps near our table and even blankets provided by our server.
My lobster bisque came out steaming however for $ 9 a bit more in my bowl would have been nice. Plus it didn’t come with bread. That had to be purchased separately.
In the future I would choose Café Notte for a special occasion but not for an impromptu night out with the girls.

Five stars for atmosphere and service… um…but wait… I don’t EAT atmosphere or service… why do I go out to eat…
Gimme a sec… I’ll get it… oh YEAH!
For FOOD.
So out for dinner we went, a friend and I, and wanted to try something different and reasonably nearby, and my buddy asked if I’d ever tried this place. I had not. I am by no means a suburbanite, and having bought a house in Bellevue, well, that’s about as ‘suburban’ as this guy can take. Rarely do I ever even drive farther north of my new little corner of the world, but I had passed this place a few times and had the feeling that it would be a tad on the over priced side since it WAS leaning in the direction of Sewickley. Ding, ding, ding… and the prize goes to… my being right.
The atmosphere is lovely and cozy. The burning fireplace adds an even cozier touch. The décor is very pleasant and comfortable. The staff was very kind and attentive without being over the top, or under the radar.
When I first looked at the menu I realized immediately that I was out of my CHOSEN league. I’m not really good with the ‘average’ price of an entrée being $ 20 or more. To ‘add’ chicken or steak to a salad cost about what I’d be most comfortable paying for a burger, at the highest end (basically ten bucks, give or take a nickle).
Since my friend was treating, I would never take advantage of that kind of situation, and under even the most normal of circumstances, I would aim low.
The burger was about the lowest coming in at $ 17. My friend ordered an appetizer of spinach dip and his main course of a Martguerita pizza. The pizza was about $ 10, and was the size of a small pita bread… nothing fancy. The dip was very small, about three regular sized table spoons, and a short line of some kind of dried bread to slather the dip onto. The bread was almost too crunchy, and the dip itself was bland and mediocre at best. The burger, ordered medium rare, came rather dark on the outside, and perfectly grey on the inside which to me indicates frozen patty. It was topped with a few salad greens and sliced cherry tomatoes. Another 99 cents gave it blue cheese. Served with a side of ‘home made’ potato chips, which were… well…potato chips. Winghart’s serves a burger with fresh ground beef, made to order for under $ 9. So why for $ 17 was I eating an obvious frozen patty? Um… because it was a first try at something I should have listened to my instincts about.
Would I have paid $ 20 plus for a pasta dish? Not on your life.
I would have to call this Café NOT…
With so many other more reasonable options nearby, there’s just no need to make this any kind of regular haunt. Points for the service and atmosphere… but the food and price completely negates all of that.

Hidden gem. I’ve been many times and have had excellent drinks and food on every occasion. The ambiance of the twilight lit ceiling sounds cheesy, but it’s really quite lovely. Dim lights make it even more comfortable.
2 things that may be helpful/​contribute to my great experiences: 1. I go either earlier in the day or later at night. 2. I most typically order from the appetizer menu, so I can sample a wider selection.

The food was excellent. This was a great date night restaurant. My first impression as I walked through the door was not a great one because the lady who seemed to be in charge was extremely rude and I almost told my husband to turn around and leave. We gave it a chance and I am glad we did — with the exception of that one lady, everyone else was very nice and the food was great!

My wife and I have driven past Café Notte so many times. We’ve vowed to give the restaurant a try. Finally, on a date night that coincided with an errand a few doors down from this place, we gave it a shot for dinner.
Why did we ignore all the signs? My wife called to make a reservation for dinner and was directed to their website. The website reservation system wasn’t working properly yesterday. She called back and left a message — and that call was returned a whole day later confirming the dinner we (regrettably) already had the night before.
The website also advertised a happy hour that ran until 7pm. When we tried to order drinks, we were told happy hour ended 30 minutes ago. Our waitress had to prove to the bartender that their website was in error by toting my wife’s iPhone over to the bar to settle the dispute (looks like the website has been fixed since last night). The happy hour discount on my wife’s glass of wine was probably the only win for us of the evening.
We sat outside with a picturesque view of Ohio River Boulevard.
The service was very good — but not good enough to make up for the food we were served. This turned out to be a costly lesson in not ignoring your gut when it seems like you are walking into a restaurant that might not be all that well run.
Here’s what we ordered:
Bowl of lobster bisque ($ 10) — lighter than you’d expect a bisque to be. A trace amount of lobster in there — probably the minimum amount of lobster in order to call it a lobster bisque in good conscience. Sadly, the best part of the meal.
Blackened salmon ($ 24) — my wife’s entrée. Seasoning was good. But the salmon was more burnt to a crisp on the outside and it tasted vaguely watery in the middle. My guess was that this piece of salmon was frozen, thawed in a room temp water bath and then thrown onto a hot grill.
Grilled ribeye ($ 28) — my entrée. I ordered between medium-​rare to medium. It came out decent on the edges but absolutely raw in the middle. I sent it back to the kitchen to get this less raw. The entire plate came back steaming — almost as if it was microwaved. I lost my appetite when the steak came back even worse the second time.
Moscato ($ 4) — our triumph for the evening getting this glass of wine at happy hour price.
Alamos Malbec ($ 8) — not bad, went well with the edges of my ribeye that managed to get cooked properly.
We skipped on dessert (we finally figured out we made a terrible mistake after the entrees) and got the check. Total damage was $ 78.34 not including tip.
The next time we drive by Café Notte, we’ll know to keep on driving.

Not even going to write about my partner’s meal as that’s a whole other review. I have to say that the one star is for the nice waitress and the cozy décor. Other than that, I won’t be going back. The $ 9 (ice stacked to the brim) cocktail I was served had half rotted mint leaves (no, it wasn’t because it was muddled) and granular sugar, both of which added nothing to the drink aside from unwanted textures.
Looking at the meal itself: I laughed when I saw the «vegetable medley» on my plate as it looked and tasted like the kind you’d find in giant eagle’s frozen food aisle. As for the meat… I had already eaten my duck shank medallions when I discovered that the remaining duck shank was definitely undercooked in the middle. If the pre-​cut medallions weren’t drowned in sauce, I would’ve noticed before I sliced into the remaining shank. The waitress was nice enough to bring it back to have it recooked but, even then, the middle was as undercooked as it was when I sent it back. I left it on my plate, paid, and left with my partner disappointed. Aside from all that, the disjointed flavor combinations and lacking presentation did not warrant the price tag. Oh. And the food poisoning. Really hated that side effect.

I stopped mid week for dinner. Had the Pork Porterhouse, it was very good
would order it again. I’ll be stopping in again soon.

The food was delicious and I loved the atmosphere. The music was fantastic! The wait staff and owner were very friendly. Fantastic food for a good price!
I would definitely recommend this to friends and family. I would also return again!

Had dinner her a few weeks ago after driving past a thousand times. 2 words… Not impressed. I had the gnocchi and pork and my wife had the blackened salmon. My dish didn’t have much flavor & the salmon was too well done and on the border of burnt vs. blackened.

Highly recommend. Very cosy place. Had a small business dinner. 2 of us had Shrimp crusted Trout (excellent) the other steak (also excellent). Nice quiet place. Staff is friendly. Private owner whom was in house the night we dined. Waitress was very friendly and suggested choices. What a great dinning experience. Priced welled for the atmosphere and quality. Nice beer and wine selections

Monday night is rib night! You get a half rack of ribs & fries for $ 11. The ribs are great and I always find myself comparing all ribs to here.
One night we stopped down and had some beers outside by the fire pit. There are a few chairs around it, & we sat next to a friendly older couple. We ended up chatting away with them for over an hour. Precious times
Their ciabatta bread with dipping sauce is great too!

I ate here this past Thursday night with my girlfriend. We arrived just before 7 and the restaurant was full so we had to sit at the bar. Since our bartender was nice we decided to have our meal there. The inside of this place is pretty cozy only having about 8 tables or so. They are expanding so it should be bigger soon. There is also a fireplace in the dining room and the ceiling is painted black with lights acting as stars for a pretty cool effect. They also seem to have a nice outdoor seating area but it was too cold to sit there the night we came here.
I decided to start off my meal with the soup of the day which was alligator soup. It came out as a tomato based soup and although I couldn’t taste the gator, it had a nice sweet flavor that I enjoyed. We also went with a brie flambé for an appetizer which was set on fire in front of us and served with apple, nuts and some toasted bread. The brie was creamy and especially good where the flame had heated it up. For my entrée I decided on the 14 oz ribeye while my girlfriend went with the chicken piccata. Both of these came with salads beforehand and I went with a Caesar while my girlfriend had the house salad. We were both surprised at the size and quality of them and I especially loved the homemade garlic croutons on mine. When my meal came out it consisted of the ribeye in a sauce with a watercress salad and roasted fingerling potatoes. Two salads with one meal was weird but I enjoy salad and went with it. The watercress salad had a balsamic dressing on it which made it enjoyable. My steak and potatoes were good but were only luke warm at best and so I imagine they were sitting for awhile. My girlfriends chicken piccata came topped with capers and a lemon sauce with roasted fingerling potatoes and brussel sprouts on the side. Her chicken was excellent with the capers providing the salty punch to the citrusy sweet sauce. Her brussel sprouts were also good and sweet while her hot potatoes were much better than mine.
The bottom line for me is that I will definitely be back in the future. I absolutely loved the ambience of the place and the food was good too.