Cafe Lombardi’s

I’ve probably driven by this café hundreds of times but I’ve never stopped in to check the place out. We were feeling Italian food on thanksgiving Eve and thought that maybe we could finally stop in! So we grabbed a couple bottles of wine and headed over to café Lombardis. When we first walked in, it had a quaint and comfortable environment. Dim lights, very pleasant décor. It was the perfect place to be because we wanted to have good food and good conversation. The waitress was amazing! Her name was Teresa. Very sweet, attentive and funny. She was so pleasant throughout the night. We ordered the chicken and shrimp Alexandra (highly recommend) chicken parm and a veal dish. All very generous portions and all very delicious! We also split a dessert which was some sort of Oreo cake that was delicious. My only regret is that I didn’t come to this place sooner! It’s fantastic, perfect for a small group of friends and BYOB makes it even better. Will definitely be returning sometime soon!!!

One of the better Italian restaurants in the suburbs. Good food but the service is awful. I ordered food to be picked up. I wasn’t greeted when I arrived or left. The waitress acted like she was doing me a favor.

We lived by Lombardi’s for 8 years, never tried it until this past Saturday. Place was empty, it was early, waiter was pleasant and the food was delivered to our table quickly. I was very surprised! I had the Shrimp Scampi, the shrimp was very fresh and not overpowered by garlic, my wife had Chicken Parmesan, she said it was the best she has ever had. My son had a pizza and he loved it. We are sorry we waited so long to go there, we will be back. Crap, after writing this, I want to go back now!

Received a «Birthday Pak» with a coupon to Café Lombardi’s. Decided to try it out, and we weren’t disappointed. Delicious traditional Italian food, generous portions and one of the best servers we have had in awhile (Theresa). Will definitely be back. (Try the spaghetti with calamari… yum!)

Best Italian BYOB in the area. Been going there for years. Veal is especially good. Room can get a little loud, but the food is consistently excellent.

Ok, this restaurant used to be our favorite restaurant. Now, it’s a hit or miss. You never know what you are going to get each time you go. Sometimes good, sometimes a disaster. Tonight… was a disaster. They had two tile fish specials tonight. I had never had tile fish before so I asked the waitress what kind of fish it was. She basically said it was some sort of white fish and doesn’t have any other info. If a restaurant has TWO dishes with a fairly unknown fish on it, you really need to educate your staff on the fish. I ordered one and got the other. I started eating it and realized this is not the dish I ordered. I mentioned it to the waitress, she brought back a menu and I showed her what the difference was and she swiped up my dish and proudly proclaimed, «I love it when the cook is wrong!» There was a huge difference in the dishes, not only in the dish itself, but the way the fish was cooked. The fish I was served was breaded and obviously fried or baked in heavy grease. I am health conscious and would not order fish prepared that way. My dish was supposed to be bedded on pasta. The dish had all the ingredients of the other tile fish special. So… the cook just slapped on some pasta under the fish, reheated the fish obviously in the microwave and sent it out. The waitress said the cook told her the menu must be wrong because fish is not served with pasta. At this point, my fish was STILL prepared the same way, breaded and now microwaved to reheat. The fish was now overcooked and very dry. I gave up… the only reason I gave two stars was because they took this dish off of our bill… Oh, did I mention, the wait time for our meal was extremely long tonight. My guess is that they were working with a new cook. It’s a shame, we have been coming to this restaurant for about 15 years. Just seems to have gone down hill lately.

Six of us went for dinner on a Wednesday night. All of us ordered different meals and everything was excellent — shrimp scampi, chicken Marsala, eggplant parm, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, antipasto, Caesar salad (homemade dressing). All delicious. And great service as well. Will return there soon :)

Lunch on Saturday afternoon was a pleasant surprise! Excellent food, quick pleasant service. Lunch portions of Pasta with lobster and shrimp loaded with fresh seafood and very tasty. Spaghetti and Meatballs, perfect! Excellent gravy! Bookmarked to return often!

Service was good. Very family oriented. Good size portions for the price. Friendly atmosphere

I recently had my wedding rehearsal Dinner with a party of 40 people at Café Lombardi’s. The food was awesome, especially the chicken masala and it was reasonably priced. The staff was very helpful and friendly. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the food. I would recommend.

We just ordered lunch from this place at work. I got my Calamari Alla Veneziana and garlic bread. Both absolutely horrible. The garlic bread was burnt and sitting in a half inch of oil. The calamari was much like the city of Venice in the fact that it was under water and oil. Unlike Venice, lacked flavor and pizzazz. It was overcooked, rubbery flavorless bits off what appears to be boiled squid as opposed to grilled as the menu says. The sauce was watery and oily but red from having been near a tomato at some point I guess. Absolutely tasteless. Both take out boxes were immediately dumped into the trash can, don’t waste your money on take out. I will mention that they food was done pretty quickly and when the order was placed over telephone they suggested to immediately come and get it. Doesn’t matter how quickly I get my food if I’m gonna end up throwing it out because it was a horrible waste.

Probably the best Italian restaurant I have ever been to. There menu is affordable and the food is top notch. I recommend the penne Alexandria. I guarantee you will love it. Great waiting staff as well. Can’t wait to go back to eat here! Thanks so much guys!

Great food. Large portions. Decent prices.
Parking a little tight at times but overall one of my favorite spots !

I honestly don’t know how people rave about this place, it’s mediocre at best. Pasta dishes were bland. Atmosphere is pathetic, tables with cheap plastic checkered tablecloths, Place is just loud at all times. Service was lacking. Place need to be updated desperately

I have lunch here with my mom occasionally as its pretty much in the middle of our places of employment. It’s OK. Place is small and very dark. The servers are usually very sweet. The food is very cheap but pretty much a hit or miss. I got a shrimp caesar salad with 6 very large and tasty shrimp for only $ 7.99. But one time I got a personal pizza and I want to say that frozen pizza from a supermarket was better. It was very thick and completely raw in the middle. Pretty unacceptable from an Italian restaurant.
There are other pretty decent options for lunch however so I don’t discourage from trying it.

My kids are hooked on this place. Great pasta and friendly service. Worth a try if you are in the area.

Just ordered 3 amazing lunches to go. Perfectly prepared with excellent service, Thanks!

I purchased a groupon for Café Lombardi’s after reading some glowing reviews. I brought a small cooler of cold beer for me and the Mrs. We were greeted by a very friendly staff who were kind and welcoming. We sat at a table for two and took out a couple bottles. The friendly, cordial young waitresses went away and then we had a veteran waitress who’s manners retired well before she intends on retiring.
We were never asked if we wanted glasses for the beer and luckily we brought an opener. The waitress didn’t offer or bring water glasses. My woman asked for a waters, the waitress brought one… for her. I ordered the Hot Sausage special ($ 20) which was a cooked very spicy and delicious sausage, red peppers, scallops, and shrimp with rose sauce served over pasta. I inquired which pasta it was served over, and the waitress curtly said «the chef chooses». I had no problem with that, but it would have been nice if she knew the pasta and could convey that information. My woman ordered the Seafood Lombardi special. Hers had lobster tail, scallops, shrimp and mussels. Again… the chef chooses the pasta. If you are wondering which pasta it is and you get the elder waitress, she won’t tell you so my service to you is this… the chef chooses spaghetti for both dishes. My dish was delicious. The sausage was amazing and the seafood was cooked perfectly. My woman said the mussels were overcooked, but the rest of the entrée was great. About ¾ of the way through my entrée, I found what looked like a segment of a plastic bag in my entrée. It was about an inch long and didn’t look melted. Granted, it wasn’t appetizing, but it didn’t make me choke and it didn’t stop me from eating the rest of my meal, so I wasn’t about to complain to management. But, the chef should be more careful during prep and plating. After the meal, the waitress came by with a check and before I could even mention I had a groupon, she split. Throughout the night, the waitress was absent, short, curt, or condescending. Really, if I can tolerate plastic in my entrée, I am a tolerant guy. But, if I owned Café Lombardi’s, I’d want to know that the senior waitress needs to work on her table-​side etiquette. The rest of the staff was cordial and welcoming.
I’d probably go back, but if I got that same waitress, I wouldn’t stay.

Café Lombardi is located at a busy intersection, in an older free-​standing building with ample, off-​street parking. The restaurant appears to be quite weathered, inside and out.
Arriving for dinner early on a Friday night, The waiter and hostess, engaged in conversation, told us to seat ourselves. Their lack of enthusiasm and attitude was contagious. We choose an outer table for four, since the inside tables for two were railroaded in an uncomfortably tight arrangement down the center of the room. After looking at the menu, I decided on an appetizer– pasta fagioli and an entrée, a house specialty assorted seafood over pasta dish. All items are a la carte. Cold sliced Italian bread was served in a paper napkin-​lined basket. My BYO wine was quickly opened, and a sparkling mini wine glass – the kind my grandparents used as an eyewash cup – was offered. Butter and dipping oil was available along with a grated cheese and dried hot pepper shaker. Vinyl tablecloths topped the tables, throughout. The chairs – old and weathered– appeared to have padded seats, but be careful when you sit down. You’re in for a surprisingly hard landing.
Food arriving at the table was not presented or placed – merely deposited or dropped. Kind of hit and run style. Soup arrived hot. It reminded me of Campbell’s traditional bean soup. No white cannellini beans – just navy beans – and the pasta was chewy, undercooked elbow macaroni. Very disappointing. The house specialty entrée was hot, too. One of the more expensive dishes, it had a few scallops, mussels, small shrimp, mushrooms (we didn’t need them to brown out this bland-​colored dish) and a split tiny lobster tail. The white «wine» sauce was tasteless. However, the bed of pasta – linguini for me and angel hair for my wife – was cooked properly and ample.
In summary, I think this old-​fashioned restaurant has seen better days. A happier establishment with a more attentive staff and kitchen makes for more satisfied customers.

Very bad food. It’s all tomato based and all of it tasted the same. The bruschetta was soggy and not made right. No herbs at all. The bread was dry and cold and the portions were just too big. It would help if they focused on the quality of the food rather than the quantity.
Very bad food. It’s all tomato based and all of it tasted the same. The bruschetta was soggy and not made right. No herbs at all. The bread was dry and cold and the portions were just too big. It would help if they focused on the quality of the food rather than the quantity.