Comensoli’s Italian Bistro

Without a doubt my favorite Italian restaurant in Kalamazoo. The food is very good, the service friendly and timely. But the smallish, quaint ambiance, in particular the patio, just makes it fun for me. The price is fair. They have a nice wine selection and modest beer selection. Don’t miss the desserts!

This is a wonderful restaurant with a fabulous story and family behind it. The food is beyond words, but it makes me sad that a customer would give a 3 star review, based on a one time attitude of an employee. Every one has a bad day, and we never know what that person is going through. Fabulous chef, fabulous service, fabulous family… it’s a culinary symphony for the taste buds.

Can’t say enough about this little eatery
One of last night specials was a 1 pound pork chop with balsamic onions
Outstanding cooked perfectly
Great atmosphere and service

Food was edible but not great. The calamari was swimming in a tomato olive sauce. Bruschetta was the best. It was obvious the food was not homemade. Service was friendly.

1^st timers at your establishment this weekend and let me start by saying we will be back! The wait staff was prompt and courteous and our food came out quite quickly for 7pm on a Sat night. We got the NY Strip feature and the Chicken Piccata. Both were PERFECT! The red potatoes and grilled zucchini topped everything off perfectly. A quite, romantic setting and most importantly clean! Very impressed with our visit and props to the chef!

My first time in Kalamazoo, MI and I was here for a night only. While searching for a place to eat, I came across this wonderful place. It is small, cozy with few tables (Max Occupancy sign show 49 people!) and has a simple, no nonsense menu. However, the items, the taste, the service were top notch. It felt like Smallness of the place seemed to brought out the food served from the «heart of the Chef». I was very pleased that I had one of the best Shrimp Scampis I have ever had in this one night I had here in this town. I definitely recommend that you try this place as well.

I had one of the most delicious meals I’ve had in recent memory last week at Comensoli’s. Bucatini pasta with shrimp, prosciutto, artichoke hearts, and fresh basil — all ingredients cooked to their individual perfections. The whole meal together was an absolute pleasure.

I went here with my dad and my sister for my birthday and it was the best birthday dinner ever. It’s a really nice little place that wasn’t really busy so we got all of the attention that we needed, but the wait staff didn’t hover. I got feta bruschetta, lasagna, and my sister and I split a half bottle of mascato. The feta bruschetta was really fresh, the dish of lasagna was excellent and large, and the mascoto was wonderful. I didn’t want to leave when it was over.

Very nice selection of entrees and a decent wine list.
Our orders were very good– portions enough to take home at least one more meal.
Our server was attentive without being intrusive– a good balance of friendliness and privacy we felt.
We didn’t feel crowded at all at our table and we liked the décor, even if it was somewhat on the simple side. Let’s say the dining space worked for us!
We definitely will be back again when we visit Kalamazoo next time.

Their food is top notch but I called and had the rudest person talk to me. I asked if I could make a reservation at 5:30 and he said not until 7:30 but you could sit at the bar. So I said, there’s no open seating? He got upset and used a stern voice telling me that wasn’t an option.
I love the first time I went and had a nice dinner but I didn’t like the way he talked to me. Not sure I will go back.

I had high expectations for this restaurant as it is rated well here, and on TripAdvisor. Unfortunately, I was not so impressed. I ordered the Crimini Mushroom Ravioli. The dish was decent, but it was just swimming in butter. The Italian Wedding Soup was very watered down. The best part of the meal was the Caprese appetizer, which tasted as good as it looked. There was only one server, I mean yes it was a Monday night, but they need more people on staff. Lastly, the actual location is not the greatest, especially with the loud train in the background.

Chef Allen is doing some wonder things here. The food is brilliant, and the atmosphere is great. Bring your friends and enjoy a good dinner.

Realllyyyy good everything! The wait staff are super nice, and the food is killer. I really enjoyed their selection of cocktails!

It was okay. We were seated on the deck on a VERY chilly Friday night – like minus ten chilly. The only other people seated out there were either very casually dressed or, like us, had young children with them. The deck is heated – but it definitely wasn’t warm. We ate with our coats on. Service seemed a little slow, flavors were off, and I had a chef’s special pasta dish that was, I’m sorry, just weird. Sounded good, but lots of leathery sun-​dried tomatoes don’t do it for me. As noted in other reviews, not much is homemade. Husband had good chicken Marsala and kids enjoyed their pepperoni flatbread.

I have no idea why this place ranks so highly. The wedding soup was watery and had no flavor. I cannot believe they wanted 10 $ for two small bowls! I could’ve made better soup with campbells. Also, there was a box of franzia in the bar, probably trying to pass as house wine. No thanks.

My wife and I and two of our friends had dinner at Comensoli’s last night. We started our evening off with a bottle of wine and our friends had the peach sangria special. The wine selection wasn’t huge but they had a reasonable selection across a spectrum of prices. Unfortunately the bottle we chose wasn’t available but our second choice was and the bottle was quickly drained. Our friends thought the sangria was good but weren’t writing home about it (they lived in Spain for a few years so their sangria scenes are a little heightened. :)).
Before our meals arrived we had soups at the table. I had the Italian wedding soup which was delicious with the sausage having a little zing to it. My wife had the soup of the day which was potato bacon and was scrumptious.
For dinner I had the pasta special which was a thicker noodle with chicken breast sautéed onion, mushroom and a Dijon sauce. The sauce was the perfect bankable of Dijon and wasn’t loaded with butter. The pasta was clearly made fresh and the chicken was prepared perfectly. My wife had the crimini ravioli which had an amazing flavor. It was bathed in butter which was a bit of a detractor but man was it yummy! Our friends had the fish if the day — blue marlin and the gnocchi. According to the fish eaters at the table (not me!) the marlin was one of the best dishes they’ve ever had. I kept hearing the words fabulous and amazing describing it. As for the gnocchi it’s probably the best dish they make. Perfect fresh dumplings cooled to perfection. If your not into the massive cream sauce try it half in half with marina which is delish!
The service was most excellent and the staff was very friendly. They were surprisingly not very busy for a Saturday night. The biggest complaint I have (if you can call it that) was the portion size. They are MASSIVE and the food is so good you almost have a guarantee that you’re going to walk out miserable.
A great evening with a great meal. We’ll be back again!

This place was an awesome find!
I travel with our collegiate volleyball team, and in doing that, I am given the sometimes daunting task of finding a good restaurant that can handle taking on a very large group of hungry athletes, and get us in, settled, fed, and out the door in ample time for our matches. I try to find local, family owned, restaurants in the areas we are traveling to, and in this case… it was Comensoli’s!
From the first call made, their manager was very helpful. We sent them our team meal orders ahead of time, and when we arrived, the tables were prepped with water, salads, and bread… and the kitchen was already working on our entrees. The meals were superb… and very healthy portions! The coaches, players and I were all VERY satisfied, and we will remember Comensoli’s for all of our future visits to WMU.
Thank you, Comensoli’s team!

Wow! What a wonderful place!
We stopped in for dinner tonight, it was extremely busy with a medical party.
But, that did not detract from a fun experience. The service was excellent.
We had garlic bread, salads, chicken polenta and gnocchi in vodka sauce.
All of the food was delicious. The owners who had just come to have dinner, helped the wait staff and stopped by the tables to chat. I’m so glad we found this gem of kzoo.

This place has potential. Food was a good value and presented well. Will go back to try the pizza sometime soon.
Our server was new, yet she did a good job. Her lack off menu knowledge was awkward and not professional – seemed like she wasn’t trained.
We sat on the patio on a perfect Sunday evening, and that was very nice.

Good!
Haven’t been here for a couple years and really enjoyed the meal here.
I had the Pizza Margherita and it was delicious. They use a tomato sauce on the Margherita and looked like thin, broad slices of fresh mozzarella which covered the whole pizza. Just right amount of fresh basil. Crust was thin and crisp. The only small thing was the slightly too salty taste. Not sure where that came from. The sauce, maybe.
I recommend this Pizza Margherita, much better than the one I had last week (at a different place).
I also had a coffee which I thought was surprisingly good. Espresso is not available.
Not very expensive but the silverware is some of the worst cafeteria utensils you would ever see. One of my pet peeves.
A good place, should do it again.
Visited again, Jan. 2015, the pizza wasn’t as good. Too dry.