Palermo’s

I’ve lived in the Dayton environs most of my life and this is the best Italian food in town. Small kitchen, small staff, family owned, and with a dim little bar in the corner, this place unintentionally holds all the charm of an old-​world ristorante. The wait staff used to leave something to be desired… like service, for example. Recently, though, they hired some new servers and that’s turned around. If you’re a foodie who knows that (immaculate) holes-​in-​the-​wall are for more than «where boys can see it all», this is a place you have to try. Food is top-​notch, very inexpensive, and quick to arrive. Pasta fagioli is the best I’ve ever tried; check it out.

Much better than I expected! The seafood, red sauce, Spanish angle hair is great! I would take my friends to try it next time!

Food continues to impress. Service less so. A front of house pro could take Palermo’s from hidden gem to regional great.
Did I mention that the food is amazing?

First time here… Chicken parm. (very good), wife had lasagna (very good)… friendly staff, not too loud, dimly lit (but not too dark), reasonable prices… Will definitely return!

Great place! Pizza is fantastic! People who work there are very friendly & pleasant. Closest thing to NY food around.

I was craving lasagna for lunch and this place was the closest to the office with an online menu. I called in to place my order and apparently I was ordering off the dinner menu. The person on the other end told me they had lunch specials too but I didn’t know what they were so I stuck with my dinner entrée which came with a salad and garlic bread knots.
Apparently the lunch special does not come with a salad. They said it would be ready in about 10 minutes. The restaurant is located in a strip mall and it is definitely not a «fine dining» place but it was quaint and seemed cozy even though it was –4 outside. There were about 4 tables for lunch and everyone was wearing their coats. I felt like a jerk for opening the door.
They were putting the finishing touches on my to-​go order while the waiter rang me up. Good to know that they don’t charge sales tax for to-​go orders in OH. So on to the food. The staff seemed friendly enough.
The portion of lasagna was huge. I was only able to eat ½ of it. It had layers of Italian sausage and cheese and the pasta wasn’t soggy. It was pretty good. The negative was that it had way to much sauce. It was swimming in marinara. The garlic knots were okay. Personally, they could have spent a another minute or two in the oven. The salad was simple with some tomato, cucumber, red onion and parmesan. Everything hit the spot and was only $ 11.99. I’ll probably be back to try out some other things on the menu when I get a craving.

We LOVE this place! My littles enjoy their pizza (and I enjoy finishing it) and I love their lasagna & chicken Marsala. A great value for a very full meal!

SAVE YOUR MONEY! We drove up to the strip mall restaurant and I was a little scared, but we wanted to give it a shot. Mistake! We were one of 3 other tables, which that alone was a bad sign. We chose a seat and waited, waited, and waited for the ditzy waitress to finally realize that we were her table. The place was dead silent. No kitschy Italian music or anything. They had TV’s on the walls and those were even on mute. It was painfully uncomfortable. So, atmosphere was a zero!
The Food was just OK. I got a pizza and my husband got a chicken pasta dish. My pizza was served first and the ditzy, clueless waitress didn’t bring any plates for several minutes. She finally brought back some plates and several minutes later brought my husbands pasta dish. My pizza wasn’t too bad, but my husband wasn’t impressed with his chicken pasta dish. Said the chicken seemed boiled. Nice! Then, the bill came. It was not right. My husband was figuring it and realized we weren’t charged enough. So, I went to some lady who seemed like the owner or someone in charge behind the bar and she tallied it up. There isn’t a computer system apparently, because it was all scrawled by hand. Just painful!
We will Never, Ever go back! Total waste of our time and money!!!

There are a lot of Italian restaurants to choose from in Dayton, and I’d heard good things. Upon walking in, the place was just way too dark. We also waited awhile for a server. I was impressed by the menu and very excited to see bolognese, which is my favorite sauce.
However, the food itself ended up being a disappointment. For the price of the bolognese, it was really nothing more than a basic tomato sauce with some ground meat and sausage in it. Completely lacked the long simmered depth of flavor you expect from the traditional dish. It also lacked cohesion with the pasta, almost as if the pasta had been rinsed before it was sauced. The lack of bread was also a problem. It’s an Italian place, for crying out loud.
All in all, I’ve had better food at even chain Italian joints. If you’re looking for a local place, I’d recommend Mama DiSalvo’s or Guiliano in Miamisburg.

Review from the throne… yes, I mean the porcelain one.
FOOD: No bread being served prior to your meal definitely makes this not an Italian restaurant. The salad was ok. The chicken marsala tasted oily and the chicken had a lot of grizzle on it. NOT GOOD. It had a different taste, but I contributed it to maybe their marsala wine. The garlic not was sub-​par, tasted like a frozen store bought bread. Only after a few hours, the majority of this food is being pushed into the porcelain and I firmly believe that is where it should stay. I do not recommend this place.
ATMOSPHERE: Strip mall restaurant with an ok décor.
SERVICE: Great service, but when the food makes you sick… nothing can off-​set that.
Wish I had more to say, but I do not recommend this place and maybe I should write to Chef Ramsay to overhaul this place or the health department. Food poisoning is very serious.

Completely average and acceptable. My gnocchi was cooked well but the sauce was a little bland. I would be perfectly happy coming back here to avoid going to a chain. The décor was a little too minimal for me, as if they stopped decorating halfway thru.

Huge portions some of the best Italian food I have ever had, especially the desserts

Just got back from Palermo’s. Loved it! We had a party of four and started out with the meatball/​sausage app… The meatballs were brilliant. I had the pasta trio which was excellent! Our discussion at the end of our meal was about which place we like better; Mamma DiSalvo’s or Palermo’s? We were split. Really quick service and the girl was very nice. I can’t believe the place wasn’t busier then what it was for a Saturday night. I would defiantly go back.

This place is really good. I normally overlook the aesthetics of a restaurant itself but I just HAD to remove a star from this place. Not only do I hate eating in strip malls this place is just plain drab inside. With that being said the food is 5 star worthy for sure. I personally had the calzone and the ingredients were fresh and the calzone was prepared to perfection. Everyone else in my party really enjoyed their meal as well. I probably wont go out of my way to go back, but the food IS amazing so please make a point to check it out if you’re in the Kettering area.

Didn’t think they would have decent italian food specially living in NYC and been to Italy. But I was shocked by how good their gnocchi was. Maybe it also helped that my date was cute. Haha.
Anyway, I will definitely visit again