Italian Cucina

This was our second time at Italian Cucina and again we had an great meal. We started our meal in sharing a salad with burratta mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, prosciutto and spinach with a balsamic dressing which was delicious.
The main course was very difficult to chose from. My wife Fran had the Salmon with crab meat which included tomatoes, spinach in a horse radish sauce which she thought was excellently prepared and tasted great. I had lobster tail with pasta in a white wine garlic sauce. The pasta was fresh and cooked perfectly and the lobster tail was very good.
The menu is a verbal menu which changes depending on which fresh products are available. Joe the owner came out and talked with us after dinner and was explaining that he cooks only what he gets that is fresh for the day.
The portion sizes are very large and very reasonably priced.
The staff is very friendly and did a great job.
There is limited seating so make sure you make a reservation.
Well done Joe and staff. Thanks for a great meal.

Reservation only; no walk-​ins. Funky hours in this cute, very small house-​made-​restaurant. Tight squeeze and small tables. Service was just alright — quick but she seemed annoyed at us. There’s a verbal menu that’s expensive ($ 19 for an app). Bread and dip served with the meal were great. I ordered the shrimp fettuccini. It was a good portion size. Shrimp and the pasta were over cooked. I’d give mine 2.5 out of 5 stars. My date ordered the pork chop in a mushroom cream sauce. ⁵⁄₅ stars for that. 2 people, 2 entrees = $ 62 bill. (Verbal menu with surprise prices!) Extra star for the pork chops! Also, kudos to the 2 teenagers that were alone working the kitchen in a small space.

We have eaten in a number of restaurants in New Hope over the years. Italian Cucina is by far the best. I love to eat and take my food seriously, and this is some of the best Italian food that I have ever had. The restaurant is very small and unassuming, and reservations are a must. The menu changes every day and is recited to you by your server. My wife thought the fruit and nut salad she has was one of the best she had ever eaten. We shared several appetizers and each had a different entrée and all were excellent. In a tourist area like New Hope you find a number of restaurants where the food is uninspiring because they do not depend on repeat customers. Italian Cucina will not disappoint, it was excellent. If you want wine or beer you need to bring your own, which is common in most of the restaurants there.

Love this place. Fresh food with no set menu is a fun experience. My wife and I had our rehearsal dinner here in 2012. We had the whole place to ourselves which was very intimate for our family and friends. Since then we have eaten at Italian Cucina several times and loved it every meal. I often recommend this restaurant when friends and coworkers ask.

Probably one of the best Italian restaurants outside the city! Unique experience. Verbal menu. Owner Joe shops daily and makes fresh food for each dinner. We had a choice of 2 salads, 4 appetizers, 6 entrees and 4 desserts. Salads and apps are served family style. Entrees are your own. Dinner for four with salad, apps, entrees, dessert and coffee was a well earned $ 175. It’s BYOB so we enjoyed our own wine. Joe came out and sat with us and shared our wine and told lots of stories. We were early and were the only table for an hour. We all really enjoyed Joes «family» restaurant experience. Open Wed-​Sun for dinner. Soon to add lunch!

This place is amazing. I came to New Hope for a work trip and was in charge of logistics. I reached out to Italin Cucina in hopes of a prefix menu and Joe and the staff went above and beyond for us! We walked into the small restaurant and immediately felt like we were in his kitchen at home. We were cozy and close and had such a fun time. We got an amazing meal that fully fed all of us and more. Such an authentic experience in that small and eclectic town. We will absolutely be back.

We love this place and we have been with friends and family several times. It is incredibly small and tough to get into without reservations. It is best to go midweek when they are open. The menu is verbal and somewhat limited with all fresh ingredients. Their homemade sausage appetizer is absolutely delicious. The salads are huge and can easily serve 3 to 4 people sharing appetizers. I always get the pasta pillow pockets with some type of sauce and perhaps a protein. They always have great specials that are gigantic like fresh veal chops. It is a BYOB. The owner always comes out to talk to him. The last time we were there, he brought us out a free sampling of delicious desserts. Great find.

This was by far one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had… the food is spectacular! It’s also cute, quaint and family owned.

We came for dinner on Valentine’s Day, and it was simply outstanding! It’s set back from the road, so it’s easy to miss, and it looks like a regular, local Italian restaurant, certainly nothing fancy. However, looks can be deceiving, because this is anything but ordinary. Everything we ordered was delicious, and everything was made fresh. This was some of the best, homemade pasta I’ve eaten, and the sauces were perfect. Joe, the owner, came around to the tables to chat with the patrons and ask how everything was, and he was warm and friendly. If you’re looking for a special dinner in New Hope, you’ve gotta try this place! (Note: It’s a BYOB.)

The food was average compared to other Italian restaurants that I have been to. Also the menu is verbal so you do you know what your bill is going to be until the end. My wife and I had a salad, a small starter and two average pasta dishes and somehow manage to rack up a $ 100 meal with no alcohol over priced in my opinion for what we ordered. In addition the kitchen was dirty and we ended up sitting in a cramped porch.

I felt I was eating my grandmothers Italian cooking! Every time we go it is amazing! You can taste the fresh ingredients and thought that goes into each dish. Although the menu changes there are always familiar items that never disappoint.
Plan on making a reservation for it is a small BYOB place.
The seafood is so fresh!

This place is TINY. When we first walked in we were a little overwhelmed by how snug it was. The smell of food, although not bad, was pretty overwhelming when we came in. We were sat on the porch (covered) which was nice and a little better ventilated.
The oil/​balsamic dip we got with the bread was sooo good. We had the burrata salad — mozzarella and ricotta were so fresh and very light. We had the bolognese which had a nice flavor/​spice and another in our party had the lobster ravioli which was amazing — wish I got that. We ended with the chocolate mousse — light and nice way to end dinner. Def recommend this place!

I’ll match this restaurant up against any I’ve ever been to! Congratulations, Joe and your amazing team! Thank you!

Some of the best food (not just Italian) I’ve ever had. Very very small BYOB. Menu changes daily and is very fresh!

Excellent food made to order. Menu based on ingredients that day and always full of flavor. Go with group and bring your own Wine its BYOB! Every item from salads to appetizers to main courses are made family style to accommodate number at table. Even desserts were wonderful. Quaint lite place in the heart of New Hope. Sits back off the road so look for the sign! Bön Appétit!

This has become our favorite local restaurant. It is so clearly a labor of love we find it impossible not to feel the same way in return. The proprietor, Joe, is a jewel, exactly the kind of guy you want to pull up a chair, wine glass in hand, top off yours and sit and BS for a bit. The complete lack of pretension, along with the ample portions of excellent food, make Italian Cucina feel like a trattoria frequented by the locals in Napoli or Roma.
Others here have done a great job of talking about the food, so I won’t rehash it. Instead, I’ll offer my heartfelt recommendation that you eat here while you can. The meatballs are the best (sorry, Nonna!), but you can’t go wrong with anything Joe puts on the menu. Mangiate bene!

Had dinner there yesterday with my wife. Its a gem. Food is very good. I love the fact that its essentially hidden from the crowds frequenting Main St. As a South Philly native now living in Yardley, it was revelation. Joe… You are the man! We will be back often.
PS… To the doosh that posted a 1 star review for not being expressly seated on a Saturday with no reservation, go kill yourself.

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to try this place! I live right up the street and this little establishment that’s back off of Main Street can be easily missed, even by a local if you’re not paying attention. But I had wanted to try it for some time and finally got to sample the cuisine :) The homemade vibe of the restaurant was great and the changing menu every few days keeps things fresh and new.
I had a spinach pasta with a breaded shrimp in a white wine sauce and a delicious simply spinach salad with tomatoes and mozzarella. Everything throughout my meal was flavorful but not overly done. The owner Joe was so friendly and I love when the chefs check on their patrons throughout the night and ask how you’re doing, it adds an extra touch that is what makes small restaurants so wonderful.
Definitely worth a trip, but make sure you call ahead as there are only a few tables!

Nothing less than a gem.
My wife and I came across this easily overlooked little place by accident one day as we strolled Main St. That’s one of the fun things about New Hope; it’s small but it can always surprise you.
This is intimate home cooked Italian food. The atmoshere makes you feel at home and just in case it doesn’t, the owner will. Joe, who prepares almost everything himself, walks around, chats with the clients and sips his vino.
The dishes are simple yet creative. Not too delicate but never heavy. We’ve eaten there 4 times now and I can’t think of single lack luster dish. Also, it’s BYOB with no cork fee. Awesome! I hope this place survives and thrives. Joe, we’re going to need you to do this for a while.

We were really excited to finally get a reservation here, and really tried to enjoy the experience.
We had 5:00 reservations for Valentines Day, and were told they could only squeeze us in because someone cancelled. I was ecstatic that we could finally experience what so many seemed to love. We arrived at about 4:46 and were met with a quizzical looking waitress. I told her we had 5:00 reservations and after staring at us for a solid minute like we had 10 heads, she replied «oh…you’re early». We looked around and noticed we were the ONLY other customers and just kinda stood there not knowing where to really go. She walked away from us and told us over her shoulder we were sitting in the porch «second table on the left». Ok… so we found our table in the porch and waited. And froze as the heat wasn’t on in there yet. Until 5:00. Then she came over and offered us a bottle of room temperature water and two empty glasses with bread. I am not a picky person when it comes to carbs, but i did notice it was a store bought loaf of bread, un toasted, un seasoned. Like, the skinny little loaves you can buy at Giant. We also noticed that we weren’t offered anything else to drink besides the water. We knew that it was a BYOB, but didn’t know that meant that they wouldn’t have non alcoholic beverages as well. The owner and out a couple times to talk to us (in his pajamas and drinking wine???). We thought it was nice at first, but it quickly became over the top (and he quickly became tipsy) as he began interrupting our conversations.
The waitress explained to us that they have a verbal menu only, because the owner only buys what is fresh each day, and creates the menu daily. This means that she literally tells you the entire menu. I didn’t love this, because it’s hard for me to remember each specific item, but thought the concept was great because at least the ingredients were fresh. Even having a written chalkboard would have helped.
There was a choice between 3 salads and a couple appetizers. The salad was a hefty portion, but not worth 20 dollars. We didn’t even know it was 20 dollars at the time though, because again, no menu. The cheese on the salad was definitely fresh, but it was mostly lettuce with a plain balsamic vinaigrette.
The appetizer we choose was sausage and mushroom, which was good, but small, only enough to satisfy one, and again… 20 dollars. Which again, we weren’t aware of at the time.
At this point, we had been there about an hour, we’re almost finished our appetizers, and the waitress had just come by to read us the entrees. There were about 5 to choose from, and it was impossible to figure out where one entrée ended and another entrée description began. We had her read it a couple times, and then she left so we could decide. She came back about an eternity later to take our order. My boyfriend ordered the lobster tail, which she said came with linguini Alfredo. I ordered what I thought was the shrimp scampi.
When we were finally brought our meal, we immediately thought she had messed up. My boyfriends plate looked like a pasta dish. He explained that he ordered the lobster tail, and she said «oh the lobster is in there, we cut it up and mix it in because it’s easier for you.» It tasted like linguini in cream. I was given three shrimp and two crab cakes. I didn’t realize crab cakes came with mine, because I assumed it was a separate entrée when it was being read to me. Something that could have been cleared up with a visual menu of some sort. To be fair, it wasn’t bad, but definitely wasn’t «shrimp scampi». At this point, we asked for our check and tried to figure out what we would be paying because there was NO indication. We assumed around 72.00. Again, we shared one salad, one small appetizer, NO drinks, and two small entrees. The bill came out and was 102.00 dollars. I felt tricked. I couldn’t believe it because of the quality and quantity alone. I would never recommend and was very disappointed.
On top of this, the tables are practically on top of each other, forcing you to want to whisper to keep conversation private, but want to yell to be heard over the other tables. All while sitting in a cold porch, staring at speakers and wires and being constantly bumped into. The waitress was very inattentive, and at times, another waitress would come out to take care of us instead. We tried making excuses for the place throughout the entire evening, but by the time we left we were pretty disgusted.