Cafe Cardini

We returned for another visit to Café Cardini. When we got there it was pretty empty, but when we left there was a big crowd, with people actually on line waiting for a table. I am glad, as it is a family run business, one of a kind, not a chain, and I always root for the little guy.
Although there is a parking lot for several stores, we parked on the street and walked, as it was a pleasant evening.
Everything in my previous review (please see the review of 2÷7÷16) stands so I won’t repeat it. Food was excellent, as before. My husband ordered white wine (2 glasses!) appetizer, soup and a main dish from the a la carte menu. I ordered from the dinner special menu, which had soup and a drink included for a lower price. The only thing was that I had a choice of linguini or spaghetti with my veal parmigiana and I prefer ziti or penne. But, pasta is pasta and the tomato sauce was good,
Service was again excellent, water glasses were filled promptly and we were checked on (how’s everything?) just the right amount of times. We did not feel rushed, even as the restaurant was filling up. It did seem there was mostly an older (50+) crowd, but that was probably because there were neighborhood folks coming in for dinner.
We walked out stuffed to the gills (I took ½ my main dish home, but my husband ate his whole dish, which he realized later that he shouldn’t have…“I can’t believe I ate the WHOLE thing”… and we didn’t spend a lot of money. We will be back.

The food here is great! But I suggest to come on a slow night because the service is a little slow. I did order to take out a couple times and the last time I ordered take out I called at 7:08pm and it took LONGER THAN AN HOUR! for my food to be ready and I was waiting inside for a Half hour till it was ready and it wasn’t a meal that would take that long to cook. I got there at 7:50 Because she said it would take 40min and I didn’t leave the restaurant with my food till 8:23. The lady was very apologetic though and she gave me a small cup of dessert. So kind of disappointed with that experience…

Had my nephew’s baptism there. Really great food and service. We rented out the entire restaurant. The owners and waiters are very respectable and were willing to follow our seating arrangements. This is such a nice place we stumbled upon. The background music they have during dinning hours is a mix of today’s hits and older songs.
The food we had was bruschette, fried calamari, mozzarella sticks, chicken francese, chicken parm, veal parm, salmon, and eggplant parm upon request. We also had red and white wine, coffee and tea.
They allowed us to bring our own cake and served it to us.
All the guests were really happy with the food, available parking and the atmosphere.
Thank you for making the baptism a success.

For a small place seemingly in the middle of nowhere, this place is outstanding. Their food is always really good, and Hector and Norma, the 2 main servers are just great. I have been going to this restaurant about 2 – 3 times a month for the past 6 years and we’re never let down. Every item on the menu is as good as the next. The prices are low and they have ample parking. The only negative is the décor. They really need a makeover, badly. But other than that it’s some of the best Italian food you can get, especially for the price.

First time here. A very happy find. All I want from an italian restaurant is great food and great service in a comfortable and friendly atmosphere. That’s exactly what we found here, and at very reasonable prices. Looking forward to another visit!

One of my favorite southern Italian restaurants. Good value and great food.

Great place. Good wait staff with smiles on there face. The portions are big and the food was really fresh. First time here but I will definitely come back. This is one of those places that you can tell people to check out. 5 stars from me!

My family and I have been going to Cardini’s for well over 23 years. My husband introduced us to this restaurant, and everyone whom we have brought with us has loved it. My family and I have had many wonderful parties and memories there. Peter and Anna are wonderful and we’ve never been disappointed with the food. When we think of Italian this is always our first choice.

Decent lunch spot. Was in the area for work & used Unilocal to find an expensive casual Italian lunch. This place is just that. Nothing fancy, decent inexpensive food & good service. They had lunch specials that started at $ 7.95 & included soup or salad & your lunch. Dated décor, parking in rear or on street. Not bad for lunch under $ 10 without tip.

This place is a relaxed place with predictable good quality food, for very reasonable prices. It’s a place that’s good if you want to relax and dine with friendly service. The service is a bit slower than most restaurants but this is never a place where the staff are on top of you to get their next costumer and tip. They seem to keep their staff and management appears to get along well. I recommend it for a relaxed, stress free, peaceful type dinning experience.

We love this place. The décor is not impressive but the wait staff and the food is great! We’ve been here three times over the last 18 months and the food is soooooo consistent, which is really amazing considering how many places consider chefs replaceable.
The waitress and waiter are quick to please and they remember you quite well. I was impressed… Feels like coming home. :)
Fried calamari is tender. Shrimp parm is yummy. Anything francese is superb.
Prices are reasonable for the area too.
Great local gem with delightful Italian fare. Come support them and leave happy!

I’ve been here couple of times and honestly this is one really good restaurant in the area! They specialize in seafood also service Italian. K usually get the pasta which is really good. I they they have the best service comparing restraints in the area! I would definitely come here

This is one our favorite neighborhood gems. Everything is made fresh and the servers are pleasant. This is not the place to go if you are in a rush; it is a small restaurant where you may take your time eating in a relaxed atmosphere. I have been here many times and have never been disappointed.

Visited here on the 24^th of August. Upon entry, very nice greeting and not very crowded (which I like).
Friendly waitress/​staff and a nice environment.
One negative (this is mild): they had no sangria! Oh man I was dying for that one but got a nice Cabernet wine instead.
Appetizer: Calamari. They were huge!!! Tasty and not overdone like rubber. Came with nice cocktail/​tartar sauce.
Entrée: Tortellini Cardini. Soooo tasty and a generous serving. Cheese tortellini with cream sauce, prosciutto, peas and mushroom. Dare I say I ate the whole thing! Well worth the exercise the next few days.
Desert: Didn’t make it! Had some simple deserts, nothing too crazy.
Overall, nice place and I will be back!

Came here for Mother’s Day. They had a pre-​fix menu that was appropriately priced out. Food was delicious with fairly generous portions considering most of us left with take home bags. Wait staff was very nice and did not rush us at all during service. I’d return here for a nice Italian meal.

Honestly speaking, this would not have been a place that I would go on my own, as the décor and exterior are pretty old school. However, I’m glad I did — thanks to Unilocal!I came here for dinner on a Tuesday night, and the restaurant was pretty empty. It’s small (about 10 – 15 tables), and the whole time we were there, there were only about 5 other tables total.
My friend and I are both dieting, and it’s hard to eat out! We checked out the menu beforehand to make sure there were diet friendly dishes available, but we was drawn to the seafood primavera pasta. We asked the chef if we could get extra mixed vegetables instead of pasta, and the chef was willing to accommodate our request (+++). The dish was totally loaded with giant scallops and shrimp, perfectly cooked. Mixed in were carrots, zucchini, snap peas, and broccoli, in a delicious olive oil and garlic sauce. Only negative was that it was way too greasy. For all that seafood, the entrée was only $ 19.
Service-​wise, the waiter we got was sweet and attentive. He kept joking around with us.
Next time I return, I will be trying the set dinner specials. Everyone else seemed to be getting this. It comes with a soup or salad, side pasta, entrée, and a dessert or coffee. Ranged from $ 18 – 23 if i remember correctly. Sounds like an awesome deal. The lunch specials sound pretty good too — may just order in for lunch one day at work.

Café Cardini has been in the neighborhood for as long as I can remember. You can tell that it’s a bit dated with the dark tinted glass windows and neon sign. It’s a bit tacky, dating back from the 80’s, but don’t let that stop you from coming in for some delightful and very affordable Italian food.
The ambiance is also a little outdated. The lights are representative of the 80’s era, silver ball spherical-​shaped fixtures attached to track lighting. Its age was confirmed with the lights flickering, or going on/​off several times throughout our meal. It was sort of a nuisance at first making the middle of the dining room a bit dark, but with good company, it was easily overlooked.
To start, a complimentary bread basket was provided. This was not your ordinary bread basket. In addition to the typical bread used for smearing butter on or for dipping, the other half of the basket had Italian bread in real fashion. It was perfectly toasted and buttered, making for some outstanding Italian bread. Yes, maybe I was hungry, but the general consensus was that it was pretty darn good, and half the basket was empty within minutes.
For appetizers, our party of 6 started with 2 orders of the Clams Oreganata ($ 7.95 each), which are 6 fresh whole clams baked in the half shell along with seasoned bread crumbs. It was slightly crispy on the top, yet very moist inside, while the clam was firm yet not chewy. Deliciously good, but the best part was dipping the bread into the sauce, yum! We also ordered the Mussels ($ 8.95) in white garlic sauce. The sauce looked and tasted similar to a roux-​like sauce, simple yet effective. But maybe a little too simple, not having any real pronounced flavors. All I got out of it was flour, butter and garlic. The mussels were firm, like the clams, and tasty, but no where as good as the clams.
For my entrée, I ordered the Chicken Casino ($ 14.95), chicken cutlet topped with proscuitto, a thick piece of mozzarella cheese, and then baked in a bechamel sauce. The chicken was moist and tender and the subtle saltiness from the prosciutto helped bring out some flavor. I was hesitant at first, after eating the Mussels in the white garlic sauce, as bechamel is very similar to a roux, but with the addition of milk. Surprisingly, the bechamel sauce was very good, as the milk helped to add a subtle richness to the sauce. Served on the side was a small serving of al dente pasta with tomato sauce. A very delicious dish that I would get again.
I also tried a few other dishes:
Chicken Romano ($ 14.95), chicken cutlet complimented with a flattened layer of eggplant, mozzarella cheese and baked in tomato sauce. This dish was probably a bit tastier when compared to the Chicken Casino, but both are equally good. The chicken was moist and tender as in the Chicken Casino, and the tomato sauce added a nice touch of sweetness and acidity to this dish. If you’re up on the fence between this and the Chicken Casino, I really think it’s according to preference and what you’re in the mood that day. Eggplant and tomato sauce, or prosciutto and bechamel?
Linguine with Clam Sauce ($ 11.95) served white (red is also available). A large portion of linguine topped with a hearty portion of fresh chopped clams. This is a very simple and tasty dish with all that garlic and buttery goodness.
Rigatoni alla Bolognese ($ 10.95), which is rigatoni in a fresh creamy meat sauce. There was a good amount of ground meat mixed in the thick and creamy sauce, that clung and coated the pasta. It wasn’t too rich, but enough to make this a filling and very enjoyable dish.
Service was very much appreciated as our waitress frequently came by to check up on us, refill our glasses of water and wine, all while making small talk from time to time. She wasn’t obtrusive. The busboys also did a good job clearing all used dishes.
Café Cardini has definitely proved to be a contender for some delicious Italian food. Its long history has proved its existence. The food is very good, but if there’s one thing that needs to be improved is that this restaurant could use a little updating. With a little sprucing up, I believe this restaurant can be a top contender for great Italian within town. And let me remind you, prices are very affordable here. We were surprised at how little our group had spent even with appetizers and wine.

Lunch Special! Soup or Salad and Entrée for $ 7 – 12. It’s not that it’s not a good lunch deal, it’s just that you can find better elsewhere. But in all fairness, the food is quite delicious. The Chicken Romano is the best Lunch Special (Eggplant Parm over Chicken Cutlet). It comes with some Pasta and Sauce. The Split Pea soup is also pretty fabulous. I would definitely come back over and over again, its just not that wallet friendly– compared to nearby restaurants.
6÷1÷12 Update
Cardini’s hasn’t changed much. The waitress is incredibly nice. The pasta, I now realize, is overcooked. Any rigatoni I spear with my fork, folds and cracks into 2 pieces. The sauce is too sweet. The grilled chicken is hideous looking but tastes ok. Not worth $ 3 though. Would still return though, once in a while.

I have been eating at Café Cardini for about ten years, and often book large parties there.
One of the things that differentiates this restaurant from others is the consistency of the taste of the food, particularly the quality of its soups and sauces, which are second to none.
This is a mom and pop type of restaurant, which is small, attractively decorated, and very comfortable.
I have tried most dishes, my favorite being Chicken Romano (eggplant together with chicken parm). It’s a dish not to be missed.
The portions are ample, and the service is warm and friendly.
Prices at lunch are very low. Dinner prices are comparable to other restaurants that serve Italian food.
I travel from Brooklyn because this restaurant is worth it.

Wasn’t bad. Went for lunch with a party of 20 and everyone seemed satisfied.
08.12 update: Eggplant rollatini was meh.
12.12 update: Owner is friendly and the space is fairly inviting aside from the odd ceiling work. Seafood special over linguine was far too greasy.