Cirelli’s Osteria

Very disappointing. I really was looking forward to this experience but was severely let down. The steak was fatty, and the pastas other members of my group received were far from authentic Italian. Our waitress may have been new, however service was slow and she was extremely forgetful. She was very unaccommodating and seemed very unsure of herself. By the way, while our waitress did not know the name of the desert which she described as ice cream with a cherry in the middle covered in chocolate, the receipt said Spumoni. This is a tartufo. One thing is having a waitress not know, another is to have it completely wrong in the restaurant system. Don’t call yourself an «osteria» unless you’re serving simple, quality and affordable food. The food was overcompensated by trying to be fancy when it shouldn’t have been. I really had hopes for this place and hope they can reevaluate some menu items, and prices and bring the focus back to what a true osteria should be. For now, stay away.

I really wanted to like this restaurant as I’ve been a long time fan of the chef/​owner, Michael Cirelli, who used to cook at his mothers restaurant, Luisa’s. The food he served at that restaurant was authentic Italian and always delicious. The food at Osteria was sub par and uninteresting. My friend got the «Big ass pasta bowl» and was less than pleased because the pasta was mushy and the meatballs were somewhat unedible. The chicken parmesan seemed bland. The menu options were uninspiring and ranged from Italian american dishes to burgers and other odd items. I think the chef is extremely capable, as I ate his food for years at Luisa’s and never left unhappy. The area could really benefit from a good authentic Italian restaurant and I hope that Cirelli’s can turn things around. Overall, I would not return unless I heard that they had made some changes to the menu and quality of the food they served.

After hearing mixed reviews I had to try this place myself. My first visit was on a quiet Monday evening and the weather was perfect so we decided to sit outside. Our waitress was attentive and friendly. My first disappointment was with the bread. Being that I do watch my carb intake, I look forward to dining out as this is the time to splurge on the bread. This was a disappointment as we were served supermarket rolls warmed in a microwave. This I know because the third roll was rock hard after sitting for about five minutes. We ordered specials which were adequate, but nothing to rave about. My husband liked it so we went back a few weeks later, this time sitting inside. The atmosphere was very dark and noisy. Our waitress was nice, but seemed rushed. The microwaved bread arrived at the table quickly, as did our salads. (Hold onto your fork as a salad fork is not provided.) I ordered a steak which was a bit overcooked and was a mediocre cut at best. The service is good, but the atmosphere is more diner-​like and casual. The prices however reflect a more elegant dining experience which you will not get here.

Ya know you have to take reviews with a grain of salt as it is just an opinion.
… We went here thinking it was a Mexican restaurant as it was a few years back… Now it’s Italian and we decided to stay anyway. We started out with the most delicious sangrias 5 stars (note picture) I ordered a quesadilla with chunks of chicken 4 stars, excellent… My husband had chicken parmigiana 3 ½ stars, chicken was chewy, sister and niece shared a pizza with fresh mushrooms and peppers 3 ½ stars and bro in-​law had hamburger with bacon and french fries 3 ½ star all in all we enjoyed the restaurant and would recommend coming here again!

I just had a banging veal marsala with delicious cappellini pasta excellent!

Everytime time I go there I get something different, everything so far has been great,& did I mention plentiful. The staff very friendly & knowledgable as well love it there.

I had heard so many good things that I was very disappointed with my experience. It was not the chicken parm special night which might have made me think it had been made ahead. It was by far the worst chicken parm I have ever had, Chewy was the only word I can think to describe it. Eating chicken should not be that much work! I will say the marinara sauce was delicious. Service was slow and had anyone asked how our meal was, I would have shared.

Never again. So disappointed and had such high hopes.
We went (party of 4) on Valentine’s Day. I ordered the mini-​Martini Ceviche. They weren’t kidding with the term ‘mini.’ Barely any scallops or shrimp, mostly onion and pepper. They served it with only a slice of lime, not a wedge, so it wasn’t usable.
Our dinner was over an hour late (and they weren’t that crowded despite it being V-​Day), no special requests by anyone at our table. I ordered the Chicken Ala Tuscana, the menu said it was served with angel hair, I got spaghetti (not that big a deal — but still, it was not what I was anticipating). The chicken had no flavor whatsoever, just a giant slab of chicken with prosciutto that looked like it was boiled. Extremely flavorless and pasta was plain, no flavoring at all. One person got the Seafood Fra Diavolo — barely any seafood on it, another got the Chicken Parmesan and there was barely any sauce (and they requested extra sauce when ordering), only one person liked what she ordered, the chicken Rollintini…
One drink order was mixed up. The waitress did apologize for the delay.

Looking for a real nice place to take the family, this is the place. Nice variety and great large servings that will leave you with nothing but a great meal for the next day. I had a special that was simply delicious. A gigantic Chicken Cutlet served with a pink cream sauce with a very nice spicy kick over angel hair pasta. MMMMMM! the appetizers are great as well. I tried the Artichoke Emilia and it was a very nice change from your typical Apps you find everywhere else. My father had the Big Ass Bowl of Pasta and it was great ing with a meal for three. The place has a very nice ding area with some very cool small rooms that add a very cool twist to the setting.
Did I mention the staff was very nice and very attentive.
This is also a nice place to meet for a couple of drinks with a very cool bar area that is separated from the ding area.
Two Thumbs up!

We were in the area this past weekend visiting family and suggested we go to Cirelli’s. There were 6 of us and prices were incredibly reasonable and food was really, really good. The only slight hiccup was my husbands steak was fairly undercooked, I shudder to think what medium rare would look like. The cut of beef was way too thick to simply be grilled. It really needed to be butterflied. He still ate it and seemed to enjoy it. Dessert was also phenomenal. Portion size was enormous and everyone pretty much walked home with leftovers. Service was attentive, but I will note we were the only ones in our section as it was a holiday weekend. I wouldn’t mind going back when I’m in the area again.
I did find the large, taxidermic bear in the lobby odd, but since I didn’t have to look at it while I ate, I didn’t really care.

We tried it one night after they had transformed from Jakes and firstly had issues with anyone even acknowledging that we needed to be seated (and it was fairly dead). After we settled in and decided what we were going to eat, we were telling the waitress and everything we wanted to order was not available anymore (WTF?) It was explained that the kitchen was in the process of «turning over» to Italian food. At that point we were so aggravated that we got up and left to go eat somewhere where we could get service, and the menu was accurate. chef Ramsay would have had a field day with them!
Flash forward 2 months and I had been hearing a few good things about the place, so we decided to try it again. Now that it is full Italian, which is a favorite of mine, we wanted a great culinary adventure. We started with an app of the fried artichokes and it started going down hill when they were delivered. They were very busy and everyone was running around like they had never waited a table in their lives. Our app tasted funny and we tried in vain to find our waitress to tell her so. Instead, someone from the kitchen swooped out with our entrees, plopped them down in front of us and swooped off again. No one ever asked why our app wasn’t touched. I had the eggplant parm, eeh, it was prepped in a casserole earlier in the day. In other words, the chef is too lazy to cook fresh, he just has kitchen help shoveling things in and out of the oven. In the end our waitress finally came back and I brought to her attention the issue with the artichokes that were still sitting on the front edge of the table and that made her all flustered. Seems it was too much for her to handle while she was sweating, huffing and puffing and passed the issue to the kitchen to handle. So bad, so bad, so bad… After a bit another woman approached our table with the artichokes removed from the bill, but was very defensive about it. REALLY??? We reiterated that they had a funny taste and her response was that we obviously didn’t know what white truffle oil tastes like. How nice, insult my culinary experience too. Never again, not only that, but I tell people NOT to waste their time there with the lousy service, bad attitudes and only average food.
Also, the Italian owner should look up the definition of the word «Osteria», because his establishment is NOT an osteria!

I had to give at least one star to be able to write review. However, we never even had the opportunity to eat here. When we entered the establishment it was obvious that the owners did not take the time to change the interior to fit the theme of the restaurant. Is this Italian or or the old Jakes/​Rancharos? That being said we had to walk to the back to find someone to seat us. No one acknowledged us when we walked in. When we found someone in the back a young girl basically yelled at a server to «seat these people». Very unprofessional for a restaurant that is charging 15+ per plate. Eventually we were seated. The place was not overly busy for a Wednesday night. Once seated no one came over to bring us water, bread, or even acknowledge that we had been seated for nearly 10 min. We decided to leave and take the short trip up to Luisa’s. There we enjoyed an excellent meal and professional service. Leave the cooking to Mama ;)

My best friend and I went here last night to celebrate the purchase of her first home. We were impressed by the atmosphere inside, however quirky, it was inviting and relaxing. Our server was attentive and did a great job. When the AC was kicking too high they turned it down for us. The plates were delicious! And very reasonably priced. I had penne alla vodka with broccoli added in and my friend had chicken parm. We both had enough to bring home for leftovers (which I’m eating now, yum!). I will definitely be returning and I recommend this resaurant to anyone craving Italian.