Rachel’s Cafe

As a local Syosset resident, I’ve gone to Rachel’s quite a few times and I’ve never quite figured the place out. When it’s crowded, it gets very noisy and the tables are too close together. The menu is adequate but a little odd– chicken parm, but not veal parm– in fact no veal on the menu. There were two on the wait staff on the evening we came in last week. It took 15 minutes for them to bring over 2 cokes and a beer. They were just chit chatting away. Likewise at the end of the meal, we were going to order dessert but by the time the waiter came over gushing about the dessert menu, we decided to pass. On the positive side, the pizzette was good as was the chicken parm.

Fantastic food and service ALWAYS!
Small venue but food quality is LARGE!
Joe and Angela are wonderful and welcoming hosts and their cuisine is to truly die for!
The Pear salad — the Rachel’s salad are fresh and plentiful for two (my favorites)
The chicken parm is crispy at the ends and moist and tender is the cutlet!
We were here for New Year’s Eve and the place was jumping! But the service was Phenomenal (thanks ED!)
And the food was great.
We ordered the pear salad which is a must if it is on the menu– the pasta with asunta sauce which had meatball Sausage and Brasiole in in– the sauce was like a Sunday dinner back in the day and the meat was so tender that no knife was needed & the pasta was cooked perfectly!
Chicken Parm– yummy!
Chocolate cake and chocolate bread pudding — we had to wrap it up cause yet portions are quite filling —
We had leftovers from our meal!
GO– and have yourself a wonderful feast in this little café spot — so so damn good!

I placed an order for takeout because the menu looked great. We ordered the chicken marsala and the 1,000 herb chicken. Marsala came over a bed of linguine and 1,000 herb came with white beans over a bed of polenta. Food tasted ok. It wasn’t the soft creamy polenta that I was expecting, it was the firm kind and there were barely any white beans in the dish. Not terrible, just ok. For the $ 50 price tag for two take out entrees, I was disappointed with the serving size.

this is the loveliest coziest place i know in nassau county. homemade pasta, homemade sauces, beautiful addictive one of a kind desserts. service is friendly attentive and funny

I had a business appt nearby and I saw the inviting storefront of Rachels Café. The owner, family of fire islands, «Rachel’s» was serving lunch. She’s so sweet and genuine. Great customer service. The perfect person to meet you when you walk in. The sandwich I had was delicious. Toasted bread with salmon and chipotle dressing, side salad. More then enough. With the mellow music wafting and the white linen table clothes, I felt right at home. My new place when I’m in Syosset for lunch.

Always a good meal … Been going here for years … Service spot on … Small and cozy. Try their specials (pasta n pizza my go to foods. Will not disappoint

Food: ⁵⁄₅. All I can say is YUM.
Pricing: Reasonably priced and HUGE portions.
Service: ⁵⁄₅. Funny, friendly, and attentive (:
Whenever my friends and I crave Italian or want to go grab dinner together, I always bring them here. And after their first time at Rachel’s they keep on asking to go back! Mind you, one of the girls I brought with me both is vegan and has a gluten allergy. They were more than accommodating and whipped together a meal that she LOVED — if you knew her you would have been as amazed as we all were (;
The food here is so yummy! And what’s even better is that almost everything is HOMEMADE– from their sauces (and salad dressings!) to their pasta and desserts. Their weekly specials are always creative, innovative, and (best of all) tasty. And when in doubt, you can never go wrong with a Santa Fe pizzette or the chicken parm. If you like salads, you’ve got to try their Caesar salad as well as Rachel’s House salad and Rachel’s Greek salad. If you are craving something not on the menu, they’ll whip it right up for you (if you’re being reasonable). (I really think I eat here too much)
Desserts here are made by Angela and I’m drooling now just thinking about it. And what a great way to end the night! I’m trying to think of my favorite and I really can’t decide. The green tea cheesecake, chocolate cherry torte, and crumb cake, and banana cream pie, and carrot cake… are a few of my favorites. (;

In an area with nothing but mediocre restaurants, rachels is a consistent stand out with interesting specials, seasonal favorites (do not miss the acorn squash in the fall!)
An absolutely terrific home baked desserts!
Always friendly, comfortable atmosphere, owner and chef always present. This family-​run restaurant is a worth while favorite

Went here last night with a friend from Syosset. The other reviewers must have had their taste buds removed. We live in Manhattan and have 6,000 restaurants to choose from. I would consider this a local gem and do not hesitate to recommend it.
My wife’s vegetable lasagna was a large portion, very flavorful and she (as a vegetarian) was quite happy. Our friend and I each had one of their salads, with grilled chicken breast on it. They were properly portioned, and we both enjoyed them. Finally, we ordered the chocolate cake with white frosting. First thing we noticed was the nice portion for dessert. And the three of us shared it, which saved my waist size. Good coffee too! Wines cost will add up quickly, the pour was a little small for our liking.

Recently went for the first time after hearing about this restaurant for a long time. Super friendly staff, not as friendly owner. Desserts were the highlight.

If you have not experienced Rachel’s you are missing out on one of the best restaurants on L.I. Yes it is small but I like to call it cozy. Owners Angela & Joe together with their friendly staff make you feel like you are having dinner at your best friends home. But enough of that… at Rachel’s it’s all about the food, which never disappoints. Joe is a great chef who creates incredibly delicious dishes. If penne jambalya is on the menu you must try it! Some other tasty dishes… salmon with basil succotash, pork chop cacciatore, mussels, baked polenta, chicken parmigiana. The list goes on & on because to be honest we have NEVER had a bad meal at Rachel’s and we have had many! Most pastas are made in house & don’t disappoint. They are always willing to tweak any dish to your preference. Make sure you leave room for dessert because you are in for a treat. All desserts are made by Angela & are absolutely fabulous!!! Her carrot cake, black magic cake, cannoli, cheesecakes, pies (especially my fav lemon meringue) are all amazing! You will never be rushed no matter how many people are waiting for your table. If you enjoy great food, you just have to try Rachel’s!

Nice little ltalian restaurant in a town that hosts way too many Italian restaurants. Rachel’s makes a really good tomato sauce and home made pastas good specials. We’ve been there with parties of 12 and just 2 of us — the staff is very attentive. My husband and I usually share an entrée because the portion sizes are so generous. We’ve had the chicken marsala which is quite savory and delicious — chicken tender and juicy. Last visit we shared the sausage spiral over rotini in a spicy sauce and I absolutely loved it. Simple and delicious. The caesar salad with shrimp & scallops is a nice surprise too. The desserts should be outlawed — they are huge and delicious but share them — too much for one. We leave there a little lighter in the wallet than we expected, but it hasn’t stopped us from returning. It’s tiny, so you are sitting a little close to your neighbors, so private conversation is nearly impossible. They should lose a table or two and give us more leg room and privacy — very awkward to wiggle out from behind a table with your ‘behind’ nearly on the next table…

Ate there on Sept 28. I ordered the pricey veal parmesan. It tasted awful. The veal did not taste like any veal I ever ate. It was very dark, like it was frozen and cooked frozen. I barely ate half of it. What a waste of money. The nerve of them serving such crappy meat and passing it off as veal. Never again.
As an aside, the others at the tabe enjoyed the meal. The portion was tiny for the price charged. Salad does not come with dinner either.

so many times I saw this place yet never stopped in
finally a friend and I decided to give it a try
its a small place with a big TV showing one of those fix your restaurant reality shows
very friendly service
we had a pizza it was pretty good, its not your big NYC style but a small pie
we also had a key lime for dessert it was very nice
this is a nice place
nothing super fancy just nice for a bite on a hot summer evening

Greeted immediately, offered a drink in this humid weather … quaint small local gathering spot. Warmly greeted by the waitstaff. Menu has a good variety… portions are small. Taste is good and presentation very good.

Still packing them in.
Since I hadn’t been here in a long time, I figured it was time to swing by and try it again.
I’m happy to see that they are still packing them in here. We got there around prime dinner time and it was already mostly full and by the time we sat the rest of the place packed out.
The waiter was a champ — he was running his butt off in there and since we were in no particular rush, we just got some drinks and watched the mayhem. Eventually it slowed down enough and we ordered up.
Since we couldn’t decide on an appetizer we sort of concocted one and it came out without a hitch — even though they were busy there was no problem getting something a little out of the ordinary.
We ordered dinner, had some more wine and enjoyed the night. Dinner was fine– portions are really decent sized and perfectly cooked.
We were actually stuffed but we split a desert because the way the waiter described it, well it sounded too good to pass up — so made piggies of ourselves with coconut topped magic bars that are made in house — they were damn good; waistline be damned!
Parking lot in front

The food is expensive for what you get. I had a shrimp parm pizza (total of about three cut up shrimp for $ 14.00) and was ill for the rest of the day. My companion really liked his pizza, but wouldn’t go back because of high prices.

I say three stars. but unfortunately I am typing along side the person I last went there with who insists it is a one star. The food is fine. he feels it is strange & overpriced. I have tried to get him to go back here and I cannot do it. It’s kind of a joke. I just cant convince him to go back in.
Dessert was mediocre and only a sliver of pie.