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    Carmella's Cafe

    3.3 (120 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 12:00 AM (Next day)

    Carmella's Cafe Photos

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    CARMELLA'S CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Happy hour specials

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    Recommended Reviews - Carmella's Cafe

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    Utica's Best Chicken Riggies (no olives, extra shrooms)
    Lisa C.

    I've dined at Carmella's Cafe throughout the last several years when visiting the Utica / New Hartford area. This occasion was my first take-out experience. Once again, I was impressed and not at all disappointed as the to-go food was equally as scrumptious as previous meals. Of course I ordered Utica's Best Chicken Riggies! I paired this with a cup of Chic-O-Rina soup. I exchanged the olives for extra mushrooms. My cousin ordered the same but had hers prepared the normal way and paired with a side salad. We also requested bread which was accompanied by delicious whipped butter with herbs. The food was delicious and the portions were plentiful allowing for leftovers. Our meals were bagged and ready upon arrival. I highly recommend Carmella's and specifically, the chicken riggies!

    Chicken parmigiana

    Decent place that serves mostly Italian food but also has many traditional American items in order to satisfy a larger variety of food preferences. The prices are quite high on many of the items, and not everything is of the best quality or taste. I had the herb grilled chicken breast, which was quite dry. In fact, the best part was the entire broccoli crown I had on the side. While I might normally give this restaurant 4 stars, I bumped it down to 3 because for a restaurant that is as popular as this one and has been around for quite some time, there are not nearly enough parking spots, and some people in our party of 6 had to park in a different restaurant parking lot and walk over.

    Kory A.

    I've been coming here since it opened in 80s and it's always been my very fav Utica area restaurant until today. First from the time of my last dinner here a few months ago to today.. the prices are horrifying and insane. Like mouth dropping! $16-18 for basic bar apps in this area are nuts! That's more than some steakhouses! And my fav trio dish $33 literally blew our mind. But beyond that.. the food I have eaten time and time again here over years.. and I have years of photos and videos on my phone ad compared them and can say these dishes came out wrong, overcooked, some inedible, and different plating. The Utica greens I usually find here to be one of the best in the region instead tonight were overcooked, greasy, flavorless and had hard pieces due to overcooking. The bread arrived almost burnt hard and dry as paper. And only one tiny butter for a whole usual loaf. Not at these prices! Almost insulting. The salad came with little dressing. But otherwise good as usual. The Riggies were some of worst of my lifetime the recipe was different or something but dry, flavorless and so disappointing. The lasagna ?as my replacement) was better but also bland and how nuts for these prices you don't even get grated cheese or pepper on top anymore. The lasagna was screaming for some grated cheese! And we ordered the sundae as we thought how could you screw that up and the cannoli cream was fine or okay but the waffle was INEDIBLE hard overcooked and saturated in oil so much that after an hour after leaving al three of us can't get the taste of it out of our mouths. Atmosphere is same charm as over the decades. Staff was friendly. Manager spoke to us and was nice. I waited months to return to this area for my fav restaurant and meal and I couldn't be more disappointed. I hope whatever is happening internally at the kitchen is fixed soon and things go back to same recipes, presentations and cooking styles.

    Side salad with Bleu cheese dressing. No cruddy iceberg lettuce here! Everything was so good.

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    20 days ago

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    23 days ago

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    1 month ago

    Amazing food and great service! Great portions and 2 for 1 drinks. We eat here every time we visit New Hartford.

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

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    7 months ago

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    Holly L.

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    8 months ago

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    Holly L.

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    4 months ago

    We had great service with poor food quality. Very disappointed. The price reflects the quality.

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    10 months ago

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    2 years ago

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    7 months ago

    Wonderful food and service. I had the chicken parmigiana, possibly the best I ever had here.

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    7 months ago

    Delicious food! 2 for one drinks! Special candle for the birthday girl's dessert! We'll definitely be back if we're in the area!

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    Holly L.

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    1 year ago

    Best homemade pasta! We have been going for years and they always provide the best meals and nicest staff.

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    In a town saturated with Italian restaurants this is the best. Incredible red sauce and nice staff.

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    5 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Food and service are great. Homemade flavors in a restaurant atmosphere. Like being at your Italian family's house!

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    3 years ago

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    Page 1 of 3

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    One Genny

    One Genny

    3.0
    (92 reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$

    Had a great patio hang out here on a late summer night. From the start our waitress was super…read moreattentive. The fall cocktail menu had already come out and had some unique options. I had the pear mojito and my friend had the apple cider margarita which were both lovely. For food we both ordered the Higby sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries. The portion was so huge that it was worth at least 2 meals! The fries were perfectly seasoned and crispy. I enjoyed the steak along with the greens, and the roll was also good. This place is very large inside. There is pizza take out in the back, lots of indoor seating, a nice bar area, and a large patio. They also have a very nice event space upstairs. Parking is the shared lot behind the building. Will definitely return next time I am in NY.

    Stopped in for a Bloody Mary on Sunday during the brunch time at One Genny…read more Bar was empty as they had just opened and a few people were filtering in and grabbing tables. All the barstools were arranged at an angle and the floor was clean and polished. Bartender asked if we needed menus to which the answer was absolutely. Ordered a One Genny Bloody Mary and an order of their Utica Greens. Bloody Mary was good - not spicy but loaded with Horseradish. Adornments were good, and there was a good balance with the amount of vodka used. Greens didn't appear spicy at first but a decent afterburn. A bit soggier than I like but the flavor and portion size was very respectable. Bartender checked in a couple times and there is a discount for using cash.

    Photos
    Beer selection continues
    Beer selection continues
    The Philly Higby Sandwich
    The Philly Higby Sandwich
    More craft and other beer selection

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    More craft and other beer selection
    Castlewood Cafe

    Castlewood Cafe

    3.8
    (51 reviews)
    0.1 mi
    $$

    Everything was amazing! We were sat right away and service was excellent. The food came out quickly…read moreand was delicious!

    Went on June 21. Called made reservation for 11 for 4 early in the day. It was pretty quiet and…read morethey took as back and told us we were to sit at 3 different tables. I said why? He said did you tell them you wanted to be seated together? So finally after telling us it would be a fire hazard they put three tables together after acting like it was our fault. So we get seated about 10 minutes later waitress came got the drinks, another 15 minutes goes by she came back to take our order. About 15 minutes after that they brought out bread which was very good. So when the order came two of us got corn and when i looked at it it looked brown and old and tasted horrible, almost everyone on the table tried it and said it was bad. So I asked for something else told her it was horrible so broccoli it was. That finally came out like mush it was also horrible and couldnt eat that. The waitress never came back asking if we wanted another drink. Besides how bad the vegetables were everyone said their food was okay, I had Pot Roast and that was good. The other food was good, nothing special. We noticed that all the staff was all younger where the ones at the old place were middle aged and seemed to care more. We are not a needy party we are actually pretty easy but this was not good and will not be going back any time soon.

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    The place
    The place
    Stuffed cheesecake French toast
    Stuffed cheesecake French toast
    Reuben & french fries

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    Reuben & french fries

    Carmella's Cafe - italian - Updated June 2026

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