Crazy that if you walk in they tell you the wait is 1 1/2 -2 hours, with 3/4s of the restaurant empty. Then you pull up their reservation system and seating is available in 45 minutes. 2nd time this has happened. read more

Cello Italian Restaurant - Available reservations versus telling us we would wait 1.5 hours for a table. - Italian Near Me - Howell, Michigan

This was my first time going out since I moved to Howell, Michigan from California. Quick shout out to our amazing server, Sherry! She was so sweet and took care of me and my stepmom tonight when I took her out for her birthday dinner! Sherry gets Five Stars from me, because even though it was busy, she had the best customer service and I hope she has an amazing night! Patrick was also very friendly and was great with taking care of customers and making them feel welcome (I believe he was the owner or manager, he was dressed in a suit). Both staff members made sure to ask how all the food was and how everything was going several times. The food was amazing and flavorful. I definitely will be coming back! Thank you all for being so kind and caring even though it was very busy! Wish I had more pictures of the food but I ate it too fast! read more

Cello Italian Restaurant - Roasted Garlic! - Italian Near Me - Howell, Michigan

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Cello is great. We went there to celebrate and it was a good time and great food. I recommend.

This was our first time here since we moved to Howell. The hostess who seated us was friendly and our server Shannon was excellent. Although they did not have Sangria on the menu she had the bartender make us one. It was excellent. My wife ordered the shrimp scampi and I had the chicken parm and both were excellent. I always expect the food and service to be good but to have the server, Shannon, have the bartender make us a drink that's not on the menu is going beyond just service . . . its outstanding service which we appreciated. I always make a reservation and have found it pays to make a reservation at restaurants like Cellos to insure a great meal with great service. We will be back! read more

Ok, now I get it. I didn't want to believe the reviews but they are fair. Some people love it or hate it. Here's my take from our visit Sunday night. Cello is the red-headed step child in the Adam Merkel family of restaurants. They try and try but there is just something a little off. The history, the chef stories of grandparents from Sicily, the family style concept... all great, but didn't hit home for us. Don't go by pictures on Yelp - the dishes I see posted are no longer on the menu. The waitress let us know that it's family style and dishes would come out as they are ready, so to be served hot but may not all be out at the same time. Even though she gave us a heads up, it was still annoying. We munched on Wild Mushroom Ricotta Gnocchi, while waiting for the Lemoncello Chicken, but didn't want to eat too much as we'd not be hungry for the chicken when it came. I get the family style, but not a fan of the timing. Waitress was nice but everything was "so really really good". She raved about our choices and said everyone likes what we picked. When she checked on us later and we said the gnocchi was okay, she whizzed past and said "aren't they really really good!" Maybe she's not listening to her customers answer her question. There was nothing to ask to be corrected, it really was just okay. The Gnocchi was beautiful. The execution was flawless. Pan fried dumplings that looked to have a bit of crisp, but that's where it ended. There was no crisp. The texture was gritty like tasting the flour in the dumplings. If we come again, we'll stick to the potato and maybe ask for the same sauce. There is potato option, but with tomato vodka sauce. The gnocchi came out first. The chicken about 5-7 minutes later. The Lemoncello chicken was perfectly executed. Two large crispy boneless chicken cutlets, perfectly cooked, topped with peppery arugula, a shaving of cheese on each as accent, and pickled onions, on a very light bed of lemon sauce. Doesn't that sound excellent!? Something was missing. Some kind of sauce or more sauce or cheese - something. All we could taste was arugula, onion and the crunchy texture and hint of lemon sauce. We split one cutlet and took the second home. One large plate could feed four people with regular appetites. The best part of the meal was the garlic bread ordered as an appetizer. Two large pieces of super hot and toasty garlic bread. It was really good and I recommend not passing that up. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a soup option. A brothy minestrone at least. Don't look for old standards, like lasagna or spaghetti - it's not on the menu. Not that we would miss it, just a heads up. We finished the meal with the lemoncello creme brule. Reading the description, again, had to try it. Eh - it was thinner than instant pudding, lemony and just fell flat. Something was missing - vanilla, thicker consistency? Cello is A-Ok. Good place to take the family or try something different, but best to know what to expect so as not to be disappointed with how things work. Great list of wine pairings on the back. Make a reservation, it's a small dining room. read more

Amazing food and service. Definitely coming back! Great atmosphere as well, and a great dinner.

Another fantastic meal! We tried the sausage and peppers for an appetizer, it was delicious. Special ordered their gnocchi and vodka sauce, the sauce is the perfect blend of rich with a little kick of spice. My favorite cocktail the Sistine spritzer and finished up with the best cappuccino(Illy). Thanks for a great night out, we don't venture out to many restaurants these days but with all the precautions you put in place we feel very comfortable and the food is so delicious it's totally worth it! read more

Cello Italian Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Howell, Michigan

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Fantastic experience. I think our server's name was Andrew. Andrew was fantastic. Everything was delicious. I had the lemon spaghetti with shrimp. The only thing we didn't quite care for was the carbonara. Too peppery. The mushroom gnocchi was to die for as well. So delicious and fresh. This plate has legit Italian food. I had the spritzer cocktail and loved it. Thanks for a great experience! read more

This place is great. I love when you can have multiple dishes easily without having to over order and this place does a fantastic job of letting you do tapas with the table or have a traditional individual meal. You can order large or small plate options for all of their dinner and pasta options. We decided to try a little of everything and we had some favorite but everything was great. The wine selection is Italian wines, we choose a bottle of a blend and it was perfect with our meal. I also had a mixed cocktail and it was well made, no frills, but good. The food was all great and tasted fresh and most importantly, homemade. It was a treat. I've listed our favorites below. Gnocchi-omg, it was so good. The shape is different than I'm used to. I thought it was penna at first but the texture was spot on. The sauce sealed the deal. Lemon spaghetti- if you love lemon, capers and pasta, this is your dish. This was my personal favorite but I love lemon and capers so I'm a bit biased. Scallops-perfectly cooked, the risotto was spot on as well. Highlight was the char on the scallop, something hard to accomplish so I appreciate it. Short ribs - wow, perfectly cooked. Also wasn't dry which often happens when it's cooked in advance. The star of the dish is the marscapone polenta. Omg, we wanted to lick the plate. Chicken pram - I did not try this, full disclosure, my 11 year old ate all of it before any of us could try it. She highly recommends. Carbonara- this was beautiful and it was obviously well prepared. Only issue I had was the pepper, there was so much of it. My husband and son LOVE pepper so this was one of their favs. Me, not so much, it was intense. If you love pepper, I highly recommend but if you are sensitive to it, I would avoid. Service was great and the atmosphere is nice a cozy, just as an Italian spot should be. It feels like your grandmother's kitchen and tastes like it too. read more

When we first got there the atmosphere was very relaxed. The vibes were on point. We got the crispy fresh mozzarella, it was exterior was nice and crispy and nearly gave me an orgasm (9.2/10). For the entrees I had the spaghetti and meatballs, the sauce used for the spaghetti was flavorful and the meatballs were good (8.8/10) read more

Cello Italian Restaurant - Crispy Fresh Mozzarella - Italian Near Me - Howell, Michigan

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Let me start out by saying, I LOVE tapas and am very familiar with small plate dining. I love what this place is about - quality food, shared plates, and boozy limoncello! However, everything just didn't go as well as it could have for our group. We were super pumped when we first sat down and saw the menu - so many awesome options! It was recommended for our group of six to do four appetizers, three pasta dishes, and three entrees to share. We took that recommendation and ordered our appetizers. We wanted to start with the risotto balls, garlic bread, sausage & peppers, and meatballs. After about 10 minutes of waiting for apps, the waiter came over to take the rest of our order. We went on to order some pasta dishes as well as some entrees. The stand outs were the tortellini and the salmon! However, even after enjoying said entrees, we still had not received our appetizers. Now, I do understand that tapas come out in the order they are ready, but still...didn't seem quite right! The waiter did feel awful, apologized profusely and the food was delicious, even if it did come out in a crazy order. Not everyone in our group left completely full, as many have noted, so I might recommend one more pasta or entree if you are eating with a hungry group! Overall - I would give them another shot. Was it perfect? No. But they are just starting out. I look forward to seeing this place develop and am excited to see some new dining options available in Howell! read more

Cello Italian Restaurant - Garlic bread - Italian Near Me - Howell, Michigan

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The meatballs were amazing. Their new chief was friendly and made some amazing dinners for our table. Highly suggest the chicken parmesan.

Excellent meals and service. I like the small plates. I had the salmon, others had cheese ravioli, ziti, and Alfredo. All were delicious!

My husband and I came here with a gift certificate a friend sent us. Service and ambiance were excellent! Unfortunately, we were not very impressed by the quality and amount of the food for the price. For the price of some of the dishes, I'd either expect better quality or more volume. Sad to say that we found the dishes did not have either. The roasted garlic antipasti was bland. We had seen reviews about the lemon spaghetti so we ordered that, which was ok, but nothing to write home about, along with the limoncello chicken, which had an underwhelming flavor. I thought about adding shrimp, but when I reread that option, the menu says $2 per shrimp. Overall, we really wanted to like this restaurant but just found it so underwhelming. read more

Best Italian restaurant in Howell. Chef Joseph is an amazing cook that is able to provide good meals for everyone regardless of any allergy concerns. I recently went in with a dairy allergy and was able to get a delicious meal completely dairy free. Great service, awesome managers, and awesome environment! Try the Lemoncello! read more

Lovely atmosphere. Service was impeccable. We loved our waitress. Then let's talk value. That's where we fall short. Way overpriced for the quantity and quality of the food served. The 6 shrimp in my wife's shrimp scampi ($27) was coated and fried? Never seen that before. The shrimp was a bit over done. My scallops ($34) were amazing. But the scallops surrounded a cold bruschetta in the middle of the plate. Which cooled the scallops before I could eat them all. Overall... good experience... until you consider what you're paying for. $$$$ read more

The ambiance ruined what was supposed to be a celebratory dinner because it was SO HOT!!! Of all of the restaurants in Brighton and Howell we chose Cello to celebrate our s.i.l.'s bday and their recent announcement that they are having their first baby!! They came all the way from Royal Oak because we were excited to have our Italian s.i.l. try your food. While the food and Blake's service were great multiple comments were made about how HOT is was. To see beads of sweat on your guest's foreheads was so disappointing!! We sat at the 4 top near the windows and unfortunately it was not until we were leaving that the window near the deuce was opened. The meal felt nothing like a celebration. Please get your air conditioning fixed!!! read more

Good food, and I love the small plates concept. Three small plates ( and an appetizer) were plenty for two people. We had the arancini (rice balls) which were pretty good, but not amazing. The stand out is their marinara sauce that they come with. Yum! We also had the chicken limoncello, which was well balanced and delish, the carbonara, and the lemon spaghetti. The carbonara is very good if you can get around the fact that it is served with an egg yolk in the middle. It's authentic but not for everyone. The lemon spaghetti was good but very tart. It would have benefited from the shrimp they suggested, but my husband is allergic, so obviously we didn't do that. For dessert we had the carrot cake, chocolate ravioli, and a cappuccino. My husband loved the cake. I enjoyed the ravioli, but the pasta shell was a little too tough and bland. They oozed chocolate when you punctured them, which was lovely. Very rich, so the coulis is a welcome side. The cappuccino was delicious. The service and staff are awesome! The manager saw our table wobbling and fixed it without us asking. Super polite. Shout out to Blake for being great! read more

Great staff! Andrew was awesome! Super attentive, food was amazing! Adam Merkel, thank you for maintaining the air conditioning here! AmazIng experience. Of course we would of had this experience at the Silver Pig if you had fixed the air conditioning. Thank you ! read more

Ok id say 3.5 ..This is the old diamonds location. Im not a fan of the atmosphere. Loud piped in Italian music . Outdated decor. Took FOREVER to get our dinner .. we finished a bottle of wine drinking SLOWLY and still had not arrived. Mainly cream sauce pastas on the menu . No calamari on the apps. Whaaat? Is that even a thing? Lol HOWEVER the food was outstanding. I had the lemon spaghetti with shrimp 1/2 order plenty , my hubby had the Italian sausage app as his entree which was a huge portion and a side of polenta with mascarpone. They comped our salads to make up for slow kitchen so we may be back. :) read more

I can't praise this place enough. Everything about it rated highly for us. First, we made reservations but ended up getting there about fifteen minutes early. They were great sports and didn't make us wait. They sat us at our table right away. Second, we received free risotto balls, compliments of the chef. I don't know if they do that at every table, but regardless, it was very nice. This place has a certain character to it. We sat next to an opening near the prep area. The gal prepping and making the noodles heard I was ordering the tortelloni and exuberantly stuck her head out to ask, "Are you the one ordering the tortelloni?" I said yes, and she quickly responded with, "I'm making them! They're going to be awesome!" That was adorable. The food holds up too. It's surprisingly reasonably priced. I had the fennel salad and tortelloni. They were perfect. The tortelloni had a semi-spicy vodka sauce, which had a mild bite. It was perfect for a baby like me who wanted a little kick without blowing fire out of my mouth. I also had the Sofia Loren mixed drink (a take on Irish Coffee) which was delicious. The owner came over and made small talk - very charming guy. Our waitress - Katherine, I think was her name? - was super nice and helpful. It's a great date night Italian restaurant. read more

Best Italian food around! Recommend getting anything with lemon you won't go wrong. The Brussel sprouts and potato sides are a must!!

I hosted a 'safe' dinner party this week at home for ourselves and another couple to help my husband celebrate his retirement. Blake, the bartender, helped me place the carry out order. His suggestions regarding choices and quantities made for the perfect meal. He also kindly helped our daughter arrange for a surprise bottle of bubbly ready when my husband arrived to pick up our order. The food was simply outstanding! It was perfectly prepared and ready on time. The staff was very appreciative of the business. Whether dining in or carrying out Cello Italian has never disappointed. PS: No matter where you dine please consider tipping well as restaurant staffs are working very hard and are at risk serving the public during the pandemic. At this time I'm more comfortable carrying out, however I tip the same as I would dining in. It's always appreciated. read more

I've visited a handful of times and love the small shareable plates and the house made limoncello.

This place is amazing. They just hired a new executive chef. It was good before. The homemade pasta and meatballs are out of this world. Great new hire. Highly recommend read more

What a great experience. Amazing service and food. Great gluten free options and very accommodating to requests. The drinks were also fantastic. The music and lighting were perfect. Will come again. read more

This restaurant lived up to the reviews but we were sold when the couple at the next table raved about their dishes and drinks. I had the scallops and risotto which were superb. One friend had meatballs and pasta and Joe had a breaded chicken limoncello that he really enjoyed. Dessert was special also, limoncello creme brûlée and tiramisu. This was a fine dining experience all around. Reservations highly recommended. read more

This is my 3 time here and I have been wowed every time. Andrew our server was very polite and new the menu well. The meatball appetizer is my wife's favorite starter. Easy menu to read and not overwhelming. The risotto is to die for just wish I could have a larger portion! Highly recommend and reserve your table on their web site prior to arriving, small and very personal. Prices are fair, good quality for our dollar. read more

My expectations were very high. Beautiful restaurant, pasta made on site, staff dressed appropriately etc.... not sure why music was top 40 and a sports bar TV. Was torn between mushroom gnocchi and eggplant. Wish I had selected the gnocchi. The eggplant, although beautiful, was cut to thick to cook through. It was crunchy in the center, not tender and silky. As such it was bitter in the center. Most upsetting was the color. Fresh eggplant is slightly brown. Mine appeared to have been prepared in the morning and sat all day to turn an almost black. Was not appetizing at all. I would suggest fresh prepared and cut thin enough to cook through read more

Cello Italian Restaurant - Presentation was beautiful, very appetizing - Italian Near Me - Howell, Michigan

Love the atmosphere and the craft cocktails. The bar doors were open on a summer Friday night and we could catch the concert across the street. What a fun night out in our town! read more

This place was absolutely amazing, great service and some of the best Italian dishes we've ever experienced. Priced right and quality 2nd to none read more

Second visit to Cello last week. We came in around 8.45 on a Saturday night and asked if they could fit in 2. The restaurant was not busy so we were seated immediately at the front next to the bar... and that was it. A waitress came over with some water and a plate of arancini (or 'rice balls' as she called them), complements of the chef. OK, we ate them (mine was big, husband's was tiny), decided what had the least amount of superfluous cheese or cream on the menu (seriously, pesto does not need cream, it's already got cheese in it) and carried on waiting for someone to take our drink/ food order. We waited and waited. The bartender carried on a conversation with a regular at the bar, some wait staff waited at the bar, the hostesses twiddled their thumbs and occasionally looked over at us but dared not actually acknowledge our lack of server. 20 minutes went by. We were starving. We were done. We stood up to go. 'Good night' I told the bartender as we breezed past. 'Have a good night guys' she replied, not even realizing anything was amiss. As the door was closing behind us, I heard one of the hostesses say 'Wait! Are they leaving?' Damn right we were. Went home and ate frozen pizza. 'We're never going back to that place again' my husband avowed. And I know we won't because he has a long memory where food is concerned. He's Italian. read more

Tried this little gem tonight for date night. Blake was amazing & very attentive. He provided us with excellent service. Everything we ordered was delicious. The risotto that came with the scallops was absolutely the best I've ever tasted. The desserts are phenomenal as well. The creamy limoncello was suggested by Blake & it was a good call! Can't wait to go back & try more items. read more

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I must say the warm welcome, exceptional service, outstanding menu with daily specials exquisitely prepared & wildly delicious. The music, food, service impeccable. Reno the Mgr came over and introduced himself and gave us a tiramisu. Absolutely magnificent. It was my first time there and our waitress Kristin was so hospitable & very accommodating. Definitely will be back on date night! They open at 4pm and bring your appetite because the food is that confident! The cappuccino featured in this review was the best these lips had ever tasted! read more

Cello Italian Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Howell, Michigan

Went in for dinner at 5:00. Restaurant is mostly empty. Hostess say "We cannot seat you tonight. We are all filled up" I say "HUH?? Look at all the empty tables!" Hostess says "Sorry..." We complained to the manager on the way out. Barely an intelligible response - pretty sure he doesn't give a damn. Needless to say, we didn't stay and won't be going back. Whatever happened to customer service!?!?!? read more

Wonderful staff and food. I will be back!! The drinks and food are hard delicious. The vodka sauce with the pepper flakes was the best.

Expensive and small portions. If you're hungry, go somewhere else. We never went back.

First time for dinner tonight. Food and service were excellent. We had Alfredo with Chicken, Garlic Bread, Baked Ziti with Gluten Free Pasta, Cheese Ravioli, Chicken Limoncello and finally Sausage and Peppers. Our server was Kaylan, she's the best!! read more

This was our second visit and will be my last. I can't imagine giving this a five-star rating. The food is a "gourmet" style Italian, but not done well. Not authentic Italian food. Everything is ala cart, small portions and expensive. The first visit I had the gnocchi. They were gummy and lacked flavor. The second visit I tried the sirloin with Chianti cream sauce. The sirloin was not even a choice grade and was chewy and had an aftertaste. There were five of us and they had chicken parm, baked ziti. No bread and we had to ask for cold breadsticks which were horrible. You will pay $14 for a 4oz sirloin with no sides and $9.50 for a glass of wine. My check was $60. Not worth it! They were not as busy as they were when we visited in January, and I can see why. We won't be back either. read more

Went out to dinner with my fiancé, and our Waiter donavan, and the manger Jess was so nice and very helpful I dripped my food while leaving and they offered to remake my food. read more