Our first visit was not great but we thought it was a fluke. Our reservation was about 10 minutes delayed which wasn't a big deal. They then sat us next to a walk-through between two rooms and had a dirty dish tray my fiances head. Every time I looked at him, I saw a pile of dirty dishes. The atmosphere was unacceptable. We attempted a second to visit Cortese on New Years Eve. We had a reservation for 9 PM. When we arrived, we were told we have a 30 minute wait for our party of two. While waiting, another couple approached the hostess and asked how much longer. They had been waiting over 40 minutes for their 8:25 reservation and were told they wouldn't be seated for over another 30 minutes. I understand slightly overbooking to ensure a good turnout for the holiday but over a 60 minute wait for a reservation is UNACCEPTABLE. The owner and manager should be embarrassed! We will never attempt to eat there again! read more

Loved the pizza!!! But I used to work on the east side and ordered a salad one day, it had a hair in it. Hey it happens I guess, so I ordered another the following week and to my surprise.... another hair!!!! I called and spoke to someone who offered to give me another salad free of charge. I went picked it up got back to work and tada another hair so that was the end of cortese for me.... read more

Can't say enough about this place! Food is delicious. Highly recommend the pork chop milanese style. Their salad is one of the best I've ever had. Their pizza is a fantastic way to start your meal. Very friendly staff who are willing to accommodate and give great suggestions. read more

How sad. An iconic local restaurant- so well known for its quality and atmosphere has fallen to the depths. Took our 16 year old daughter there for a celebration dinner. Huge mistake. 7:30 PM on Sunday evening. We could not be seated (despite most of the tables were empty) because they had to set a table. My family of 5, with three children was seated at a table next to the END of the bar (again visual.... The place was empty. The 3 adults at the bar had obviously been having a few cocktails and were loud and inappropriate to be seated next to kids. My son got shrimp cocktail which was a little warm and mushy. We did not eat it. Two other kids got buffalo chicken salads which was made with huge gobs of poorly cut ice burg lettuce that was basically white. NO Color, 2 carrots, canned olives. Seriously a salad from McDonalds drive through would be made better than this. Very disappointing service. When I took my kids to the lobby to wait for the check (because I was sick of listening to the trash talk at the bar) the manager perhaps came out and started TURNING OFF THE LIGHTS. Weird. So my kids and I are sitting in the dark- I walk back to the bar and my husband still DOES NOT have the check and the guy is more worried about clearing the table off so he can get out of there and dropping stuff all over. My husband finally had to ask for the check. Ok, so I get that restaurant business is HARD and tiring, but then close earlier or not at all on Sunday's. I am sure the original family owners would be sad to see what this place has come to. Bad service, subpar food, not for families and not customer oriented. It was so obvious they wanted us out of there. I had such good memories of that place that I wanted to share with my kids and create our traditions. Lost opportunity guys.... Sorry you blew it. read more

i've grew up eating pizzas from this place, yet i never went there to eat in house, so i figured since it's now restaurant week it would be a good time to give it a shot. i walk in after the normal lunch hours and the place is still half full, which is a good sign. the place looks really nice too. i wait at the front desk for a few minutes though before i was seated. after that the service was pretty good, the waitress kept checking up on me and the busboy kept filling my water as i emptied each glass (i always said thank you and he never responded though). anyways, the restaurant week lunch menu looked pretty good. i ended up choosing the least italian thing on the menu though, the cheesesteak. they mentioned on the menu that they use a good quality roast beef. seeing as how most cheesesteaks are made with shaved rib eye i figured i'd give this one a shot. the first course i got was the garlic bread. it had a good flavor but was burnt in a few spots. then the sandwich comes out. big piece of bread with barely any meat on it. now this whole 3 course lunch was $12, and the sandwich itself on the normal menu is $10, so i'm wondering if they put on less meat for the restaurant week crowd. i got peppers and onions on mine and while the onions were good, the peppers were cut too big and overpowered the whole sandwich. the meat was ok but i'd rather have a rib eye steak sandwich. the meat also didn't seem to be seasoned at all. for the dessert i got the brownie ala mode. the portion was unbelievably small. the brownie was good but it was just a small square that was maybe an inch and a half long on each side, and the ice cream was a small scoop too, all of which was drizzled with a generic chocolate syrup, they definitely didn't put much effort into this dessert. all that aside, i was still ready to go back and try another one of their restaurant week specials, until i got home and sampled some of my to go order. i took home an order of their homemade spaghetti with 2 meatballs that came with a salad. the salad was pretty low quality and the italian dressing wasn't very good, a bit too vinegary, but who really cares about a side salad anyways? i tried a bite of one of the meatballs and it was dried out and didn't have much flavor to it, and paired with the pasta sauce it was too much on the salty side for my tastes. then i took a bite of the homemade pasta. awful. just awful. soggy with no redeeming qualities to it. it's all sitting in my fridge right now and i have no idea if i even want to try to eat the rest of it. as for the pizza, the crust and cheese are awesome, they seem pretty unique. growing up i never liked the sauce because it was too chunky, but now that i'm older i don't mind it as much. they have a few specialty pizzas i'd like to try as well, and i will definitely go back for pizzas but i probably won't eat in house again unless someone else is going to foot the bill. read more

Used to love this place. Great food. Tried the bolognese dish which turned out to have pine nut pesto in it which was not listed on the menu. Had a severe anaphylactic reaction to this dish. A normal business probably would have apologized and considered listing a food that is a common and very serious allergy on their menu but upon notifying the restaurant of my severe allergic reaction, I was asked by the hostess if I had asked ahead of time whether there were nuts in the dish. No, in fact I hadn't because normally a restaurant would list pesto as an ingredient in a dish. Terrible customer service. Sad to say I will not be back to cortese after 20 years of being a customer read more

Cortese is outstanding- no better Italian in Binghamton! I have never had a bad meal here but always order something Italian. If you love garlic, order anything prepared milanese style or ask for your pasta to come with their marinara sauce. My favorite is gnocchis with marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. Their house dressing with crumbly blue cheese on the side is an excellent choice. Some of the other reviewers must eat at fast food joints because their prices are very reasonable and I have never experienced bad service, but we like to linger over dinner and take our time. I prefer thin crust, oven fired pizzas, so if you are looking for a wood fired pizza, that is not the style you find anywhere in binghamton- if we want pizza we grill our own. read more

back in june, i had fried calamari and in the middle of the night i woke up with a god awful stomach ache. i threw up a few times and had to use the restroom. would not recommend. read more

I have only eaten at Cortese's once and it was a long time ago. I do occasionally head there just for their pizza which I think is the best anywhere. Biggest knock would be the price. I like it with extra cheese, home made sausage, pepperoni and meat sauce and it comes out to about 3 bucks per small square slice! It doesn't have any weaknesses to methough. The crust is crispy but chewy and flavorful and all the other ingredients are top notch. Tony's is over rated for pizza...you can get the same thing at Nicks for 1/2 the price and with nicer wait staff. Cortese though is the best in the area to me (for pizza) read more

The service is fast and great flavor for takeout pizza, but the price is through the roof! 2 pizzas with 3 toppings carry-out $31. Are you kidding me? It's not worth it. You can do better. read more

Disappointing! Prime rib was overdone by 6pm.....could only get med. well to well done. Filet mignon (no bacon wrap) was on a piece of white bread that soaked up the little juice in the meat. Salad was of iceberg with a pale pink 'tomato'. Chicken saltimbocca was overcooked and tough. The younger Cortese owners might think about the quality the older generation used to provide. On the bright side...the service was fine. We won't be back. read more

This used to be one of the best restaurants in the area but time has taken it's toll on service and food quality. But my biggest gripe is with the hostesses, they have absolutely no idea of how to run seating and are completely clueless in general. This restaurant has virtually no waiting space and they often take walk-ins at the expense of someone who has a reservation. The last two times I was there we had a reservation and had to wait over 45 minutes to be seated for mediocre, bland food. Won't be going again. read more

Celebrated my husbands birtday at Cortese. Do not order the filet mignon! I ordered it because it melts like butter in your mouth, right? Not here! It was like eating a really thick sirloin steak. What a waste of money. Stick with the Italian food at Cortese. Their Italian food is terrific. read more

I am and always have been a Little Venice fan myself but go to Cortese on occasion. Not anymore (unless I am forced). 8 of us went there in September for a get together while visiting "backhome" for the weekend. It was not good. For some reason it has gone downhill big time. It was not just my dinner that was not that good. Prime Rib Milanese was mediocre, pasta was cold, fried mushrooms way overcooked, my husbands clam sauce was awful, clams rubbery, another had pork chop full of fat and not edible, etc. Too bad Cortese, not like the old days. Little Venice all the way from now on. read more

Helpings are huge. Crumbly blue cheese dressing was great - try it!! Chicken Parm, Eggplant Parm, Alfredo's we're all yummy. Bread and oil were meh... read more

After hearing such rave reviews about their pizza, I figured I would give it a try. If you like the disgusting Nirchis type pizza everyone around Binghamton seems to love (ick) then this is the place for you. However, if you have taste buds and a brain, go elsewhere. read more

Second to none in terms of quality and menu variety. A real Italian restaurant not a wings, spiedie, and oh we have pizza too establishment (see Nirchi's). Phenomenal chicken parmigiana and the only place in Binghamton I would eat Linguine with clam sauce at. Worth the hefty price of admission every time, dining in or taking out. read more

I love there steak and pasta and salad get take out all the time great food and service I had a mistake once and they were very nice about fixing it just a great place read more

By far a favorite! No complaints, only praise! Over 40 years of delicious memories of fine local high quality food. Yes, we planned our travel and drive straight through to make sure we eat at Cortese Restaurant! read more

This is the place you want to go to have authentic Italian food in Binghamton. Thank goodness there are restaurants like this still around!

The favors of the pizza and pasta sauce are so rich it's unlike any other Italian restaurant in the area, best Italian I've had outside of NYC by far read more

One of the best in Binghamton. I love their pizza and all of the dinner entrees are excellent. I have never had a bad meal there.

Haven't had dinner here yet but the bar is great! It's one of the few places in Binghamton that has a large variety of all of the spirits I enjoy. They have a great bourbon variety, all the liqueurs I enjoy and the bar staff is by far one of the friendliest and knowledgable that I've come across since I moved. Wednesday is ladies night so looking forward to getting a group of gals together and also trying the cuisine! read more

Went here in the afternoon - my friend and I each ordered the hamburger platters which came with soup or salad. My salad was junk lettuce with a small tomato piece drowned in blue cheese sauce rather than blue cheese, My blue cheese burger was served on a dry french roll with a very small amount of blue cheese on it. My friend had a a slightly better experience with the sweet onion burger but still had a very dry french roll. Both burgers were suppossed to be medium well and, instead, had a very rare center. The young waiter continually referred to us as girls rather than ladies or .madam. Will not go there again. It's a huge waste of money!!!! read more

Great food and large proportions! The service was excellent and the people were extremely friendly and welcoming. We were frequently checked on and never had an empty glass of water. Bread was fresh and delicious as well as the rest of the meal, best red sauce in the area! I haven't had a dish here that I didn't like. read more

I love the Manicotti and sauce! And don't forget the service......and the Italian dressing to die for. Best Italian restaurant I have received food from in the Binghamton since moving back to the area. read more

Came over from Ithaca, NY for a birthday dinner. I ordered the Veal and Peppers which was excellent. My only complaint of the dish is why not serve it over a bed of pasta. The side of pasta that you serve with the dish does not compliment the wonderful sauce that the veal was cooked in. The main reason for the 3 star rating was the meal that was served to my friend. He ordered the large Delmonico Steak Pizziola cooked medium well with mushrooms. When the steak was brought out it was not cooked to his liking med rare at best. 50% of his steak was waste all fat. The steak should have never been served to begin with. The server did a nice job by reporting this to his manager and my friend was given a reduction on the price of the steak along with a free desert. I do understand that the price of beef is high, but if you want people to come back, you need to raise the standards as far as what comes out of your kitchen to your diners. read more

If an Italian man walked into this restaurant, it be a tough choice between killing everyone there or killing himself. First and foremost terrible service. The waitress acted like we had asked her for her own personal stash of water before complaining in depth that her bus boy hadn't brought it. Secondly, the food. The salads looked like I asked my ten year old cousin to try making salad and he just dumped iceberg lettuce on the plate and added a single cucumber slice. If you were lucky, you also got a single carrot slice too. For appetizer, I had no intention and in fact did not order soup but that's what we got. The calamari appetizer became a game of find the squid in a gallon of sauce and the ravioli main dish was the same. The ravioli were cooked just enough to not be frozen but still taste dry and crunchy...just what I like with my pasta. The Alfredo tasted like it was velveeta and was just awful. Also how do you fuck up bread?! Because Walmart still gets bread right....and Finally I've been in better lit caves. Maybe if I could have read the menu better, there would have been little warning labels that the food was going to be terrible. read more

good food and classy atmosphere. a little pricey. The Milanese style porkchops and steaks are excellant.

Absolute garbage. Better off going to mcdonalds a block away. Terrible service, and horrendous wait times, and food. Was hair in my salad, and a cooked fly on my pizza. Wouldnt feed this to my dog. Talked to the owner and seemed more concerned with my wallet. Never ever again. read more

There prices are outrageous. I had a nice meal but the filet mignon was gone in like two bites and was not worth the $26.95 even though it came with salad and a baked potato. They have raised their prices big time and is no longer worth it. read more

I've eaten here many times and I've always had great meals. The restaurant is owned and operated by a local family. We've always had great service as well. I recommend anything Italian, but my children are partial to the pizza. read more

My husband and I grew up in Binghamton and lived there most of our adult life .. We moved away about 10 years or more and the one thing that we miss the most is Cortese. Whenever we come home for a visit. One of the first places we go is Cortese. We gather up the family ,make reservations and about 15 of us show up. Now I have not been able to find pizza i like better except one place in Arizona . But it was nothing like a Cortese pizza. The prime rib has always been outstanding (as my husband says especially on friday night ..I have no clue the difference) The scallops marinara is excellent. We have introduced our son-in -law to cortese and he visits there now also when he visits the area. Now i have noticed a difference on our last visit which was last summer . We all agreed that the food just wasnt quite the same.. The rib wasnt as tender (but we were there on sat night) (see above comment). The pizza remains quite the same. Now, one of my sisters surprised us for christmas this year and sent us 3 pizzas via fed ex..we said this was the best xmas present of all times..it was such a treat. Although we had to share with about 8 people . We would have liked more..ha! Cortese will remain our favorite place to dine...love the atmosphere and the old family tradition. We will be visiting on our next trip home but that seems like a long time to wait for your great pizza...the only other thing we miss this much is spedies from lupos.. p.s. i like Like Little Venice also but for different reasons .Pasta is always good and their blue cheese is out of this world but id prob vote for Cortese if there was a contest.. read more

cortese has been marketing there pizza at the local giant markets, and if you look closely at the nutritional content, it clearly states '2 grams of trans fat' in EACH SLICE"! that's allot of artery clogging trans fatty acids. i have stopped eating pizza from corteses. goodbye cortese pizza. your pizza is bad for my health. yuck.. read more