We've been to Cucciolo twice, and both times enjoyed our experience. Last night we had fantastic entrees, including a white ragu and a seafood-based pasta. The service was spot-on; timely but never intrusive, prompt and very friendly. They have an expansive wine list, and their dessert menu has Affogato, which is one of our favorites. Two cons: The parking is super tricky in this area, and the restaurant is loud because every single surface is concrete or wood. That said, still worth your time to check out. read more

Had a brilliant dinner at Cucciolo Osteria [the Cozy Tavern] the other night - this is a *great* spot. The offerings were awesome & prepared with stile e cura [flair and care]. One thing that I noticed was their attention to adjusting their menu offerings to Gluten Free where possible, something your GF friends will truly appreciate. The interior is comfortably casual; upscale, but not stuffy. The servers worked as a team with one person taking the lead - their advice was top-tier: taking it is well advised. They'll listen to your preferences & make solid recommendations. I'd also suggest making reservations, I see how they could get busy - Andiamo :) read more

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We made reservations here for a Wed before a DPAC show. The only option was the bar. The Professor Pibb (Cherry ginger ale) was excellent. I'm a big fan of eggplant parm lately. The sauce was delicious. The eggplant itself though was a miss. I also wish it came with a small serving of pasta or some side. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Professor Pibb - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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We came here on a Monday night for dinner. I definitely recommend having a reservation because this place was jumping. It was busy and there was a constant turnover of people in and out once meals were finished. We were celebrating my recent engagement and the publishing of my book. Our waiter was great and helpful. We started with the Ragu Bolognese Tagliatelle and lasagna. The Ragu Bolognese Tagliatelle was very saucy and delicious. The noodles were cooked well and tasted so good with everything else on the plate. They baked the hell out of my lasagna. There was very little moisture remaining in the dish. So I didn't have dry mouth, I had to take sauce from my partners meal, the tagliatelle. The lasagna was hard on the bottom layer around the edges. I had to stab it with a knife to cut the corners. Thankfully I have strong teeth and gums because I was able to eat it but they definitely overbaked it. I'm imagining they forgot about it and still thought it was good to serve. I have recently started getting bread pudding when it's on the menu because they're usually so moist, soft, creamy and delicious. The bread pudding at this restaurant was dry and harder to pull the spoon through. The gelato on top of the bread pudding helped soften it just a little. The tiramisú was good. read more

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Really amazing food!! Wish that the bread and olive oil came for the table vs it being a paid for appetizer. Definitely should make a reservation, we didn't and luckily got seated at the bar! We lived in Naples, Italy and can absolutely recommend this place read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Linguine Alla Vongole - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Came for dinner on a Tuesday night with a friend, we were very pleased with our meal! We each got drinks and shared 3 appetizers - I would say the bruschette was one of the best I've had. So flavorful and fresh! I also really liked the mushroom appetizer. I ordered the tagliatelle bolognese for my entree and it was great, I thought portion was perfect. A little bit on the salty side but not egregious. I saved room for dessert and got the bread pudding - highly recommend! Overall a great place for a date night, girls night, or even group dinner (I noticed they have a larger table in the back). One note about parking - I paid $7.50 for two hours of parking, the hostess mentioned they're working with the parking company to get something sorted out so that patrons can get their parking validated. Make sure you park in spots marked for West Village! read more

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We were coming to Durham to see a Broadway show Saturday evening and I searched for suggestions on Yelp. Fortunately, I saw this restaurant as one of the three locations they have available. Reservations are highly encouraged, but we were lucky that night and sat at the bar. The place has a cozy intimate atmosphere and the service is outstanding. We ordered glasses of Chardonnay. He ordered the butter chicken sostanza (not to be confused w Costanza lol) and it was delicious, chicken cooked to perfection, very moist and the green salad was fresh. The dish I ordered was Tajarin something and OMG, 12/10! That dish was simply one of the best Italian dishes I've ever eaten in my life. The shrimp were huge, fresh and tasty. I plan to visit again to try many more items. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

REALLY enjoyed this Italian restaurant! Loved that I could make a reservation directly at the bar (often times the entire restaurant is booked because there is very limited seating inside; combination of bar and table seats). For appetizers we tried the walnut pesto arancini (with chili aioli) and the burrata and hazelnut bruschetta. I thought both apps were 10/10. Unique flavor profiles that I haven't seen before, but totally worked together! The tajaran is their only homemade pasta- it's similar to a fine angel hair noodle! I tried my spouse's white ragu tajaran (beef and pork ragu), which was pretty tasty, but the sauce was a little too rich for me! For my main dish I ordered the spicy vodka tomato cream rigatoni (with ricotta)- pretty "basic" dish, but was executed perfectly. Pasta was al dente, sauce was thick and creamy; I would say it was a LITTLE spicy for my taste buds! Would love to return and try the linguine all carbonara or the truffle tajaran! No complaints at all, service was great, dishes were tasty; I just would've loved more of the pastas to be made in-house! read more

The appetizers were very yummy (we got creamed mushrooms and bruschetta). The pastas were both delicious-half our table said too salty but as I like saltier food, I loved it. I can see how it can be too salty for some though. The wait was extremely long. They took too long to take our orders unfortunately and then once again with the actual food. The Linguini Alle Vongole (clam) was also almost all shell unfortunately. We saw they had bread and butter on yelp but they did not bring it to us until we asked. Ambience was good-great for a dinner with friends or a date, but prepare for a long wait. read more

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This is one of the first Italian restaurants I've tried in the area since moving here and it was a nice experience! My husband and I dropped by for an impromptu date night and it was busy for a tuesday night (highly recommend reservations) we were seated at the bar and a had a really friendly bartender take our orders. We needed vegetarian options and sadly the menu didn't have many options. It also looks like the menu keeps changing (which is usually good thing) but I went in seeing a lot of options like cacio e pepe etc and was confused to only see 2 pastas to pick from and one main. Plus the two pasta options were the vodka pasta which we couldn't pick as we don't consume alcohol or the truffle tajarin which from the photos looked very liquidy. We ended up getting three appetizers and a main with a spicy habenero mocktail (maybe too spicy for us). Now I'm a huge Bruschetta fan and I've had a ton but the ones here were mid (and they still were the best items we got) mainly because the bread they use was incredibly hard, like truly that crust was something else it even hurt my retainer. We got the burrata and fig which sound amazing but felt lacking because there was barely any burrata on the bread as seen in the photos below and I think the figs needed some salt or some seasoning to truly bring their flavors out because they were a little bland although fresh. The basil tomato with ricotta was our fave again, the ricotta was barely there, but the tomatoes were flavorbombs, and I loved how they seasoned it! The eggplant parm was just okay, portion size was good but flavor wasn't there. We ended with a pistachio gelato which was deliciously creamy. I really liked the atmosphere of this place but I am ready to sample other italian fare in the area. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I read all the reviews before going, and while I'm not sad I went--in fact, we had a lovely evening--I did experience some of the things other reviewers mentioned. Front of house: I have to agree with those who said the hostess isn't the friendliest. I called ahead to let them know I'd be about 15 minutes late; she accommodated but hung up without a goodbye, and she wasn't particularly pleasant when we arrived (and the restaurant was empty at that point). Service: The reviews saying the servers are wonderful were absolutely true in our case. Eldron was our server, and even though he had us, another two-top, and a seven-top, we never felt neglected. His timing was perfect--cocktails appetizer mains--with no rushing and no long waits. Food warnings: Several reviews mentioned salty pasta, and unfortunately my daughter's dish proved that point. Her pasta itself was fine, but the ragù was, in my opinion, nearly inedible--it was so salty, and I love salt. When the manager stopped by, I mentioned it; she was gracious and I felt she would have done whatever we wanted, but we didn't ask for a replacement. She brought extra bread, and my daughter still ate every bite. My carbonara was delicious, though I was surprised the pasta didn't seem homemade--I would have expected that. Overall: We had a genuinely nice experience, and we may return. I give 5 stars when I'll definitely be back and 4 stars when I'm unsure--this was a solid 4. read more

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We ordered the rustic Tuscan pate and burrata and hazelnut to start and the tajarin aragosta and the truffle tajarin for our entree. The food was good, but definitely not my favorite. The pate in my opinion was a little too grainy. I liked the sauces of both the pastas as well but I do think they would pair better with a thicker noodle shape. The truffle tajarin also definitely did not look like what I expected it to look. I think maybe they could add a small colored garnish or something to make it look a bit more appealing. The host was also very aloof, but our server was amazing and checked up on us often. Lots of parking in the front. read more

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My favorite fresh pasta restaurant in Durham! We always start with the bruschetta for appetizers and this tomato with the homemade ricotta was a favorite. The beet salad was flavorful and refreshing. And a new dish to me, the creamed mushrooms was outstanding and definitely worth trying. Their vodka rigatoni is one of my favorites, light and creamy but full of flavor. Tried the eggplant for the first time which was also delicious, not a crumb left on our plates. It's beautiful space for small groups, very intimate and cozy. And the service is always phenomenal. We love bringing our out of town visitors here. read more

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Yaaaaaaaas! This place is EXCELLENT! This West Village spot is tucked into one of the Walker Warehouse buildings, now gentrified into mixed use. The restaurant is long and slender, bar to the left, tables to the right, front and back. High ceilings, exposed ductwork and brick. A modern industrial vibe. Service from Carl, doubling as bartender, was outstanding. He orchestrated the platoon of service masterfully and kept the meal moving at the perfect pace. Thank you! Arancini was great. Crispy outside, moist and flavorful inside. With an excellent dipping sauce. Tried the tajarin arragosta - seared shrimp over tajarin (similar to tagliatelle, but made with more egg yolks to give it a unique consistency and flavor), tossed in lobster tomato cream sauce. WOW was this good! Shrimp with a nice crunch to each bite - not rubbery of mushy. Pasta perfectly al dente. A wonderful medley of flavors and textures, each complementing one another. We were treated to a (complimentary) Panna Cotta to honor a birthday. A very nice unexpected (and delicious) treat. Equally delicious was tiramisu - a huge square of creamy, fresh heaven. The tab was $218 for 5 people including wine. I highly recommend Cucciolo Osteria for the quality of the service, food and atmosphere. Go! read more

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Food 3.5/5 Tried the butter chicken, ragu, and vodka pasta. All were good nothing was incredible, particularly for the price point. Ambience 4/5 Nice energy in the restaurant it's vibrant but you can still hear your conversation. Service 4/5 Our first server was great but when they traded off the second one wasn't as attentive and even forgot to bring us a bag for our leftovers and we ended up leaving without it. Price 3/5 It was 120 dollars including tip for 4 dishes. No alcohol. Also something else was no bread brought to the table which I noticed as this has been more or less standard at Italian restaurants. All in all I think they do a nice job here. The price point is a little higher than I'd like for the quality of the food and consistency of food to match. My main issue with the food is that nothing really stood out for how much it cost. Salt levels were fine but depth of flavor was lacking. Another aside is that they really need to figure out parking too or validate. we ended up circling for 15 minutes and paid for a deck down the street Overall 4/5 (probably a 3.5 but ill round up) read more

Overall a nice Italian place in Durham! The service was excellent, but my fiance did feel that his pasta was very salty. I liked my dish, but definitely didn't feel like it was as flavorful as I was expecting it to be. I think if I went back I would probably order differently as the appetizer meatball was delicious, so I wonder if other main courses would be better read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Our group held a large dinner at Cucciolo Osteria tonight. We ordered a bit of everything. It was nice. The green salad was excellent, and the aranici with walnut pest was very good. The pasta dishes included a delicious creamy spicy vodka penne, truffle tamarin that was too salty, and a nice pasta carbonara. The meat dishes included a bland butter roasted chicken breast and a white fish with greens and tomatoes. The tiramisu was good. Our servers were excellent. The private room was neat and clean and welcoming. All in all, a good time, read more

There are much better restaurants to go to in Durham than Cucciolo. The service was so slow here and the waitstaff was very rude even though we spent a lot of money for dinner and drinks. Ambiance was also not great for such a pricey spot. The food was good, but when service is so bad it just doesn't make it worth it to ever go back or recommend to friends. read more

Service was great! We came on Sunday night without a reservation and we got lucky there was a cancelation to get seated immediately. Our server was great, they did a great job explaining the menu and were helpful. The food was overall good. We got the walnut pesto arancini and the polpette which were both great starters and a good size to share between two people. The polpette was a one big meatball and enough to share, the tomato sauce on the polpette was so fresh and tasty. For our main dishes we got Tagliatelle Ala Amatriciana and Tajarin Arragosta. The Tajarin Arragosta was a 10/10 while the Tagiatelle Ala Amatrciana was 7.5/ 10 it was tasty but very salty. I saw saltiness was a consistent review and I must agree the dish was quite salty. Beyond the saltines we had a good time and we would come back to enjoy more dishes and try some drinks. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Polpette and Walnut Pesto Arancini - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Delicious food, arincini balls, ravioli, eggplant parm, pasta for the baby all excellent. The clams were delicious, pasta could have been more flavorful, the pasta for the baby was amazing. Our waiter was so accommodating and had a grandkid too so was super friendly. The ambiance was warm inviting and you could see the chefs Working in the back. I highly recommend this restaurant. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - My family celebrating my son Jeremy's bday and my beautiful grand baby maya. We had such a wonderful dinner here. - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Came here one evening. A tad pricier than the local affair, but good none-the-less. I had the mushroom app, which was creamy and good. Served with bread, that was delicious, but a little to thick for the dish IMO. I also had the artichoke bruschetta. Flavorful and different, but not sure I'm on board with the ricotta spread. Kid had the ragu (cream sauce) and like it. Looking for a veggie spot, wish that the vegetarian spot, Sage, next to hotel had been open, would've loved to try that. read more

Incredible. Friendly staff, perfect portions, and delicious food. The spicy vodka rigatoni, chicken, and the bruschetta are their staples and a must try. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Rigatoni (GFP,V) - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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This place is a beautiful date night restaurant in Durham. Definitely make reservations because it is a pretty small restaurant with a limited number of tables so if you don't have reservations you may be at the bar. Reservations also require a card to hold. It is dimly lit and in a great area that you can walk around and hit some bars or dessert spots after. Both the hostess and our server were nice and inviting too. The food is fairly priced, however the portions are small. We got the white ragu tajarin and truffle tajarin pasta. The flavors in both sauces were incredible. 10/10 for both sauces! I just really think the spaghetti noodles it was served in didn't do the pasta justice. The sauce wasn't sticking to the noodles like it should've and this kind of flavor profile needed thicker noodles like pappardelle and it would've been a perfect dish. We also got some drinks and they were great, especially the espresso martini. The menu is small so we only got pasta because we didn't agree on anything else and we ended up still being hungry afterwards. read more

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I give Cucciolo Osteria four stars (good). My wife and I had high expectations of this place given everything we'd heard. While the food and drink were good to great, service could've been better (this was our main gripe) and the atmosphere wasn't as nice as we'd hoped. However, I still think this is a solid restaurant for the food alone. It's one of the better spots we've been to in Chapel Hill and Durham for Italian food. That's all you need to know. Keep reading if you want the details. I'll get our criticisms out of the way first. The main thing was we felt rushed. We had barely made a dent in our appetizers when our server came over and asked if it was OK to bring our pasta course out. After looking at our table, it was obvious what our answer was. Also, there was no room to fit the pasta on our table anyway. While we were still working on our apps, our server again came over again and asked when he could tell the kitchen to start the pastas. We felt rushed and pressured. Did they have to turn our table that quickly? My wife and I were hoping to have a nice, enjoyable night out. This isn't a cheap place. Regardless of price, at most sit-down restaurants, very rarely have we felt rushed like we did here. Our server was friendly and attentive, but I think this is a detail that the staff can be better trained on. Next regarding the service, while transporting our drinks to our table, the lime on the rim of my wife's cocktail fell onto the floor. The server went ahead and served the cocktail to our table without the lime. He returned with a lime wedge in a bowl. This was disappointing because the fun of ordering cocktails, especially in this price range ($15-20), when going out is the presentation. It's little things like this that set the great restaurants apart from the good ones. In this situation, I'd expect a server to go back to the bar and have the drink fixed/re-done -- it seems like an easy fix. Finally regarding service, I originally made our reservation for two people. The day before our reservation, I called the restaurant and asked if they had room to expand to four. They did. Before I hung up, I made clear with the hostess to *not* change the reservation to four until after I confirmed with our friends. We understood each other before we hung up. Later that night, I got an email saying our reservation had been changed to four people which was exactly what I was trying to prevent. A miscommunication happened somewhere. Ultimately, not a big deal, just a little annoying. As far as the atmosphere went, the space itself was fine. Modern rustic. In other aspects, we were expecting something a bit more on the nicer side. We know Durham isn't known for having "fancy" fancy places, but some people rolled in dressed like they were headed to McDonald's. It was a strange mix of elevated and casual. And the music was weird too. For example, songs included YMCA and Escape (The Pina Colada Song) and artists included ABBA and Barry White. Not things you really hear at a nicer Italian restaurant or maybe I'm the one that's confused and this is supposed to be a casual joint. Here's what we had: Cocktails * Barrel Head Smoked Old Fashioned ($20.00) - smoked rosemary on Buffalo Trace barrel head, Buffalo Trace, toasted almond bitters * Jalisco Grapefruit Sunset ($16.00) - 21SEEDS Grapefruit Hibiscus tequila, marg mix, Pamplemousse liqueur, grapefruit juice Cicchetti * Rustic Tuscan Pate ($11.50) - fresh sage, baguette Antipasti * Creamed Mushrooms ($15.50) - sauteed cremini, shiitake, oyster mushrooms, cognac, Reggiano, multigrain toast * Burrata ($15.50) - cherry tomatoes, lemon/white wine vinegar, pesto, walnuts, olive oil * Filet Mignon Beef Carpaccio ($25.00) - with aioli and truffle paste Primi * Lemon Tagliatelle ($19.50) - garlic, Reggiano, lemon juice, lemon zest, chili flakes, arugula * Truffle Tajarin ($23.00) - fresh black truffles, truffled paste, Reggiano Dessert * Tiramisu ($11.50) In the Triangle, the smoked old fashioned I had at The Waiting Room was better, the pate we had at Bluebird was better, and the burrata we had at Pizzeria Toro was better. In all of these instances, the flavors were more complex at the other places. Cucciolo's versions weren't bad by any means, however. The pastas were excellent. They had outstanding texture and flavor and the sauces had a lot of depth to them. The beef carpaccio was very good. We both really liked the tiramisu -- creamy, light, and a good balance of flavors. Reservations are recommended. Book using OpenTable. Interesting fact: Cucciolo's original location opened in Seoul, South Korea in 2015. This second location opened in Durham in July 2018. Free parking is located on-site. If it's full, I suggest parking in "Lot 32" at 111 W Chapel Hill St. You do have to pay for parking there Monday-Friday, 8am-7pm. Otherwise, free. read more

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We had a lovely dinner at Cucciola Osteria. We were celebrating a birthday and really enjoyed the ambience, service and food. We had an appetizer (basically a giant meatball) and it was delish. We both had pasta dishes, mine with shrimp, and his with a beef and pork white ragu. The pasta is made fresh...and that makes a difference. Additionally, the wines we selected were lovely and the server sent us a panna cotta for the birthday boy! I highly recommend this restaurant for a lovely meal, especially if you are celebrating a special occasion. read more

Went here on a Sunday for dinner without a reservation. We were able to get 2 seats at the bar. Our waiter came over and was very attentive. Ordered the ravioli appetizer special and it was very good. The reviews all said the spicy vodka rigatoni was awesome and they were correct. Loved it. Cute decor and fairly upscale ambiance. Would recommend. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Rigatoni (GFP,V) - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Amazing. Great service from the bar tender and overall ambiance was really good. Loved the brick wall and the lighting but by far the food was the star of the show. I started with the Burrata and Hazelnut bruschetta and it was delicious. For the main I chose the Tajarin Arragosta. The flavor of the sauce of the was absolutely top notch. The shrimp were fresh and tasty. Def would return and get this pasta! Well done !! read more

If you want a delicious Italian meal, you found your restaurant! The server was knowledgeable on drinks, let me try a couple of red wines before I settled on a bottle of Cabernet. I'm gf and ordered the gf pasta and vodka sauce, wow it was delicious! Was daughter who sampled not one but several bites said she would never have known it was gf. She had the truffle pasta which she loved. We ended with tiramisu and I had an amazing scoop of pistachio gelato. read more

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I was in town for a short work trip and sat at the bar for dinner. It was so good! Everything we ordered was GF - many options and the pasta was so good! I started with the French martini which I loved. For apps we got the green salad, beet salad and carpaccio - all very good. We each got a GF pasta - they have two types a spaghetti and penne. Loved both! Especially the spicy rigatoni. Highly recommend this place! read more

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Our first time and we were mostly charmed by this restaurant. The food was delicious; we had the special fig and prosciutto bruschetta, meatball, and carbonara pasta. All excellent. We sat at the bar and our bartender was friendly and attentive. The main detraction was the unfriendly hostess who was unpleasant when we came in and then said nothing to us as we left. Need to find someone who knows how to leave a better impression. read more

We had a nice dinner with good service at this Italian restaurant in downtown Durham. We tried the following dishes: pumpkin arancini, raviolo and linguine alla carbonara, chocolate torte, and tiramisu. The food was good but the arancini did not have a pumpkin flavor to it. For the pasta, we wished there were more vegetarian options. We enjoyed the chocolate torte over the tiramisu a little more for dessert. The staff were kind and brought out the cake with a candle as it was for a birthday celebration. The inside is great. It does have limited seating so definitely make a reservation. If you at or near the bar, you also get to participate in some trivia with your party while you wait for you food. read more

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I don't get it. You have to pay for parking riding around for a space The most unfriendly hostess tells us we need to sit at the bar, and after we complain enough, she finds a table by the kitchen for us, even though we have reservation Then after ordering a bottle of wine the waiter up charges us almost $20 for the bottle for a basic adequate wine. Place our order and we're missing the pasta. After the waiter tells us it was delivered to a different table and never came out. Then we get an alert that our parking space is due. I don't get why anybody would come back here for dinner with the ambience pour wine service , messing up the order and a hefty check If this is Durham's best I just don't get it all around not a pleasant experience read more

My finance and I went for Valentine's Day where they had a 4 course meal set at ~$85 a head. She had previously been here and enjoyed her experience which prompted her to make a Valentine's Day reservation. Food: overall their Valentine's Day menu options were lackluster (especially in comparison to their traditional menu). Unfortunately, the food options we selected were also disappointing from a frasee perspective as well. For our appetizer we had gotten the meat ball and ricotta w/ honey glaze. Both were fine but nothing special (certainly not worth the price). We then had the spicy rigatoni which average and the lobster ravioli which was very disappointing. The portion was small, the noodles were poorly cooked, and the lobster flavor was masked by a very strong lemon flavor. We then had the pork chop which was horribly undercooked w/ meh flavor and the halibut which was on the other end of the spectrum and too dry. The final items we received were the raspberry sorbet (which was great) and a coconut sorbet which was terrible texturally. Service: our waiter was great, he was attentive and kind. No complaints. Ambiance: a small restaurant with limited seating. Clean, not too noisy. read more

Reservations for 4 on a Thursday night to celebrate a daughter's birthday. She wanted some good pasta and I have to say that Cucciola Osteria delivered some delicious perfectly cooked pasta. I wish they served a bigger portion of it, but our server did warn us of its size! We started with drinks which is one of only two pics I managed to take. I was too busy eating! The carpaccio was divine. The barrata and roasted hazelnut with truffle honey is a must try. I'm not a huge hazelnut fan, but I was quite surprised by the balance of the flavors. And if you love mushrooms, don't pass up the creamed mushrooms. Of course I couldn't say no to the beet salad. I never say no to beet salad! One of us ordered the braised beef shank, which was good, but I think that may have been our only mistake. We should have just stuck with pasta. I think my favorite was the spicy vodka rigatoni. We also ordered the linguini alla vongole and the fresh catch of the day. The sommelier was not working that night, but the manager or assistant manager, can't remember which, helped us select a bottle of wine that disappeared way too quickly! Then we got a bunch of desserts to share on top of what they brought for her birthday I did get a pic of that! The restaurant was quaint with dim lighting. It definitely filled up as the evening progressed and the noise level did rise, but not so much that we couldn't carry a conversation. Service was attentive, but not overbearing. I'd definitely return to try some of their other pasta dishes! May try a weekend night to see if things are different... read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Tiramisu - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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The restaurant is on the smallish side. My table was smallish and the seat not overly comfortable. The lighting was a little dim and the noise about average. Although i was impressed that there were a few specials, I thought the menu was a little thin and it was hard for me to find something I was excited to order. I tried the bolognese (my son ordered it) and I thought it was delicious with tender noodles well appointed with delicious sauce that had more than sufficient meat. It was fantastic. The portion was just right-- a medium bowl. I got the chicken and it tasted delicious too. It had a nice coating and was well spiced. A little on the small size but a pleasant meal just the same. Overall, i found this restaurant to be average. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Entire restaurant - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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The entire selection was exquisite. From appetizers to desserts it was truly fantastic. I highly recommend the Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Rigatoni. Our appetizer was the Burratta and Hazelnut. It was AMAZING! It took me on a sweet and salty adventure. Our server was extremely friendly and very attentive. The inside was an industrial chic. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - The DELICIOUS Coconut sorbet (ask your server) - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

It was decent. There was nothing spectacular about it, nor anything bad. But, also not "good" enough to recommend to someone. Service was very drawn out. Our reservation was at 5pm (opening time) on a Saturday but we could have spent an hour less there. The timing between drinks, appetizers, meal was very spaced out. It's a very small location, nothing spectacular to report with the ambiance either. read more

Cucciolo Osteria - Tagliatelle Alla Amtriciana. - Italian Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

We chose those spot to celebrate a birthday and the food, vibes and service were all fantastic. I finished my white ragu pasta so fast that I was tempted to order a second plate. The rigatoni that I tried from my friend was also very delicious. Perfectly al dente. Dishes were slightly on the saltier side but nonetheless still so good. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the strawberry habanero drink, it was definitely my favorite drink of the night. Since it was a friend's birthday, our server made her a special peppermint mocha cocktail (on the house) which was also really tasty. The staff were wonderful. Overall, it was a great time with no complaints--I would definitely go again. read more

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I went back and forth on writing this review for some time as I don't like giving poor reviews. However, I slept on it for a week and think that this rating is deserved. My husband and I had been excited to try Cucciolo Osteria as one of our friends said it was her favorite restaurant. We finally made it there recently, and sadly it didn't live up to the hype. We checked in for our reservation on the dot and were met by a very unenthusiastic hostess (she also didn't even glance at us when we left after the meal and said goodbye). The ambiance and decor were nice--best described as modern industrial with a lot of exposed brick and pipes. Our server was mediocre. She was friendly enough, but it took over 15 minutes for her to come by for us to even order. Several times during our meal, we were in need of additional water but did not have anyone come by to ask for it. The service wasn't the reason for the 3 stars, but it was a little frustrating. Our meal started on a high note with the appetizers but fell flat on the entrees. I had a fun strawberry jalapeño soda, and we started with the polpette and tomato basil bruschetta. Both apps were delicious and must-orders. If the meal had continued in this manner, this would have been a glowing review. Unfortunately, the pastas were not worth it at all. Interesting because these were our server's favorite two and some of the most commonly ordered ones. My husband's tajarin arrogosta (shrimp in lobster cream sauce) was the most disappointing. There were 3 mediocre-tasting shrimp, the sauce not only did not taste of lobster but rather had a one-note flavor of salt, and oddly enough the amount of pasta was substantially less than mine. My white ragu tajarin was slightly better (and slightly bigger), but still had underwhelming flavor that was mostly just of salt. The pasta itself was fine and cooked al dente but very well could have come out of a box (contrast this with Vici's pasta, which is outstanding). We decided on our way out of the restaurant that we won't be back. All 3 stars given are earned for the appetizers that were delicious, but the entrees and service are not worth the time or money. read more

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Busy Saturday night. Sat at bar. Service was good but the food quality was poor. House salad was 15.00 . It was just lettuce greens with a few arugula and lacked much dressing. Linguini carbonara was overcooked and mushy19.50 Catch of day was Chilean bass at 46.00. The fish was good and was a generous portion but it was swimming in oil as well as the veracruz veggies swimming in oil. Being busy on a Saturday night was not an excuse for such poor execution. We wont be back read more