I stopped in on a weeknight for dinner and was not disappointed. I have been meaning to dine here at Pennell's, one of Saratoga's oldest establishments. Their old fashioned yet charming interior, has a relaxed vibe that has you looking forward to a good meal. Upon entering, I was immediately shown to a table by their friendly and welcoming staff. I enjoyed my warm crusty bread with herb butter as I looked over their menu. It was not an easy decision, as I was interested in many of their dishes. I decided on a meatball marinara appetizer and their lasagna which was made from their recipe that's over a 100 years old. Also ,their roasted eggplant with red pepper, ricotta, spinach and pesto and marinara baked with mozzarella over linguine. Their portions are generous and if I were really truthful, I did overindulge in another helping of bread. It's a necessary vehicle, to sop up good marinara sauce when the opportunity presents itself. I almost forgot to mention, that their house salad really hit the spot. My leftovers became an excellent lunch the next day. My only regret was that I didn't have room for dessert. This is a good excuse as any to go back there to try their other dishes all while making another attempt at having dessert! read more

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I ate here last week while in town for the Belmont, and frankly, I don't see why or how this place has the reputation it does, because it is not what I would consider a particularly high quality Italian restaurant. And FYI, I was in the food/hospitality business for more than 20 years, and I have also been to Italy and had genuine Italian cuisine. First, the pros: portion sizes are quite large, and priced reasonably for the size of them, and the main entree in itself was good; I had plenty left for dinner the following night. Service was decent but not exceptional. Cons: the pasta that came with my roasted eggplant was definitely not made in house, as I would expect from an Italian restaurant of this reputation, and was also quite overcooked, to the point of being almost mushy. And their supposedly famous marinara sauce was thin and rather watery--although some of that could be from the pasta not being well drained--, with no distinquishable flavor. But what for me was the final tip-off that this was not a quality Italian restaurant was when the waiter brought the requested parmesan cheese: it was your run-of-the-mill cheap stuff in a generic shaker, something they probably buy in large tubs. I would have expected the waiter to bring over a chunk of REAL parmesan-reggiano cheese, and grate it to order over the food. Frankly, I made a much better Italian meal for friends just a couple weeks prior to this. read more

Delicious food! Great service! Superb portions!! Outstanding!! Highly recommend. Our favorite place to eat! read more

The best Italian in Saratoga. Sit at the bar or get a table, either way take in the old school ambiance with great service. Their red sauce is just to die for. Side note, their martinis are really reasonable as well. read more

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Generous portions . Love the chicken parm. My friends and I go there quite a bit in Track Season. Not the fanciest place and the bar isn't that big but good food and service usually . read more

A MUST every time I visit Saratoga Racetrack I crave Pennell's. Make Reservations, unless you get lucky like me w/ a seat at the bar, which I prefer. Ol school New York ambiance w/ the wooden bar that you never want to change. Love the bartender & company at the bar. All very hardworking chefs, staff & absolutely wonderful owner, Bruce. To start, we always order the Clams Bianco. Garlicky-butter goodness! The bread to dip into the white wine clam sauce, devine! Veal Parmigiana is the BEST I've ever had! Over penne pasta this time. It's huge so I was excited to eat it the next day & I never take home leftovers & eat them. A+ NY Strip totally melts in your mouth. Cooked to perfection accompanied by buttery mashed potatoes & green beans. Makes me hungry writing this review! Almost forgot the entrees come with a salad & all the dressing are homemade, or at least the ones I've had. The Blue Cheese & Thousand Island are wonderful, but the ladies next to me had a special ranch dressing that I have to try next August when I'm back! Everything I've had here had been A+ & always a great experience. I hope they get the Meomi Pinot Noir back next time, but either way I'll be back!! read more

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Everything about Pernell's is awesome!!! Food, servers and kitchen and bartenders! Very enjoyable!!!

Came here for my birthday dinner. We were luckily tucked into a corner, as it was only my fiancé and I. The place was CROWDED, to say the least. But everything was delicious. I had the lasagna and my fiancé had the veal parm- his VEAL was a 10/10. My lasagna, for whatever reason, was better the next day. So so good overall. read more

Awsome restaurant... the clams are amazing and lasagna recipe is over 100 years old... great out of the way restaurant and one of my favorites... Sheila the bartender is great... read more

Pennell's Restaurant - Clams - Italian Near Me - Saratoga Springs, New York

Food was good. Service excellent. Very busy and close seating which makes it loud. Overall I would definitely go back just try to find a less busy time read more

I have never been disappointed at Pennell's. The food has always been great, and the service is excellent. I do have one complaint. It may not be to you, but it bothered me. When my family and I had dinner there last night, I noticed that the hostess was dressed in jeans. I found this upsetting. It's definitely not what I expected at Pennell's. It will not keep me away. Going to Pennell's because I love it. read more

I have ordered lasagna in Italian Restaurants probably30 times. Pernell's lasagna was the best. My wife's chic parm was great also. Old school place friendly staff, reasonable prices. We will return. read more

Not a pasta person.Had haddock francese was pleasantly surprised. Very good.came with potato and vegetables.

It was a privilege to dine at one of the oldest establishments in Saratoga Springs! Friendly waitstaff, great ambiance and wonderful food. We did wait a bit for our main courses, but they were delicious. read more

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Authentic Italian food served in an open room, creating a cozy family feel with everyone talking like one large extended family. Not located in the busy downtown area rather near the Racino and harness track but a favorite of locals and repeat visitors to Saratoga. Friendly, hard working and responsive staff equals not waiting long for meals. read more

We just happened on this amazing restaurant. Has an old Greek....Italian...ambiance. We went early on a Friday night in October and were seated with no wait. Amazing waitress and help staff. Bread and butter tasted so good. Husband had the coaches steak and I had the lobster ravioli special. Both were amazing. Salads were so good with their garlic ranch dressing. Little pricey, but so worth it! We will go again before we leave NY! read more

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We went there after the track, big party of 10. Sat outside. All my years going to the spa never been. Had the fish. Portions are huge. Server spilled garlic juice on my shirt but no harm no foul. read more

Had dinner there tonight. First customer for 2025. The sauce is so tasty it's drinkable. Service - excellent. I had chicken parm and couldn't finish it, and trust me - I can eat! Portions are generous. I highly recommend Pennell's. read more

Pennell's Restaurant - Eggplant. My wife loved it. - Italian Near Me - Saratoga Springs, New York

Party of 14 starting with fresh bread w/herb butter, crisp salad, meatballs, sausage and mussels appetizers all delicious. Husband had ginormous portion of Veal Parm. I, and several others, had Shrimp Genoase. We all agreed everything was delicious. Dessert (tiramisu for me key lime pie for husband) and coffee enjoyed by most. The entree portions were so generous the majority of us needed to take some home . Pricing was in keeping with the quality and portions. Mangia bene read more

Visit Saratoga every year but this was my first time at Pennell's and it won't be the last. There were 7 in my party and we had reservations. The service was excellent and dining room ambiance nice. Both the bread and the salad were delicious (in fact, it was the best dinner salad I've ever had!) I had the eggplant which was fabulous, as was the lasagna, shrimp genoase, and chicken picatta. We didn't have time to stay for dessert. However I will be adding this place to our rotation and look forward to going back! read more

Absolutely delicious authentic Italian food. Just ate here last night because I stayed at the hotel down the road. Whenever we asked anyone for recommendations, this was always top of the list. Now, being from Jersey I'm used to eye catching restaurants and decor. You can very easily miss Pennells because the outdoor decor is not eye-grabbing. We still gave it a chance because of all the advice from locals. We made reservations but probably didn't need them, the place has ample seating. Also, tons of parking. Right away we were greeted with delicious toasty bread and an herbed butter spread. So tasty, I also really loved that the servers basically knew we were gonna ask for more bread. The service was really great. Everyone was on top of all the details. We got the famous baked lasagne and chicken piccata. The sauce from the lasagne was great, homemade and a little sweet. I loved it. The chicken piccata was great too. Thick chicken breast cooked perfectly in that lemon caper sauce. The pasta was great too. We kept picking off each other's dishes. This is a great place for a huge Italian dinner. The portions are gigantic. The hospitality is plenty and the food is great. read more

Pennell's Restaurant - Chicken piccata - Italian Near Me - Saratoga Springs, New York

Fabulous night at Pennells. Our first time and would definitely go back. Portions were huge, service was wonderful and the atmosphere was old time fun. Great bar with mixed crowd but all there to enjoy the food. Go with the specials but the sausage lasagna was great. Veal parm was delicious as was my lo ster ravioli with shrimp and asparagus in a delicate red cream sauce. Yum. read more

Pennell's Restaurant - Lobster Ravioli with shrimp and asparagus. sausage lasagna - Italian Near Me - Saratoga Springs, New York

So we go her for 1 reason only. The NY strip. It is inarguably the best steak in town (suck it salt and char). The atmosphere is eh. But the steak is 2 giant thumbs up. And Dan is a pretty good bar keep. But go get the strip. read more

I had never been to Pennell's until last night. Everyone raves about the steak and I was sorely disappointed. It was not seasoned very well at all. Ordered medium rare but "on the rarer side." What came out was medium well. On the second try, it came back close to medium rare but still just lacked flavor. Very much enjoyed the shrimp Italian dish. Salads and bread were great and decent reasonably priced wine list. I like the old school ambience. Just wouldn't recommend the steak that everyone says is so good for some reason. It's not. read more

Since 1922? Seriously? Like almost 100 years? Yes. Pennell's is a long-time 'toga staple that I only found out about recently. We met friends last night that have been there many times and highly recommended Pennell's. First - I love the old-school sign outside. Clearly, it's been there forever. Second - the inside has an old-school vibe (without being worn out) that I liked immediately. There's definitely a smell....a good smell....when walking into the bar area...it reminds me of downstate Bronx-based-Arthur-avneue-ish Italian joint. Staff was terrific - our server was excellent. She let us know that portions are tremendous, so we decided against any appetizers (and skipped dessert due to busting bellies). But, our friends said that the "Italian Greens" app is fantastic. Maybe next time!! The menu has a ton of seafood choices and I almost went for one of those...but I decided to keep it simple and just have penne with red sauce. Delicious, thick and slightly sweet sauce with perfectly cooked penne. Others at the table had spaghetti with meatballs (and sausage), chicken parm and lasagna. Giant portions as advertised. I was still able to finish all of my pasta but there was definitely leftover lasagna and spaghetti. I'm not usually turned off by prices, but I was rather surprised at how high they were. My plain pasta dish was $17....the clams over linguine goes for $27 and another seafood/pasta dish was $29. Totally understand that we don't live on the ocean, but some of those prices seemed a bit steep. Anyway, the dessert choices sounded lovely and even though the prices are a bit high, the food here is the real deal. read more

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Food was very good. Wish there was gluten free pasta. It wasn't great having an eggplant dish with masked potatoes.

Great piece of culinary history in Saratoga - the food and service was simple but delicious

Nice neighborhood restaurant. Driving to this restaurant, I wasn't sure if my GPS was really taking me to the restaurant or not as all I saw was residential houses. Yes this restaurant is located in the middle of residential area, I kept thinking how the zoning works around here but nice to see a restaurant loved by locals. Away from touristy downtown area, you have to know this restaurant is here. We shared garlic clams for appetizer and they were really good. My main dish was just average, it wasn't bad but I know another restaurant near there serving exceptional food. Price is very affordable, catering towards locals, priced as moderate to make it affordable. Wine price by the bottle was nothing outrageous either. Plenty of wine selection. Service was friendly and attentive. Really nice neighborhood restaurant. read more

Pennell's Restaurant - Garlic clams appetizer - Italian Near Me - Saratoga Springs, New York

The food was really good. Too bad that it was cold and there was no one in the restaurant that had the sense to do anything to make it up to us. I will NEVER go back. Horrible service, no common sense. read more

We've enjoyed coming here for years since I was a little child. Best Italian restaurant ever the sauce is perfect. read more

Pennell's Restaurant - Celebrating my birthday anniversary and Mother's Day because it all falls in the month of May. This is my family. - Italian Near Me - Saratoga Springs, New York

Excellent restaurant near race track. Food was delicious with good portions. Service was friendly and attentive. Several vegetarian options. Two different outdoor seating sections under canopy. Wait staff all wore masks. The owner of the restaurant is also one of the owners of " 'Tis the Law" which won The Tavers and he was celebrating that night which Was fun to watch. read more

Pennell's Restaurant - One of the outdoor areas - Italian Near Me - Saratoga Springs, New York

Great old school italian joint. Top 5 when you visit saratoga. Nothing fancy which is what makes it just right.

It's "Good For Albany"....if this place were in New Haven charging these prices with this kind of product.....there would be a For Rent outside fairly quickly. This is a beloved place by locals, evidently these said locals haven't traveled to Arthur Ave. or Wooster St....or Federal Hill in Providence for that matter. This place is a 6/10 in Connecticut.... read more

Went here on a date last week. First time here as I'm from out of town. Although restaurant was extremely busy and it took a while to get food, service was spot-on! Waitress was spectacular, I'm sorry that I didn't get her name. She knew her stuff though. Food was perfect! Definitely returning again when I get a chance! read more

The oldest restaurant in Saratoga, and still in my opinion, the best for great Italian cuisine, and the Best Steak for the money in Saratoga! They still include a salad with every dinner ... and it's hard to beat their house dressing with crumbled blue cheese. They're excellent at all of the Italian staples and their red sauce is wonderful. When the veal and peppers are on special, I just have to get it. It's good as you'll get anywhere and better than most. When it comes to dessert, if you like carrot cake, theirs is Fabulous - it says right on the menu the name of the bakery they get it from -(They don't pretend that they make it there)... but it doesn't come from restaurant depot or cSysco's. This is great carrot cake! They are a little off the beaten path down that side road by the harness track ... but I guess it's not to hidden as people have been finding it for 100 years. The fact they have a parking lot with plenty of available parking, is a Saratoga bonus. If you need haven't been there, you should give them a try. If you haven't been there in a while - get back there and tell them I sent you ...lol. (they do not know me.) read more

My first time having dinner here. We were pleasantly welcomed and seated without a reservation. The young girl waitresses are very busy and good at what they do. Always smiling and they come off like they enjoy their job and want you to have an enjoyable experience (this should be the norm but isn't anymore so it gets noticed and calculated into the gratuity). The food took a long time. From ordering until it reached the table was close to 1 hour. I'm guessing they need another set of hands in the kitchen. Let's talk about the food. The chicken parm was fantastic. Huge generous serving. Sauce like mom makes. Thick. And evenly balanced with no acidic overtones. If anything it is slightly sweet. Perfect. The Chicken Picatta was traditional. Plenty of capers. Very tender chicken. Generous size. The Penne Alfredo was sinful. Hard to stop eating even after being stuffed. The desserts were as good as the entrees. Chocolate layered cake. Carrot cake and an Italian Gelato in a chocolate shell. The Cappuccinos were perfectly on point. Everything took longer than expected but never disappointed. Again, I think some extra help in the kitchen could be the issue. Maybe somebody called in and they were doing the best they could. The ambience was fine. Pretty much an open room setting with a high ceiling which lends itself to louder acoustics. Nothing troublesome. I expect to hear some loud talking at an Italian restaurant. We are looking forward to going back. A fantastic meal with generous portions and fair pricing. read more

the best restaurant in Saratoga springs. you can't beat the food, the service or the ambiance. if you want Italian food, just like gramma made you'll never taste anything better than their dishes. I've tried everything on the menu and I never got a bad meal. I've been going there for over 30 years and go every chance I get . love the place. read more

We had SUCH an excellent meal here recently! Every detail was perfect, from the bread basket to the homemade salad dressings on the salads, to the perfect Pittsburgh sear of the steak. My haddock piccatta was moist and generously topped with a lemon-caper sauce. And the entire staff was friendly. We will definitely be back! read more

Wow! We were invited to a special birthday celebration with a party of 8. Service was a little slow (busy night) but otherwise flawless. Nice wine and cocktail selections. Half the party ordered the Coach steak. My husband let me have a few bites from his. Amazing. Cooked perfectly, thick and seared/seasoned nicely. Fries were great. I had the veal parmigiana- extremely good. Others ordered the chicken parmigiana and the chicken piccata. Huge portions. Super delicious. One of the best meals in a while. I highly recommend them. read more

Always awesome consistent and never disappoints! Went for a perfect Mother's Day dinner. We all had a different selection and it was DELISH! read more