What a great find!!! Nice, traditional Italian restaurant with favorites. Good wine selection. Loved this pizza! Not sure what is best--the toppings or the deep dish crust. The tomatoes with the warned goat cheese and just the right amount of balsamic reduction. All that and a lovely staff. read more

Pulcinella's - Pizza - Italian Near Me - South Burlington, Vermont

OMG do not order cacio e pepe! I ordered cacio e pepe and the waitress returned with a huge bowl of elbow macaroni and alfredo sauce. Italian mac and cheese!! Figuring the waitress may have misunderstood my entree request I asked her and she reports that she had indeed entered my request for cacio e pepe. Whoever is doing the cooking there needs to google one of a million recipes for cacio e pepe online and get a clue on how to make this dish. Needless to say I canceled the order and had it sent garbage. read more

The food is excellent southern Italian. The servings are huge, the lasagna could feed a family of four! The service was great and the prices very reasonable. It is a family friendly place, although we were able to get a table in a quiet spot. I highly recommend Pulcinella's if you want an authentic southern Italian cuisine. read more

My last review was six years ago when they were still at the Dorset St. location. Their food is amazingly delicious, fresh and local (as much as possible.) Service is great. I have read that the service can be slow. That is to be expected if your food is being prepared to order. Lasagna? Amazing! My favorite and first entrée I ever ordered is Linguine Alle Pescatore. Yum! Prices, in today's dollars, are reasonable and comparable (less, even) to a couple of Italian restaurants in downtown Burlington. Go here! read more

I Ordered on line and when I picked it up at the arrival time it was barely warm. I asked when it came out of the over they said "5 minutes". This was not true. read more

Last night, we were at Pulcinellas as a large group (14). We had one server and both he and the food were excellent! I am so happy Pulcinella's is still going strong! Delicious food, attentive service, easy access and cozy feel. I'm looking forward to going back. read more

If you can find a better linguine with clams in the Burlington area, I'd like to know about it. This was our second trip back and we enjoyed the Vongole and Fruitti di Mare so much that we ordered it again. Ask for bread to soak up that great sauce too. read more

Pulcinella's - Italian Near Me - South Burlington, Vermont

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We were hungry for simple, authentic, home-cooked-taste, Italian, and it's exactly what we found. Not a fancy place, but not a casual pizza joint either (far from). We had been hiking, hadn't changed, and just needed a solid meal. Portions are big, as our waitress noted before we ordered. We split the Polpette (meatballs), Spaghetti con Pomodorini, and my husband had the special soup of day, Pasta Fagioli. Along with iced tea, our total bill was $36! Waitress was sweet and attentive. read more

Vacationing from Westchester, NY, only mentioning it because of what we are used to concerning Italian restaurants. The ambience was nothing to talk bout, but it was a snowy Tuesday night so you can't expect much. A bit dark and cold, like a Nonna's basement. Service was great: prompt, polite and attentive. The food was the problem. Caesar salad was great, no complaints there. My wife got a Pinot Grigio that was meh, but at $9 a glass, it was expected. I ordered a Pappardelle bolognese, and it was a disaster. The noodles were good, the bolognese was murder; too much of it, so much it was dry, it was quite frankly off-putting, looked like dog food. I tried eating it so I picked at only the noodles but I just couldn't, it didn't taste right. I should've taken a picture, I just didn't want to be rude, and I don't send food back. My wife got a Mushroom Risotto and it was plain and a bit 'al dente. I ended up eating that with her and even so we ate about half the portion. Portions however were huge! If other dishes are better presented and/or better tasting, you are getting more than your money's worth, alas, it was not so for the dishes we picked. read more

Excellent service and consistently good food that never disappoints. We have just started going to the the Shelburne Road location after frequently going to their restaurant close to Barnes and Noble for years. When they moved it seemed like a hassle to drive down Shelburne Road. We are so glad that we have rediscovered how good the food is and how much we enjoy the staff. Yes, it is worth the drive! read more

I really enjoyed the spinach pizza with the white sauce. Also ordered the Margherita, but that was soggy in the middle so not as enjoyable. The spaghetti with the caramelized onions was good and my husband really enjoyed the Sunday special. read more

Pulcinella's - This is the spaghetti with caramelized onions, forgot the name. Was good but very oily. - Italian Near Me - South Burlington, Vermont

my daughter was visiting with her family and staying next-door. I ordered the mushroom sauce pizza expecting the pizza to have lots of on it. I 10 spots of on the whole pizza. I prefer a conspire crust. My daughter got the eggplant Parmesan ate less than a 10th of it. I brought it home just had some. It was horrible. I I don't know what they did. One had a pasta dish. He said it was too oily. My other grandson had a pizza he for wife for one thing she ordered crème brûlée, one of her favorite desserts. She said it was really bad. for main course she had gyro sandwich she had no flavor. There was a small salad too much feta. I have never actually written a review of a restaurant and we're not picky eaters. If we had gone to a supermarket takeout I would've expected better. Really disappointing yeah, the ambience was nice so what and it didn't take too long to get disappointing food, but they automatically added the should not have been I was a I'd look for a different job. read more

Mediocre. The atmosphere is dated and stuffy. I know they're going for this Tuscan dark tavern kind of thing, but it just doesn't play out well. I was there on a Saturday evening at about 7:00 which should have been prime time. Two or three people at the bar and maybe six or eight at tables. I was really surprised to see that the chef does not do a pasta carbonara as it's one of the all-time classics. Maybe it's not enough of the northern Italian cuisine.... Idk. So I went for the lasagna special and it was disappointing. The portion was very large but the sauce was flat, almost as if a can of tomatoes was opened and pureed and that's about it. There was no depth to the flavor or anything interesting going on. The pasta was a bit soggy and the braised pork was kind of dry. There was almost none of that rich creaminess that oozes out from the parmesan and Romano in a classic lasagna. It was served in a big swimming pool of sauce so I used that to tame the dryness. My server was pleasant enough but not very knowledgeable about Italian food and the wait staff were kind of chatting amongst themselves. There was zero energy or bounce in this place. I've always thought that the Tuscan cuisine is, like the usual atmosphere that it is enjoyed in, little dark and savory. Not exactly the celebration of Italian freshness zest and sparkle that you see in some of the Southern cuisine. If you're going to go dark in 2025, you better have the goods to back it up....real Northern cuisine. I remember when this place opened up up on the plaza where EMS was located. Something has definitely changed since then. read more

Pulcinellas is located in what looks like a historic home. The feeling is casual dining in a neighborhood style restaurant. It's located next door to the Holiday Inn which is convenient for hotel guest. Service : I would say this was probably the worst service for a decent restaurant. Our waiter not experienced with or has not been trained with customer service and the lacks the skills of how to handle situations. We asked what recommendations he could offer with the pasta dishes and asked what are the most popular favorite dishes. He wasn't able to offer anything other than saying it depends what you're in the mood for and that the steak is good. Steak? We asked for recommendations on the most liked pasta dishes. Food : The bread and garlic infused olive oil is very good. We ordered the Sunday Special Ragu and a Linguine with Seafood dish. The entrees were good but not worth a repeat visit. We came here with mixed feelings based on the Yelp stars and considered Trattoria Delia. We chose this restaurant since it sounded casual and a lower price point. Next time we will go to Trattoria Delia...we made a mistake with coming here. Bar : The bar was filling with retired singles. Seems to be a good neighborhood spot for the locals. Price : Very reasonable at $20 an entree. The portions are large. read more

Linguine and clams had a lot of fresh ones as well as chopped. Sauce with oil was ok, but needed a punch of clam juice to intensify the flavor. The minced green onion garnish was strange and a bit off putting to me. Plain parsley or some lemon would have been better. It was a beautiful night outside and the service was great. read more

I think this restaurant is pretty good and I think they try to keep their prices reasonable, which is a plus in this economy. The menu is set to choose several items for a multi course meal, fortunately you can just order 1 item for dinner. Many options and consistently good. read more

Any "BEST Italian food or fare" given to any other Italian Restaurant in Vermont that isn't Pulcinella's is by anyone that hasn't been here to eat. NONE of the other restaurants are even close to being in the same league. Clues are no plate pics , no dumbed down menu item titles. Once you experience this food you will know the difference between those that claim to offer real Italian fare and the one that does. read more

What a strange place: the building looks like a very old house or restaurant, which is cool. But the outside was dark and totally not welcoming. We went inside anyway, had to walk thru a hall way to the back to find the hostess stand. We were seated in the dining area by the bar, which was great: warm woods, friendly atmosphere, nice server. Food was good but also presented strangely: side of pasta served naked (no sauce); we had to ask for some marinara for it. Again the whole experience was strange by good food. read more

First time here.. our server was abrupt, inattentive and spoked so fast without opening his mouth you couldn't understand him. Zero appealing appetizers. The orange blossom drink was so good. The highlight of the meal. Ordered the seafood risotto and it's so not worth the money!! 2 shrimp, 2 scallops and a huge amount of rice... husband had parmigiana and it was chewy. Extremely tacky.. on top of the tablecloth there was paper. It slid and moved. Just tacky!! I would never recommend or come back. Extremely disappointing. I can cook a whole box of rice way cheaper than this. Yawn and save your money read more

The food is amazing and very large portions as well. You should SEE the lasagna on Thursday night! WOW! The mussels and the Paglia e Fieno were fantastic and they have some delicious wines that are very reasonably priced. The Bartender/Manager is super friendly and the service is great. I highly recommend this restaurant and will be returning very soon! read more

The service we received was great !! We didn't have a reservation and we were seated relatively Quickly!! Our order was taken and we didn't wait long for our food. The atmosphere was very nice with the subtle string lights and small tree decorations. We had a nice meal in a great atmosphere !! read more

I don't always come to Burlington, but when I do, I always eat at Pulcinella's. Thats not an exaggeration, either. I've been coming here several times a year for about 10 years now, having first discovered them when they were in their prior location up by 89 and Williston Rd. (I will say I miss the old location - it seemed a bit more intimate and seemed to me to have more character. The current location just doesn't in my mind fit with an Italian restaurant). But anyway, that's a minor quibble. It immediately became my go-to when I'm up here, and I genuinely look forward to eating here. This place is a real hidden treasure. Unpretentious, pretty easy on the wallet, and most of all, has great food. Staff is friendly and attentive, food is good and plentiful, and if you sit at the bar you may meet some very interesting people, both local and visiting. The food is always solid. I don't generally rave about pasta dishes, since I will immodestly say that I make pretty decent ones myself, but I will say that Pulcinella's makes hands down the best lasagna I have ever had in a restaurant, period. The fact that one piece can likely feed 3 people (which seems pretty much to be the case for all their dishes) is a plus. The catch is they don't have it on the menu every day, which is why, despite having been dropping in there for the last decade or so, I only got my first taste of it this year. I think it's a Thursday/Friday thing, and because it sells out, you may still miss out. The wine selection is neither voluminous nor high end, but considering that a good red sauce Italian menu just needs a halfway decent Chianti or Pinot Grigio, it's adequate. Anyway, I really dig this place. Is it in the 5-star pantheon of best places on earth? Probably not. But it's for sure in my personal 5 star pantheon of local, family-run, Italian restaurants, and I've been to plenty of those to sample from. I wish them continued success and am already looking forward to my next visit! read more

Service very good, the food was wonderful. portions were huge. Definitely recommend to big family's and friend groups. yummy yummy all in my tummy read more

Was there on a Thursday for birthday celebration. The service was slow, even getting drinks was slow. Food took over an hour and when it came 3 of 4 dishes were crusty. Clearly sat under heat lamp.squash ravioli were hard and almost in editable. Extra dish on check, and took twice to get it removed. Very disappointing experience. read more

Went there deliberately for a dish that was on the menu both online and in the restaurant. When I ordered it I was told they were out as they were taking it off the menu. Bread was brought to the table about ten minutes later followed by our meal just a couple minutes later. I ordered a side of braciole which had no taste and was poorly made and presented. I ordered tiramisu to take home which was dry and had no flavor. I chose this restaurant as we had a good experience once before but the food this time was poor quality with little. The server we had was very nice. Very disappointing for a birthday dinner. read more

We had dinner here first because of the proximity to our hotel. We were not disappointed! The food was amazing! The best Tiramisu I have ever had! I got the veal parmigiana and it was amazing! The veal was cooked to perfection and it was a substantial cut of meat. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the green beans were crispy but done well. The mozzarella is made in house and the marinara sauce was one of the best! Service was quick and our food was served hot. It was really one of the most surprising and delicious food finds ever! read more

So sorry to leave a bad review, but I hope you will take the advice to heart.... The pizza was so salty as to be completely inedible. After I got it back to my hotel (tried takeout) and took a bite I couldn't understand what was going on, what on it was so salty. I looked back at the menu and saw that the ingredients were prosciutto, arugula, Parmesan and Asiago. No mozzarella. I tried to peel the pizza apart to find the thickest layer of Parmesan and Asiago was what was ruining the pizza. These cheese are supposed to be a Garnish, a little sprinkle (since they are extremely salty) on top of one's food. Also I'd really recommend adding the arugula after the pizza is cooked, so it's more flavorful and not all wilted. I've eaten all kinds of "bad" pizza from movie theaters to cardboard style, but this was absolutely inedible. I can't believe they figured out a way to ruin pizza. The staff was polite and the ambience seemed cool in an old school but not too outdated kind of way. read more

In town for a concert, which began at 7:15, we made reservations for 5 PM. My husband had eaten here before on a business trip and loved the food. We arrived promptly at five, and were immediately met by a hairred gentleman who directed us where to stand while waiting for our table. We were seated by a lovely hostess named Emma. A large party or event was being held in a room close by, but the area we were seated in was quiet with one other couple. We ordered drinks, calamari, and a salad to share. Both arrived surely quickly, and both were good, but not outstanding. Upon request, we were given a basket of bread, which was semi stale along with some very peculiar sweet olive oil. We ordered our entrées and we sat, and sat and sat. Our hostess Emma came by several times to let us know that the large party of 20 was what was occupying much of the kitchen's time and she was checking on our entrées. Another party of four arrived and found themselves in a similar situation. When the food finally did arrive around 6:30, my husband enjoyed his pasta dish, made with crab meat and broccoli, but said it wasn't anything he'd order again. I had a stuffed shells dish that was enormous, bland, with overly sweet meat filled tomato sauce. It was served with a side of semi steamed plain green beans. It was way too big for me to finish, and had I liked it. It would've been a shame that I couldn't take the leftovers with me as we were staying in a hotel for the evening. By the time we got out of there, it was 7 o'clock, and we had to rush to get to the concert site. Our very nice hostess Emma, said she had felt bad about the amount of time we had to wait and had boxed up a couple of cannolis for us to take with us for dessert. Total for the bill with tip came to roughly $100 which isn't bad for dinner for two, but there were probably better places to eat as a dinner party for 20 shouldn't throw an entire restaurant into chaos and the inability to serve three additional tables with a total of eight people. Gotta give props to our hostess, who handled it all with diplomacy and grace! read more

This local gem is a must. The atmosphere is quaint, and the service is great. Food is delicious and the portions are very large.

This place has been around a long time and sits in a great location. Unfortunately, it was a hit and miss experience. We had a young, friendly waiter but he struggled to find our table throughout the evening which made for a longer meal than expected. I had the stroganoff, which was excellent and I was so happy to see it on the menu - not very common - it was a special. My wife had a ravioli dish which she liked very much. It was nice to get some bread with dinner but it was very common and not very flavorful. I would suggest NOT ordering the tiramisu - it was a dry version due to too many lady fingers and not enough marscapone...and they put in chocolate chips. Something I would expect from a teenage budding chef not a long time Italian restaurant. Summary, expect great entrees but not much else. read more

Very reasonably priced for the food you get, which is pretty good. I had the lasagna that was on special and it was huge! It was tasty. We also shared a salad as a family (also huge). Overall I recommend for the food, portions were really big (definitely split) and their pricing is very reasonable. read more

Was extremely surprised by the quality as their location makes it appear sub-par. The wait staff was friendly and open to our questions and was very prompt - they seemed happy to serve each table. Interior was well designed and comfortable. We loved the bread and garlic oil starter. The Sunday ragú special was better than any meat pasta I've ever tasted - noodles cooked perfectly. We very much enjoyed the cannelloni as well. Experience could be as fancy as you'd like. Would definitely return. read more

Pulcinella's - Cannelloni al forno - Italian Near Me - South Burlington, Vermont

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Nice bar. Family recipes. And great service. Asked the waiter for her recommendation and she hit a home run with the eggplant. read more

Pulcinella's - Eggplant. Delicious - Italian Near Me - South Burlington, Vermont

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Food was wonderful but the staff we interacted with was incredibly rude. The woman with glasses was rude for no reason to me, and the older gentleman waiter was also a tad rude and never smiled once. Not even after we announced to him that we were all there for particularly big celebration. No acknowledgement, nothing. I've been a server for several years, and on my worst day I would treat my customers with more respect than we were treated with. It literally felt like we were inconveniencing them by being there. Come.on. Get it together, Pulcinella's. I will unfortunately never recommend this place to anyone looking for a friendly meal regardless of the food quality. Sincerest wishes on addressing this issue. read more

We loved our food and our service. The two of us had one meatball side (huge meatballs) and one spaghetti entree, that had olives, capers, tomatoes, etc.... Came with bread and dipping olive oil. Was absolutely delicious! We were stuffed and completely satisfied. Ambiance perfect. We will be back some day. read more

Went to dinner last night and I really like this place. Was one of the best dining experiences I've had in a while! We sat at the bar and were served bread and olive oil, delicious. I had vegetarian pasta with olives, capers, red sauce and olive oil. It was so good! The Caesar salad was very good as well. My mom is a calamari connoisseur and she said it was awesome. Definitely would recommend! read more

Pulcinella's - Caesar salad - Italian Near Me - South Burlington, Vermont

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Allergy friendly!! I have a dairy allergy, literally the worst thing, and this restaurant was so accommodating to my allergy! I have such a hard time finding a good Italian restaurant who is, so I was so happy to be here! The food was delicious. Our waitress was fantastic. This is by far the best place we ate in Burlington on our trip! read more

I ordered linguine with clams. The clams had sand remaining but I ate them anyway. I said something to the waitress and she offered to get me something else. My thoughts were that the linguine wouldn't have sand grit. Needless to say the sauce contained sand/grit. I told the waitress I thought I could eat it but I just couldn't. She brought what I decided on, buttered pasta and a side of marinara that was delicious . The clam entree was removed from my charges. read more

So we walked in... We didn't have a reservation... But they said we could sit at the bar... they told us we couldn't sit at the tables due to the Governor orders for compacity of the indoor places.. But we would be a "number" sitting at the bar..... It made no sense. And the lady was beyond rude and stupid. So we didn't eat there... For the record no one was sitting at those tables and 2 people were already at the bar. It was almost 8pm. They didn't offer us a reservation for a table either... Also we over heard the hostess tell the guy on the phone. They had many time slots available... So what gives..... All she offered us was the bar. Which makes no sense.. building capacity is building capacity doesn't matter where they actually sit well that's how we do it in Connecticut at least.. My family owns a grocery store... And capacity is including employees as well .. So thanks but no thanks on your reply.. read more

Stopped here for dinner at the bar after visiting the winter lights show at shelburne museum. Wouldn't hurry back. Service at the bar was friendly. Food was meh. I got the linguini Romana which was supposed to be a "simple" pasta - oil and garlic with some pancetta, caramelized onions and Parmesan. The recipe concept was ok but the quantity and balance of ingredients was not good. There was way too much pancetta which made it too salty. And the pasta adhered to itself in a glob due to too much Parmesan and not enough liquid. Yet It was swimming in oil. They need to use some of the cooking liquid to thin out the sauce a bit - the pasta was dried out (not as in Al dente but actually dried out) despite the sauce. The guy next to me got the Caesar salad and that looked fresh and nice. I like the atmosphere despite some folks thinking it's odd read more

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