Absolutely wonderful authentic Italian restaurant! We found this gem around the pandemic and have…read morebeen coming here ever since. As far as food goes... This is the home of my absolute FAVORITE fettuccine Alfredo. Fresh noodles and the Alfredo is never gluey (looking at you, Olive Garden). Dad is Italian, and always gets the baci (which reminds him of his childhood), and Mom will eat almost anything off this menu. Save room for dessert - cannoli and tiramisu are out of this world! Service here is fantastic - never had a bad server and every one is frendly and efficient! So, next time you are in Novi, be sure to stop by this homey restaurant and leave full!

This one's a tough one. I want to support this local business that has been a part of the novi…read morecommunity for many many years. I have had some really nice experiences some years back and thought the food was delicious.. I still want to give a huge shout out to the servers as they try so hard. The place is super busy really and crowded and the space is rather small for the number of people who are dining. There are also people standing around waiting for tables for a long time on a weekend evening. They are trying to serve food, provide kindness and accuracy, and they do a great job. I have to mention that it made our table sad when we witnessed one of the managers being harsh with one of the wait staff as that person was doing a great job and that person did not deserve any harsh treatment. I know things can get tense on a busy night but kindness from the top down is so important. Onto the food, it is just not as good as it used to be. There were many chicken dishes that could have been prepared better. The chicken was tough. The sauces were under developed, and it did not reach the mark that it should've. Specifically, there was one sauce on a couple things that just seemed like it was plain chicken broth, and that was not even flavorful. I am not sure if the management has changed from years ago, but the food seems to have changed. I really don't like giving reviews that are not positive and I hope this was just a one night situation. The food on this night was not up to par but the service was so fantastic. I want to recognize that and I also always want to support a local business. We will try again next time.

Ardiana's is one of those unassuming neighborhood gems tucked into a shopping center off 10 Mile…read moreand Meadowbrook in Novi. From the outside you might not expect much. Inside, it's really welcoming. Clean, comfortable tables and chairs, and it looks like they recently refreshed the place with updated walls, art, and lighting. Nothing fancy, just done right. We started by sharing a Greek salad and it was very fresh, with an excellent dressing. I ordered the chicken parmigiana and it was out of this world. I honestly do not know how the chef did it, but the chicken had this incredible crispiness and freshness, with a perfect crunch that still stayed juicy. The portion was extremely generous. The pasta was excellent and the sauce was exactly what you want with chicken parm. I could not even come close to finishing the whole plate. I heard a certain renowned Italian restaurant owner loves to come here for the parm! She says no one makes it quite like Ardiana's chef. The owner, Robert, brought out a carrot cake for us to try. He said it was all organic. It was fantastic. Moist, with a great caramel sauce and walnuts. At that point I was waving the white flag because it was just too much good food. Robert also mentioned they are opening a small bar soon, which will make this place even better for a casual dinner. If you are in Novi and you want a great Italian and Mediterranean spot that over-delivers, put Ardiana's on your list.

We finally got a chance to check out A's and can't wait to go back. The interior of the restaurant…read morehas a sleek and minimalist vibe- perfect for a date night. On a Friday night, there were a few other patrons that dined in, so it wasn't loud. The service from start to finish was friendly and attentive. We ordered the brussel sprouts, parmesan fries, branzino, beef stroganoff and carrot cake. The bs- was delicious! It had a smokey taste that was perfect. The pf- was okay. The shape of the fry was curly, not like the typical curly fries, but thicker on one end, so a bit dry and bland. I wouldn't order this again. Although the aioli was good. The b- was delicious. I would definitely order this again. A tad bit oily, but that's to be expected. It also came with a side of roasted potatoes. The best part of the meal was definitely the bs- huge portion that just melted in your mouth! I had been seeing so many positive reviews for the cc, I was so excited to try it out. It was okay...a bit dense for me. It seemed like it was served right out of the fridge. Overall, pretty solid dinner. I'd definitely go back to try more items, including breakfast.

Always amazing! Today especially!…read moreWe literally come here once a week because of the exceptional service, food and family feel! Today, Lynn waited on us and was fantastic, as always. Mary cashed us out and was very helpful and sweet as can be. George, please thank George! He was so very kind to help us with a special request and went ABOVE AND BEYOND! Truly! We just gave our friends the gift of some of our favorite things from Cantoros and George took that extra step! We decided we should be on the payroll, because we are constantly promoting our favorite place! We appreciate all of you!

We finally visited the trattoria on Mother's Day and found a new favorite place…read more DH had a great idea to let me off the hook with cooking on my celebration day, and suggested Cantoro since we were in the area. I was eager to avoid the kitchen and had always wanted to try the restaurant, so I was game. We were able to get a reservation immediately and headed on over. Upon arriving, we were promptly seated and greeted by our server. We started our meal with the grilled calamari - a nice change from the typical fried that is usually served in restaurants. It was light and filling, and accompanied by some delicious bread and olive oil with balsamic to dip. For my main course, I chose the orrechiette pasta. The portion was gargantuan - I can have it for at least 3 meals - and the flavors were so balanced and well-composed. Our server did a good job of making sure we had our food promptly and that plates were cleared out as we finished each course. She was friendly as well. We really enjoyed our meal and are looking forward to introducing friends and family to the restaurant soon!

Old world Italian food with made from scratch pastas. Lasagna, spaghetti, fettuccine ($22-$24) are…read moreall excellent. The chicken pastina soup is heaven. Try the chicken Antonio ($31) and veal picatta ($33), both are excellent. Be sure to try their buttery bread rolls. Professional and attentive service.

First time at this location of this small local chain, but others in the dining out Meetup group…read morehad been here before. Only 1 person who got a new experience. Had reservations but you can still walk in most evenings. Nice size table with plenty of room for food but small enough for everyone to talk to others. Quiet enough to hear even with an filled dining room. More fancy than other national Italian restaurants. I ordered my normal which is a pizza, pineapple and ham with extra sauce. I talked the pizza up and the person next to me decided to try one and was very happy she did. The rest ordered a mix of pasta dishes, salmon and a pasta salad. Of course we enjoyed their famous bread that had to be refilled. The major problem was the service. What started as a little slow went to not checking after the meals was brought out by 2 other servers. One person didn't get his pasta salad until I flagged down another server and explained what happened. The missing salad was quickly brought out and our drinks refilled by that kind server. Our normal server quickly showed up when she saw what was happening. Even with the problem with our service most of us look forward to coming back.

Wow! We were their on Wednesday evening and it was a crazy house! They were so busy with their wine…read moredinner and still able to serve the general public. We were so impressed with their hospitality. Our waitress, Liz, was a literal ball of sunshine. We were so impressed with her and all the staff that stepped in to get service done. Well done team! Only comment, the food was very peppery.... But I'm glad it was fresh!

We stopped by C's for lunch before doing a little shopping. This is located next to the container…read morestore, across the street from 12 Oaks mall. Since it wasn't too busy, we were seated right away and had a basket of bread (the bread and olive oil dip was so good!) and water shortly after. Service was quick and friendly. We ordered the Tuscan chicken, with a side of broccoli and chicken noodle soup and a trio of fettuccine Alfredo, lasagna and chicken parm. The TC was seasoned well..a bit overcooked but the side of broccoli helped. The trio was okay. Definitely better at OG. The lasagna tasted like it wasn't fresh (the bottom of it was a bit dense and almost burnt). The CP had a light breading and the FA's noodles were thinner but tasted fine. For both entrees (no apps or desserts) the total came out to over $50.

I've been wanting to come here forever and finally made it out to Cafe Cortina. I've been exploring…read moremore of these areas, as I'm mainly an Eastsider. I love Italian and Cafe Cortina brought her A game! What intrigues me about this place was the ambiance from the beginning. It's quaint, romantic and simply beautiful. I loved the entire vibe of this place. The food is homemade and the chef does an exquisite job creating unique dishes. The pasta was delicious and my bf had the short rib. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and overall experience.

This is a perfect place to go for date night, friends dinner, or even a small party. The vibe is…read moreperfect. It's a small dining room but layed out in a way to maximize space and privacy. The service is amazing, from the second we entered until we left, we felt pampered and special. Food was delicious but a few in our party weren't satisfied with their dishes. They said it tasted good but wasn't as good as they hoped. It was a little pricey but reasonable for the quality and service. They have complimentary valet. I was surprised they didn't have a dedicated bar you can sit at before or after reservation time.

This was my first 2026 new restaurant (and yeah I'm behind in reviewing)…read more I'm an out of towner and was here for work. Reservation for 8. Decently appointed interior, they have a patio for warmer months. I want to say, the absolute star here is the hospitality. And let me be clear - hospitality, not service. We were so well taken care of by the staff and it was done with personality. I get the opportunity to try food all across the country (and world) and I'd put these guys up in the top 10% of memorable experiences from a people standpoint. Food was great, no complaints. I went halvsies with a fish and steak with some one. Both were tasty. Desert was fantastic. No complaints, wouldn't hesitate to come back.

The food and service were amazing. Also loved the ambiance. It was my first time coming here and I…read morecan't wait to be back. Also a very nice wine list!

WOW! My boyfriend took me here for our 2 year anniversary and we left saying this was the best food…read morewe've ever had. After pushing back the time for our reservation twice, we finally made it! Aidan ordered the Salmon Risotto entree and I got the Asiago Baci Pasta dish. We absolutely loved our food. The baci noodles are filled with some type of creamy filling and are so unique. Aidan said his salmon was cooked well and his risotto was soft. We also ordered the calamari appetizer which had an amazing white wine sauce. Everything was so incredibly flavorful. We had a challenging time choosing because the whole menu sounded so good. I appreciated the diversity of options and unique flavor combinations. No desert for us because we were full, but I was intrigued by the desert menu and would go back to try it! They have indoor and "outdoor" seating (with heaters) and low light for an intimate and peaceful atmosphere. Our waitress was friendly and gave us plenty of time to order. Food came out quickly and was presented well with clean dishes. This is the perfect place to celebrate an anniversary, birthday, or nice occasion. We had a lovely evening!

I've been back to Nico and Vali's twice within the last month, and was pleased with both visits…read more One our first trip, my husband and I tried the Spaghetti Bolognese and the Short Rib Special. The meatballs in the spaghetti dish were delicious. Flavorful and not dried out. The sauce tasted like it had been cooked with love. I also liked the short rib. The sauce had been elevated with some wine, and the meat was tender and rich. The accompanying potatoes were so creamy. I would order both dishes again. We each got a dessert. My husband got the tiramisu and I got the chocolate cake. I guess the tiramisu was just ok. I loved the chocolate cake. On our second visit, we tried the Rigatoni Caprino and the Chicken Marsala Florentine. Of the two, we liked the rigatoni better. It had that super red sauce on it. The sausage was on point, and the goat cheese complimented the rest of the dish so well. The marsala was good, though my husband I agreed we had both had better. The sauce just lacked something. My husband wasn't that impressed with the Crème Brûlée cheesecake, and wouldn't order it again.

Wonderful evening for seven of us. The hostess was able to accommodate a reservation for us. She…read moreworked with us to find a time at the last minute that would work. We much appreciated her help. Service by Jason was very good. We enjoyed the old world ambience, but it was very loud we must say. The food was spectacular. We began with the classic calamari and the daily special stuffed peppers. Both were outstanding. We especially liked the stuffed banana peppers. They were supposed to be very spicy, but they really weren't. Highly recommend them. A few of us had salads, which would nice especially the Caesar. The veal Michelangelo got rave reviews and was outstanding. The seafood was perfectly cooked with the veal and the sauce was amazing. The Veal Marsala likewise was wonderful. The veal was tender, the mushrooms, fresh, and perfectly cooked, and the marsala wine sauce was delicious. I've had this same dish, many places, and without question this was or close to the best I've ever tasted. We had three kids meals, which were all very good and very large portions. The lasagna was a huge hit as the penne pasta. The fettuccine Alfredo was wonderful, but too rich for the kids, so the adults enjoyed it! Desserts were all nice. The peanut butter cake, gelato, and Tartufo Dark. We had tried to order one order of gelato with two different flavors, but it came out with three orders of gelato each with three scoops. So definitely a mistake we got charged for, but it didn't matter because the kids ate it all anyway. The Tartufo Dark was the standout!

The most lovely and welcoming people work here! Always have to give them A shout out! Tonight, a…read morehuge kudos to Jennifer who remembers each little nuance and special attention to detail. She is so warm and kind! Tonight, we tried one of the specials and I would definitely get this again, it was really excellent! Try the chicken spiedini! Breaded chicken stuffed with ham, mozzarella, onions, and tomatoes. Blanketed with a lemon cream sauce. It was so tender and full of flavor! Hugely tasty! Of course, I had the angel hair and bolognese on the side, the bread bruschetta and the Chicken Piccante.. Tender breasts of chicken topped with mushrooms sautéed in your choice of a flavorful Piccante white wine sauce and lemon butter sauce. A fantastic meal and dining experience!

Hosted a bridal shower here and the whole experience was fantastic! The staff was friendly and…read moreattentive and the service was outstanding, They were accomodating to the several food alleries some of the attendees had and the food was delicious. We provided table decor, but they set it up for us and the room was beautifully decorated to match our color scheme. I highly recommend Genitti's if you are hosting an event!

I booked Genitti's Hole-In-the-Wall for my daughter's bridal shower. I had previously had my older…read moredaughter's bridal shower there. Once again they exceeded my expectations. Everyone on their staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Every time I called with a question, Laura, Mark and indeed the whole staff were very patient and helpful. I dropped off everything - photos, centerpieces, prizes, cake - the day before. Jake and his crew came out to my car and unloaded everything. When I arrived the next day for the event, the space was absolutely beautiful!! The food was delicious and the service during the event was great. I highly recommend Genetti's for any private event:) Diane B.