The food is amazing, the staff is some of the best I've experienced and the place itself is a warm comfortable environment. Absolutely recommended. read more

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This place is awesome. The rigatoni Arabia ya is delicious and the sausage can be substituted with broccoli if desired. The cavatelli is also super good read more

IL Primo is so delicious. The pasta and sauces are very flavorful. One of our favorite Italian restaurants by far

Update : went back and was seriously less satisfied. My mom, sister and I took the no reservation option and had drinks at the bar. The bartenders were all barely dressed for Christmas (not barely dressed up, no barely dressed) and we were given the wrong drink twice. When we sat down we had to beg for bread and the waiter looked at us like we had ten heads when we wanted to split meals and order multiple appetizers. Terrible experience. I highly doubt I'll be back. ______________________________________________ The vibe is fabulous and there are many menu options. We came on a Saturday night and had a reservation for 6:15 and were seated immediately. My husband and I had great service and a bottle of wine, an appetizer (buratta) and an entree each (Fargo & vegetable risotto and he had Rigatoni) for under $100. read more

This was our first time to il primo and it was delicious. The staff was very friendly and the food was wonderful. My husband had the mushroom ravioli and I had the baked penne 4 cheese both were divine. read more

The waitress Shea was so sweet and on top of things. The pizza was delicious for a Tennessee pizza place lol coming from a new yorker read more

IL Primo - Italian Near Me - Ooltewah, Tennessee

It has been quite some time since we've eaten here. The previous experience wasn't what we had been used to. Believe me this evening they truly redeemed themselves. The service was very attentive, but not intrusive. We like eating in the bar area, it's easier to socialize and chat with new friends. Two big things on the menu, the melted feta appetizer was spot on. My husband not a huge fan of feta loved this. It was packed with flavor with out being to heavy. Suggestion if you get this appetizer, skip the usual bread, you may not have room for your meal. Secondly, the mushroom ravioli is spectacular!!!! Homemade, perfect pillows of creamy mushrooms and cheese, covered with a white wine mushroom sauce garnished with fresh shave Parmesan cheese and a hit of micro sprouts. The whole experiences as exceptional. The restaurant was very busy, even on a Thursday evening but. The staff and manager seemed to make each of us feel like good friends and family. I overheard several dinners around us making this observation. Thank you IL Primo for being so on it. We'll be back, much sooner this time. read more

The food and the service was okay but the ambiance was on point very nice romantic place to visit.

Love this place, the entire staff is so friendly and helpful. It is a great date night place!

I have been outbid town on business for three months. The only place I wanted to go this weekend was Il Primo for dinner one night. Marsala sauce was sweet, redfish was over cooked, was asked before our mean came if we needed to-boxes, felt like we were being rushed out the door. Flies all over, but I understand summertime and outdoor seating and doors always being opened and closed. But it didn't help matters. I have enjoyed, immensely, every visit before this one. It was disappointing. We will be back. And will update again. read more

We decided to stop by Il Primo. We got lucky: easy parking and we were able to get a table without a reservation. The food was fantastic. I had the cavatelli with bacon and cauliflower and my husband had a Chicken Piccata. We did want to try the meatballs so we got a side of them. All of it outstanding. We would definitely come back. read more

Incredible! The food is the best Italian in town, far! The staff is friendly and incredibly accommodating. This is now our Go-To Italian Place. read more

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We went to Il Primo last night. We made reservations and were seated right away. Our Server - Candice i think- was pleasant and mentioned only one special. Never described. At the other table, their Server went over what seemed like every item describing the last and how it was prepared. Described the special with again the preparation process. I ordered Chicken Piccata and my husband ordered the meat balls. I had a Cesar Salad only because it said anchovies!! Wonderful. I did not taste not one anchovy. Did they forget? Who knows. Tiramasu was the desert, very good. We had to chase down the Server for the bill then again had to chase her down to process the bill. It was ok, nothing to write home about. Really disappointed about the anchovy thing, or lack of. Not sure i will return. read more

IL Primo at Cambridge Square is a wonderful place! My family suggests the Spaghetti al'Amatriciana & Gulf Shrimp, Lasagna Bolognese, Spinach Pasta , Baked Penne & 4 Cheeses, and the Polenta. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the menu items! Everything we have tried is delicious. If you like Italian food, give IL Primo a try. Make sure you make reservations if you want a seat because it can be busy most days of the week. You can make reservations online. read more

First time trying this location. Atmosphere is pretty loud. This music was turned up pretty loud but after our requests, they lowered it so we were better able to have a table conversation. Our waitress, Christie, was fabulous! Very knowledgeable of the food and accommodating our requests. The manager, Courtney, was great. Visited our table to make sure our requests had been taken care of. The red sangria and lime cello drinks ordered at our table were exceptional. Definitely recommend them. Our food was wonderful and well prepared. One of our guests did not like the taste of his food but Christie immediately had it replaced with another dish and he got to enjoy with the rest of us. The desserts we tried were all fabulous (tiramisu, limoncello pie and cheesecake). This place provided a very enjoyable and delicious night out with family and friends with exceptional food , drinks and desserts. Cambridge Square also had live music to enjoy as we strolled around afterwards. Would recommend you check this Italian restaurant out soon!!! read more

My favorite restaurant in Ooltewah. The service is amazing, the food is consistent and delicious. I also love that the waiters are knowledgable about the menu enough to recommend or accommodate as much as you'd like. I'm always happy to bring my family here when we're visiting from out of town because I know we will have a delicious meal with wonderful service. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a nice meal in Ooltewah. read more

First time for a take out order tonight, and it was a very smooth process. More importantly, the food was excellent, as always. Let's all pitch in and support Il Primo and other restaurants who are trying to stay in business. read more

Love this place! Great atmosphere and delicious food. Love the fried ravioli and seared fish.

We have continued to frequent here for family dinners and it is by far one of the most consistently good places around! Have never been disappointed. read more

IL Primo in Cambridge is what my friends and I would classify as a "good eats." IL Primo provides good food, great location, and a nice aesthetic. Being a vegetarian, the waiters were very helpful on which dishes were vegetarian as well as how to turn some dishes vegetarian. IL Primo was worth the trip if you are interested in high end dining or need somewhere romantic. The reason I took a star off was because of the prices. The food is high end and delicious.......just maybe not worth the price. The Mushroom ravioli were 18$ for a plate. They were delicious, but not 18$ delicious. Overall, IL Primo is a great place to grab food if you are looking for a place for high end dining! read more

The food was great- we had appetizers, salads and entrees: fried ravioli, caprese salad, red fish and 4 cheese pasta with chicken and roasted broccoli. read more

One of the best Italian experiences ever. I had the rigatoni and my wife had the 4 cheese. It was late and they didn't make you feel rushed or anything. Definitely will go back even if it's a two hour drive. read more

Love everything about I'll Primo. We've been going as often as we can. Highly recommend...great food, drinks & ambiance!!

Very nice restaurant with comfortable seating. The food is absolutely great! The wait staff are very nice and knowledgeable about their menu and specials; they are able to make solid recommendations to people who haven't been there before. Will be a returning customer for sure! read more

Ooltewah now has a legitimate up-scale restaurant and the food is fantastic. The chicken piccata is delicious. I also really enjoyed the zucchini spaghetti with it. read more

We stopped here on our way to Knoxville. The food is fantastic. Our server was excellent. We plan to stop here on our way back to Atlanta too. read more

Il Primo Cambridge has become our favorite restaurant in East Hamilton County. The creative menu never grows stale, with regular specials, seasonal favorites, a constantly changing list of desserts and a good wine list. To top it off Il Primo has some of the most attentive servers in town. The restaurant can get a bit noisy on busy nights, but there's also a great outdoor dining area when the weather is good. Don't miss this enticing restaurant, which is only open Monday through Saturday for dinner. read more

Excellent Italian but pricey! That will not keep me away! I love the mushroom ravioli! The salads are amazing.

I really like Il Primo. The butternut squash risotto with sea scallops is a dish I say dream about! Great location and atmosphere. Only negative thing I could say is the cost to eat there is very pricey. Not to say it isn't worth it by any means. But it is not a regular place we go to eat, only for special occasions or if someone else is buying read more

Chicken piccata: tender and moist. Lemon butter sauce, basic recipe you can find anywhere. Polenta was basically grits. Way too soupy. Scallops and risotto: decent size scallop, but only 4 of them....good flavor. Again, nothing special. Very loud with so many hard surfaces....concrete floors, Gray walls. Sound bouncing and a cold karma. Need to warm it up with some color. Think J's. I'll give it another shot, just not soon. read more

This place is fantastic! Great atmosphere, friendly staff, and the lasagna is amazing. The chicken marsala is also incredible. This is our go-to Italian restaurant. read more

The food is great! I've been here 2 separate times within this year. Both very positive visits. The scallops and risotto dinner was the best risotto I have ever had! read more

What a great little place! It's one of those everything looks good so I'm having a hard time deciding type of menus. A friend and I went on a Thursday PM and enjoyed our experience start to finish. The drinks were delicious, especially the limoncello martini. We ordered the spicy marinara and cheese dip appy and it was wonderful but I'll tell you. If you're not wanting to spend money on an appetizer, you'll be oh so happy devouring the complimentary focaccia bread provided. It's perfect. We split our meals so we could try multiple things and it was worth it. The Veal Parmesan (which comes with like three generous portions of meat), mushroom ravioli with 2 sides of the broccoli and we both went home with leftovers!! We forced ourselves to get dessert and I'm still thinking about how delicious the chocolate whiskey cake was! Can't wait to return! read more

This was our first meal at this restaurant last night. The food and service were both very good. My wife had the salmon and I had the pasta and bolognase sauce. All the food, including the limoncello pie we shared was flavorful, and the main meal came out hot, not lukewarm. The only downside were the hard surfaces, which really echo voices when there is a fairly full crowd. We'll certainly go back. read more

Not your typical 1 star review. First, I rarely would think something was 1 star (especially a restaurant) since there are so many variables (e.g. particular waiter, time of day, how busy, etc.) but I really feel that it would be irresponsible of me to not let people know what to expect here. Service was pretty good. Issue was with the food. Amazed at the price to quality ratio. It was very poor. The pasta was bland, the seasoning was lacking, the depth of flavor was non-existent. The only thing done well in my dish was that the shrimp was cooked well. My kids had the 4 cheese penne (they do not have a kids menu, which is not a problem). It was one of the worst things I have ever put in.my mouth (even my server said it was surprising to her that so many people ordered it - she said it was "crappy Italian mac n cheese"). Fazolis has better penne (which is not a compliment). A final word to the food. Cesar salad (assuming fresh greens (which they had), good crutons (which they did not have - they were chewy, but not like Ruby Tuesday crutons chewy), and good cheese (which they had) stands or falls on the dressing. Well, if you are an Italian restaurant and you cannot get the Cesar salad right... It was less than Olive Garden (and their Cesar salad is not great - just ok) and pretty disappointing. Creamy, but too sweet, kinda like the Italian version of the white sauce at a Hibachi restaurant. To close, Tony's in Chattanooga is excellent in regards to the food, the cooks, and general authenticity, but this place, to be more expensive than Tony's, falls far short. Some parts Carrabba's, some parts Olive Garden, and some parts Fazolis - but mostly the bad parts. Pretentious, surprising in the lack of concern for bad dishes (Italian food should NEVER be something that one would think of as bland - too rich maybe, but never bland) that are regular menu items, and very over priced for the quality of the food. We will never go back and I do not recommend anyone should either. If you like it, good for you. If you have not been there, I really suggest you try something else. Read my other reviews, I do not flame anyone - even this one. Just give my opinion, which is fairly knowledgeable, but not perfect. If you got to the end of this, I appreciate your patience. read more

Beat service and food we have had in a long time. Would definitely go back. Table of 5, I tried everything, it was all great.Pumpkin soup was like velvet, very smooth. Scallop risotto very, chicken piccata, chicken Marsala, mushroom ravioli and the special - short in's fall off the bone awesome! Service was great. read more

This is my favorite restaurant! My husband and our baby come here for date nights at least once a month. If you can, request David as your server. He is the best server we have ever had. He knows the menu front and back and service is impeccable! We have tried most things on the menu and literally like everything. This is very rare for my family. read more

Absolutely wonderful chicken piccata!! And, it is beautiful sitting outside at night with fuel heaters!

I love the food and the service here. Never had a bad time here. The quail was exceptional!! Can't wait to return.

We waited with great anticipation to try this new Italian restaurant in Ooltewah. We tried it and we're not impressed. When we walked in we noticed the noise level. Very, very noisy for a nice restaurant. The staff were very nice & friendly. The food was ok but not great. We had fried ravioli, which was ok. Dh had meatballs & pasta which was good. I had chicken picata with roasted butternut squash. The chicken was ok but could have used more lemon The butternut squash was very tasteless. Needed some spices or ginger for favor. The bread was served cold on purpose. We were disappointed after waiting so long for it to open. We need to fine a quieter place. Certainly did not match with the reviews we read. read more