Let's start with the Star of the show... The food! We started out with the meatball, mozzarella appetizer, and an order of garlic bread. Yummy! I enjoyed the rigatoni Bolognese and hubby had the veal saltimbocca. Both were delicious, so much so that we didn't have room for dessert! The service was wonderful. Mark was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. Even the manager came over to check on us during our meal. We sat in the back area, and as animal lovers, we enjoyed watching the raccoons and wildlife. If this is not your thing, just reserve a seat in the main part of the restaurant. Overall, I recommend you giving Stellini a try! read more

Stellini - Rigatoni Bolognese - Italian Near Me - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

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Great Italian in tucked away spot on HHI. Have been twice and both times the food was fantastic

I have been coming to Stellini's for ai believe at least 20 years. Family o Ned Italian restaurant. Best food on the island

No fuss. Just good food and service. A regular for the locals. We lived on the island for eight years and it was a regular go to place that won't break the bank. read more

Great food, excellent service, Old school Italian. My favorite restaurant on Hilton Head island.

It was my first time at Stellini--suggested by my sister who lives on HHI. It's not flashy Italian cuisine, more of a Mom & Pop place, but it has all the favorites I've grown up on North of Boston. We arrived just after 5pm, which also meant there was an Early Bird special of 3 courses plus a glass of wine for $26.95 (served from 5-5:45pm). We were seated in the corner alongside the window, where you can watch the various wildlife dine on goodies put out by the owners. We were entertained by the co-existence of squirrels, a black cat and one fat raccoon. The vibe of Stellini's is old world--helped along by the background music featuring Rat Pack type tunes. Our waitress was super attentive, though she had trouble pronouncing most menu items, leading us to believe she was 0% Italian (LOL). We started with the garlic bread, a glass of merlot, a pineapple upsidedown martini and a creme brulee martini. The garlic bread is quite tasty and will definitely keep the vampires away. My friends shared an arancini appetizer and I ordered the mussels off the EB menu. They enjoyed their rice balls--I'd hoped the mussels were in a lighter wine broth, but they sat atop marinara sauce, which overpowered them a bit. Next, we had salad courses. The dressings are limited to a red wine vinegar dressing and a balsamic vinaigrette. We enjoyed both choices--I didn't miss my typical blue cheese dressing. Our entrees were the pesto tortellini, Chicken Pancetta (a Stellini signature dish) and I had the Veal Marsala off the EB selections. We all very much enjoyed our choices. My veal was tender and delicious (served over angel hair pasta), and the mushroom Marsala sauce was perfect. We couldn't quite get an accurate read on how authentic the cappucino was (we saw no machine in the bar area), and the waitress wasn't sure, so we passed. I wanted a slice of ricotta cake, but they were all out. I had the key lime pie, which was fine, but probably not made on site. I should have had a cannolo! All in all, I'd recommend Stellini as a great choice for affordable and unpretentious Italian dining on the Island. read more

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We sat at the bar. Kyle (an owner) and Jennifer were awesome! I ordered the Shrimp and Scallops Fra Diavolo. I stayed with medium spicy level. Kyle said that they can take it as hot as you are willing to go! I am a simple guy. Had the house salad with red wine vinaigrette. Dressings are home made. The sold the last flourless chocolate torte, so I had to settle for the homemade crème brûlée! It worked very well. My friends had zuppa Depeche and the piccata. Everyone is smiling. I don't understand how this place has a 3.7 star rating. It's authentic it's homemade and yummy prices were so reasonable wine list reasonable if you're in Hilton Head, you need to Kyle!!! When CBS comes to town to broadcast the Heritage golf tournament, all of the execs come here. It's good enough for them and it's was awesome for me do you! read more

The food was great, with a creative menu beyond the classics. The service made it all happen just right.

It's soft shell crab season NOW!! YEPPIE!! Get to Stellini's before the short season ends. As I said last season, this place has the best 2 crab entree on the Island. Prepared on a bed of pasta with a nice side salad. Service is quick with food served hot. Get there soon with a reservation. read more

Great food do not skip on this place. I love coming to this place it feels like home and like family

We are always mindful that many, many restaurants and businesses on Hilton Head tend to be local and family owned This is the case with Stellini's. Reviews are mixed with lot of folks really liking Stellini's seems to be a tired and shop worn restaurant; ambience suggests this -- Time for total upgrade Service - "adequate" Good solid Italian menu, and food is good We have found better local Italian restaurants on Hilton Head.... Caveat: Reservations always Take care to read reviews read more

Owners and staff very nice wish I could say so for food. It was not very good. Chicken marsala was thick chunks of chicken in a brown gravy with little or no wine. Chicken parm was just ok, eggplant parm was the best of meals ordered. It was very expensive for what we got. There are much better choices for Italian food on the island. I wish we had checked reviews before dining here. read more

We went for dinner on a Friday and there was no waiting. Not a good sign. The service was slow and the food was disappointing. The garlic bread was very good but the entrees were expensive and lacked taste. I'm sorry to say but Olive Garden is better and a lot cheaper. read more

Wow, wow, wow! Simply put, it's really delicious Italian. It's not a fancy place, as others have mentioned, but the ambience is perfectly fine, actually kinda cozy, which I prefer, and the most important thing to me in a restaurant is whether my taste buds like it and my taste buds were very pleased tonight. Also, as others have mentioned, the restaurant clearly feeds some of the local wildlife, and there were five raccoons outside our window keeping us entertained. It's December, and it was very cold today. When we pulled up, it was a bit dark back there in the trees, and there were only a few cars in the parking lot, and I said to my wife on the way walking in that it was probably a slow night because of the time of year and the temperature. When we went in, I thought we were the only ones there - turns out I was wrong and there was one other couple eating in the corner that I didn't see at first - and our server explained that it was slow that night because of the time of year and because of the temperature, precisely what I had suggested. Also, it was nearly 7:30 PM, so a bit past normal dinner time. Speaking of our server, he was great, but I don't remember his name. The food was amazing. I looked at the menu in advance and went with the intention of getting lasagna and one of their signature appetizers, the mozzarella stuffed meat meatballs. However, when our server explained the day's specials, they all sounded amazing and we ended up going with several of those. I did get the meatballs, but I also got the arancini appetizer and the garlic soup that were both specials today, the stuffed mushrooms which are on the normal menu but our server highly recommended them, a basket of garlic bread, and then my wife and I split the day's special main course, which was veal something. Sorry my description isn't more precise, but I'm telling you everything was delicious, and we will definitely be going back regularly when we are in HHI. read more

Not sure why this place only has 3.5 stars. My experience was phenomenal. We made reservations and was seated immediately. Our waitress was great. She tended to us and didn't skip a beat. Our food came quick and was so tasty. They were also helpful in picking out a good wine. The inside of this place is adorable. It's small, but beautiful. I will return when I'm back in town. read more

Stellini - Rigatoni Bolognese - Italian Near Me - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Best meal ever! You will regret not eating here. Everything we had was delicious and flavorful and fresh. I will be back. You won't be disappointed. read more

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Thoroughly enjoyed Stellini and will lord willing return. This place was charming. Our waitress was wonderful full of positive vibes. Their Windows to the garden backyard was so lovely. Deer, Cardinals, squirrel and tranquil. Had a lovely dinner that was affordable. The highlight Being their spectacular Bolognese sauce made with short rib. This sauce was among the very best I've ever had anywhere. New York N.J. Baltimore Philadelphia this was spot on. Now I'm back home I wish I had any place around here that was just half as good. Our sides and Chicken dishes were excellent. I'm giving this place my rare highest rating. read more

I had the best me-date here! What an absolute treat this place was. I came during restaurant week back in February and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. The very friendly and helpful waitress talked me into violently steering away from my diet and to try their garlic bread. It was amazing and I have no regrets. I followed that with the mussels bianco and the house salad. The mussels were really delicate and the sauce they were stewed in was addicting. The salad was great too. Then came the star, the veal saltimbocca. It was perfection, from the spinach to the angel hair to the meat itself, I am drooling as I type. I capped it with the panettone bread pudding and my soul went straight to heaven. Really can't say enough good things about this place. The food is excellent, the staff is so friendly and helpful. To top it all off, the atmosphere is relatively formal, but not so much that you can't see and appreciate the little raccoon friends that come to visit through the windows; they have a little place where they feed them and it's lit up where you can see them outside. So cute! An amazing experience! read more

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Four of us ate at Stellini's this week. We have been going here at least once during our visits to Hilton Head Island for several years. As always, the food and service were exceptional. Period! We all had different dishes and everyone raved about their meal. I had the Rigatoni Bolognese; pasta tubes with a delicious, meaty marinara sauce. My wife had the soft shell crab with linguini. We all shared a basket of garlic bread and the bread disappeared, quickly. One of our friends had the shrimp and pasta while her husband had lasagna. In my opinion, the menu has a long list of great choices. I try something new each time. Last year, I had the Veal Marsala. Almost ordered the Veal Marsala again this time but in a really good restaurant, I like to see how many dishes the chef excels at. Stellini's has lots of good options. Definitely worth going here. read more

Stellini - The soft shell crab special at Stellini's this week. - Italian Near Me - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

I came here hoping for a good dinner and although it wasn't bad, it wasn't really great either. I had chicken parm and as mentioned by others here it was tough. My wife had linguine with white clam sauce and it was only fair also. It was not bad but not good either. read more

Stellini - a restaurant with tables and chairs - Italian Near Me - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Great service, food, service & ambiance! Our food was delicious and the owners even came by to check on our food and to thank us for coming. our server did a great job. Looking forward to going there again soon! read more

My husband and I came here for dinner on Monday night. We were the first to be there and we were seated on the porch so we could watch the wildlife. We had the early bird menu which was more than enough. I had the Alfredo which was the best we ever had! My husband had the chicken Parmesan and the sauce was amazing! The service was very attentive and we enjoyed visiting with a few of the regulars! We can't wait to come back in town and visit! read more

This was our favorite 'end of vacation' place to take our family for 10 years. We haven't been back for a long time when the kids moved away, but we decided to make a last minute trip that included this quaint family run business. It was delicious as ever. The staff is attentive and knowledgeable about the restaurant's specials. This is a warm, family atmosphere as if you were back in Italy around the family table. Jennifer was our server for the early bird special. Pictures are after we dug our forks in (sorry) Everything was delicious and on our next trip to HHI we'll be back again. read more

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Big surprise at how great everything was. It's definitely not the flashiest restaurant on the island, but what it gives up in flash it makes up in great Italian food. Our party of 8 had 7 different dishes and everyone couldn't stop raving about them all. I personally had the Veal Marsala and reminded me of Italian when I was younger in Connecticut. I would give this place a try if you are looking for good, memorable Italian fare. read more

I do not recommend spending your money here, unless you prefer bland and flavorless Italian. Atmosphere: Basic Italian restaurant Staff: Seemingly nice and attentive but didn't hear many of our drink orders so we did have to order things a few times. Food: Extremely bland, overly priced. I was shocked with the lack of quality for the price. No one really enjoyed their meal at our table, but we ate it because it was so expensive. The $3 garlic bread was the most affordable and delicious. Drinks: mediocre, not amazing or super strong. Overall I definitely don't recommend if you are someone who enjoys flavorful and fresh Italian. We definitely overspent and underate. read more

Food is always reliable and the service is great. A little bit of Jersey in Hilton Head.

This is a good "old school" Italian place. Everything was done really well. Really enjoyed the mozzarella stuffed meatball appetizer, but the star appetizer was the Arancini balls. The mains were spot on. The lasagne was a large portion and very good. You can't go wrong here and good prices for HHI. read more

Food was good but not great. Lasagna was a hit. House side salad was fine. The special was okay but not special. Service was slow - - lots of carry out orders due to golf tournament. I would give them another try. read more

Ok I will be honest we were going to another restaurant but the line was crazy. Fate brought us to Stellinis. This is one of the best Italian restaurants I have been to in a long time. I had the escargot which is hard to find in Indiana. They came out hot and buttery. So delicious. The homemade salad dressing was to die for. I am regretting not purchasing a jar to bring home. I order the linguini in white clam sauce. Again perfection. This was Italian cooking in pure form. My husband had manicotti and my kids had marinara. The meatballs homemade and delicious. I wish I would have had room for dessert but you could have rolled me out of there . Top notch service. If you live here or are just visiting give this place a try. read more

I am not sure why anyone would rate this restaurant under 4 stars. The food was delicious and our server was great. Food was very reasonably priced as well. The atmosphere was calm and quiet.....old school Italian read more

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It hurts me to give it 1 but it is what it is! Every single trip to HHI, we have eaten at Stellini's for the past 27 years. Sadly, we won't be back after the experience on Tuesday evening. We looked at each other and said-It was a good run. Table was ready for our reservation upon arriving. That was probably the only positive. It literally all went down hill after that. Our waitress had an attitude from the beginning. I get it, everyone is short staffed, and we were more than patient. But the rolls of the eyes, the sighing, it's annoying. We asked for a refill of milk for my special needs sister, 2 times. Never brought it, then the third time-we get the snarky "I only have 2 hands!" That was it for my dad. Food took a while to come out to pass the time, the owner takes my nephews to see the deer feeding, and oh the multitude of RACCOONS! Ummm, hell NO! I truly don't get a restaurant welcoming raccoons it's honest like Dr. Doolittle meets chef boyardee. To attract these animals that carry multiple diseases, Hell NO! The meals weren't that great-rigatoni was way over cooked! Everyone was really turned off on the meals with the animal side show. read more

We had a group of 11 and went to Stellini's for dinner during our last night of vacation. Included in our group were four children, ranging from a year old to six years old. The children were all well-behaved during the meal. The meal itself was okay overall; service was a little slow, but the food was fine. The issue we had, though, was with a group of drunk locals who were at a table near us. They were being loud throughout our whole meal, getting progressively worse as our meal went on, including cussing loudly and making inappropriate comments. More than once, we complained to the staff at the restaurant, but nothing was done about it. We ended up having to tell the people ourselves to knock it off, as we didn't appreciate their cussing in front of our young kids. Because of this, we won't be back, even if the food was amazing (which it wasn't). I get that restaurants need to keep the locals happy, but not at the expense of other customers. read more

We were pleasantly surprised in finding this little gem on Hilton Head Island! My husband had the Chicken Parmesan and I had the Rigatoni Bolognese. Both were delicious. Prices were better than expected. The service was also very good. Timing between courses was very good, not rushed. We would definitely come back. read more

Very yummy pasta dishes and drinks! Service was great, and the interior of the restaurant was dark and comfortable- perfect for stuffing your face with pasta. I did feel the prices were a little excessive, but I understand it's a traditional Italian place. Portions are normal to large. read more

Stellini - Fettuccini alfredo with chicken, pesto tortellini - Italian Near Me - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Ok wow. Wow. Wow. First off, this place hasn't cared enough about its own establishment to even update its hours on Yelp. If you look it up, it says the hours are 5am - 9am. I mean, if I was eating Italian food at that time it certainly wouldn't be from here. I'd be getting drunk pizza somewhere, and certainly not in hilton head, but I digress... Things that were good here: warm bread, garlic bread (though how do you eff up garlic bread?), butter packs (not by the restaurant), and the balsamic dressing that came on the app salad - which comes with every meal. Also, my cousin did like the pink sauce her tortellini came in. My mom also spilled on her shirt and the waitress brought her club soda immediately with a second napkin, but she was not all that and a bag of potato chips. I'll get to that... I was not thrilled about the marinara sauce that my chicken cacciatore came in. It was quite salty. The parm cheese was good but they brought it out on a small plate and were not very excited to keep bringing me more. But like I love Parmesan cheese, bring me all of it. Bring me the full block lady. Also, there was this random little candlestick filled with uncooked color pasta and a FAKE CANDLE on the table and like it was bothering me. I was trying to reach for the sub par apps and it was in my way so I put it on the ground. Later in the evening the waitress walked into it and I said, "oh sorry I put that there" and she said, in a very accusatory way, "I KNOW YOU DID." I mean ok relax. My chicken cacciatore on a scale from the worst to the best Italian I've ever had was a solid 4. So like, I just wouldn't write home about this place. Everyone seemed to enjoy their dishes in my fam but I do have to remind you that we were all very hungry and sat down for a 7:45pm dinner when this family is used to eating at 6pm. It's safe to say we enjoyed our meal 20% more simply because we were hungry. We had a very heated political discussion during this dinner which also just put everyone on edge. That's why I'm giving this place 2 stars instead of 1. Technically I really want to give it 1, because I just wasn't impressed, but since some members of the family were semi satisfied, I have to take that into account. At the end of the day I just want to go home. I have a headache and I want like a bite of something sweet. Xo read more

Stellini - Cannelloni beans and spinach app - Italian Near Me - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

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Best meal on the island. We stayed in Hilton Head for a week and were so glad we decided to venture outside of seafood and low country cuisine. Perfect execution and flavors in every dish. There was a small wait as we didn't have reservations, but the staff invited us to sit and have a drink at the bar while we waited for a couple of large groups to finish up. The interior is on the smaller side and dimly lit (romantic ambiance). The art on the walls takes you to Italy. Their dinner hours are short, so I suggest making advance reservations. Our server was very nice, professional and knowledgeable about the menu options. I ordered the veal rollatine with risotto special and my husband had the sausage, peppers and onions over pasta. We started with the stuffed mushrooms with cream sauce. Everything was so flavorful! The risotto was the absolute best I've ever tasted. Excellent value given the quality of food. Will definitely be back if we visit the area again. read more

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I don't know if I should post a review I got food poisoning, I probably shouldn't called them the next day, I had a martini im not sure but my olives were very funny tasting, but I had mussels then chicken parmigiana. But to be fair my wife's meal was delicious, anyway I was very sick about 2 hours later, in fact I haven't thrown up in 30 years. It was awful nite my ribs were sore for three or four days. I really think it was the olives very off taste, my fault for not saying something.never thought much about it until I got back to the room. read more

Stellini - Mussels - Italian Near Me - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Just like eating at grandmas Italian kitchen. Homemade and authentic recipes. Interior ambiance was traditional. The fake flowers outside were a bit off putting. Service was good but occasionally confused. Food quality was superior. Among the best local Italian. read more

Briefly, I think most people will be more than satisfied with the food. If I based my review on the food, it would be a 4. It's your typical authentic Italian joint and the food is good. That said, restaurants are a service business and they can improve some things here. You won't walk away angry about it, but it could be better. We chose it for dinner on our last night because we had eaten so much shrimp and local food all week, we needed a break from the seafood. Both my wife an I ordered items that are flagged as one of their specialties. Whenever I try a new place I usually target their signature dish. If I'm not impressed with that, I can't imagine how anything else would blow my socks off. I did the Veal Saltimbocca and it was vey good. The Caesar salad was good and the Crab Ravioli app was very tasty. Regarding some of the service related complaints. It was serviceable service. I prefer when the server can really offer an enthusiastic review of some of the dishes. Maybe point out some things I've overlooked on the menu. This was not the place for that. Our server seemed to have never had any of the food. I also don't like places where they make you order your entire meal at once. They call it appetizer for a reason. I often like to have a few bites of the app before I chose my main as the all often kills a craving and makes ordering easier. So to summarize yes, the combination of the lack of menu knowledge of the server, along with the ordering process had me dock this place a couple of stars. read more

This place was amazing. Looking on Yelp, I figured this place was unavailable, but when we were turned down at another restaurant, we tried this one and thank goodness! They didn't have room at first, but the small bar was enough for the girls to sit and the guys to have a drink. We were seated quickly and the food was amazing. Service and food absolutely top notch. read more