I'm in the minority on this one. It's not a 3 but also not a 4. The staff, the place itself all very nice. The menu has many interesting items and the shared appetizers were a good start. The Arancini was very good as was the Special Grilled Octopus in a Hummus Salad. There were 4 of us and we all felt that the entrees were good but didn't rise to what our expectations were, based on other reviews. The Lobster Gnocchi was good but seemed to be missing the lobster. The best part of the Scallop Risotto was the perfectly seared Scallops but the risotto itself was just ok. The Fiochi di Pere was good but overall didn't have all that much flavor. The Chicken Parmigiana was a very generous portion of chicken and pasta but the Italian seasoning was almost overpowering. I don't like writing reviews like this but like I said, we're in the minority review-wise on this one. Give it a try. Our experience just wasn't as good as what we expected. read more

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The food was great. I had the lamb chops in ordered mashed potatoes with them and ended up with spots, but that's not the waitress fault. The atmosphere was extravagant. Looking forward to seeing the main menu. Overall good experience. read more

Trattoria Valona - Lamb Chops - Italian Near Me - Hatboro, Pennsylvania

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Excellent food and service at this local BYOB spot in Hatboro. It's a cozy room with about a dozen tables, kitchen in the back. Walked in at 8PM on a Friday, seated right away. Shout out to our server Faye. She greeted us with a smile, explained the specials and made some recommendations which were spot-on. Checked back with us just the right number of times. Time from order to service about 10 minutes. Food was piping hot at service. Tried 2 of the daily specials. The first, a butternut squash and pear salad. Half inch chunks of soft and flavorful squash tossed with greens, oil, vinegar and garlic plus walnuts. Dressed with thin slices of juicy ripe pear. Delicious combo of flavors. Yum! Another special is grouper. A nice sized filet of pan-fried-to-perfection grouper is glazed with a lemon/butter sauce. It's topped with 3 broiled shrimp and served over risotto. The rissoto is treated to a touch of that lemon butter glaze. Creamy and rich, flecked with kernelsnof sweet corn. Grouper is flaky, white and tender. The lemon in the sauce is a great contrast to the sweet fish. Shrimp perfect - crisp and firm. An outstanding dish! Lastly, lamb chops. Prepared perfectly medium, the meat tender and juicy. Served with fingerling potatoes and (on request) grilled asparagus. Give this place a try, you will NOT be disappointed. read more

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Arrived and met at door by the owner who graciously showed us to our table in the small but well appointed dining area with an open view of the kitchen. I like restaurants that allow you to see the food being prepped. No hanky panky! This is a BYOB and we actually came prepared this time with a really nice red. We were promptly served fresh bread with olive oil, and approached by a very pleasant & smiling waitress. She went over the specials and left us to check over the menu. My wife is a big fan of Bronzino and the had that on the menu. I ordered a pasta dish. The food and the service were wonderful. Everything was delicious and the service impeccable. We topped off with a wonderful dessert that capped off a perfect first visit to Trattoria Valona. We will most definitely be back. Boun appertite read more

I'd describe this place as just okay overall. The food wasn't terrible, but it definitely didn't meet my expectations for Italian cuisine. the four dishes were bland and lacking flavor, which was disappointing given the reviews. Unfortunately, cleanliness was also an issue. The silverware was spotted, and one of the glasses still had lipstick on it -- which left a very bad impression. Overall, not somewhere I'm returning to. read more

Again Valona did not disappoint. Lamb shank with spinach polenta and tagliatelle bolognese crushed it. Emily was a great server and the restaurant, as is always the case, was spotless. read more

Again!! I'm giving them 5 Stars, because our friends from out of town said their's was one of the BEST meals ever. And, they are anxious to return on their next visit. We also agree that Trattoria Valona is amazing, because we have loved our meals every time we dine there. The fresh made pasta, clean and fresh seafood, tender Veal and fresh vegetables served with the Family enthusiasm, makes this place very special. Thank you Leon, Jose and Victoria, we will see you again soon.... read more

Food was very good. Tried this place for the first time. Only con. Portion sizes are really small for the price your paying! read more

Fabulous dinner last night! Service friendly and attentive food was delish and hot. Had the octopus dish and beets salad to start, husband had the scallops and risotto. Scallops were sweet and perfectly cooked. I had the crab fra Diablo, crab sweet and pasta cooked well. Dessert had tiramisu and a hazelnut gelato! We will be back! read more

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Been here now a few times. Very consistent, which is exactly what I look for in a restaurant before I write a review. Ambiance is great in here. My waitress Livia was absolutely wonderful , on top of it. Place gets 5 stars, looking forward on making this my place for Italian food when I'm down here. read more

Trattoria Valona - Lamb Chops - Italian Near Me - Hatboro, Pennsylvania

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My friends and I were quite disappointed with our dining experience at Trattoria Valona, especially given the excellent reviews we read ahead of our visit. Our server asked repeatedly if we were ready to order even though she could clearly tell we were not ready. She explained that she wanted to get our order in before the "rush". However, there was no rush that we witnessed during our time there! I was hoping the Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti would be exemplary, but it was unremarkable at best! It reminded me of a frozen boxed entree. My friend's Branzino was delicious and I regretted not ordering it. My other friend had the salmon which she said was good. We were merely trying to have a nice, relaxing meal and catch up with each other but instead it was rush, rush, rush even though there were plenty of open tables! Also, we were asked 5 different times if we were done with the -very bland tasting- truffle fries! UGH! No need to go back again. read more

Don't go here! I want to keep it to myself. Tonight was my first time here and I am so glad I made the trip. The restaurant is located in a newer building complex which has apartments above but a nice amount of parking to choose from. The layout is simple but quaint and comfortable. I had made a reservation on OpenTable and our table was ready when we arrived. The table was clean and nicely set. There certainly was an attention to detail. Wine glasses were already on the table which I appreciate in a BYOB as I make my own wine and always have my cork screw ready to get things rolling. Our server, Katie brought bread to the table and welcomed us to the restaurant. She even recognized the homemade wine (no label). We started with the meatball appetizer which had fresh ricotta and a delicious tomato sauce on it. The meatballs had great flavor and the sauce was really delicious. I ordered the ribeye special and the others ordered the lobster gnocchi and the grilled salmon. The plates came out sooner than I expected and were very nicely arranged. The lobster gnocchi was incredibly tender and light. There could have been a bit more lobster but who wouldn't want more lobster! The salmon was quite a large piece along with polenta and a citrus salsa. The salmon didn't have a chance and that plate was cleaned! I had the ribeye cooked to medium. It's rare that I can order medium and it not be rare. This was perfect. The Gorgonzola cream sauce over crab meat and mushrooms was fabulous. The mashed potatoes were creamy with the occasional lump to add texture. Asparagus was grilled with just the right amount of char. It was really well done. It was a great first experience and I can't wait to return and try other items from the menu. We had a great experience with Katie and appreciated her friendly service. We will be back with lots of friends. read more

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Who knew we had such an amazing restaurant just 5 minutes from us! We read all of the 5 star reviews and couldn't wait to give it a try. It didn't disappoint! The service and ambiance was warm and welcoming and the food was incredible! We started with Grilled Octopus and shared a pasta dish as a second. Both were excellent. The salmon and the scallops with risotto were also top notch. As full as we were, we couldn't resist dessert which was also excellent! Can't wait to come back to try more! read more

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My boyfriends family decided to have a family dinner here on a Sunday evening. It was the first time we were here. They had our table for ten all set up when our party arrived. The owner, who took care of us, was great! Making jokes, answering our menu questions, and always friendly/nice. My boyfriend and I split the Caesar salad. I enjoyed the penne vodka with shrimp and Mark had the chicken dish. We both were very pleased with all of the food we had. It's also byob which is always great! I hope his family plans another dinner soon! read more

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I came here because of the great reviews on Yelp as well as Google. Complimentary Italian bread is ok. It's served with butter. I wish they provided olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. Fried calamari was great. Perfectly cooked and has crunchy breading. Highly recommended. Entree: branzino with lemon caper wine sauce. Good ambil of fresh fish, perfectly cooked, flavor was on point. It was served with a wedge of roasted potato . A slice of carrot and very thin asparagus. My husband had scallops with risotto. I tried the risotto and it was delicious and perfectly seasoned. Highly recommended. Dessert: our waitress read us the list of dessert: Nutella cheesecake, limoncello cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, and a couple more that I couldn't remember. I picked limoncello and my other guest picked Nutella cheese. I tried a bite of the Nutella cheesecake and it was super delicious. I love Nutella and it tasted like I was eating Nutella from the jar. What puzzled me was the cheesecake was served in a plastic container. My guest didn't ask for it to go. On the other hand, my limoncello cake was a disappointment. It was a big slice and the cake was super dry. I barely tasted the lemon. When we were ready to leave the waitress and I had a conversation on how good the Nutella cheesecake was and I mentioned that I wished that they served tiramisu because it is my favorite dessert. She said they had it and it was made yesterday. She forgot to mention it and ask if I wanted to order. By that time I was already full and was ready to leave. I was very disappointed. Maybe it's better for the restaurant to print out the dessert menu. read more

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Extremely disappointed with my experience here. Myself and 3 girlfriends had a 5:30pm reservation on a Saturday night. We were looking to relax, eat good food and spend a couple hours catching up. We were asked to order everything together to make sure the kitchen did not get backed up. We thought this was strange but had no problem doing so. We ordered apps, 4 meals and 3 desserts. Before dessert was served we were told that they would likely need our table soon. It was not even 6:30pm at this point. We were told again around 6:45 that the table was going to be needed soon and by 7pm we were basically kicked out. We spent less than an hour and a half total in the restaurant with 30 minutes of that being asked to leave to make room for another party. I called the restaurant today to asknif they had a 90minute policy at the table. I thought maybe I missed this information when I made the reservation. The owner or manager was rude, defensive and dismissive to customer feedback. There is no policy I missed however he had no problem trying to explain to me how restaurants work. I told him I worked in BYOB's for years and I never asked a table to leave after less than an hour dining. I attempted to tell him that as a customer it was extremely off putting to be forced out of their restaurant after such a short period of time after we had just spent good money to be there. The food was fine but we will never return to this restaurant based on our experience. read more

We had a great dining experience at this restaurant! Very high quality food made with fresh ingredients. I had the pasta special which was the tagliatelle with lobster tail, scallops and shrimp in a fra diavolo sauce. Excellent! My wife had their signature dish of seared scallops on risotto, amazing! We started with the grilled octopus and eggplant rollatini which were both very good and I highly recommend. The food reminded me of the excellent quality we experienced on our recent trip to Italy. The dishes were not drowned in sauce like so many Italian restaurants do here in the states. This is a BYOB restaurant too. The prices were also very reasonable. I also want to add that our server was great too, she was very attentive and gracious. I also enjoyed my conversation with the owner as I tried to speak Italian. Non parlo molto bene l'italiano! We will definitely be going back! read more

This spot was so good it made me want to write a review again! Tonight was the second time going here, and we were greeted by who I believe is the owner - a wonderfully fun and joyful man who went over the specials of the night. We had the calamari and arancini for apps and both were spectacular. We then had the seafood tortellini and the veal special with linguini instead of polenta. All in all, I absolutely love the vibe, and the owner is the kind of guy who would be so fun to share a bottle of wine with one night. If he were in the city, he would have a packed house every night. read more

This place is a hidden gem and I can't say enough good things! BYOB and delicious Italian. The service was top notch and everyone on the staff was super friendly. I will absolutely be back! read more

It was very noisy, 2 of our party of 4 ordered Caesar salads, they were extremely small like what someone left on their plate. We ordered capellini with Shrimp and crabmeat , very mediocre, sauce was not good. Service very slow. We won't go back read more

Food was amazing!!!!! Service was outstanding. Ambiance great local spot that has amazing food a must in Hatboro. read more

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I can't believe I never had dinner here before last week. The restaurant has been open for three years! I have to say everyone in our party of eight raved about their meal. I had the Grouper special that was delicious. It was served on risotto and topped with shrimp. My husband had the seafood Diablo. He is usually disappointed with the level of spice but not this time. He was very pleased with his entree. The Owner was present and very charismatic. Super great place to have a BYOB dinner. read more

The restaurateur is very passionate, and he also gave us the self-formulated coffee rum for the classic desserts. It's amazing. Highly recommended! read more

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Clean, nice staff, amazing food and good portions. Probably the best chicken parm I have ever had!

What an amazing dinner! Everything was delicious, properly seasoned, and perfectly prepared with fresh ingredients. We had the fried calamari, perfectly tender, lightly breaded, and slightly crispy on the outside. We then had the dinner specials: veal osso buco with mushroom risotto and grilled swordfish puttanesca with Israeli couscous with pine nuts and chickpeas. To top it all off, we had the LIFE CHANGING tiramisu. If you come here and do not get the tiramisu, you are missing out on a life-altering experience. The owner is amazingly friendly and kind - loves to joke and tell stories - we truly enjoyed meeting him, and our visit to this restaurant! Did I mention it's also BYOB??! We will be back! Thank you Leon for a wonderful evening! PS - reviewers complaining about "small portions" are out of their mind. The osso buco was huge - we took half home. The swordfish was also two nice pieces on a huge mound of couscous that filled the plate. The menu has many options - it is not limited at all, and on top of that there were 4 appetizers and 3 entree specials that weren't on the menu to additionally choose from. Really an excellent selection of high quality menu items, well crafted and made with care and attention. read more

Love this gem. Lovely menu & always great specials. The food is delicious & the portions & prices are great. And its a BYOB. I highly recommend it. I usually go early during the week. It's small but inviting. It does get crowded on the weekend so you do need reservations. Enjoy! read more

Been there 3 times now and each time was outstanding. Meals and service were top notch.

First time here. Restaurant was super busy, but they were kind and accommodating for us with no reservations. Menu looked good and they had options to someone with food restrictions. I ordered the Seafood Frutti di Mare with GF pasta. It was good, the bowl was a little too big though. I felt like I was digging into a bucket to reach my food lol. Not a good bowl for someone who is shorter at the table. We also orders the Grilled Vegetables and that was delicious. My husband had the Shrimp Scampi and said it was borderline too salty. Nice vibe in there though. read more

The restaurant is super comfortable clean and most importantly the food was amazing! Great portions the flavor coming from ultra fresh ingredients carefully crafted! Highly recommended read more

Grilled octopus is a must. The pastas were good. My crab rigatoni was slightly on the bland side, but great portions. It's a cute spot and would've loved to come back but my husband and I will not return because we felt like we did not belong at the restaurant. I'm assuming it was the owner or manager who went to every single table..We observed that he was having small talk with everyone, but he did not greet us at all. I know he saw us, he walked past us multiple times, not even a smile or hello. We were the only Asians in there. I won't make assumptions but we definitely felt uncomfortable. It's unfortunate since we thought we found a decent place to eat in the area. read more

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I wish I could give this restaurant more than 5 stars! We booked a reservation the day before and we were met with family like service. We dined in for my brothers birthday. I had a child with me who needed a high chair. Accommodated. We needed ice cups and straws. Accommodated. Amazing service and food. Will absolutely return read more

Trattoria Valona - The special: spinach gnocchi with crab meat, asparagus and peas - Italian Near Me - Hatboro, Pennsylvania

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Don't let the exterior fool you - this place is really, really good. Fresh ingredients, thoughtfully prepared. Despite it being 35 minutes away, we'll be back. read more

Great service. Friendly staff. Food was fantastic Great place to meet friends You can have a quiet conversation and not be rushed by the staff read more

Wonderful Italian cuisine and experience. There were six of us. Booked a table through Open Table, however we came at 5:15 and it was not crowded. Everything we had was very fresh and delicious. The dishes we tried: Apps: Buratta with fresh tomatoes and basil, grilled calamari , fried calamari Entrees: lamb shank (so tender and flavorful!), scallops over cream risotto, and the mushroom gnocchi dish. Specials: Grouper with shrimp over a corn risotto. Butternut squash soup. No liquor, so bring your own. Wine and liquor shop a mile away. Thank you Leon! read more

Wonderful meal tonight! So glad we decided to try this place after hearing good things. We had the cherry and peach salad special and the grouper with lemon sauce. Both very delicious and beautifully presented! I can't wait to come back and try the pasta! Our waitress was a gem, knew a lot about the dishes and was helpful with recommendations. Beautiful space too! read more

The food was incredibly good. The service was wonderful, and the small atmosphere of the restaurant itself just led to the ambience of the evening. read more

Great atmosphere and great service as always. I've been here 4 times (so far) and have always tried the specials. Tonight, before the filet mignon topped with crab and Gorgonzola, the appetizer was wild boar arancini! Easily the best arancini I've had and the wild boar meat was perfect. It's a BYOB so the homemade Cabernet was flowing and we finished with tiramisu and espresso. read more

I love eating at Trattoria Valona with my family and friends! The food is delicious, flavorful, and the specials are always new and exciting! I can't find one bad thing especially with the service! The restaurant feels like home and is inviting! Very clean and I would recommend to everyone!! read more

We absolutely love this restaurant - a hidden gem owned by a family business who takes great care in the food, ambiance and experience. Customer service is incredible - walked my food to my car when it was a large order. The food is delicious. The kitchen is very accommodating for all my allergies. The staff is wonderful - from the owner to the waitresses. Will continue to go back! read more

This is the best restaurant. My wife and I discovered it about a month ago and have been back several times since. We absolutely adore everything about this restaurant and all the amazing staff and food. I get the chicken parm usually and my wife gets either branzino or salmon. The sauces and flavors are delicious and you can tell how freshly prepared everything is. The place is so well run and you can tell how much everyone cares. I also love the bread and olive oil. Hands down one of best restaurants in entire Philadelphia region. Please add to your list. We love it!! read more