It is with heavy heart that I write this review...In the past, La Collina has been one of my all time favorite restaurants. It was my go-to special/fancy dinner place because the food and service was always top notch. No more, it seems. My date and I made a reservation, but when we arrived they had lost our reservation. Our waiter was inattentive and visibly irritated that I didn't order alcohol and neither my date or I ordered an appetizer; perhaps as a result of this, he was inattentive the entire night, rarely ever checking on us. I ordered the fettucine alfredo which was very disappointing and almost flavorless despite being $19. After the waiter neglected to show me the bottom shelf of the dessert cart and I had to ask about it, I ordered the peanut butter cake which was underwhelming, at best. And to top it off, the restaurant was loud all night. All this plus the mandatory valet parking...I don't know what changed, but La Collina is no longer the great spot it used to be.
Review Source:I just went to this restaurant for dinner and after I took my first bite I couldn't wait to write a review. I walked in and thought this atmosphere reminds me of Anthony's in Drexel hill, pa. Which has amazing food and great atmosphere. La Collinas has great atmosphere but terrible food. I had linguine with crab, clam, and shrimp. The linguine tasted like it was from a box. Not like radicchio cafe in old city they have home made pasta that doesn't even need gravy. The white wine on my linguine tasted like a stick of butter was melted on the pasta. I couldn't even eat the meal I was so disgusted by what I was putting in my mouth. And the wine did not taste fresh at all. When our bill came it was 80 dollars and I was thinking for what. At Anthony's or radicchio I could order two entrees, an appetizer, and a dessert and not only would it be excellent it would be less than 80 dollars.
If your thinking about going to this restaurant don't waste your time or money it is not authentic Italian cuisine.
I brought my gf to La Collina for Valentine's day because I knew of the location which appeared to be romantic. At arrival noted valet only and went into the restaurant. We got a waiter he was to put it kindly large. He was sweating and had trouble breathing and taking our order. The starters (bread and eggplant w/ red peppers) were probably the only good thing about this place. I got the chicken parm and my gf got the surf and turf. Out of both of these orders the only thing marginally ok was the steak. The tail had little taste and was petite by all means. My chicken parm did not come with any pasta which should have been suggested by our waiter if it was not included. After our meal which left me disappointed I stood up and noticed the valet attendant get into my luxury car and fly through the small parking lot and drove very fast right into a tight spot near the building and I almost lost it! Once i got outside he asked what car and got in it at the side of the building and once again slammed the gas to bring it up to the front. When he got out I confronted him and said I really do not appreciate you driving my car like that. His response, "when I get in the car my adrenaline just starts pumping." COMPLETETLY UNACCEPTABLE!!! I was so mad on the way home when i got there I had to call the restaurant to complain. The managers response (believe his name was Joe) "oh the valet guy yeah we have had complaints about this before."!!!! What why would you still employee someone who is not respecting your customers property which pretty much consists of BMW's, Mercedes etc.. Will never go back and you should not waste your time with this place!!!
Review Source:Went to La Collina on Friday night at 7 pm. Â Very nice reception and host was friendly. Waiter was a bit rough around the edges and hurried us throughout our dinner despite the lack of people in the restaurant. Â They claim to have one of the most extensive wine collections in Philadelphia, which is not the case. Â The list is very limited and quite expensive. We choose one of the family wines, which was surprisingly delicious. The waiter informed us that everything was al carte. Â The menu selection was nice, and I chose from the Valentine's Day Specials, "filet mignon and crabmeat stuffed lobster tail." My girlfriend ordered the Zuppa di Pesce, which we discovered turns out to be fish soup. Â However, the waiter suggested linguini with it. Â We thought that was a good choice. Â My meal was a petit filet and petit lobster tail with crab filler. Â The fish soup was watered down marinara sauce, where one could see the water added. Â We asked for crushed red peppers and parmesan cheese, and the waiter served us a couple of spoons of each. Â The waiter refilled our wine glasses, splashing wine on the table. Â We finally received the bill and noticed the fish soup was more expensive than listed. Â We asked about this and were told that pasta is not included with the dish, and was an extra charge. Â I found the waiter's suggestion to add pasta deceptive and poor service. Â Overall, the atmosphere and view are very nice. Â The food is adequate, but not very tasty. Â Service was average, but not what you would expect at this type of restaurant. Â There are much better Italian place in the City. I would suggest trying Davio's for a better experience.
Review Source:I wanted to love it here, but to be honest, it's no bueno. The food is mediocre at best, totally uninspired, I used salt (gasp!) to add some flavor to my Collina chicken and my husband's meal, meatballs, were just okay. The pasta was even overcooked, a travesty for an Italian joint. The staff were super professional, it certainly is a classy place, but the food just doesn't live up to the ambiance. And one of the waiters was sick, he kept hacking and it wasn't a pleasant addition to our experience. Hey, I get it, we all get sick, but in a restaurant, it doesn't add to a dining experience.
Review Source:2/2013
Short version - STAY AWAY as they manipulate your bill to charge you more than the prices on the menu  and the food is marginal.
Explanation from start to finish
1. Valet parking when there is an entire parking lot with many open parking spaces about 20 feet from the door. Â The valet guy was pretty rude when we asked to park our car.
Host corrected me on how to pronounce my name!!!!???
2. Â Ordered a glass of Riesling which they are out of, then a Gewurztraminer which they are out of. Â Then the waiter brings out a glass of White Zinfandel without asking if we want it. Â His explanation is it is sweet like the Riesling. Â So we ordered a glass of red. Â Asked for a Zinfandel and his response was that he had a White Zinfandel in his hand...........Zinfandel is red.
3. Â Ordered one of the special appetizers (fig and prosciutto), which they were out of. Â So we ordered the grilled Calamari instead of the $10.00 Fried Calamari on the menu and a Caesar salad appetizer. Â Both the Caesar salad and the grilled calamari were special appetizers.
4. Â The Calamari was slimy and stale and the Caesar salad was maybe four small pieces of Romaine and a couple of pieces of cheese.
5. Â The vegetable and potato plate that comes with the meal was all combined on a side plate the size of a coffee cup holder. Â Very small portion for a side dish.
BILL comes and it gets worse
6. Â Charged $46.00 for for glasses of wine. Â Menu has them priced at $10.00 a glass so it should be $40.00, not $46.00. Â Ask the waiter and he makes up an excuse that it actually says $40.00, not $46.00 (it is handwritten), but it adds up to $46.00 when adding up the bill. Â Trying to rip us off for $6.00 here.
7. Â Ask about the two charges of $16 and $17 on the hand written bill. Â The $10.00 slimy calamari is now $16.95 since it is a special AND the SALAD is $17 for four pieces of lettuce and two rotten tomato slices. Â
$17.00 for a salad?? Â All the salads on the menu are priced between $6.95 to $8.95.
What a rip off for the Calamari and Salad $33.00
Waiter and manager/host had no concerns about the mistakes and pricing and blamed it on the chef!
La Collina is a solid Italian restaurant. Â It is located on the side of a hill affording diners with a nice view across a river that i will not attempt to spell. Â The service is excellent - top notch. Â I am a fan of family-run places like this. Â Food was excellent - I had some fish that was filleted table-side. Â The desert card will no doubt be wheeled past you at some point during your meal, and it is not to be missed. Â Friendly staff, nice ambience, great food and service is a winning combination. Â Keep up the good work.
Review Source:This is a good place to come if you're looking for a good elegant and traditional Italian meal. Â My wife and I have been here twice and enjoyed our meals both times. Â The veal was tender and the pasta was done right. Â
They go to great lengths to be classy, from the greeting by the host, to the servers wearing white jackets and wheeling entrees out on carts, to the dessert cart which is extremely enticing. Â Sometimes it seems a little over the top for 2012, but it's their shtick and makes the experience fun. Â
Both times we felt like we were the only people in the place under 50 not accompanied by their parents. Â We found it quite humorous, in fact. Â Perhaps young people find the atmosphere a bit stuffy, but we don't mind. Â
A tip for those wanting to avoid the valet: drive half a block around the corner and there's free street parking.
I had my doubts about La Collina mainly because I've just never really heard any amazing reviews about it. Â I'm so happy I finally had my girlfriends birthday as a reason to check this place out.
We were greeted by the host and then about 5 other people from the busboy, to manager, waitress, water guy, etc. Â As this kind of activity may get under the skin of some patrons, I find it something I look forward to when I go to Italian restaurants--that's just the type of personalities they are meant to have.
After we were seated, we were treated to different types of breads and oil and also brought out a cold peppers and cheese dish complimentary of the house. Â (The manager brought one around to every table in the place and I thought this was a nice touch). Â
We split a botte of wine (pretty pricey wine list for what the actual prices are) but still good. Â I ordered the Linguini con Pesce (linguini served with crabmeat, shrimp, and clams in a white wine sauce). Â Now, I'm not the biggest seafood fan and can easily be unsatisfied when it comes to clams but this easily was one of the BEST Italian seafood dishes I've ever had. Â Crabmeat was piled on top of the linguini with 6-7 clams in a circle around that and shrimp spread throughout. Â Just as soon as I thought they were being cheap with the little bit of crabmeat on top of the linguini, I realized they also spread it throughout the entire dish. Â I finished every last bit of my dish and enjoyed every bite of it.
My girlfriend ordered the Tortellini alla Panna (cream sauce, Italian Prosciutto, and peas). Â I know tortellini is a simple dish but the flavor of the sauce along with the Prosciutto made this some of the best tortellini I've ever had.
Finally, we both had passed up on an appetizer to save some room for dessert; we saw the cart on the way in and knew it would be well worth it. Â I tried the chocolate cannolil cake and she had a cake with raspberry, chocolate, and cream cheese filling. Â ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (especially with the hot cappuccino I was sipping on.)
Food, Environment, Service, everything was absolutely more than I expected and I definitely will put this on my list of places I have to revisit.
I cannot rave enough about La Collina. Seriously awesome. I have yet to be disappointed, and frankly, after years of excellent service and great food, I doubt I will be disappointed. The host checks on you, as does the owner on occasion, to be sure you have everything you need. This is a SERIOUS gem on the main line, I would say one of the best if not the best Italian food in this area.
We went last week again, and I had the veal special, along with the grilled calamari special... it was so good I am lusting after it nearly a week later.
And to top it all off-- their family has a winery in Italy, and they make a super amazing Malbec, which we have almost every time we visit La Collina. 5 Stars, you will not be disappointed, and for what you get, the price is so so reasonable!
Ate here after a recommendation by the concierge host at the hotel. Â It was a pretty cool restaurant set in a stone building on top of a hill. Â It has a definite old school vibe to it and exudes pure Italian atmosphere. Â
All of the dishes I had were excellent. Â I tried an appetizer portion of the gorgonzola gnocchi, and it was very tasty. Â The highlight of the meal for me was the Lobster and Shrimp in a spicy marinara sauce. Â Huge portion with plenty of fresh plump shrimp and a whole lobster tail halved. Â
It's definitely not the most modern style restaurant, but I really appreciate a family run business, and the people running the place could not have been more friendly and classy.
I have to say this place is a fabulous old school Italian restaurant. Â I always judge Italian on how good their red sauce is and this place is up there at the top. My date had the Branzino, Branzino is the Italian name for Mediterranean sea bass, and they cooked the whole fish and de-boned it table-side - awesome. Â Someone complained about valet parking but I kind of like it especially dealing with Manayunk parking all the time, and it is a little pricey but well worth it.
Review Source:Valentine's Day dinner was a delight! We asked for a more private table, and they were happy to accommodate us. The drinks were large and made perfectly. The service was outstanding and the food was delicious with excellent service and a nice presentation; especially the desert cart. Even the valet parking, which I normally eschew was well done and our car was brought to us quickly.
It's a little pricy, and probably not for a weekly visit, but for an occasion, I would highly recommend it.
Nice place. Â Great view. Â Food is excellent. Â But the place lacks charm.
Also, valet parking is required, even though i practically parked it myself. Â And when i asked the host to break a 20, so i could tip the valet (for driving my car 14 feet to park it), he gave me a 10 and two 5's. Â I hate that crap.
I have been here several times. Not sure what all the hype is about on this place. Â I can't disagree that the atmosphere is nice. Â On the other hand, Rich the host couldn't be more of an a$$. Once I was looking to set up a meal for about 20 people. Â After asking some basic questions about price, options and wine he basically blew me off. Â Poor service, below average food and overall not worth the money.
Review Source:We spent NYE at La Collina with the family for a nice, Italian dinner and some good company. Â It is located up on a hill in what I would deem Belmont Hills - their parking situation is dicey, and they have a great valet guy who has obviously been doing this for a while. Â He doesn't even give tickets, he just seems to remember who drove what. Â A little unnerving, but it seemed to work just great! Â
Being that it was NYE, the restaurant was completely packed upon our arrival and we had to wait about 20 minutes for our table. Â We sat in the bar and listened to a live singer, which we enjoyed.
We were seated at a table in the middle of the room, not a great location with all of the frenzied waiters swooshing past us. Â Our waiter was alright - he seemed less than thrilled to be there, but I can certainly understand. Â He was efficient and forgot nothing, and overall we had a nice enough evening. Â The food was good, but nothing spectacular. Â The crowd was a bit on the older side, and again, not sure if this was a result of the special occasion or the usual. Â Fairly average Italian food, with an average night overall.
We've been going here for years. My guess is that this place has been here for at least 25 year's - probably longer. You have to be operating a restaurant exceptionally to stay in business that long.
The hospitality, ambiance, and food are excellent. Definitely one of the finer Italian restaurants in the Delaware Valley. You can't get a bad meal here. The waiters are old school, with a slight attitude, but in a nice South Philly way - it's all part of the experience. The sauces are as good as it gets - done right...very authentic.
Very nice bar scene too w/ piano player.
Dined on a Thursday. Overall we had a lovely evening. Â Easy to get to from Center City - beautiful view.
Made a reservation, but didn't seem to matter. They didn't have a special table set aside for us. Â Automatic Valet b/c of the location on a cliff (for safety).
Like others have mentioned, it is traditional Italian decor in the main dining rooms. The bar is more modern - round with a grand piano! Â Looked like a good group of locals were watching sports.
The bread and marinated peppers/olives were a great starter. Â We had a nice appetizer of mussels in marinara sauce (you could have eaten the sauce like soup - yummy). Â The special Tomato/Onion/Basil salad didn't impress.
We ordered a special request pasta combo that they broke down into two appetizer portions: Gorgonzola Cream Sauce, sausage and mushrooms with Penne pasta. Â Man was that a good choice! Â Rich - a little heavy on the cream.
Our entrees were delicious: Veal Porterhouse (full of flavor) and Branzino whole fish, filleted at the table. The entree specials were very pricey though ($ 36 each)
They serve house wines - we loved the MALBEC.
Our dessert came from a cart - served directly by our waitress. We tried the Rum Cake. Â Eh....
We want to go back when the pianist is playing in the bar! I hear he is great on Thursday nights!!!
Had a reservation for 7:30 Â and was not seated until 8:15. We were a party of 4. Now to make matters worse, our waiter was as nasty as could be. He told us about the specials, never told us prices. When we asked him about the prices, he responded in a condescending way that made us feel cheap for asking. We asked if the iced tea was free refills and yet again he was nasty, saying "whatever you like" in a very sarcastic tone. The food was very good we had the gnocchi and it was great. Hopefully, management sends our waiter packing
Review Source:Disappointing place.
First the good, the facility is quaint and well air conditioned.
The bad news is the food and service is not good. Â 4 of our 5 filet mignon were overcooked. Â The dessert of ice cream covered in chocolate was bland and uncreative.
Plus, the server only refilled the water glasses for the women at our table, served over our plates and in front of our faces rather than going around us, and bumped me more than a few times, never saying "excuse me."
The atmosphere is excellent- you feel as if you've stumbled into a stereotype of an Italian restaurant. Live piano music, mildly accented waiters, extensive wine list- it's got a great feel to it. However, the food on all three occasions I've been there is good, but nothing to write home (or on Yelp) about. Maggiano's has better and fresher food at less cost.
Basically, everything is impressive about this place except for the food, which is only decent. I'd imagine it's a good place to go on a date or impress clients, where the appearance of extremely fine Italian dining is more important than the actual dining itself.
We went there last night for a romantic belated Valentine's Day dinner. We were promptly greeted by the very friendly valet who parked our car (no ticket though - he just told us to ask for our car by it's type) and then someone took our coats and we were seated in the beautiful dining room (the rounded part that butts out). I thought the dining area was beautiful. The "view" was on 76 and of Manayunk, which is OK but do I consider that a "good" view? Nope. They really pack people in there so it gets LOUD and is hard to get around.
Our waiter came off right away and he smelled like horrible stale smoke. That kind of put me off a bit. He and the other wait staff were super sweet but "fine dining" service they are not. Two examples - we were not given nor offered a wine list and when we were told the specials they were shouted at us and a neighboring table in a random order (e.g., an entree here, an appetizer there, etc.).
The food? It was not bad but not super great. We had tortellini with proscuitto and peas that was pretty yummy. Then, we had veal parm and one of their specialty chicken/lobster/asparagus dishes. The veal parm was ok - again nothing special. I had to ask for parmesan cheese = that made it better! The other la collina dish was "eh" I thought the lobster was super fish and a bit rubbery.
We had some champagne (no idea what since we didn't have a wine list) that was OK. We opted for no dessert because we were pretty full and ready to head out.
We checked out the bar on the way out and it looked AWESOME. There was someone singling live in there and it was really pretty and chill.
I'd consider going back for sure - it's not too expensive and was a nice experience. (I just like to be honest on here so you know what you are getting!)
I've driven past this place for years and wondered what it was like, up in the hills above I-76 looking down on the likes of you and me. Now that I can afford to look down on everyone, or at least pretend to for one night - I decided to try it out for a night. It was like dining out in the past. Older clientele - live show tunes from the bar; it felt like I was dining on the set of Goodfellas - everyone seemed to know each other.
Great Italian. Definitely fancier fare than most italian places. Â The ossobucco was like butter. Fantastic deserts. Great view of Manayunk. Good place for a date. Good place to go for a really nice night out. My one pet peeve: we had a reservation, yet waited for nearly an hour before being seated.
If you like fine Italian dining with a romantic view, this is the place for you. The menu includes a broad array of starters, along with reasonably priced (under $20) pasta entrees and moderately priced (mid $20's) pesce and carne entrees. The wine list is expansive with a wait staff skilled at pairings. The wait staff itself can be a bit intrusive  -- they always seemed to arrive just as my date and I were leaning into each other -- but at least they were attentive. There is a nice bar for after dinner cocktails, plus a small dance floor on the weekends. Free valet parking is a nice touch. La Collina is easy to find, just off the schuylkill at green lane, which makes it a good center point for friends from the city and the burbs to meet.
Enjoy, i did:)
~kali
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