Lemoncello Italian Restaurant & Bar

It appears that Lemoncello revamped their menu at least twice over the last few years. After our initial visit in 2010, we stayed away for awhile because it looked to have become a little too pricey, but checking their website recently, it appeared that they lowered prices a bit on at least some items and/or added some less-expensive items. So, we went last night. We called about a half-hour beforehand and asked for a reservation on the patio, and they said sure and took our information. Yet, when we arrived, we were told that the patio was full, and that they had no idea how long a wait it would be, but that they reserved a seat for us in the atrium. The atrium (an enclosed area in which two of the walls consisted of large windows) was nice, but it wasn't what we had thought we were getting--we had wanted to sit outdoors, because the weather was (for once) perfect, and there was also a live band out there, which could barely be heard in the atrium. So, we felt deceived about our seating arrangement. They should have told us when we called that there would be a long wait for the patio and given us the option of either waiting or selecting an alternate seating arrangement. We were even more annoyed when a couple walked in 5 minutes after us and were ushered out to the patio. Beyond this, the rest of our experience was pretty good. Our waitress was very young and wasn't able to answer questions we had about the food and drink menu, but she very nicely went and asked her coworkers or manager for us, even bringing a sample of an uncommon wine we'd never seen before. The food was delivered in a timely fashion, our bread was refilled when we needed more to sop up the sauces, and our dishes (stuffed eggplant over penne and homemade gnocchi in vodka sauce) were piping hot and quite tasty. The gnocchi also featured pancetta and peas, an unexpected bonus. There was a ton of sauce for the proportion of pasta, but we saw that as a good thing in terms of leftovers (just add more pasta!). Dessert, a cannoli cake, was a big hit as well. We'll probably go back, but will be very specific when we call for reservations that we want to sit on the actual patio, not the faux-patio aka atrium.

This is the kind of Italian place that every town has... usually noted as the best place for Italian food in the neighborhood. Always a solid 3 stars; never particularly outstanding, but the food's never terrible either.

The first time I went to Lemoncello I sat at the bar and sucked down a few Peroni's. It's the only draft beer at the place, so it takes the guesswork out of what to order. I happen to like Peroni, so that worked for me.

The second time I went, tonight, I tried the food. I went with an old staple; chicken parmigiana. It was perfectly fine, served over penne pasta in a pomodoro sauce. The side salad it came with had one tiny tomato and a ton of lettuce. The house dressing was good, so the course was enjoyable despite the fact that the salad was just half a head of lettuce. The desserts were great, though. Cannoli cake, molten chocolate cate, creme brulee... you name it. The classics!

The cons dropped this from a 3.5 to a 3. There was lipstick on my glass which was a little revolting. The waitress seemed surprised to see it, and offered to comp an extra dessert. Problem with that was that we already had 3 between the 5 of us, so we declined a fourth. They didn't comp anything else off the menu, but I wasn't really looking for a handout so I didn't care.

The other con was that there was a heater keeping the outside room warm. The heater, though, was beating down on my back. It was so hot and there was absolutely no escape from it. Probably had the shittiest seat in the restaurant.

I'd come back for a decent, quiet, classic Italian dinner, sure.

Edit: The owner reached out to me via Yelp and apologized for the lipstick on the glasses. It means a lot in way of customer service. Will give this place another whirl in the future and update my review accordingly.

Lemoncello is a beautiful restaurant with decent food and several awkward flaws. If some things are worked out this place could be a local hangout for myself and many others in the East Rochester area.

My food was actually very good as I got the Steak Milanese which was perfectly cooked and laying on top of a very creamy and delicious risotto. The main course was preceded by an uninspired salad that was basically mixed greens with one tomato and a strangely sweet lemon dressing. The taste was a bit off-putting but got better by the bite. For dessert we shared the creme brule, molten cake, and a semi-frozen cannoli cake. They were passable but nothing special.

Unfortunately the dinner being decent did not outweigh the negatives at Lemoncello. First, my friend had a dried lipstick stain on his drink glass that was downright disgusting. We were seated outside and were right next to a space heater that made quite a racket and left us either overheated or freezing depending on if it was powered on or not.

Like I mentioned before, Lemoncello has some flaws but if it can iron some kinks out maybe it can turn my lukewarm reaction into a positive one. Only time will tell.