I used to love this place. Not anymore. I had been told that they had gone downhill in quality lately, but I didn't want to believe it.
We waited for 50 minutes to get our meals. I know it was Friday night, but we ordered simple dishes (fried shrimp for instance), and other tables around us ordered, were served, and ate in the time it took for us to get our dinners. I had grilled chicken that was tough and dry, with cold fries. My boyfriend had shrimp FULL of grease. Our other friend we went out with had the chicken parm, which she said was disgusting. In short, I am never going back. And I'm telling everyone I know to never go there.
Not very good at all. Â Two of us had the ribeye sandwich special, and it was all fat and gristle. Â Neither of us ate more than half. Â
The wings were simply overcooked. Â Their skin was hard as a rock. Â The sauce was good though. Â BUT, you cannot split sauces! Â Even with an order of 20. Â They actually charge you for two orders of 10. Â Crazy!!
Even worse, there are no refills on soda!!! Â I can't even remember a place that did not give free soda refills. Â (even though we drank beer, this rule was clearly placed on the menu)
And more....you cannot use a credit card after 10 pm. Â What is that?? Â
All these "rules" lead me the believe the owner is a cheapskate. Â They have a sauce called "everything" which is not bad, but it is clearly another cost cutting move. Â They also use instant mashed potatoes. Â Not cool.
Finally, the live music was just horrible. Â Our table of five was hoping he we take more breaks than he did. Â It was cute that he allowed some kids to play with him, but the covers were like listening to someone play Rock Band on a PS3. Â The music over the sound system was far more enjoyable.
I can see how this can be a fun place to hang out if you are a college kid, but the food was just bad.
One star for the sauce.
Fried ravioli with a side of xenophobia anyone?
Cavallo's is quite the institution in New Hartford and we visited a couple of times for lunch. The food was pretty much what you would expect for the low-end price and outrageously large menu. The wings are certainly better than average. Apparently the craziness comes out at night, because it all went downhill when we attempted to join friends for an evening out at the bar. Note I said "attempted".
By the time we arrived they were carding and my husband and I climbed the steepest staircase known to central New York, we'd pulled our Virginia licenses out and handed them to the burly, cock-eyed bouncer. I don't use that term as a joke - the description is literal. He glanced at mine with no issue, but after reviewing my husband's he accused him of being much older than the man on the ID. He offered to show him the other cards in his wallet, but he replied that he could have "stolen the entire wallet." At first I thought he may be joking, but it quickly became clear that he was quite serious. We were both flabbergasted, but I informed my husband that there were too many places to spend our money to go back and forth over this nonsense. At that point the bouncer encouraged us to do so... to spend our money elsewhere.
The fact that I am African American and my husband is Caucasian is pretty pivotal to the point here. I'm guessing the confrontation with the ignoramus guarding the door was a product of multiple issues: deeply instilled prejudice against perceived outsiders, a bit of racism and a lot of jackassery as I am sure this is the only position of authority this person will ever be in. The first is laughable as my husband was actually born and raised in New Hartford.
One bad ravioli don't ruin the whole bunch normally, but when I reached out to management I received zero response. At best it makes them negligent and at worst complicit. Â Damn shame, because those fried raviolis aren't half bad.
What could be better than having a few cold Stella Artois' on a warm Wednesday summer night while eating a dozen steamed clams? Â We also ordered a large sausage and sweet green pepper pizza. Â It's a no frills, laid back place-- and it was just what we wanted. Â We hung out and drank our beers while listening to some live music on the outside deck. Â Service was great.
Review Source:It's hard to go much higher for a place that boasts taco salad in a hard taco shell. Â The food was a bit better than marginal. Â But I don't think I'd be particularly heartwarmed by a tour of the kitchen. Â Any place where the menu has at least 5,000 items must employ necromancy with the microwave and freezer that I'd as soon not know about.
The teenage staff is about as nice as teenage staff can be. Â And when you simply have to have some riggies, that can be important. Â
All the same, "oily" and "heavy" are better than "bad," but not as good as "fresh" or "good."
I wouldn't say these were the best wings in the world. They're good. The sauces are pretty standard, and the hot is fairly hot. That is, they're not skimping on the heat like some other places in the area. The wings are a decent size, not plump oversized sticks of gristle and fat, and not small baby like crispy things that make you feel like you're eating some chicken's poor child. They're right in the middle. They are consistently cooked and priced well. I've been here about a dozen times and each time I get a dozen medium. They've tasted the same each time. I like that kind of consistency. Like I said, I wouldn't rate these as the best in the region, but definitely in the top 3.
Here's why I'm giving it three stars. The atmosphere is kind of lame, of the dozen  times I've been there the waitstaff haven't really been that great and for some reason, our service is always slow.  With wings I want beer. I'm only human. When my beer is gone, I want a new one. Not immediately, but, not every fifteen minutes. The bartender is always nice though.
Ah, Cavallo's. A two minute walk from my former place of employment, it was a frequent stop at 4pm for a quick cold one or two. For that, this place is great. The happy hour crowd isn't big, but the bartenders are friendly and it's a nice place to go and have a drink. They frequently have great deals on steamed clams and their chicken wings are some of the best in the area. Outside of those two items, though, the food leaves a lot to be desired. The menu is huge, for sure, but a lot of it leaves you feeling like it was something that was just unfrozen and thrown in the microwave. It's never a place I go for dinner, unless I just feel like a cold beer and chicken wings.
They have a cigar bar which is one of the only of its kind in the area. However, the last time I was in there, they didn't have the best control over the ventilation and it was a fog in there. I realize it's a cigar bar, but good ventilation can certainly make it semi-pleasant even for non-smokers.
They have an open deck during the summer which has closed windows and heaters during the winter; a great use of the space, but as far as the nightlife goes, it seems to be nothing more than 30-something New Hartford snobs. Definitely not my crowd where people seem to think they are so much more important than what reality tells us. It's nice to have a place so close to work to grab a beer and chatter with friendly bartenders after a long day of work. That's about where I would end my recommendation. With so much offered, they score on so little.
On my trip back to Utica I came back here to check out this once high school hang out ... as an adult. Well I used to love coming for the cheap wings but didn't come on wing night and as it turns out, I was told the price of wings is not much of a discount now. Well anyways now coming as an adult, I sort of realized, I don't like their beer selection (Bud, Michelob, Labatts, Molson, etc)and their food is actually so so. I mean I had some potatoe skins and they were more like soggy french fries. From what I remembered the wings were pretty good though. I would give this place 3 stars but the extra star comes from just this place being around as long as I can remember.
Review Source:I'm shocked that no one in the Utica area has reviewed Cavallo's yet. Â For those no longer living in the area that are home to visit and locals alike, Cavallo's is a staple of evening hangouts in the Utica area. Â It definitely has a "hometown" feel, where a lot of folks know one another. Â Discount wing night is a popular occasion. Â Many folks also hang out on weekends until late when the DJs arrive and the dancing starts. Â The food is average American/Italian fare. Â Most go for the atmosphere and for that, I'm giving it four stars.
Review Source:When our waiter came, he was holding several plates of spaghetti in one hand. Â I helped him by taking one of the plates and setting it down on the table. Â He yelled, "Why don't you just help yourself?" Â He slammed down my plate and left.
Shortly after, the waiter returned with more plates of spaghetti for my two friends who had not yet received any, and he embarrassingly demanded that I hand the plates to them myself. Â I was offended by this rude service, and I did not intend to tip. Â However, our waiter anticipated this and added gratuity into our check even though we were a party of five. Â When I got up and asked a waitress to see if she could remove the improper gratuity, my waiter came back out and claimed that I was not welcome at the restaurant anymore, as if he had the power to do that. Â This was ridiculous and insulting after my service had been so thoroughly demeaning. Â I contacted the restaurant numerous times, and they just ignored me as if they didn't care.
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