Comments on: Trattoria San Nicola, Paoli

By: David Ferraguti

David Ferraguti — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:36:52 +0000

We have been going here for 5 years now, but as of last night, I would rather go to McDonalds. The service, food quality and atmosphere have just completely dropped out of site here. Save your money for a place that actually wants to be in business! What a shame.

By: Ray

Ray — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:16:33 +0000

If you like Trattoria food, you’ll not find any place better Great atmosphere, too. Never a disappointment.

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:45:06 +0000

Wow…I don’t even know where to start. I should have been clued in when I called the Paoli location to make a reservation, and someone answered the phone then put it down so all I heard was clanking dishes and conversation. After repeated “hello, hello, hello!!” I hung up and made reservations on OpenTable.com. Our party of 6 was seated at 6:00, it was 10 minutes before was saw a server, and we literally had to flag her down in to order after sitting with our menus for 20 minutes. At 7:00 we still had not received our salads or refills on our water. My husband went to talk to the hostess and asked to speak with the manager. Hostess and manager never showed up to talk to us. We waited another 20 minutes between finishing our salads and receiving our entrees. The server placed every plate at the wrong person, reaching across people, over people. Plates were going every which way!! The food was average at best. Bottom line it was an expensive, miserable experience. We were so looking forward to trying San Nicola because it is so close to our home. Never again. We will stand in line and deal with the noise to eat at Frankie Fellini’s, where the food is great and they really care about their customers. Thanks for letting me vent!

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:07:39 +0000

We have been eating at San Nicola Berwyn since it opened having lived across the tracks in Berwyn where we could and sometimes did walk over. Though we have moved we still try to get there a couple of times a year. The secret to San Nicola-Berwyn is that the owner is from Bari on the Adriatic Coast of Italy, think small fishing city. You may notice some of the small pictures are of the city they are real as we recognized some of teh buildings.

What that means is the fish and shellfish are what they do best and I have never been disappointed in approximately 30 visits. I was less satisfied with Paoli and our 3 dinners there. The deserts are wonderful and they serve real coffee. The bartender knows how to not screw up a simple Kir Royale which seems to befuddle almost every other restaurant in the area. Though I almost always have fish or fruits de mer, including a visit last month,I do recall a fantastic stuffed poulet a year or so back. Though I prefer French cuisine in general ones gets outstanding continental Italian at San Nicola.

By: Charles

Charles — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:02:02 +0000

After living in center city Philadelphia and frequenting the restaurant scene fully for the last 10 years, I was eager, if somewhat hesitant, to explore the Trattorias, Bistros and brew houses of the main line following our move to Tredyffrin Twp. For our first adventure, we tried Trattoria San Nicola

San Nicola lived up to our best experiences in town. First, the service, on a Saturday evening, was excellent throughout the evening. Second, the food was superb. For entree, I had a menu item, Linguini Veneziane, black pasta with crab meat and spices, and my wife had a daily special, stuffed veal and spinach canneloni with tomato sauce. Both compared most favorably to any of the numerous center city Italian restaurants. Third, our server knew the wine list and recommended good wine matchings for all of the dishes. And fourth, I’ve actually paid as much for a BYO in town as I did last night for dinner including wine!

Thanks to Lauren and everyone else for an excellent first impression of main line dining.

By: Suzy Beerin

Suzy Beerin — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:16:27 +0000

We were at San Nicola the other week, and it was great. A must visit!! Great food, service was very friendly and willing. Love their crab soup. Cannot wait to return

By: Chris Naranni

Chris Naranni — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:13:39 +0000

We ate at San Nicola Sat night, and we had such a spectalcular meal my wife and I had to let everyone know about it. I started with the tomato crab soup which is out of this world, and followed up with the best veal chop ever!! It was so tender and moist, I never can get it to come out that way at home. My wife had the San Nicola salad which I tasted and it was incredible, she then had the lasagna, which was delicious and different then the other Italian restaurants claiming to be “Italian”. Then to top the dinner off we had a limoncello and a tartuffo. They were heavenly. A must go to restaurant with great atmsophere, great service and great food.

By: Mike M.

Mike M. — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:37:36 +0000

Recently ate here for the first time and left underwhelmed overall. While the staff were courteous, we did not have to wait (had a 7:00 reservation on a weekend), and the food is relatively inexpensive considering the location, I was less than impressed with the fare. The bruschetta was phenomenal and the limoncello I had for dessert was fantastic, but our main courses were mediocre. The chicken saltimbocca was drowned in sauce that completely overwhelmed the dish, making it hard to taste the proscuitto or provelone. My girlfriend’s veal had the texture of salisbury steak and was very chewy. While they were both palettable, neither was spectacular nor appealing visually. Probably would not go back.

By: Lori R.

Lori R. — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:15:08 +0000

I agree with Ramondo H and Jeanne S. as well. My husband and I dine at the Paoli location and have NEVER received a bad meal, both lunch and dinner. We also do take out and the food is just as good. I’d give them 4 spoons as well.

By: Jeanne S.

Jeanne S. — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:47:05 +0000

I’m with Ramondo H. on this one. We recently brought friends to the Paoli restaurant and they were shocked at how inexpensive dinner for four was! They have one of the most reasonably priced wine lists on the Main Line. What I like about their Italian cuisine is that the emphasis is on simple grilled fish and fresh salads, as opposed to heavy red sauces and entrees smothered with cheese. If you want spaghetti and meatballs, go somewhere else. But if you want to eat like the Italians do in the “old country”, this is the place!