Ristorante Ponticello

I will miss Ponticello. They had a great run. The food was quite good, and the service was outstanding. Five stars, because one of my favorite restaurant stories took place here. I was at Ponticello with my wife on a Monday. This cocky dude comes in, dressed in a black t-​shirt and sunglasses, which he refused to remove. His date was dressed to the nines. He really wanted to show his date what a bigshot he was, so he speaks Italian to the waiter. But of course, he can’t understand anything that the waiter replies. He continues to try to speak Italian to the waiter, and the waiter said «I am sorry, I do not understand your Italian.» The cocky guy bawls out the waiter and scolds him. He even played the «Do you even know who my father is?» card. Keep in mind, this is on a Monday, not long after Bourdain blew the lid off of the whole Fish Special on a Monday thing. The following conversation came next:
Cocky guy: How is today’s Fish Special
Waiter: Well, do you like old fish?
Cocky guy: Excuse me? What did you say?
Waiter: I said «Do you like ALL fish»
Cocky guy: Yes i do. I’ll take the Fish Special
I was grinning ear to ear. The waiter passed by me and gave a little wink to me and my wife.
Thanks for the memories, Ponticello.

It’s sad to know that this restaurant will no longer open their doors… great traditional Italian food. Joe and luigi great people who worked hard on their dishes.

We had our Christmas party here! It was excellente!

I think my second time around at this place was better. I actually attended it for an event and food was included in the ticket. They started us off with a little appetizer of clams, shrimps, eggplant parm, and a stuffed mushroom. Next was a small pasta dish with penne and spaghetti, and for the main course I had ordered the veal parmigiana. I gotta say I thoroughly enjoyed all the dishes and the portions were perfect. I couldn’t finish my veal though– too full! Haha Overall experience was very good! I also like the fact that they have a guy in a suit play a piano downstairs– it’s «classy.»

Went there for an anniversary dinner per a friend’s recommendation. Before we could even sit down, our server asked us if we were ready to order without any introduction or time to settle down. Then, he proceeded to ask us if we were ready to order six times within 10 minutes of sitting down. Feeling rushed, we quickly ordered. I had plans to order a bottle of wine for our anniversary, however, the amount of frustration and discomfort our server created made me reconsider. We told the manager about our concerns. He said he will take care of it.
Shortly, after the food came out, it was plain and without any flavor. Certainly nothing to write home about. We noticed the manager never came by to follow up about our dining experience. All-​in-​all, it was one of the worse dinning experiences i have ever had. Definitely not a restaurant we will return to.

We go here often this is our go to place for holidays and special events. Joe and Luigi work hard to make your meal enjoyable. We usually start with a hot antipasti this is a opening taste of several items. Often a baked clam a shrimp stuffed mushroom and a eggplant rollatini For my main I had a bone in veal chop stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella in a mushroom sauce. excellent. This is a pretty standard red sauce Italian restaurant what they do they do well It is like an old suit I like wearing it is comfortable.

I’ve been here probably 1 million times because my grandpa takes us here for every single holiday or family event (Easter, New Years Day, Good Friday, Palm Sunday, St. Joseph’s Day, etc.). I don’t dine in Astoria often but I can imagine the décor is like every other Italian restaurant in Astoria and the patrons houses and lawns. Statues, gaudy paintings and wallpaper everywhere. There is a cool private room downstairs which has views of the wine cellar. I’d recommend requesting that if you have a party of 10 or so. My family is big so we always get one of the larger rooms on the right wing of the restaurant.
Parking is valet on the weekends which is nice so that you don’t have to search for a spot on the street. During the week, you can still use their lot but you have to park the car yourself. No big deal there.
Ponticello’s is a pretty classic red sauce Italian joint. The menu is big with plenty of options for even the pickiest of eaters. Because I’m always here with a group of 20+, we always start out with some hot and cold antipasto, fried calamad & some blisteringly hot peppers in a brown sauce. These peppers are delicious but they’ll put hair on your chest. Eater beware. For the main course, I personally recommend the Veal Osso Bucco. That’s always a favorite of mine. It’s served with a tiny fork so that you can scoop out all the delicious marrow from the bone. Bonus points there, for sure.
Overall, this place is A-​OK but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here. The servers are older gentlemen with surly attitudes which my family and I always have a good laugh about. If you want a decent spot to take a big group of people who aren’t very particular, this is a fine locale. I definitely wouldn’t bring any foodie friends here though, that’s for sure.

its just ok, for a place that’s been around for some time its just OK. Unfortunately just OK does not cut it in Astoria, specially when it comes to Italians. Service is old school dudes with that fresh gangster look which I like, very nice and home like setting. I have been here years ago and things were so much better, this is way before Unilocal was a live. Like Veal and Chicken used to be exceptional, now its just ok. Same goes for seafood. I assume chef is not there. But its nothing worth trying, unfortunately. Just not impressive, Italians love all their stuff great from cars to food, Ponticello does not cut it for me.

$ 170 dinner for 5 with water as drinks for each person. 1 coffee, 1 cappuccino, 1 tea & 3 desserts. Two dinners served on white plate, no garnish, no side (chicken francese = 2 small cutlets on plate, nothing else). Unreasonably expensive, waited 55 minutes for entrees to come to table.
Many errors on menu in English & Italian. Not impressive at all.

Very, very solid Northern Italian fare in a classy setting at the tail end of Broadway.
I’ve been here for parties and just a regular dinners and Ponticello has never disappointed. With most ‘Northern Italian’ (the owners are Croatian actually) spots, you can never really go wrong with the veal (there are 5 different veal variations on the menu!) or fish dishes they have. Always ask about the specials as well, sometimes you could score a true ‘Northern Italian’ specialty like fuzi (traditional handmade Istrian pasta) or jota (Istrian stew made from hearty ingredients).
From the bartenders, to the waiters, to the owners, everyone working here is first class and really makes you feel at home. As many have mentioned as well, it’s always a treat when the piano player is in for dinner. Also, if you’re looking for a elegant and private setting for a meal, their private dining room downstairs with views into their glass enclosed wine cellar seems like a really cool place to have a special event or meal.
While there are a number of ‘Northern Italian’ spots (Piccola Venezia, Punta Dura, etc.) in and around Astoria, I would put Ponticello close to the top!

The food there is amazing. If you like seafood order grill squid. Wow! Veal ossobucco is a smash. Great atmosphere. Drinks are top notch. Staff is very friendly! Friday and Saturday they have a piano man. Can’t go wrong.

Reading the mixed reviews on Ponticello’s, I wanted to give this place a try. Let’s just say that I am glad that we foodies have Unilocal. I find that ninety percent of the time, the reviews are on point. Did I listen? Of course not. At first glance, the place seems very nice and clean. Upon entering you notice right away that most of the patrons are senior citizens. There is nothing wrong with that. I personally know lots of older foodies and they would agree with my review. I ordered the monkfish with a side of pasta. My wife ordered the seafood combo. The monkfish as well as the seafood combo was sorely lacking in seasoning. I told the waiter that we wanted Fra Diavolo sauce with our pasta. I explained to the waiter that I did not want just red pepper flakes strewn on the pasta. I wanted authentic Fra Diavolo sauce. Sautéed garlic and red pepper in olive oil. Then add the marina sauce. He assured me that he knew what I wanted. Guess what I got. Marinara sauce with red pepper flakes. I sent it back. Guess I got back? The same pasta, which was now MUSHAD, with burnt pepper flakes. I did not bother to send it back again. It takes about two (2) minutes to make a Fra diavolo sauce. In this place that seats about a hundred (100) people, there were maybe ten (10) patrons seated. I guess the cook was too busy to make a good Fra diavolo sauce. Even after we told the waiter it was our first time dining there. I have made up my mind about trying new Italian restaurants. From now on, when trying a new Italian restaurant, I will ONLY order a bowl of pasta with Fra Diavolo sauce. If they can get THAT right, then I will take my chances on ordering something else. All this of course AFTER checking out the Unilocal reviews. There is only so much that a waiter can do to make the meal a good experience. They may be the best waiters with lots of experience, but if the chefs can’t even be bothered to make a simple Fra Diavolo sauce, then it doesn’t matter what the waiter says or does. Customers will not go back. Ponticello’s should speak to the chef and tighten up their seasoning.

I went to this restaurant to celebrate a family member’s birthday. As we traveled to the restaurant, we went through the surrounding neighborhood, which interesting. Thankfully the restaurant has valet parking since there is no other area to park your car.
Inside the restaurant was a very nicely decorated dining area. We had a private room that was located off of the main dining area. This room was also well decorated although it was quite warm throughout our meal. For appetizers we had ordered fresh mozzarella cheese and fried calamari. The fried calamari was probably the best calamari that I’ve ever had. It was crunchy but not chewy and the sauce was fantastic.
For an entrée I had chicken marsala. It was served as two pieces of chicken drenched in marsala sauce which was quite thick. The sauce was missing something and tasted different then traditional marsala dishes. It was tasty but then again it wasn’t extraordinary. The meal was extremely fulfilling.

Waiter did not understand my request: a fruity cocktail. There was no menu for drinks. He missunderstood and thought I wanted vodka! never cracked a smile. I had to settle for a glass of wine. Eventually another waiter got us the check because the absent minded waiter disappeared.
Food was average. veal was dry… have had better… I recommend Gino’s of Howard Beach.
Buss staff was great. Overpriced. I am not returning.

Good atmosphere ! Nice wine by the glass (merlotThis is a huge place that I never knew existed. The cesar“s salad was great, and the fettuccini alfredo was very tasty. Didnt like the mushroom risoto so much, but it was very good for the others.

Room is kinda strange, came on a Wednesday so no piano player. We had a gift certificate for $ 40 took a little bit of the edge off the bill. Two people without desert expect to pay $ 110. Food is very good, waitstaff very pleasant and attentive. Had chicken and fillet Mignon as someone else recommended and was not disappointed. Wife gnocchi with Ossobuco, very tender. Both had great sauces and lots of flavor. Would be a five but I save those for my absolute favorite restaurants. Even though it was very good I probably wouldn’t go back, just cause I like to try something different.

Third time dining here, always had a good experience but this was a disaster. We requested a wine list and asked about a bottle. The waiter was clueless, and acted like we put him out by making him go fetch a bottle instead of pouring two glasses. He poured the wine, and then left us at the table, with no dinner menus.
For 30 minutes.
I was pretty embarrassed at this point, having told my date that this was a nice restaurant. I got up and found two menus.
Our waiter never returned. Luckily for us, a manager passed by and took pity on us. He took our order and food came promptly. The entrees were well prepared but nothing to write home about.
For the prices they charge, it’s totally unacceptable.

Great Minestrone soup! Fish was superb! A mus tgo great for business as well

Went here for a company dinner a while back and, while tasty, I gotta say I was a little bit let down. It has been hyped up by a couple of guys I work with, but in the end it was just good Italian food.
Not great, but good.
Also, while the dinner tab wasn’t on me, I was aware of the cost of what I was eating and was pretty surprised at the high cost of the place; it just didn’t seem in line with the food.
I do have to say that the service was very attentive for our room, and they did a pretty solid job of ignoring that one employee who gets awkwardly drunk at company functions and begins talking nonsense about everyone around him.
Highlight of the evening?
Watching said overly drunk employee toast the owners by saying, and I quote, «To the Jews!».
Meaning the owners.
Oy vey.

The best part of Ponticello is the piano player. Nothing else puts me in a great mood than hearing live piano music amid the clinking of glasses the clatter of fork against china and the laughter and banter of friends.
Inasmuch as we live half a block from Ponticello, it is always tempting to just walk to this restaurant for a meal. The food though, is respectable but not outstanding. From the looks of it they have a stream of regular and steady clientele which is probably why they are complacent.
They can really improve by NOT serving cold bread and butter. As mentioned by another reviewer, one has to ask for olive oil and balsamic vinegar at Ponticello. Among others, I have tried the Seafood Ponticello (it has lobster), veal, sole, mussels all of which are respectable but again not excellent. They have a good selection of wines but the prices here mimic Manhattan.
Oh, one side note, one waiter speaks so loud you can hear hear from the other side of the room. :-)