Dante & Luigi’s

I’ve been eating here the last 18 years and every meal has been a true heavenly experience. No doubt in my mind this is at the least one of the best, if not the best, Italian restaurant in philly. This past Saturday night was no exception! Thanks Connie and Mike, you made this special dinner outstanding. I’ve never been disappointed in all these years.

Came here Fri evening briefly– the service was friendly but the food didn’t live up to the mark. I only had the eggplant Parmesan and threw up afterwards.
They are also very selective about the payment type and only two credit cards can be used for payment when going as a group. Made it really inconvenient for us.

Amazing amazing amazing! Can not speak highly enough of this place! Amazing food, amazing ambiance, amazing service and amazing prices. Highly recommend.

Great food and service. I ordered Branzino with jumbo shrimps, which was special of the night. The waiter described the fish would be served in lemon sauce but I didn’t taste the lemon at all. It was perfectly cooked, came with penne in marinara sauce. The pasta was al dente and the sauce is fresh. I had tiramisu for dessert. It was good although I didn’t taste any liquor at all the way it was described.

The pasta here is delicious. I had a special with homemade pasta. It is a very good authentic Italian place. This place has been around for a very long time. The décor is also nice and it would be a good date spot.

Visited on a Friday night and was able to get a reservation an hour prior to arriving. The first thing I noticed was how welcoming the staff was as we walked in, they were very polite and helpful. Now onto the food, I was joined by 3 others and we all agreed that the food was some of the best Italian food we’ve ever had. The appetizer came out at a reasonable time and was absolutely delicious (fried calamari), for an entrée I had the shrimp Alfredo which was absolutely awesome! Great experience, great food, and great service. I will certainly be back the next time I visit Philadelphia.

My favorite Italian restaurant in Philly. Feels like Grandma is cooking behind those doors.
Easy valet parking. Superior service. Excellent wine list.

We attended a party here. Warmly welcomed and shown to a private dinning room, our coats were taken and we were offered a cocktail or beverage of our choice. Good first impression!
While we waited for the guest of honor, we were made to feel comfortable along with other arriving guests. Bread with olive oil was served.
Our host had arranged a preset dinner with family style appetizers, a Caesar salad and choice of 3 entries and two desserts.
The raves in the room were for the eggplant appetizer and risotto entrée.
Desert and choice of hot beverages perfectly ended a delicious meal.
Food and service were very good!
A real plus for Philly, they provide valet parking!
I’ll be back

I love, love, love this place. I am sure there are some better Italian restaurants in Philly but this one is a great pic for price and quality. I think their veal is as good as you can get and everything you get is authentic and well made. I love their pasta and their Italian gravy is delicious. I have taken many who grew up in homes where mom was one of the best Italian cooks they knew and they were impressed by the quality.

I love this South Philly gem. Do they serve the best Italian food in Philadelphia? No. But the food is solid, and the nostalgia factor is high. Dante & Luigi’s was the setting for a celebratory dinner with my dad and stepmom after I graduated from college. That night remains one of my favorite nights I’ve ever spent in Philadelphia. Knowing the special place it holds in my heart, my husband took me there to celebrate when we first moved in together, and again after we were married.
I’m sure I’m not the only one with special memories from this place. On our recent visit, we chose a bottle of Chianti from the menu and our server told us it was the same bottle that Sylvester Stallone ordered during his frequent visits during the filming of Creed. Ahh!
We started with the stuffed squid appetizer. The squid was perfectly tender and the marinara it was swimming in was perfection. The crab stuffing didn’t really add to the dish though, and I’d actually prefer the non-​stuffed version for next time. Next up we had Caesar salads, which were under-​dressed and, in turn, a bit bland. Our server was mostly solid but it was times like these that we wished he had stopped by a bit more.
I chose the lasagna for my entrée and it was a great decision. The gigantic piece was more than enough for two meals. For dessert, I went with tiramisu which was unfortunately very dry and lacking in flavor.
Like I said early on, this Dante & Luigi’s holds such a special place in my heart that it would be hard giving them less than four stars. Go for the history, the old school service, and the hearty portions.

I love the décor of this place. You can tell it is old and Italian without it being overdone. The food is just plain delicious and I enjoyed everything I ordered. I started with a house dinner salad that you dress yourself with olive oil and vinegar that is at the table. My only complaint with the salad is that they put olives on it that have pits. Kind of an unpleasant surprise you bite right into it. We ordered the stuffed calamari which comes in a nice marinara sauce. I can’t remember exactly what it is stuffed with but contains various seafoods. Altogether with the sauce it is really great.
For dinner I ordered the risotto with clams, shrimp and mushrooms. I had never had risotto before and this one had a bit of tomato sauce mixed in. It was very tasty with the large shrimp and mushrooms mixed in. The clams are served on the bottom so the risotto is almost stuffed inside of them. I had to kind of scrape the risotto out along with the clam meat to enjoy it. I think I would have liked it better if the clams were just on top.
Our waiter must have forgotten about us because after we sat down we didn’t order drinks until about fifteen minutes later. He kept coming in the room and looked at our table but didn’t come over. Our food also took a while to come out so it was about a two hour meal.

We really enjoyed this restaurant. If you like veal parm don’t hesitate to order it. It was pounded very thin and was crispy. The special homemade pasta was also delicious. Portions were generous enough to have some leftover to take home.
The décor is beautiful and very upscale but the prices were very reasonable. I think had I have been there before I may not have had the guys wear jeans. The service was great, very attentive staff. It would have been helpful to know in advance that there is valet parking since it’s in the city. We came from the side and didn’t see that until we had already parked.
Each one of us, party of 6 enjoyed our food. Lemon drop martini was also good!

Food was excellent as well as the dining room set up. Its a very nice restaurant with an elegent feel, clean, & well decorated.
Our only issue we had was with our server, she was rude and gave off the attitude that they didn’t want to be there at all. We felt uncomfortable asking questions about the menu because it felt as if we were inconveniencing them with our presence. This diminished our experience here.

Asking for a quick meal before we headed to the airport we wanted to enjoy this intimate setting– and we got more than we expected. The Caprese salad was refreshing as expected and very tasty. The baked Gnocchi Romano was mouth-​watering and melted in the mouth. I had the Veal and bolognaise brown sauce over (my first experience with) the thick tubed hollow spaghetti Perciatelli Genovese. Oh, and we should have shared one course, but we ate the leftovers for two more meals! We will be back!

Red sauce passed my mom’s test. Bingo. Antipasto actually had freshly cut cured meats. That is so key! Pasta was delicious, but I wish it was homemade :(.
Service was good, but the teamwork was phenomenal. We weren’t neglected or forgotten amongst the hustle of a sold out night. Even the owner was bussing tables. Major points scored.
The atmosphere was homey, yet sophisticated and chic. The employees were grateful to have us dining with them, while amongst the array of other south Philadelphia choices.
Classic Italian stop. Get it.

Said to be the 4^th oldest Italian restaurant in the United States. That’s pretty cool in itself.
The ambiance gives off the feeling that it is indeed an «old school» Italian joint. Though the restaurant has an older feel, it doesn’t feel stuffy (like La Famiglia in Old City). Definitely not modern either.
The prices are incredibly affordable compared to other Italian restaurants in the city. Most of the pasta dishes are about $ 13 — $ 20. There is a very extensive selection of pastas and wine.
We had the Caesar salad (solid 7.5÷10), penne alla vodka (extremely good 8.0÷10), pasta carbonara (very hearty 9.0÷10), and the cannoli (great homemade filling but the shell was a bit too hard (7.0÷10). Overall, a great experience. The portions were large, the food was incredible, and the prices were fantastic.
The service was great. Our server, Paul, was full of interesting information about the restaurant, the neighborhood, and the typical clientele.
We will be back again.

Hear ye, Hear ye. I have discovered the best penne alla vodka in Philadelphia!
It happened on a Friday evening at Dante and Luigi’s. We had reservations for two at 7pm, but didn’t necessarily need them because there were several open tables. Compared to Ralph’s and Villa di Roma, D&L’s is a more upscale environment. No tile here, it’s more like a formal living or dining room. We were seated in the front of the restaurant close to the swinging doors of the kitchen (fun to watch the comings and goings). We started off with some very tasty fried calamari and couldn’t get enough of the fresh bread and olive oil. I had a glass of some Napa Valley Rose which was really good. Dining Partner had the Veal Parmesean as his entrée and I had creamy vodka sauce smothered over al dente penne. The sauce was so creamy and full of pancetta I immediately asked if they sold it. Unfortunately they only sell their marinara, I was devastated to say the least. There was no room for dessert, but we left happy as can be.

Anyone who searches for authentic old-​style italian restaurant, look no more, you’ve found it! Located in the heart of the Italian market, one of the oldest restaurants in Philadelphia.
It was on my list to try, ever since my fellow Unilocaler Jake F was raving about it for eternity. And on the day it was featured on Eater Philly article, «25 Classic Restaurants Every Philadelphian Must Try», I finally made a reservation.
Here is brief assessment of my visit:
— The restaurant is very spacious.
— Hospitality was good. Our waiter was friendly, but for some reason, didn’t smile once.
— Casual atmosphere, yet elegant.
— The food, I didn’t go oh, wow! Nom nom.
You need to try it at least once
Three and half Unilocal

Just like my nonna used to make!
Confession: I don’t really have an Italian grandmother. But if I did, I like to imagine her food would taste like the fare at Dante & Luigi’s.
Solid, classic South Philly Italian menu with all the charm of the city’s yesteryears you could ask for. You’re not going to get the inventiveness of places like Le Virtu or Amis, but you’re going to leave satisfied, heavily carbed up and full. Make sure to take a peek at their original menu by the hostess stand. It is literally the same as the one you’ll see on your table. Except of course that you could get a meatball for a nickel or something similarly ridiculous back then.
I’d recommend staying the course and opting for the Italian gravy (not sauce, never sauce!). But you really can’t go wrong with most of the options.
The one thing I did find myself a bit confused about was the Sautéed Calamari. So much marinara! Why so much marinara?! I half expected to see the little squid rings jump on tiny boats and float across the serving dish, reenacting Columbus sailing towards the edge of the world. But I can’t complain too much, because it did make for an excellent bread dip. And you know I boxed up the rest of that liquidy goodness and made my own concoction with it for lunch the next day. I’d like to think this made my sweet, non-​existent nonna smile down on me from heaven.

Was my first time here last night. I enjoyed it but was not wowed by the food. It’s not that it wasn’t very good, just that I was not amazed. But it was very good food and I would definitely recommend it to anyone for a date. I ordered the clams in the white sauce for the appetizer and was not amazed by it. I would recommend the mussels instead. My main appetizer was the risotto with jumbo shrimp a and clams. Was good but I have had better risotto from the frozen section at trader joe’s to be honest. My dessert was the tira misu. Was very good.
As for the décor, the place is nicely decorated. The main dining room is a bit small and the noise is on the louder side. It’s better for conversation at this noise level as you can talk without whispering. It would have been better if there was more spacing between the tables.
I’ll be coming back at some point.
FYI. This is the oldest Italian restaurant in Philly. Founded in 1899