Emma’s Cafe

The food was very good… freshly prepared… I had shrimp and scallops over spinach, delicious!
BYOB which I appreciate I would go there again for sure!

Such a cute little, local BYOB place. Very inviting and one of my favorite Italian joints. The owner is friendly and enjoys talking to the guest. The food is amazing. I suggest the lobster ravioli and the mussles! Amazing little joint.

Another great meal at Emmas (3 courses $ 24) started with the crab risotto cakes; two large cakes served with marinara, then onto the salmon filet over pasta in a blush sauce; excellent. I had to try the tiramasu, great choice. The $ 24 special is the summer menu with a lot of choices. Emma’s is a BYOB. Will be back next week to try the scallops

My first visit and sorry to say my last. Although the food was very good, the wait for food and only one waitress on duty was unacceptable, even for a wed night. We waited for water, menus and ice to chill the wine way to long. I am not even kidding when I say we asked for a coke six times and more bread for the mussels as many times. We got the coke, but never the bread. It’s a shame, if I need an Italian place in the northeast will go back to Tuscany on Rhawn St.

I think that the service was above par. Our water glasses were never empty. Gracias and prompt server. Some of the menu items weren’t accurately described which made me feel a little down about my first course. Crab risotto was listed but instead I was served fried rice balls which were good, but I would not have ordered.
We were offered an additional small soup course on the house. It was a French onion soup. A small serving but large enough to get big taste of the multiple layers of onions working their way through the heavy broth.
My entrée scallops all had small bites of sand. The pasta needed more if the sauce and way more seasoning. My friend ordered chicken parmagania and that looked like ir was winning dish!
Desserts weren’t anything I found special or unique. I had cream brûlée. It was larger then usual but not very deep. It was good, but not something I would rave about.

They’re ok. Nice, intimate atmosphere. Staff is really nice. My chicken piccata was salty. The red sauce on the pasta wasn’t very tasty.

I ordered my dessert at the same time I ordered my meal (I only went there for the dessert) as we were eating our meal we over heard the group next to us order the same dessert the staff brought them out their dessert then walked over to our table and told us they were out… basicly they gave our dessert to the other table because they finished first soooo disappointed…

I was between rating 2 or 3 stars, but the waitress was really nice so I gave it three. First of all the place is adorable and inviting and it’s BYOB and that’s great. Me and my girlfriend started off with the calamari and the muscles appetizer. The muscles were AMAZING, big and fresh and the white sauce was DELISH! The calamari was okay, we mixed it in the white sauce the mussels came in and that really improved them. The menu is VERY SMALL! I got the veal marsala and the veal was good but the marsala sauce was strange, like sweet basalmicy, and not enough mushrooms. My friends filet over Gorgonzola gnocchi was good, crème brûlée and tiramisu AMAZING, but we had originally ordered a piece of hazelnut cake that came frozen solid… Maybe I’ll go back. Maybe not. They need more selection

Emma’s website, as well as the Unilocal website, state that Emma’s is open on Monday evenings. I made a reservation via their website two weeks prior to our dinner party there. This is a half way point for 4 friends to meet. When we all arrived this past Monday, we found out that Emma’s was closed. When I called the restaurant on Tuesday to complain – all I heard was that they were having problems contacting their website company – never an apology for the error or the inconvenience to 4 people. I was thanked for letting them know their website was wrong. Terrible customer service – and I won’t be back. We found another location that was happy to have us –and that will be our meeting spot in the future.

The lobster ravioli is amazing. The scallops were phenomenal. Great BYOB. Scallops were phenomenal.

Hows this place still open food is far from italian we got coupon from
30 for 20 ok we decided to try this place when we called to make a reservation they say its have to be n only between 2 –4 pm n u cant get anything from lunch SPECIAL or any other special we said ok fine so they left us with nothing to chhose from only two things pasta with meatball or mussels neither was was cooked well no flavor overall this place sucks 2 stars for the bread

Torn between 3 & 4 stars. Reading definitions: «A-​OK» (3) & «Yay I’m a Fan» (4). I decided to stick with 3 as I can’t say I’m a «Fan» & need to go back.
Haven’t been there & looking for somewhere good in the area? Then GO!!! This isn’t really local for me but we had a group & wanted somewhere in the NE. Byob. Italian.
The food didn’t disappoint any of the 6 of us. Although the filet tips were a bit over-​salted. The marinara sauce is good & not overly tangy or garlicky. They offered a goat cheese salad which I love to see on any menu, tho it could’ve used a bit more dressing drizzled on the spring mix. They gave 2 prix fix choices of $ 22 or $ 27 –the more expensive included the seafood dishes. For the price we received salad or app, entrée & dessert. No one had left overs except for me. My chicken parm was «2» large breasts of chicken plus I received a side of rigatoni in the house sauce. I brought home 1 whole piece of chicken along with a bunch of pasta — bravo!!! :). Crème brûlée for dessert was very good & not too heavy.
There is 1 waitress running the dining room. She was pleasant however never checked on us. There was 1 other table, by the time we left 3 other tables. I realllyyyyyy needed grated cheese on my dish but she never even looked over for me to wave her down. After we were served, we never saw her again until she came to take away our plates & offer dessert. Also no drinks or water refills or additional bread were ever offered after our initial arrival. Could’ve used all of the above.
Food is good. Cute. Inexpensive.

We ate here last weekend based on Unilocal reviews since we were in the area and not too familiar with the restaurant scene. The décor was cuter and cozier than the outside would suggest! The owner explained all of the delicious sounding specials and then explained that if we paid in cash, we could do a prix fix menu! We went with that option, and we were each able to get an app, entrée, and dessert for under $ 50! And its BYOB! The food was really good and tasted super fresh. I had the salmon special, and it wasn’t huge but just a good size, and my boyfriend had the lasagna special which was huge and delicious. We live in South Philly where Italian restaurants are a dime a dozen, but the next time we are in this neighborhood we will definitely return!
One other thing to note, there were a few larger groups there, so I would consider this place for doing a bday dinner or something with a semi-​large crowd!

We’ve eaten here many times and are always happy with our meal! A couple of our favorites are the mussles in red/​white sauce and the filet mignon steak tips over gnocchi gorgonzola. The food is fresh and prices are really affordable. This place is a great BYOB too!!!

This was our first visit at the recommendation of Unilocal.The food we had was good however they were out of many of the choices on the menu. I don’t feel I can give an honest review due to what I ordered being changed do to them being out porcini mushrooms. I do love that they are a BYOB and it is a quiet, cozy atmosphere. I think their portions could be a little bigger. Sorry to say this will be our only visit.

1^st time at this place was great, i called tonight to see if i could order food to go, and they slamed the phone down on me, i called back and with much attuitude he told me they dont do take out, instead of just telling me sorry we dont offer that, he just hung up on me, RUDE, I wont go back

This is a BYOB, home cooking, little join for a hit and run dinner, not fine dinning.

We surprised our parents for their anniversary with dinner here, there were 14 of us. The service was fantastic! The food was out of this world. It’s was more then enough food to share but not so much that you felt overly stuffed when you left. We had everything on the table from truffle ravioli, caesar salad to scallops for apps and veal parmesan, beef tips with gnocchi (yum!), lobster ravioli and linguini with shrimp and crab. Everything was fresh and made to order and you could totally tell. We all enjoyed our food and we’re impressed with how well they handled our large party. Thank Emma’s! We will defiantly be back

Unilocal, you’ve done it again. Thank you for steering me in the right direction!
Although I am almost half Italian, I hate gravy. So my eyes automatically went to the chicken San Nicola dish. It was chicken and shrimp with crabmeat over a Demi glacé sauce. Absolutely amazing. The mussels appetizer was incredible too. I especially loved when the chef came around and introduced himself and talked for a bit.
I’ll admit, from the outside of is place, I was worried. But the food was amazing. The service is incredible. Definitely a great place to go to in the neighborhood.

After being recommended by a fellow Unilocaler, I finally got around to trying Emma’s, and I definitely was not disappointed. I went with a $ 25
coupon, so I needed to run my bill up to $ 50. Surprisingly two apps and two entrees only came to $ 45, so I was «forced» to order dessert.
The clams in white and bruschetta were both delicious. However, I dock one star forany Italian restaurant that gives you pads of butter instead of olive oil with your bread! That’s the Italian in me, I can’t help it.
Anyway, my penne porcini was great, as was my husband’s chicken dish. Their gravy (red sauce) was better than some south Philly establishments I’ve tried.
Mayfair isn’t exactly a culinary Mecca, but that being said, Emma’s is one of the best restaurants around. The only thing better than the food is the fabulous service.