Desiderio Italian-American Grill

Sadly, Desiderio Italian-​American Grill has closed it’s doors…

closed

Too bad that our favorite local Italian place has closed. We really enjoyed their food and service.

Still very good we need to come more often.

We really enjoyed this restaurant. The Unilocal reviews have been well earned.
I had the wahoo and it was outstanding! I can’t say enough good things about the food, I enjoyed it very much.
The owner takes time to go by every table to say hello and make sure you are satisfied. It’s a great touch.
Great spot.

Delicious as always. Comped our appetizer because of our anniversary. The wedge is delicious. 4 $ mystery wine night on Sunday is great.

We had a very good lunch here. The meatballs and calamari were amazing. I had the Picatta and that was excellent The service was attentive and friendly. We would highly recommend trying it out.

Food and service (Nicole) were excellent. We will return.

We have been to Desiderio a few times, and we have experienced excellent service. This restaurant has a cozy feel and nice ambiance. I have had the chicken parm here and it was great along with seafood dishes which are also very good. The service in general is excellent also.

Very surprised at the glowing reviews received for this establishment. The interior is rather shabby and my husband and I found it odd that they used white tablecloths, which did not fit the rest of the interior, but did give it some much-​needed brightness to the space. To save money on laundering, apparently, they cover the nice white tablecloths with white paper. Furthermore, they give you cheap paper napkins — one just ain’t enough if you are going to be eating any of the finger foods/​appetizers. We had the calamari, which did taste fresh, however the breading was falling off, which is a major flaw. If the breading had stuck to the calamari, it really would have been delicious! It also wasn’t piping hot when brought to the table, surprising because there were only two groups dining in the restaurant last evening, so they definitely were not busy. The dipping sauce/​aioli was good, but too thin and watery. It needs to be thicker in consistency so that it doesn’t drip all over the tablecloth, whoops, I mean paper cover!
Desiderio: Make up your mind! Either you are a white tablecloth restaurant or you are not. If you are, lose the white paper. If you are not, take the tablecloths off, invest in some better napkins and brighten up your restaurant’s interior. Put some flowers on the table or candles! It’s pretty dark and gloomy in there, but the white tablecloths do help. Maybe lighten up the paint color on the walls? Also, that carpeting is kind of gnarly… time for an update. Even black and white tile floors would be a huge improvement!
So, after some deliberation, and being intrigued at the thought of trying «house-​made» salad dressings, my husband had a side caesar and I had a side house salad with gorgonzola. When presented, the caesar salad didn’t appear to have any dressing on it and the presentation was blah. When we got more dressing, my husband gave it a thumb’s up. Again, though, from presentation alone, I would not have selected it as it didn’t look very appealing. The gorgonzola dressing was boring and lacked seasoning. Had to steal salt and pepper from another table to make the salad palatable. Again, nothing special, and the chopped roasted red peppers set off on the side of the salad were somewhat of a mystery and did not add to the appeal of the dish, but did add some much-​needed color.
I personally make much better blue cheese dressing myself at home. It’s easy to do and I recommend that this restaurant work to improve the flavor of the gorgonzola dressing. (Hey guys! Great recipes can be found on
,
and the cooking channel!)
My husband decided to have the spaghetti and meatballs after hearing that the meatballs were a house specialty; I went with the mussels appetizer, wanting to save room for dessert, and wanting to have room to taste the meatballs as well. The meatballs were a big disappointment. The combination of beef, veal and pork (can anyone say «meatloaf mix?») was very dry and, frankly, there were just too many. I did not taste the spaghetti itself, but the sauce was too sweet. (The same «dipping sauce» that was delivered with the bread?) And we had to ask for grated parmesan cheese when it wasn’t offered. Mussels were good but, again, almost too sweet in flavor.
It came as no surprise, then, to learn that, really, this restaurant’s forte is in their desserts. My husband ordered a cannoli, reportedly brought in direct from a patisserie in the Bronx, and I got the house-​made butter pecan gelato. Both were absolutely delicious!
I also recommend their «house» white wine from South Africa. At only $ 5 a glass, it was very good, and, for once in my life my drink was less expensive than my husband’s. Big surprise was that this «Italian» restaurant did not serve Peroni, not even by the bottle. Hello? Can’t you even keep a twelve pack or so on hand? Husband got a glass of the Malbec, which he enjoyed, but tasted as if it had been opened the night before and was not entirely fresh. Yes, we let our wine breathe, but twelve or so hours is a bit too long for all but the most tannic wines!
A man came up at the end to ask us how we liked our meal and we gave him our feedback. It was only after inquiring that we learned that he is the owner’s brother. Really? Why don’t you introduce yourself first and then ask us about our experience? He didn’t seem to take our feedback very well, which is fine because we don’t intend to go back anyway.
If you want absolutely delicious, affordable Italian food nearby, we highly recommend Ciro’s Restaurant in Stone Ridge, just off of Route 50 in the Aldie area. They even offer Pizza made in their own pizza oven on premises, exceptional salads, appetizers, eggplant parmesan, etc. I have never had a bad meal at Ciro’s, and most have been exceptional!
Another fantastic place to try is Travinia Italian Kitchen in Leesburg. Well worth the drive and prices are very affordable.

My fourth meal at Desiderio was nothing short of fabulous. Three of us ate and shared bites, so I can speak to the amazingness of each dish.
I had the wedge salad to start. Never has iceberg lettuce been so well presented and tasty.
Our entrees: Veal Sinatra, Steak Gorgonzola, and the Seafood Fra’Diavolo. Each was beautifully presented and reached some degree of near perfection of taste. Lots of ‘yum’ noises.
The deserts were smile-​makers including the house made gelato. Oh, and the coffee was so smooth I drank it black where I would normally add cream.
Lastly, our server Nicole was absolutely wonderful. She was attentive, not obsequious, knowledgeable but admitted when she wasn’t sure about something. She was upbeat, conversational, and didn’t over sell.
Including a bottle of wine and a 20% tip, we left for $ 150. Good money for a great meal! We’ll be back!

It was my first visit, very good food and services, I plan to return. I enjoyed everything, Nice place, clean and friendly staff,

Can’t say enough about the quality and value at Desi’s; Rick, Karen & Victor do an excellent job of making sure everything is right! We are Dinner Club members which has several perks to include a monthly bottle of wine and an appetizer with our meal. Its a nice program that forces us to have a date night at least once a month.
On to the food… 1 of my favorite appetizers is the Clams Desiderio, cream, spinach, roasted peppers, parm cheese and clams w/​a side of crusty bread, it doesn’t get much better in my book, unbelievable flavor. The stuffed mushrooms and the Mozzarella Medallions are outstanding! My favorite entrée is anything with Risotto, the roasted Pork Shank, roasted Hen, vegetables, can’t go wrong in my book my the Risotto. The Pasta Bolognese is outstanding! Nice hint of cream and wine in the sauce, pairs great with the fettuccine. The Wedge salad is a must have if it’s your 1^st visit, but you can’t go wrong with the Caesar or the House salad.
Now the service… 1 of the most important aspects of visiting Desiderio’s is the quality of customer service; servers are well versed on the menu, they offer suggestions that are always helpful, sociable, friendly and always smiling! A great meal with EXCELLENT service is so important to us, we want to make sure we are spending our money in the right place and for the right reasons, that’s why I go to Desiderio’s!!!
We have taken several friends w/​us to Desi’s, they all have enjoyed their meals and returned with their friends and family for a great dining experience.
All entrees come in kids portions, my daughter is very fond of the Steak Alfredo, my older son loves the Chicken Parm, a hearty meal for a BIG appetite!

Our favorite Italian restaurant! Wonderfully friendly and attentive staff, family run, and freshly made pasta, sauces, bread, etc means not only that the meal tastes great, but special requests area are graciously accepted within reason (can I get something prepared a little differently, or with/​without certain ingredients). it takes a little longer since they made it fresh, but sure! Very quiet little place a bit hidden in a shopping center near a Harris Teeter (quiet little place! you can have a conversation here without yelling)! And the food is outstanding.
Our first time, I did what I always do when eating at a new place, I ordered something indicative of their specialty area, therefore sampling something they should do really well. If an Italian restaurant does not hit it out of the park with standards such as Lasagna or Ravioli, the odds that they will handle less traditional fare is low. So I ordered lasagna on trip #1 (excellent) and ravioli on trip #2 (also very good, all freshly made). My spouse had veal Sinatra both times, but asked that the veal be replaced with chicken, and the fettucine be replaced with gnocchi («sure, no problem).
A nice wine list, and a small but excellent dessert list, and what good italian restaurant doesn’t have good espresso or cappuccino? All good at Desiderio. Ah! I almost forgot about Grandma Joanie’s meatballs (veal, pork and beef). If you get it as an appetizer, the portion is large enough to share (or save for later)!
My only wish? That I had checked hours the Tuesday I showed up for lunch and tugged sadly at the door (closed Mondays and do not open for lunch Tues-​Wed). No sadder sight than me walking back to my car with no meatballs in me.
They also have a curtained off room for small private gatherings.
Try them out — you will not be disappointed!

What a great staff! From the owners to the hostess… great, friendly, accommodating staff!
The food… awesome! The medallions are more like pancakes! A meal on their own!
Totally recommend this place for a great dining experience!

First time here! Used a groupon. Sweet hostess and server named kelly. Had the special of the day salmon pesto– delicious ! Wish I could have enjoyed it more but we eagerly ordered two appetizers: the calamari and clams. Both yummy and loved the sauces they each had. Perfect to dip the free bread in. Clams kinda on the small side though. Husband had the original favorite spaghetti and meatballs. Nothing goes wrong here with their home made meatballs. Hubz thought it was perfect, I thought it could have had more sauce. It was a random celebratory dinner for us and the restaurant was perfect for it. Will def come back again.

I’ll begin by stating that I’ve generally had positive experiences here. My family has eaten here several times and my sister even held her rehearsal dinner at Desiderio. That’s why we decided to bundle up and eat here on Christmas Eve to celebrate the season. We made an 8:00pm reservation and arrived at 7:55. The hostess didn’t seat us until 8:15 and made no apology for doing so. We attempted to shrug off her rudeness since we recognized that it may not have been entirely her fault that the restaurant can’t properly manage its reservations. But then we realized that we had been seated in the very back of the restaurant where there were limited heat vents, little to no insulation around the windows, and the door leading out from the kitchens to the trash bins outside was roughly 20 feet from us and the wait staff kept going in and out and letting the freezing air in. All of us kept our thick winter coats on the entire time we were seated and our waiter never once commented or thought to ask if she could make our experience more comfortable.
Now to the meal itself. We didn’t receive enough silverware or appetizer plates from the outset and had to request it ourselves AFTER the appetizers arrived. Any time we needed a refill on our drinks or more bread, we had to flag our waiter down ourselves (roughly 3 times). Our appetizer plates remained on the table even after our entrees arrived so there was no space and we had to ask the waiter to remove them (after flagging her down again). Then one of the dinners had sediment from the mussels in the pasta. To be fair, the restaurant manager was properly apologetic and immediately replaced his meal (at no cost to us), but I find it highly unprofessional for a restaurant not to properly clean its seafood.
All in all, I was highly disappointed with the service and quality of food in this visit, so much so that I highly doubt that my family will ever return here. We arrived for a relaxing evening full of holiday cheer, but we left feeling equal parts disappointed, frustrated, and angry. Bad form, Desiderio. Bad form.

Based on Unilocal,we decided to try them out as we were going to a local community theater nearby. Hard to find — they are tucked into the corner of a shopping center. I’ll first state my ONLY flaw — their tea is from the soda fountain. I don’t care if it’s a super-​popular supermarket brand — it’s gross! There is a reason I refuse to drink anything but fresh iced tea, Both hubby and I noticed it right off the bat. If the owner is reading this — please — get another soda variety instead and save yourself lots of $$ and buy teabags at BJ’s Wholesale down the road and make delicious fresh tea. They did take it away the moment we complained and I drank water all night, which I love just as much.
Now — on to the compliments. They make their own mozzarella. Hubby and I could only order one appetizer and he won with the stuffed mushrooms. I mentioned to Karen, our server, that I’d wanted the fried mozzarella medallions and she brought me just one on a plate with the mushrooms. Delicious! Their marinara is also super good and homemade as well — some of the best I’ve tasted outside of my own.
House salad — super yummy and the dressing had just the right tang. Plus it wasn’t too huge to take away from the main meal. We both ate from the specials and both dishes were eye-​rolling good. Service was great, the restaurant décor is nice with lot of Frank Sinatra’s music playing. A picture of Sophia Loren is on the lady’s room door and Frank on the men’s room door.
They are 45 minutes from our home but we’ll be making the trip just to go back.

We went to Desiderio for dinner a couple weeks ago. Service was great, but the food was just average. We had one of their specials, which was baked penne with tomato cream sauce, meatballs, Italian sausage, mozzarella and provolone, and the chicken marsala. The penne was good, but not particularly special, and didn’t stand up to its $ 22 price tag. The chicken marsala was pretty bland, but edible. The house salads were quite good, however, and the coffee-​almond-​chip gelato was excellent. I’d rank this place higher than Olive Garden, for sure, but not as good as Maggiano’s.

So let me start out with why they are missing a star. Because there is no printed kid’s menu. THAT’S IT!!!
But…they accomodate. Our server Daniel was friendly and informative in leting me know «we have fries and chicken or we can make smaller portions for the kids.» So I told him that we would take a moment but would like the calamari Fritte. It comes out a few minutes later piping hot with flash fried peppers (red, green and yellow bells). I was able to swipe a couple of pieces before my kids devoured the entire plate.
Chicken Picatta, Chicken Parm and Spaghetti w/​Meatballs were our 3 entrees (2 kids split the Parm). They were all hot and very flavorful. If I could describe it, I would say it was like Daniel walked into an Italian home, snatched food off of the stove and plated it for us. Very comforting with each bite.
$ 53 bill with leftovers and the icing on the cake. our drinks were NEVER empty. After paying my check, Daniel says «see you next time» (as seems to be a rule to say to each customer).Yes, Yes you will be seeing us again. Thanks for a great night after a long week of work.