Marcello’s of Metairie

It was a bit odd that the waitress made a point of telling us they closed at 930 when we sat down at 915 and the rest of the room was filled with patrons. It made us rather uncomfortable but when we said we’d eat elsewhere she protested so we stayed.
Guapo salad was very good, and fish of the day as well. My friend had the pork cheek and it was in a rich sauce over equally rich, cheesy polenta.
I love that you can pick out your own wine and drink it at the table. Overall greats food, pretty good ambiance.

We enjoyed happy hour in the bar. Excellent wine selection with an option to purchase at retail and be served while you dine. Friendly attentive waitstaff.

Came today. Had the calamari and chicken cacitorri. Truly pleased with the food. Everything was fresh. The red gravy was authentic. Looking forward to come back.

Great ambiance. Terrific service and the best food around. The bartenders are great and have a long list of specialty drinks they are experts at. Can’t wait to go back

We get here with 2 other friends on Friday. made a quick reservation at 7:15. Our waiter Phillip was fantastic! He knew what wines were paired with what I liked. Great service by him as well. We ordered the artichokes and they were good. I remember being a little nit longer than what we had before. I split the lasagna with a friend. these portions are huge! It was delicious! The ambiance had to be my very favorite part. I can’t wait to go back!

My wife and I were looking forward to our first meal at the Marcello’s Metairie location after reading the Unilocal reviews and after having two great experiences at their downtown N.O. Location. Unfortunately, we were sadly disappointed. While the Calamari and Eggplant Caponata appetizers were fine and served timely, the main courses were not up to par.
A wait of almost 45 minutes between appetizers and main course was unacceptable. Our waiter came out several times to say that our food was «almost ready». When the main courses did come, only three of the four (there were four of us) were served, with the waiter mumbling something about kitchen problems. My wife had the flounder and asparagus and she complained that the fish was fresh, but tough and the asparagus were so tough as to be inedible. After everyone was finished eating their main courses, the last main course, the AOC, finally showed up.
This was in a Saturday night and the place was packed. The above problems indicate to me a new restaurant that is still working out their issues with staff.
I will wait several months before returning, if ever again.

Food was amazing (had the veal) really nice wine selection (went with an Anderson valley Pino Noir), server gave great recommendations. Better than Tony Angelo’s in my opinion. We will be back!

This is my new favorite Metairie restaurant. I love picking a bottle of wine whenever I go, and I love the ever-​changing selection on the cheese and charcuterie plate! The staff is also very helpful is making the best wine choices every time.

Ok I didn’t want to give Marcello’s of Metairie 5 stars because I didn’t want it to be discovered and become packed. But doing that would not do justice to this restaurant’s ambience and charm. Please note they have a location on St. Charles as well. The service is great. The hostess greeted us with a smile and our waiter provided excellent suggestions for both drinks and food. Let’s start with everyone’s favorite, the liquor scene. Happy hour daily from 4 – 6 pm with half off all wine, beer, and cocktails, not including bottle wines. It’s a great selection, no need to worry. My wife had a Chianti which was smooth and paired well with her entrée. I went with the old fashioned made with Buffalo Trace bourbon (a must try if you like this cocktail). We shared the Crabmeat Contessa made of fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, tomatoes, caper aioli, stacked on fried eggplant. It’s perfect for two people to share. For entrees, we had the Marsala Pork Cheeks which was placed on a Parmesan polenta and accompanied by sautéed mushrooms and Marsala sauce. Incredible sauce and the pork cheeks were so tender! We also had the Palermo Veal. Palermo veal is amazing, or orgasmic if you will. It’s light enough to enjoy but a large portion that two people could share. The veal is so tender you don’t need a knife, like butter. The lemon butter caper sauce is the perfect compliment to the veal, tomatoes and mushrooms. And it comes with a side of angel hair pasta tossed with olive oil and topped with sliced roasted garlic. I finished my meal with a lemon basil martini. It was refreshing and light. You wanted Italian, you got Italian here. The music is old Soul and R&B, you know, the classics like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, etc. Family pictures from Sicilian and Italian immigrants decorate the walls. There is an added bonus with a wine market available. The selection of Italian and Sicilian wines is great and they offer a discount as well. I’ve been to so many Italian restaurants in New Orleans, but Marcello’s of Metairie is the best one in the metropolitan area. Definitely will be back.

Growing up in Chicago, growing up with Italian friends and eating countless times their mama’s cooking, and considering how scarce it is down South to get genuine Italian food. Marcello’s is really a Diamand in the rough. The service is always very professional, glasses instantly filled, bread plate amply supplied with oil and vinegar.
I would eat lunch on Mondays on a weekly basis just arriving IN to New Orleans for business travel, surely thinking the new thing I order today couldn’t possibly match what I tried last week? … Every time Marcello’s either matches or proves me wrong. I think my personal favorite is the Lasagna (all of the sublime nuances {like ever-​so-​slightly burnt but crispy cheese surrounding the lasagna dish},) perfect al-​dente texture on all of the pasta-​based dishes I try. (spaghetti, rigatoni) NO fake ingredients, or chintzy, paintbrushed dips to substitute for cheese and using authentic ingredients.
I come back in a few weeks for more business travel and can’t wait to try the pork dish that others have raved about.

Wow ! We were so into eating the food we forgot to take pictures. First off Philip was our server and he was wonderful ! We ordered the artichoke appetizer also wonderful and happy hour drinks half price all drinks on menu. The Lemon Basil Martine was awesome ! Ok the Entrée ., you have got to get the Pork Cheek. OMG !! Off the hook ! I never in my life has a Marsala Reduction like this and the porky melts in your mouth. I can’t remember the name of the other dish but it was a chicken dish with a sausage Risotto that was so flavorful and delouse. We will be back again for sure very soon ! Amazing meal.

I’ll always welcome a new wine place in the burbs! We went on a whim one night to get out of the house. We were looking for something casual so we snagged the last 2 available seats at the bar. You are able to peruse their wine section like a store. The prices are higher than a grocery store, but not as high as the typical restaurant mark up. Cool concept. The host or I guess would call him a sommelier recommended a nice pinot noir for us that was within our whimsical budget. We both liked it and his description was right on point. He didn’t turn his nose up to us when we asked for a bottle in the $ 30 range so brownie points for not being pretentious. After making our wine decision we made our way back to our seats at the bar. We were greeted by a few friendly bartenders who quickly corked and served us our bottle. They also offered us food menus if we planned on dining in. After looking through the menu, we decided that we were feeling more snacky than anything so we ordered the antipasti board which was $ 22. It came with their daily selection of cheese and meats which I enjoyed it since it had a lot of variety. I haven’t met a cheese I didn’t like so nothing to complain about. After the wine and cheese we were feeling pretty full and ready to call it a night. I’ll be returning when I’m ready for a repeat. The dinner prices were on par with Vincent’s, which is a little higher than I would like to spend on a weeknight meal, but not bad for a nicer night out. Overall, its a nice addition to the area and I hope it sticks a lot longer than the last restaurant that occupied this space.

Nice atmosphere, convenient location, efficient wait staff. Has nice & reasonably priced wine list & by the glass.
Had the special for tonight which was veal spedini stuffed with Italian sausage & pine nuts over thick pasta with spinach. It was good.
The one thing that I had a problem with (& the same thing happened on 3 separate occasions) was with the hostess/​system for seating. There are always tables that can be seem as unoccupied, yet you cannot arrive here without a reservation & not be told there is a 25+ minute wait. Not sure what the strategy/​thought process is here, but 2 of the 3 times we left because there are too many other good places to eat in the same general area. Had a reservation tonight, but witnessed it being told to 2 other parties just in front of me. What’s up?

Very nice place for lunch or dinner. Everything we ate was delish. The service was super

Very impressive service and overall ambiance.
We did not do appetizers per se but instead had smaller salads before the entrée. My wife ordered the lasagna and I chose the sausage, peppers, and onions with penne.
Salads were, well, salads. Good, not spectacular. But then again I was not looking a Zen salad experience. The main dishes were nothing less than incredible. And very large portions. Glad I skipped the appetizers.
My wife was only able to eat about 40% of the serving but she praised the flavor with every bite. Likewise, my dish was excellent in aroma and presentation. The red sauce was incredible with a hint of sweetness no doubt adopted from the peppers and onions.
While the veggies had been sautéed to perfection, the hero was the sauce. The sausage was very tasty and tender but leaving the skin on confused me.
Like my wife, I could only eat half of the serving. Yay for leftovers tomorrow. We will be back to the Metairie location as I have bookmarked several other fishes to try.

The customer service at Marcello’s is superb! The food is almost equally as good.
The warm focaccia served at the beginning of the meal was excellent; nicely seasoned. My meal began with the Grilled Long Stem Artichokes. The artichokes were served on a bed of arugula, with a very nice light lemon basil aioli. Next I ordered the Grilled Shrimp Gremolata Salad. There were 5 shrimp on my plate. which I thought was odd. Why not a half dozen? Why 5 vs. 6? The seasoning on the shrimp was a bit salty. However, paired with the lettuce and light salad dressing, the overall taste was very good. I would add a few slices of shaved parmesan!
Lots of great dishes on the menu. I will definitely go back to this restaurant. Compared to Vincent’s, the food is much lighter, and the flavors are more subtle; a totally different experience.

First time here since the opened. We arrived for lunch and were quickly seated. I loved the fact that everything on the menu was something I would love to try. Then the waiter arrived to announce the specials. One was panned veal which I love.
The waiter was nice and attentive. We ordered a ceased salad (we split this) and baked rigatoni and seafood cannelloni. Both of the lunches were fantastic. Tasted great with plenty of food. The salad was perfect.
We would have done a dessert but we are already planning our return for a dinner.

They did an excellent job of renovating this location of the former Coyote Blues Mexican restaurant into a nice Italian wine bar and restaurant. Sadly the food still suffers the same fate as the former Mexican restaurant in that it just doesn’t taste all that great. The food here is really lacking in flavor and I found that the lasagna and chicken Parmesan were extremely bland with great need of herbs, spices and garlic. The best tasting things I’ve had here include their bread (with oil and vinegar) and the veal soup was decent. In the flavor department this food really ranks at the very bottom of all other Italian food in the area. The service, ambiance and all other aspects are acceptable but the food just needs a serious makeover to add flavor.
Overall the wine is a great value so this is a place to come and drink but I can’t recommend the food as nearly all other Italian/​Sicilian restaurants in the area offer better tasting food in larger portions for a better price.

We Had the pork cheeks Marsala which was so tender. The clam linguine was delicious. The Mac and cheese truffle was creamy and rich. The chicken Alfredo was great. The mussels appetizer was to die for. The chocolate cream mousse and the salted caramel pudding was amazing.
Long wait. Crowded and loud.
But the wait and noise was worth it. Food and service was fantastic.

Marcello’s has an atmosphere that is inviting and romantic. They have an extensive selection of wines, most all of which are on display and reasonably priced. The food is Sicilian based and there’s nothing on the menu that I would not recommend. I say this as having been to all 3 locations.
For dinner at this location, we had the Marsala Pork Cheeks with parmesean polenta and the Linguine Tritone. Both dishes exceeded expectations. The pork fell apart by practically looking at it, the polenta was creamy and the marsala glaze added a nice depth of flavor. The linguine was a three seafood dish, with shrimp, lobster and crabmeat in a cream sauce. The cream sauce was light and the seafood shined in the dish and wasn’t overwhelmed by the sauce.
For dessert, we tried the cannoli and the «danger» pudding, which is a caramel pudding made in such a process that, if it’s not completely submerged while cooking, will likely explode … hence the danger moniker. The cannoli shell was very crispy and the filling sublime. Both were quite delicious. We will definitely be back and bring friends. Our server, Kristen was a rockstar and was very helpful and knowledgeable.
Last note, they have a kickass happy hour!