Trattoria San Nicola

Quiet. Good atmosphere. Great food. Portions aren’t huge.

San Nicola is a restaurant we have enjoyed for several years. The food is always good, the ambiance casual smart, service is good. Parking can be a bit wanting, but on the whole, a very nice experience.

The food is very good and we frequent this restaurant often. However, the service needs to be improved upon. The most recent dining experience left us very underwhelmed because both the beverages and food were extremely delayed. In fact, we have noticed a decline in service over the past few times we have been there.

Can’t beat the value here as the food is always consistent and good and the people are great as well.

Ate here for the first time today at lunch with colleagues. First impressions were the interior was very drab and in desperate need of updating and I thought I was in a 55 and older community dining room. Upon sitting down our waitress was not very warm and welcoming. In fact I don’t think she even introduced herself. She quickly read the specials and ran off before we could digest what she had said. Food was okay. Nothing to rave about at all. I had their San Nicola caesar salad. I did not leave full. The prices were very high for the servings and for the entire dining package. I’ve lived within walking distance of this restaurant for 5 years now and I won’t be returning. For top notch Italian and a much more updated atmosphere go to Trattoria Giuseppe in Edgement.

My wife and I came here for Valentine’s Day. The service was excellent, the food was pretty good, and the desserts were great. The wine and beer is very reasonably priced. I would definitely come here again.

t
This restaurant is such a gem! We use it for all of our special occasions! The menu is so varied! Many There is a whole page of pastas, in many forms, meats, seafood, chicken, hot and cold appetizers and other starters. There are also specials of the day! This restaurant is owned by the chef so you know it’s in good hands. As an Italian I can vouch for its authenticity. Desserts are also very interesting. We like the tartufo a chocolate and hazelnut masterpiece and the cherry vanilla parfait, Cupo Spagnola. Really, if I could I’d eat there every night or at noon because they serve lunch too!

Food is very good, service is adequate. No complaints. However, there is 1 chair for the throngs of hungry diners suffering the ½ hour wait to be seated at a table. It seems that they have removed the chairs that were once there in favor of additional tables with the end result being an estimated average of a dozen or more people milling around at the front entrance, dodging waiters and other diners while waiting for their table. This is a mature crowd that needs a seating area. And I suspect that they lean towards over-​booking because we had 6;30 reservations and were not seated until 7:05. And then it was a hi-​top in the very noisy bar area. They aren’t hurting for business so I’d suggest removing the extra tables, replacing the chairs for waiting diners, and not over-​booking. It’s not fair to your customers. I’ve eaten there numerous times over the years. Will I go back? Not soon.

Had a group holiday lunch at San Nicola and everyone thought the food and service were excellent. Lunch was served family style and we had a private room. Tilapia and chicken marsala were very moist. Loved the tomato and crab soup, and all three desserts. We got a lot of food at a very reasonable price. Would definitely recommend this place, and great for parties. Thanks to Maria for making it very easy to schedule a group lunch, and she had everything ready when we arrived.

A local Trattoria with a nice selection of salads and fish and meat entrées. We came for takeout and picked up at the bar. In spite of it being a busy night we were taken care of quickly. The food was packed up great and the food was pretty hot when we got home. The salads were fresh and well prepared and sizable. The pastas were smoke and delicious. I had a veal parmigiana which I liked a lot.

Great food and service. Adam, our server was incredible! Will definitely return.

San Nicola is one of our favorite restaurants! The menu offers a superb variety of pastas and entrees — all delicious. We’ve eaten at San Nicola numerous times and our meals have always been a pleasure. My mom lives in Malvern so we dine there fairly often. Our servers are always friendly and accommodating. The dining rooms are cozy and welcoming. We’ve dined with both small and large parties and our meals and service have always been outstanding. Better yet, the prices are fair and the wine list excellent. As Italians, we promise San Nicola is the real thing. All in all, our dining experience at San Nicola has been consistently wonderful! Bonus — it’s easy to find and has ample parking. Go already!

My husband and I went to this restaurant with 2 other couples. I had read the reviews so I didn’t expect much. All 3 couples loved their food, service was fabulous and every person who worked there smiled and said hello. Very friendly. We will definitely go back.

We ate with a spider and its web by the window over our heads! Seriously a little house cleaning is in order…
The food was so so, not great but not bad… If it’s Italian I expect fresh made pasta, not gonna happen here… Servers were friendly, but they took the wine list right after we sat down… Seriously… As for the wine, no brainer buy the bottle, so much cheaper than the per glass… Many folks rave about this place, but for us it’s a been there done that restaurant…

Based on the reviews leading up to my visit, I prepared myself but I still have to say that I was pretty disappointed.
We ordered the calamari as an app and it tasted like it came from the frozen food section. Literally is this an episode of Guy’s Grocery Games? I’ve had way better. For dinner I ordered a seafood dish with mussels, red snapper, and scallops in a red garlic sauce. The mussels were good, the sauce lacked flavor but was decent. I found 3 bones in my snapper, obviously not appetizing. My scallops were disappointing… they had no sear on them and were overlooked. I was super excited about dessert cause I was in desperate need of some chocolate so I ordered the cannoli. My fiancé ordered the cheesecake. Both were decent but disappointing at the same time. My cannoli wasn’t the big olé Italian cannoli I was expecting, instead it was two bite size cannolis you’d get if you ordered a dessert tray from Costco. They were good, dressed in a dark chocolate sauce, just not what I was expecting. Same with the cheesecake — the cheesecake itself was delicious but the strawberry sauce on top tasted like it came right from a can.
Overall, I guess we were expecting a little more authenticity and more homemade items like Italian restaurants normally are. When I can’t read the menu items cause it’s in Italian, I expect more authenticity to my dishes. Probably won’t be returning again.

Had dinner tonight at 6:15pm. Restaurant was full, but not overly crowded. Started with their tomato and crab soup. A bit disappointed as I remember this having significantly more crab in the past.
Went on to have a warm seafood salad (clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari with olive oil and lemon juice). This was ok. Would have preferred more lemon in a concentrated vinegrette making the salad warm and «dry» rather than a splash of olive oil and a bit of lemon juice mixed with the cooking broth. The taste was a bit flat to me.
Had the fruiti de mare over linguini for my entrée. This too was ok — good, but not great. Would have loved it if the pasta was house made or at least fresh and thought there could have been more fish.
Rounded out dinner with Crème Caramella (flan) which was very good and coffee.
Our server Adam was excellent and the olive oil served with the bread to start was sublime!
Will probably go back because others in the family like it here and food is ok.

Not sure it’s worth even two stars. No happy hour deals at bar. Calamari was terrible. Worst veal parm ever. My lady’s veal chop was over seasoned and paper thin. Never again.

We were watching the food network and got hungry for some Italian food. My friend who’s been here before decided to bring me along to try the San Nicola. I’m happy that she did. I had the Coda di Rospo alla livornese and my friend had the veal.
The food was good but I didn’t like how their portions are not filling enough. You end up wondering if you can ask for more. But the place was very nice, had good décor, and the service was okay. Hopefully I’ll get more portions on my next visit.

Tossing it up to an overall bad night for the kitchen.
My Salmon Entrée was served rare. My husband’s Lamb was served well-​done, dry and too chewy to be edible. The staff was kind but the chef’s skills in running his kitchen are obviously inadequate.
Never returning.

A friend of mine had been here recently and raved about the tortellini, so a group of us decided to check it out. Luckily, we had made reservations ahead of time because this was was popping for an early Friday night.
I was the first to arrive and was seated right away in a crowded dining room. The other three ladies came in one-​by-​one and the waiter came over to talk to us about that night’s specials and to get our drink orders.
For entrees, I decided on the Linguine con Frutti Di Mare (a staple Italian meal in my life). The other girls ordered the tortellini, ravioli, and the shrimp/​scallops. Upon first glance, these dishes are on the smaller side for the price, especially compared to restaurants like Fellini Café or Trattoria Giuseppe. The price tags would have been okay if the ingredients used were amazing… but they weren’t. Everything we ate was pretty average (trust me, I tasted everything), which was so disappointing! I had some high expectations after hearing the glowing reviews from my friend, but San Nicola just didn’t live up to the hype.
If it wasn’t for the exceptional service that we received, I would have easily given this place two stars. There are just so many better options in the area!