Scotti’s Restaurant & Pizzeria

Just had one of the BEST meals out in a very long time! Scotties was delicious — I had the Veal Milanese which was perfecr, my husband & daughter both had pasta dishes which were equally fantastic! Freshest tomatoes on salad — tasted like ripe tomatoes from summer! Can’t wait to go back –keep up the great work Gaetano & crew! We will def be back soon!

The mussel appetizer was delicious! The marinara sauce the mussels were in has a slight bite to it that paired perfectly.
The penne alla vodka was also delicious – and a and a huge portion at that, which barely made a dent in after the mussels, but was more than happy to bring home with me. Great vodka sauce, with strong flavors but not overwhelming dense, and accented with chopped prosciutto.
Everything was served hot, and our waitress and host were attentive, polite and knowledgeable! The only thing missing was a perfect Italian bread, but I would definitely recommend Scottis, and I will certainly be making my own reappearance soon.

Have been a regular for many years. Come from downstate near Cornwall and are in Schenectady once every 5 weeks or so. Always stop here for the best eggplant and sauce we have ever had. This sets the bar for every Italian Restaurant we visit and no one equals it. A must if your local or out of town.

Picked up a pizza and antipasto. Food was ready when I arrived. Pizza crust and sauce were amazing.
Antipasto was enough for 4 people, full of classic Italian meats and cheeses.
Can’t wait to go back and enjoy the rest of the menu.

Just visited Scotti’s this evening for the first time despite having lived in Niskayuna for the last 15 years. We had a party of 12 for an occasion organized by a friend who loves Scotti’s as she and her late husband frequented the restaurant for years. I had heard good things so we were looking forward to a fun evening with new and old friends with a good meal.
The wait staff was attentive, informed and responsive. Service of the food was slow, mostly due to the timing of the large party. I did notice the smaller parties (mostly couples) were served pretty quickly, so I attribute the slow service to the large party. We were not in a hurry and were having a pleasant time talking and sipping our wine.
Our table opted not to try any appetizers given the salad and side typically served with every entrée, but the other table did order a couple (mussels as well as a spinach and garlic dish) — they reported the food was excellent.
Once we were all served, the food came out hot and nicely presented. I had the Chicken White Wine, which was excellent, The chicken was tender, the mushrooms were tasty, the butter and wine sauce was rich and you can’t go wrong with mozzarella cheese melted on top of everything. My wife had the shrimp linguine with the red sauce, not marinara, which I believe was the right choice judging from tasting hers and comparing the marinara served on my penne pasta side. I was not too impressed with the marinara, nice texture, but kind of bland. The red sauce on my wife’s dish was, on the other hand, very good, complex, and a nice bite of black pepper. I would recommend asking for the red sauce over the marinara for your side or main dish.
We tried two desserts, the cheesecake and a peanut butter ice cream ‘bomba’. Both were very good although the cherries on top of the cheese cake was obviously out of a can. The cheesecake alone was fine — the cherries actually took away from the dish.
The one drawback is the size — we happened to have chosen the perfect night, so we sat outside. Noise from Union Street was a little distracting at times, but generally not noticed. We were still a little tight — once you sat down, you weren’t going anywhere without inconveniencing a bunch of people. Someone mentioned the parking — there is a little lot in the back that is very tight and I imagine a bit of a nightmare in the winter. Beyond that, it’s street parking.
Overall, Scotti’s offers excellent value, good food and a nice atmosphere. We had a wide variety of dishes ordered within our party and everyone raved about their dish. Penne ala Vodka was popular and said to be very tasty, one friend had a special entrée of pumpkin ravioli that she said was ‘divine’, her words, not mine, LOL.
We will definitely return to Scotti’s.

This place is heaven on earth. All the food is great, especially the Penne Vodka and the Marinara Pizza. Yes, it’s small, but patience is a virtue and this food and experience is definitely worth the wait. It’s a shame that Unilocal filtered some really good reviews of this place. It should be much closer to the top of the list in terms of places to eat in Sch’dy.

Just had dinner here recently and loved it, the place is SPOTLESS! Penne alla vodka was delish and the serving was enough to create several meals. Wish the wine list was bigger.

Scotti’s Restaurant & Pizzeria
Server: Brian
Table: 7 Guests
Where I work, I was told by so many of my customers that I had to come to Scotti’s.
The following are out of 5 Points.
* (5) Customer Service — Meaning how well they assisted me in my needs.
I called in my reservation and the person on the phone took my reservation information quickly and even let me know that if anything changes to give him a call. At the dinner itself, our server Brian was excellent and very attentive; asking us how our wine was, appetizers, and food. He was excellent and very very good looking as well.
* (5) Décor — The atmosphere of the place.
What I like about this restaurant is that even though it’s Italian, it’s not overly drowning in cheap Italian novelties. The décor was very Tuscan with its colors and easy to look at, since the walls were decorated with wine racks.
* (5) Food & Drink — How well the food tastes, their selection of drinks
I went with a bottle of Moscato Corvo, which is a delicious sweet white wine. For appetizer I went with the Italian board that consisted of fontinella, assortment of olives, and soppresatta wine cured salami). For entrée I went with the scallops Santino, which comes on a large dish to make you feel you’re getting a lot, but don’t worry the dish is shallow. The taste was extremely delicious and definitely hit my seafood cravings. I would want some more scallops though, but that’s just me. Dessert round I went with their bananas foster, their dessert menu is always different so you may not get what I had. If you’re wondering what bananas foster is, it’s banana cheesecake with a caramel sauce on top. Delicious.
* (4) Price — Here I am not grading my cost, but by the quality of the food I get for the money I spent. (Example: I pay $ 5 for a hamburger that I could make myself.)
You will definitely get your money’s worth of food. Their menu consists of mostly pasta and cheese filled dishes. Therefore their sauces and creams really must shine past that.
* (4) Presentation — How things are presented. Food, Drink, Staff, etc.
Uniforms. Check. No outlandish food presentations. Check. Better lighting please?
Overall Score: ²³⁄₂₅

My husband who grew up in Nisky, took me here today.
I had excellent gluten free pasta primavera and we added on some marinara :) it was amazing! The tomato salad also delicious.

Scottie’s has gone downhill… fast! We ordered take out last week… pepperoni pizza & antipasto. The pizza was just ok & the antipasto has grey salami… that’s right ~ grey salami. Needless to say ~ we won’t be going back.

Meh. We had pizza; it tasted like the Chef-​boy-​ardee pizza in a box. MUCH better pizza next door at Homestyle or across the street at I New York Pizza. A bit pretentious with nothing to back it up.

I am torn on how to rate Scotti’s, and it pains me to say that. The good aspects are SO GOOD, and the bad aspects are SO BAD. Here we go:
Pros:
The food is amazing. I’ve never had a bad meal here. Everything is tasty, from the sauce (they have three options), to the pasta, to the desserts. Mmmm, the desserts…
The owners are very friendly. This may be because someone in my family knows them, but she always comes around and greets us. Again, this could be due to the fact that we sort of know her, but she’s never failed to do this. It’s nice.
The location is in a decent spot on Union Street.
The prices are very fair and the portions are large. You definitely get what you pay for here.
Cons:
It is SO SMALL inside (I would guess there are about 12 tables total inside). When it’s busy, it can be VERY noisy.
They only take reservations for bigger parties (7 or 8, I think). This can be troublesome due to the size of the restaurant if you have a smaller party but want to be guaranteed a seat.
Parking isn’t great. And by that, I really mean it’s pretty bad. They have no designated parking; you have to park on the street. I personally have no problem with parallel parking (when there are spots open, of course) but not having a parking lot is kind of problematic when there’s snow and or ice on the ground.
So Scotti’s gets 3 stars from me. The food is so great. If you are looking for a non-​chain Italian restaurant, do try Scotti’s. That is, if you don’t mind a small restaurant with the potential to be very noisy. If you can overlook the cons listed above, you’ll have a really great Italian meal.

One of our favorites! Especially cozy on a winter evening.

Always had a great meal here. The food is good, love the atmosphere, and especially love sitting on the patio during the warm weather. Service can at times be slow, but I have always enjoyed the food.
Would enjoy if they would put some effort into some gluten free selections!!!

My friend Donna and I have eaten lunch at Scotti’s twice, and it was delicious both times. The bread is fresh and tastes great in any of Scotti’s sauces. The eggplant is cooked in an egg wash, and the chef confirmed that it’s not rolled in bread crumbs, so it has a light consistency. The red sauce also is light and tasty. Oil and garlic and cream sauces are similarly light and satisfying. Seafood is fresh. Prices and portions are reasonable. Donna and I were full, but not stuffed. We’d try the pizza, but the meals are so good that we haven’t ordered it.

I went with family members who have been fans of Scotti’s for years. It’s a homey, comfortable place and the service was friendly and attentive. The compact menu is comprised of standard Italian favorites, and the wine list is compact, well-​chosen and fairly priced. The bread was good, the house salad OK. I liked mussels fra diavola — tasty and spiced just right. Penne with artichoke hearts & red peppers was nicely done. Others in the party were uniformly pleased with their choices. Nothing too fancy, just good solid Italian cooking in a cozy setting. If I lived in the area, I’d stop by every now and then…

I really want to like this place being local to our family but after the 2^nd visit to this establishment I will most likely not go back.
The Good:
Friendly staff
Nice décor
Reasonably price wine list
The Bad:
Slow to take order
Very noisy
Prices a bit high for quality of food.
The wait for the meal
The Meal:
I ordered the Chicken Sorrento which includes Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant. The eggplant was a soggy mess and the breading came off of the chicken parmesan. I felt like I was eating mush and it tasted like left overs from the night before or had been prepared earlier in the day. Either way it did not taste fresh to me at all.
Overall the staff was accomodating and very friendly but the food was sub par.
I may give it a try again just because I enjoy patronizing local businesses but certainly will be a very long time.

This place is one of my favorites in the area. I like their pizza and their ricotta cheese is really fresh. I also really like the seafood pasta.

Scotti’s is one of my favorites. If you’ve ever been to the North End in Boston, Scotti’s has a very similar feel. You cannot compare it to much larger or Italian chain restaurants.
The service is always personable and timely. The food is well prepared and I’ve never left with complaints. What you get for the money is probably the best appeal. Similar restaurants may be priced 25 to 50% higher.
I highly recommend Scotti’s a low-​key, sit down, family-​style restaurant in Schenectady.

Maybe our meal was a bit of an aberration. Considering some of the reviews on Google, you’d think Scotti’s has reached the pinnacle of Italian American cuisine not just in upstate New York, but in the United States. Unilocal gives Scotti’s a three star average, Google a 4.5. Another reason why I’m glad Unilocal did not get swallowed up by Google.
Anyway. It was a busy Saturday night and the waitress took awhile to take our order. No bother really, I feel for any waitress who has to move around a small, crowded dining room carrying plates of hot food. I ordered the Eggplant Rollatini while my dining companion decided on the Chicken Sorrento with stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer.
Here’s where Scotti’s becomes a bit off: my meal was perfectly acceptable while my companions was one of those «this meal makes me never want to eat here again» kind of deals. Something about the batter on the chicken was very, very off. We could not figure it out so we kept eating it. Finally it hit us: french toast. The batter tasted like the eggy part of undercooked french toast. Either that or flan. Not sure which is weirder for an Italian restaurant. Her tomato sauce also tasted more like tomato soup, another oddity considering the fine marinara I was served.
Schenectady is full of great Italian places and maybe Scotti’s can be one of them. But we probably won’t be going back.