Pinocchio’s Italian Restaurant and Wine Store

Never Again!!! Pretentious dreary overpriced food. The menu is laden with what seems on paper to be fabulous yet reality sets in after the first bite. The specials will grab your attention at first yet leave you underwhelmed and feeling ripped off.
Don’t waste your time and money here.
The owner/​chef and staff all have dilutions of grandeur and will lecture you on the merits of their food when faced with obviously poorly prepared dishes. Dry, bland, overcooked chicken. Nope it’s supposed to be that way.
The complimentary bread rolls are stale. Don’t complain because it’s a special homemade bread meant to taste stale? Uh huh. Sure.
When charging $$$ for an entrée you need to make that value up somehow. Small portions of delicious food or large quantities of ok food. This place has neither. Small portions of seasoned cardboard.
I’ve been here four times now and last night was the last. Disappointing and underwhelming every time.
Dessert was ok at best. Tiramisu was dry and overpowered by cinnamon. I’ve had better tiramisu at Walmart.
Funny how the owner goes out of his/​her way to try remove negative reviews (including this one) rather than take action following constructive criticism.

Maybe we caught them on an off night. The food was cold and the service slow. I will say they were packed and our table was not the only one disappointed. Maybe they were short handed in the kitchen. Maybe they will do better next time.

We for my mothers 90^th birthday dinner. Party of 10. Restaurant was very accommodating. The food was very very good and waitstaff very attentive. Sonya and Tracy were great. Giuseppe is a great chef. We all left fully stuffed and happy.

We stopped by this place on our way through Spencer for the Polar Express. Friendly and accommodating staff. Good experience overall. Was very busy that night, probably due to the train show. I would highly recommend giving them a try.

Delicious! You pick your protein and your preparation. Gisepy will make items not on the menu if you ask. Great place and they aim to please!

Took my son out for pizza. Got «burned to a crisp» garlic knots and limp, doughy pizza crust. Was going to chalk it up, pay, and leave.
Hostess (maybe owner) asked how the pizza was. I said it was under
cooked and doughy. She dressed me down about how to make pizza and how it was perfect.
I asked twice for the bill to pay in full and chalk it up. She insisted on a new pizza (takes a LONG time) or cooking the one we had more. I said to okay cook it more. Then, she says the cheese will melt and muck up their pizza oven.
Fine. Let me pay and leave.
She gives me another lecture. I am calm and polite all this time. I want to go home, and I tell her so and that I’ll pay for it. She says she’ll take it off the bill FINALLY. I don’t even care. I just want out of this place.
Worst food ever and creepy service. Thought I might have to call the police to get my bill and pay. All they needed to do was let me pay and go. You could not pay me to go back in there again. Strangest place I ever ate, and it was not even a full moon or Halloween.

Mediocre Italian food at best. Service took a long time. We ate outside since it was so nice outside. Not sure if that made a difference or not.

Located in a brick building on the corner of Main Street in Spencer, is this wonderful little Italian restaurant. It is a cozy space that pulls you out of the mind that you are in a small town. It can also be a great place for a romantic dinner.
They offer many speciality dishes, some depending on the season. I also enjoy the variety on the menu — unlike the chain Italian restaurants that overload their menus with chicken dishes or think you must need salad & bread sticks with whatever you choose to eat.
The owner and staff have always been awesome each time we have visited.
I can’t wait to go back!

Whenever we are in Salisbury my family makes arrangements to come here. We are always here on Saturday and each time have had Sonja for a waitress. She is amazing with out son and very good at recommendations. My wife loves their Chicken Piccata and my very picky son has declared it the best Pizza ever on more than one occasion. I can’t give it a 5 based on the ambiance, but if it was in Raleigh I would done their weekly. They even have a tray of reading glasses if you forget your own. Nothing fancy or pretentious about this place just great food in a customer service based atmosphere.

Mediocre Italian food, served pretentiously. Everything (bread and salad with dinner) is an add-​on charge. When I asked the server — also, it turns out, the owner — when my appetizer was to arrive, she replied, «Oh, I forgot to put it in! And your food is ready to come out. Do you still want it?» I answered no, not if my entrée was done. She quipped, «Well, the good news is now you won’t have to pay for it!» At least the service wasn’t mediocre. Isn’t there an Olive Garden somewhere around here? Or frozen pizza I can make at home?

Nestled into the aged brick buildings with tons of character in Spencer, Pinocchio’s offers your traditional Italian fare and the food was good as well. We spent some time in the gallery next door while waiting for dinner and the combination was great for a casual date night or for an evening with friends. Our selections were minestrone, chicken cacciatore and pizza with sausage and all were well prepared and delivered quickly. This was my first visit to Pinocchio’s and the service was friendly and the menu options were quite extensive for a small restaurant. If I could I’d give it a 3.5 stars because I would definitely try it again if in the area to sample some other options from the menu, but I don’t know if this visit wowed me enough to make a special trip for Italian. The atmosphere inside was quite charming and had an ‘old world’ style and family feel to it. I would recommend if you’re in the Spencer area to give it a try!

My husband and I both enjoy our date nights at Pinocchio’s for some authentic Italian cuisine. They offer great specials and we usually take advantage of their M-​W $ 12.95 menu option. You pick your 3 course meal for $ 12.95. They also have weekly food specials as well as specials throughout the week on bottles of wine. If you subscribe to their email list, they keep you up to date on specials and events without being overly pushy about it. Tracy and Giuseppe are always so nice, and you can tell that they have a sense of pride in their community and love what they do. This feeling translates well into great food and service!