Cugino’s Italian Restaurant

I have attended this place many times. The food is excellent and the atmosphere is great. They have a small bar area where you can sit down and have a couple drinks and watch the sports game that night. Over to the left is the dining area and a patio. The patio is great for lunch during the summer on a beautiful day. The service is good and the waiters/​waitresses can answer all your questions. I would absolutely recommend this place and enjoy going here.

We went for the first time on Mother’s Day and the first clue should have been that there was only one other table seated. Uh oh. We sat anyway and and proceeded to experience the most rude service I have yet to have in a restaurant. Out waiter was so obnoxious that we had to laugh! My mother in law asked for butter and he barked «NO!» and walked away! my Father asked if they could could sub mashed potatoes (which were listed as a side for other menu items, so it’s not like they were not in house that day) instead of polenta and the waiter proceeded to speak to him like he was an idiot, and asked if he knew how mashed potatoes were made, and that polenta was the only option. I joked that the only thing that could have made up for it was amazing food, but alas, it was mediocre. I spent the whole dinner rather anxious and upset as it was my idea to try the restaurant. We dos laugh about how bad the service was in the parking lot after we left, but I felt terrible about the awful Mother’s Day lunch. We will not return.

Just okay food — my food was fine… but again nothing special as I thought it might be from reading description. My dining partner had a dinner that was grizzly, and mostly bone like leftover scraps –the meat on it was chewy and not moist. After the long wait to receive entrees it was not worth mentioning it to server as it was better to eat what we have and leave then to correct the dinner and wait even more. Small portions that will leave you still hungry and Very Expensive for food that does not meet high standards. We enjoy going out to eat and cost doesn’t matter — however when it’s bad you just have to shake your head, laugh with friends and not to go back.

We arrived on a slow weekday evening. The service was good and we were well looked after by the staff.
After starting with a fresh and flavorful chop salad, we ordered the Orcchiette Primavera and the Ricotta Gnocchi with wild mushrooms, kale and Madeira cream sauce. The Orcchiette Primavera had a nice, pleasant yet unexceptional taste. The Ricotta Gnocchi was more impressive but the portion felt more like an appetizer than a main course.
During the evening, we also enjoyed a bottle of wine and dessert. There’s no sense wasting additional words describing the wine and dessert, as the details are unimportant, because like the rest of the meal nothing stands out… other than the elevated price.
Synopsis: portions were modest, cost was not modest and taste was unremarkable.

Upscale Italian Restaurant providing a non-​crowded, quiet experience. Service was quite «leisurely». Food was delicious, but very pricy (everything ala carte) and portions were meager! I had the gnocchi (9) at about $ 3.00 a bite. Lobster Bisque $ 10, was thin and exceedingly salty! I know, we should have sent these back.
Generally, we (party of 5) were disappointed and will not be returning to this venue.

Service was poor, waited over an hour for the food to come out. Waiter didnt speak good english and seemed to have ignored us when we tried to wave down. Food was tasty but portions were not par with the cost. Will never return to this restaurant

Went with 2 other couples on Saturday ⁴⁄₂. Food awesome. Server Bonnie gave us great service. Only downfall the live music was too loud. Was hard to carry on a conversation with our friends.

Visiting from Vegas, day after St Paddy’s, craving good Italian food came to this restaurant. We are spoiled in Vegas with great restaurants everywhere wasn’t sure what to expect. What a nice surprise!!! Owner Frank so nice, piano player Joel the bomb.
The bread was homemade dipping sauce spicy, what a treat. Went on to meatball appetizer, stuffed banana peppers and copped salad, again delicious. Our main course of Fussilli Bolognese sweet and savory. Highly recommend this place. We will be back on our next visit to Buffalo.

I have entertained friends and family members many times at Cugino’s Italian Restaurant and find it to be an exquisite restaurant and one of the best, if not the best, in Williamsville. The owner Frank is very hospitable and makes sure that guests are properly served. The restaurant is clean, the seating is superb, service is excellent and the ambience is 5 star. My favorite appetizer is shrimp scampi and dish of choice is pasta Bolognese. He regularly offers my guests after dinner drinks «on the house» and they consistently love the grappa which is amazing. The desserts are sumptuous and my consistent favorite is the tiramisu, clearly a house favorite. I recommend Cugino’s for large office parties and business meetings.

Very poor service. Been here before and was very good but this time waiters and staff confused and extremely slow with service. I feel we are being ignored. I bet they won’t ignore my credit card. My advice — - don’t go if they have full table reservations

These guys ROCK. Had the Lamb Shanks. Candy raisin sauce over slow roasted, fork tender, lamb shank on a bed of creamy cheesy rizzotto that mirrors the lamb. Topped with perfectly roasted asparagus with just a hint of garlic and seasoned to perfection.
Yes guys you can use this description, you deserved it!
Great wine list… get the Robert Mondovi; perfect matches the flavor of the lamb. The places interior is as elegant as Butterwood Sweet & Savory Lafayette!
Call, make a reservation… ask for Tony Cugino section. The guy will treat you like royalty. (He worked in Manhattan he knows how to treat you.)

Great food and service one of my good experience visited williamsville and cugino’s restorante

No doubt this place will be on Kitchen Nightmares soon. This man is a thief.
We had our holiday party there this week. I arrived right at the start of the party and ordered a Jameson on the rocks. It was about 99% ice and 1% Jameson. So of course 10 minutes later I ordered another and was told they were all out of Jameson. I’m not sure how you run out of Jameson in 10 minutes. When we got the bill for the night we were charged for 19 Jameson’s. I’m not sure how we drank 19 Jameson’s in 10 minutes when there were only two of us drinking it and I only got one. But that’s what we were charged for.
Which brings me to my main complaint. When we arranged the party we were told we would not be charged per drink and would have a bar package. At the end of the night we received a bill for 250 drinks for 50 people. That means that on average every person would have had 5 drinks. I know for a fact that several people didn’t have any drinks. Which means that most people would have had to had 8 – 10 drinks to make up the difference. There is no way anyone in our party had that many.
Although given the number of drinks that were left on the bar because they were so bad, maybe that’s a possibility. Instead of being charged per bottle of wine we were charged the per glass charge.
Now the food, the best thing I can say is that the potatoes were good. We had ordered the beef tenderloin as one of the entrees. There was no way this cut of meat was tenderloin. At best it was the cut used for roast beef. Everyone who ordered it couldn’t even cut the meat. It was extremely fatty. Anyone who has ever had tenderloin knows there is little to no fat in a tenderloin. Of course we were charged for the tenderloin.
As for the service, a waiter came around after dinner to ask if we wanted tea or coffee. My wife and a co-​workers wife asked if they had decaf tea. The man mumbled no and then walked off. A few minutes later we asked another waitress if they had decaf tea and she said yes and brought it right out.
We gave him a very clear budget and were told that he would keep it in that budget. This clearly didn’t happen. Now admittedly we screwed up by not having a contract written up but he clearly took advantage of this situation and charged us $ 140 per person! I can’t imagine how good of a wedding we could have thrown for $ 140 per person.
Do not trust this owner at all! His business practices are questionable to say the least. I would not be surprised if he was out of business within the year.
**Update: In response to the owners comments:
Thank you for your reply to my review. Actually I was involved in the planning process for the party and I personally saw the receipt we were given. Plus I was actually at the party which was the majority of my review. So I think I am more than capable of giving a review here.
As far as posting this on other sites why wouldn’t I? I give reviews of restaurants because I want to let as many people as possible know about my experiences both good and bad. And the fact that you dismiss my review as «nonsense» speaks volumes about your character. I also received a compliment on my review from a former employee of Cugino’s who verified my thoughts on the owner and establishment. Not to mention the several reviews on here that agree with my sentiments.
I also notice that you don’t refute our claims that we were charged for 19 Jameson’s in 10 minutes when there were only 2 of us drinking them. Or why we were served roast beef instead of beef tenderloin. You just dismiss this as slander. Slander is something is not true. What’s true is you charged us for items we never received.
I thank you for your time in responding but I stand by my review 100%.
**Update #2: This owner continues to send me messages saying how dishonest I am and these are not my actual opinions. He even had the nerve to say that the following statement:
I think this tells everyone all you need to know on Todd. From his own mouth, «I also notice that you don’t refute our claims that we were charged for 19 Jameson’s in 10 minutes when there were only 2 of us drinking them.»
How that says anything about me is preposterous. If anything it says everything you need to know about him. He charged us for 19 Jamesons when we only ordered 2!
This owner is obviously reacting to the recent poor reviews about his business.

Food was ok. Bread was good. Pasta was surprisingly bad, very little flavor in the sauce which was a surprise after the fairly good appetizers. Service was great right up until the owner had a $ 5 misprint on his menu. When we got the bill, I mentioned the Artisan Plate with cured meats, cheeses, etc was listed at $ 11 in the menu, not $ 16. Owner said sorry, menu is wrong its $ 16.
Did we get refunded? No. And then when we’re leaving, i grab a to go menu just to see — its listed at $ 11 there too, including the meats. (See photos). I know its a $ 5 difference, it just fires me up. You can’t just start charging whatever. I wouldn’t have ordered it for $ 16.

I tried this place today at lunch with my Unilocaler fd. I had the Orecchiette Con Tonno: Yellow Fin Tuna. Sun Dried Tomato.Capers. Basil Pesto. Permasen Cheese. I do like their pasta sauce but the yellow fin tuna didn’t really make me like WOW. My Unilocaler fd had the Ricotta Gnocchi: Wild Mushrooms. Tuscan Kale. Madeira Cream Sauce. Her sauce is pretty sweet so if u dun like ur pasta sauce really sweet then u wont like this. But it is pretty good sauce with the mushrooms. I will def. come back here to try other meals from here. This is a really nice place and very comfortable. Mostly people whom come here to have meals they all dressed up. Tip: Lunch time for two people mostly are more than 30 bucks.

This place is delicious! The owner and the service staff are very helpful and considerate. They have excellent suggestions and I am very pleased!!! It is refreshing to go to a restaurant that cares about the customer eating good food and having a good experience.

First of all this review is just for desert and drinks. But based on the amazing dessert we had we will be back soon for the entire meal.
When we walked into the restaurant the owner was there to great us. He is so friendly and welcoming that it makes you feel like you are at your best friends house for an amazing meal.
We sat at the bar and had a couple of fabulous drinks from the very friendly bartender. All of the waitstaff was also really friendly and attentive.
After a few drinks we ordered the tiramisu, and holy cow it was amazing!!! It’s two days later now and we are still talking about it!!! Neither of us would claim to be big tiramisu fan but this desert has completely changed our opinions of that. It was just perfect!!! Flavorful without being too rich or sweet. Even though we had a huge piece neither of us could stop eating it!
We both can’t wait to go back for dinner but until then I highly recommend their desert to anyone!!!

Really enjoyed our dinner at Cuginos. The staff was friendly and our server wasnt overbearing. The restaurant is decorated nicely but isnt over the top.
I had the «carne» off the specials list. It consisted of a piece of bone-​in short ribs with balsamic glaze, risotto, and pan fried mini onions. The onions reminded me of onion rings without the being deep fried. Everything was fresh and perfectly prepared! My wife had the gnocchi with mushroom and kale. The gnocchi was golden brown and again excellent. Really enjoyed the mushroom and kale sauce too!
The have a nice selection of wines and cocktails. I had the jack cider. It consisted of warm apple cider and jack daniels. I enjoed it a lot They didnt have a beer list but i overheard another server mentioning the stand coors light, blue, bud…
Definitely recommend checking this place out!

One of the best Italian restaurants I’ve been to in the Buffalo area, and a must visit for Williamsviille cuisine!
I first came on a summer afternoon just to try out the appetizers and was instantly impressed by the courteous staff and the warm and elegant atmosphere. I ordered the calamari and a margarita for a casual meal and afternoon drink and enjoyed them very much. The sauce and seasonings they used were very tasty and the bartender made the margarita from scratch using real fruit juices.
The second time I visited I ordered the Veal Romana and was again very impressed. Even though the portion was filling, I wanted more because the food tasted so good!
The personal attention that was put into my meal experience was the best part. During both visits I was greeted by the owner, Frank, who was so courteous and kind. He remembered me on my second visit and was excited to see me again. I had a chance to meet the chef too, and just by speaking with him for a few minutes you could tell he was serious about his craft and enjoyed making excellent food for others.
I implore anyone who’s curious to check this place out. The restaurant is located right on main street just outside the village and is hard to miss — just look for the big blue sign!

This is my official fav restaurant in buffalo now. Without a doubt. Just went there for some simple aperitifs. First the décor, simple elegant. The service was impeccable. The waiter knew what was in every dish incl the specials and gave absolutely excellent options. But the star was the food. The king salmon prosciutto salad with beetroots and some cheese I can’t recall was so well balanced in flavours! But then were the meat balls… I had to sit, take a min, wipe a tear of joy from eyes and then take the second bite. they just made my weekend! Absolutely absolutely delicious! Perfectly seasoned, sized, and presented. Best I’ve ever tried.
The dark chocolate pudding mmmmmm yes I’m picturing Homer Simpson thinking about donuts right now.
So so good. Definitely need to come back for a full dinner next!