Pulcinella's Italian Restaurant

Delicious food, great price, and very nice service.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Absolutely fabulous food. Great service a laid-back atmosphere. Reminds me of the places the way they used to be. The seating was comfortable. The food was out of this world. I just wish I was going to be in town longer to enjoy it more often. The eggplant parmesan was well done just the way I like it. The pasta was cooked to perfection without me even having to ask for it Al dente. The lunch specials are so reasonable and the portions are so big, I don't know how they do it. The sauce has that old world flavor that I love so much. I can't wait to try some of their other dishes. And the salad was so fresh and good it's like the lettuce was just picked out of the field. So good! I highly recommend this restaurant.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Quaint. Small but they give enough space. Service was best we have had since Brooks left before COVID. Food is always great. Pollo Picatta is always a hit. The House dressing is amazing.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

First time back in six months. As a family we order the same dishes. You all come on… all fried food was undercooked. Didn’t receive a salad that came with our entree. Received two fat free salad dressing for one salad when two should ah e been provided.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 2

Cute atmosphere and servers were kind. The bread and calamari were good, but the chicken piccata was terrible. It was mostly the quality and cooking on the chicken which tasted bland except for the taste of freezer burn. Would try their pizzas, but won’t be getting a chicken dish from there again.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 3

Let me start by saying I'm a foodie and very picky about my food, AND I love Italian food. So, when I say my whole meal was delicious, trust that it's worth your time to stop in and give it a try!

While the restaurant itself is ok with reasonable decor, the restrooms need some TLC. That being said, the food made me forget all about the ambiance. First, there was some deliciously soft bread served with one of the most flavorful tomato dipping sauces I've ever tasted. When I first saw it, the bread didn't look very appetizing and the sauce looked questionable, but one taste and I was sold! In fact, they should bottle and sell the stuff - I would buy it by the jar!!!

The calamari was cooked perfectly! It was super tender and not overly breaded. The rings were nice and thick and tasty. The marinara that came with it was pretty good, but I dipped it in the tomato bread sauce and thought I would pass out-- delicious!!! Hint, hint to management, try serving the calamari with this sauce. It's an incredible combination.

I ordered the fettuccine carbonara with shrimp for my entree and it was fabulous. The freshly made pasta made all the difference. Well done!

My only complaint is that the tiramisu was really small, about half the size I would expect. Despite this, prices were pretty reasonable.

Overall, the food was great and I will definitely put Pulcinella's on my go-to list!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

After all these years Pulcinella's is still our favorite Italian restaurant in Durham.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Best italian in the triangle! Amazing food and prices are amazing! Im from NY and we love italian food....this is just like being home. Great pesto, sauce, baked ziti and pizza!! Service is fast too!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Very good Italian..best lasagna i had in awhile

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Sad. Sanitation score was 91. The calamari was bland and chewy. The lasagna was also bland, previously frozen is my take and had, what I would consider, scrap meat. This might be authentic Northern Italian food, but I wouldn't know, I've never been to Italy. On a better note the bread was very good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 5

Went here for the first time this weekend. They were busy which seemed promising, but unfortunately I can't understand why. We ordered an appetizer that didn't even arrive with the entrees, much less before them. The waiter didn't understand why we asked to cancel the appetizer as she placed our entrees down, so they don't even know what an appetizer is. In hindsight, I was relieved the appetizer didn't arrive because our entrees were dreadful. Pasta sauce was separated and watery, noodles were rubbery and refused to have the sauce stick to them, and the breaded cutlets were bland and almost guaranteed from a frozen box pre breaded.

Positive notes: interior was fine, staff were nice, and food came out quick (if it came out of a freezer that makes sense).

It's just a shame the food was terrible, because I've been hoping to find a good Italian restaurant lately.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 3

Great food. Never misses and service is always on point

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Best Lasagna & Seafood Pasta Special Excellent waitress 😄🙏🏾👐

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Watery, terrible chicken Marsala. Literally the worst chicken Marsala I've had at a restaurant.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 3

This was our first visit to Pulcinella's and we absolutely loved it!!! Everything was even better than we hoped for.....the atmosphere and the food were
wonderful but especially Lesley (our server) who made it all EXTRA enjoyable. She had just the RIGHT amount of friendliness - available when we needed something but not hovering over us. Lesley shared in our joy as we were celebrating our 53rd wedding anniversary by giving us the surprise gift of a dessert.
We will definitely return in the near future.
Thank you!!!!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5