We used to go to Orazio’s frequently, but it seems they’ve lost their touch. We ordered our food to go, and have done so in the past successfully, but our most recent order was not up to par. We had the chicken Parmesan, Pappardelle Bolognese, upgraded to the chicken pastina, a side meatball, the peanut butter pie, and chocolate raspberry mousse cake. The pastina was overly salty. The side meatball was forgotten with our order. The pasta sauce was much too sweet, as if they added way too much sugar. We ended up throwing away much of our pasta because it was too sweet to eat. The peanut butter pie was fine, while the mousse cake was freezer burned and the top layer was gummy. I would not recommend Orazio’s in the near future, which is sad as it was a favorite of ours.
Food: 3
Joe Alberti
It is with a heavy heart that I write this review...I had been going to Orazio's with my grandparents when they were still in North Buffalo on Hertel Ave. before they moved to Clarence. My memories are filled with enormous plates of Manicotti, delicious homemade bread, and chocolate cannolis. When Zarcone took over in 2018, I was worried that all of that would disappear, but alas, the food was still just as sensational. The prices went up, but the food was still worth it. Then Zarcone closed the dining room for over a year, so I was very excited when they reopened this year. However, on our second trip back yesterday, ww realized the Orazio's I grew up loving was no more. Yes, the prices were higher, but now the service was incredibly slow (there were only 3 other tables besides us), our water was only refilled before we ordered, more bread took asking three times, our add on meatball never came but we were still charged for it, and while most of that can be excused, now the manicotti had changed for the worse; the crepe tubes were barely half filled, and what used to be covered in mozzarella cheese and baked now had a single slice of cheese on top, which you could see the outline of. It breaks my heart that this is what Orazio's has become; a place that I no longer look forward to returning to when I'm back in town. RIP Orazio's, 2025.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Victor Doino
The food is first rate, some of the best Italian in the Buffalo area
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
L
Frank went above and beyond to make my nanas bday special, the food is always amazing! And a highly recommend this place!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Taylor Gillmeister
Hours online say they’re open on Sunday, their sign lit up out front says they’re open (as of this second on a Sunday evening), and the hours outside the front door say they’re open on a Sunday. Show up at 5pm on a Sunday after a half hour drive and they’re closed.
Michael Wisiorek Hair Restoration Buffalo
Best Braciole I have ever had (at least in the past 29 years)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jay Shapiro
Horrible. New owner is clueless on how to run a restaurant. Took over 2 hours from the time we sat down to have dinner served. Severely understaffed!!
Michael Laurenzi
Did a mother's day brunch. They messed up the reservations, and then critically understaffed. The price was already hard to justify, but then the food was incredibly disappointing. The buffet fare was distinctly below average for a casual buffet, let alone what bills itself as classy. Will not be returning.
Allison Drzal
Went to Mother’s Day brunch and “$55.95”, which was not advertised until the morning of right before we went into the restaurant, gets you cold food that clearly has been sitting there for over an hour! It also gets you food that you can get at the store like mini muffins and pastries when they said it was “fresh” and small $5 drinks! And the manager who says he’s the owner wants to argue with you about the price and ignore the fact that meat and food containing milk (pasta and mashed potatoes) is cold and can cause food poisoning! And his main argument of why he charges that is get this you can’t go anywhere on Mother’s Day without spending $55.95 per person! So needless to say don’t go here save your money and go somewhere else!
Brandon Lehner
I never leave bad reviews but my experience for this Mother’s Day brunch was so terrible I had to leave one, as several other people just today have. We originally made reservations for 4pm but were told to come at 3, then one of the waitstaff mentioned that they were still seating for 4pm! We expected the price of the buffet to be $35-40/plate as advertised online specifically for Mother’s Day but when the bill came it was $60/plate. They never gave us a menu or pricing before we started ordering either. Most of the food had clearly been sitting out for several hours at that point, and there was only one tray that was changed out in the 45 minutes we were there. In honesty, there were too many red flags that should have clued us in but we were coming back from a long hike and super hungry so we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Some of the food we had was decent to good, but the negative experience FAR outweighed any positive.
Was there for Mother’s Day brunch , when we googled it , it was $29.95 but when we got the bill it was $55.00 and the beverage were 5.00 each and not included in the menu in the $29.00 price , will never return !!!!! And the Hostess was absolutely the worst
Abby
We visited this restaurant for a Mother’s Day brunch buffet after seeing on their website that it was advertised at $29.95 per person with drinks included. We were able to get a last-minute reservation for six people. However, upon arrival, only five of us ended up attending. The hostess—who mentioned it was her first day—told us there would be a $20 charge for the person who didn’t show up, which we weren’t aware of. While we were willing to pay it, her lack of experience and professionalism were immediately apparent. She spent much of her time on her phone and seemed unsure of her responsibilities, which is concerning, especially on such a busy day.
We were seated and greeted by our server, Joe, who was excellent—friendly, attentive, and helpful throughout the meal. Unfortunately, the buffet experience itself was far from what we expected. Despite the restaurant opening only 15 minutes earlier, many of the buffet trays were empty, and food replenishment was slow. We even had to ask the staff to bring out more plates, as only a small number were being put out at a time.
When we finally got our food, everything was cold—even items that were sitting in heated trays. Most of the dishes were also overly salty. Still, we tried to stay positive since it was Mother’s Day and we didn’t want to complain. We ordered soda and orange juice, assuming they were included, as the website indicated.
Shockingly, when we received the bill, it totaled $375—$275 just for the buffet. That comes out to $55 per person, not the $30 we were expecting. We double-checked the website and found the $29.95 Mother’s Day brunch menu—only to realize it was from the previous year. The current year’s menu was only available via a pop-up when first entering the site. If you accidentally closed the pop-up, there was no other way to find the updated information. While it was our mistake to not notice the date, the restaurant should absolutely update their main menu tab to reflect current pricing.
To make matters worse, we found out that drinks were not included—every soda, juice, or coffee was $5 each, which felt excessive.
The food quality did not come close to justifying the $55 price tag. Between the cold and overly salty food, slow replenishment, and misleading online information, we felt disappointed and misled.
We mentioned the issue to Joe, who kindly offered to get the manager. After waiting 10 minutes, Joe came back to check and said she’d ask again. We waited another 10 minutes, but the manager never came to speak with us. Eventually, we just paid the bill and left.
On our way out, we voiced our concerns to the hostess, who dismissively replied, “It is what it is,” in a rude tone. For someone on their first day, we were surprised by the lack of professionalism and basic customer service.
In summary, this was a disappointing experience all around. The only bright spot was our wonderful server, Joe. Unfortunately, due to the poor food quality, lack of managerial presence, and unprofessional staff, we will not be returning
Rob Faulise
This was our favorite Italian restaurant. We haven’t been back since they closed for remodeling. We went back last night. The food was excellent, the service was atrocious. Our server did a nice job, but the restaurant was clearly understaffed. Waited 20 minutes for anyone to even acknowledge we walked in the restaurant. No hostess. I literally counted four groups of people just walk out who were never greeted upon entering. Several tables just got up and left as food was taking forever to come out. I personally overhead two tables tell their server to just cancel their order, they have been waiting over an hour for their food, and just left. The poor staff was trying but just couldn’t keep up. Unfortunately this will be my last time at our once favorite restaurant.
Debbie Volpini
We had reservations for 6:30 it was busy but not one person stopped to ask if we had a reservation or at least I’ll be right with you no acknowledgment at all after 20 Minutes we walked out
Ashley Fox
Unfortunately, we had to leave before even being seated. It appeared they had only two servers, one bartender and one host working. We sat at the bar while waiting for a table (we had reservations). The front kept piling up with people waiting to be seated.. the host was helping serve food. People ended up waiting so long just to see the host they left. We saw people that had been seated leave before their food came. We had been sitting at the bar, past our reservation time, and could see we were nowhere near being seated. it's sad because the food looked and smelled delicious. But the service was just terrible......
We used to go to Orazio’s frequently, but it seems they’ve lost their touch. We ordered our food to go, and have done so in the past successfully, but our most recent order was not up to par. We had the chicken Parmesan, Pappardelle Bolognese, upgraded to the chicken pastina, a side meatball, the peanut butter pie, and chocolate raspberry mousse cake. The pastina was overly salty. The side meatball was forgotten with our order. The pasta sauce was much too sweet, as if they added way too much sugar. We ended up throwing away much of our pasta because it was too sweet to eat. The peanut butter pie was fine, while the mousse cake was freezer burned and the top layer was gummy. I would not recommend Orazio’s in the near future, which is sad as it was a favorite of ours.
Food: 3
It is with a heavy heart that I write this review...I had been going to Orazio's with my grandparents when they were still in North Buffalo on Hertel Ave. before they moved to Clarence. My memories are filled with enormous plates of Manicotti, delicious homemade bread, and chocolate cannolis. When Zarcone took over in 2018, I was worried that all of that would disappear, but alas, the food was still just as sensational. The prices went up, but the food was still worth it. Then Zarcone closed the dining room for over a year, so I was very excited when they reopened this year. However, on our second trip back yesterday, ww realized the Orazio's I grew up loving was no more. Yes, the prices were higher, but now the service was incredibly slow (there were only 3 other tables besides us), our water was only refilled before we ordered, more bread took asking three times, our add on meatball never came but we were still charged for it, and while most of that can be excused, now the manicotti had changed for the worse; the crepe tubes were barely half filled, and what used to be covered in mozzarella cheese and baked now had a single slice of cheese on top, which you could see the outline of. It breaks my heart that this is what Orazio's has become; a place that I no longer look forward to returning to when I'm back in town. RIP Orazio's, 2025.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
The food is first rate, some of the best Italian in the Buffalo area
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Frank went above and beyond to make my nanas bday special, the food is always amazing! And a highly recommend this place!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hours online say they’re open on Sunday, their sign lit up out front says they’re open (as of this second on a Sunday evening), and the hours outside the front door say they’re open on a Sunday. Show up at 5pm on a Sunday after a half hour drive and they’re closed.
Best Braciole I have ever had (at least in the past 29 years)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Horrible.
New owner is clueless on how to run a restaurant.
Took over 2 hours from the time we sat down to have dinner served.
Severely understaffed!!
Did a mother's day brunch. They messed up the reservations, and then critically understaffed. The price was already hard to justify, but then the food was incredibly disappointing. The buffet fare was distinctly below average for a casual buffet, let alone what bills itself as classy. Will not be returning.
Went to Mother’s Day brunch and “$55.95”, which was not advertised until the morning of right before we went into the restaurant, gets you cold food that clearly has been sitting there for over an hour! It also gets you food that you can get at the store like mini muffins and pastries when they said it was “fresh” and small $5 drinks! And the manager who says he’s the owner wants to argue with you about the price and ignore the fact that meat and food containing milk (pasta and mashed potatoes) is cold and can cause food poisoning! And his main argument of why he charges that is get this you can’t go anywhere on Mother’s Day without spending $55.95 per person! So needless to say don’t go here save your money and go somewhere else!
I never leave bad reviews but my experience for this Mother’s Day brunch was so terrible I had to leave one, as several other people just today have. We originally made reservations for 4pm but were told to come at 3, then one of the waitstaff mentioned that they were still seating for 4pm! We expected the price of the buffet to be $35-40/plate as advertised online specifically for Mother’s Day but when the bill came it was $60/plate. They never gave us a menu or pricing before we started ordering either. Most of the food had clearly been sitting out for several hours at that point, and there was only one tray that was changed out in the 45 minutes we were there. In honesty, there were too many red flags that should have clued us in but we were coming back from a long hike and super hungry so we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Some of the food we had was decent to good, but the negative experience FAR outweighed any positive.
Restaurantji Recommends
Was there for Mother’s Day brunch , when we googled it , it was $29.95 but when we got the bill it was $55.00 and the beverage were 5.00 each and not included in the menu in the $29.00 price , will never return !!!!! And the Hostess was absolutely the worst
We visited this restaurant for a Mother’s Day brunch buffet after seeing on their website that it was advertised at $29.95 per person with drinks included. We were able to get a last-minute reservation for six people. However, upon arrival, only five of us ended up attending. The hostess—who mentioned it was her first day—told us there would be a $20 charge for the person who didn’t show up, which we weren’t aware of. While we were willing to pay it, her lack of experience and professionalism were immediately apparent. She spent much of her time on her phone and seemed unsure of her responsibilities, which is concerning, especially on such a busy day.
We were seated and greeted by our server, Joe, who was excellent—friendly, attentive, and helpful throughout the meal. Unfortunately, the buffet experience itself was far from what we expected. Despite the restaurant opening only 15 minutes earlier, many of the buffet trays were empty, and food replenishment was slow. We even had to ask the staff to bring out more plates, as only a small number were being put out at a time.
When we finally got our food, everything was cold—even items that were sitting in heated trays. Most of the dishes were also overly salty. Still, we tried to stay positive since it was Mother’s Day and we didn’t want to complain. We ordered soda and orange juice, assuming they were included, as the website indicated.
Shockingly, when we received the bill, it totaled $375—$275 just for the buffet. That comes out to $55 per person, not the $30 we were expecting. We double-checked the website and found the $29.95 Mother’s Day brunch menu—only to realize it was from the previous year. The current year’s menu was only available via a pop-up when first entering the site. If you accidentally closed the pop-up, there was no other way to find the updated information. While it was our mistake to not notice the date, the restaurant should absolutely update their main menu tab to reflect current pricing.
To make matters worse, we found out that drinks were not included—every soda, juice, or coffee was $5 each, which felt excessive.
The food quality did not come close to justifying the $55 price tag. Between the cold and overly salty food, slow replenishment, and misleading online information, we felt disappointed and misled.
We mentioned the issue to Joe, who kindly offered to get the manager. After waiting 10 minutes, Joe came back to check and said she’d ask again. We waited another 10 minutes, but the manager never came to speak with us. Eventually, we just paid the bill and left.
On our way out, we voiced our concerns to the hostess, who dismissively replied, “It is what it is,” in a rude tone. For someone on their first day, we were surprised by the lack of professionalism and basic customer service.
In summary, this was a disappointing experience all around. The only bright spot was our wonderful server, Joe. Unfortunately, due to the poor food quality, lack of managerial presence, and unprofessional staff, we will not be returning
This was our favorite Italian restaurant. We haven’t been back since they closed for remodeling. We went back last night. The food was excellent, the service was atrocious. Our server did a nice job, but the restaurant was clearly understaffed. Waited 20 minutes for anyone to even acknowledge we walked in the restaurant. No hostess. I literally counted four groups of people just walk out who were never greeted upon entering. Several tables just got up and left as food was taking forever to come out. I personally overhead two tables tell their server to just cancel their order, they have been waiting over an hour for their food, and just left. The poor staff was trying but just couldn’t keep up. Unfortunately this will be my last time at our once favorite restaurant.
We had reservations for 6:30 it was busy but not one person stopped to ask if we had a reservation or at least I’ll be right with you no acknowledgment at all after 20
Minutes we walked out
Unfortunately, we had to leave before even being seated. It appeared they had only two servers, one bartender and one host working. We sat at the bar while waiting for a table (we had reservations). The front kept piling up with people waiting to be seated.. the host was helping serve food. People ended up waiting so long just to see the host they left. We saw people that had been seated leave before their food came. We had been sitting at the bar, past our reservation time, and could see we were nowhere near being seated. it's sad because the food looked and smelled delicious. But the service was just terrible......
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