Came here for a birthday/Valentine’s Day dinner a few months ago. Sub-par dining experience. We had a 2 person rsvp for 6:30 PM. The hostess told us to get drinks and sit in the bar while we waited. We were seated around 6:50-6:55 PM. While the waitress was initially attentive, she gradually decreased the amount of times she stopped at our table, and we had to wait for about 30 minutes to get checks/boxes for our food. Both entrees were “okay”, with filet being undercooked. Crab was good. We left close to 9 PM. Not sure if I would come back here again…
Mike Partner
Tessa did an awesome job .. Professional and courteous..
Ronald Mangini
Stopped in from NYC. Whenever I can I stop here Excellent
Sara Gable
Finelli’s has been a staple in Altoona for many years. I came here for proms and even brought my college boyfriend here to treat him to some of the best of Altoona! I noticed the other reviews commenting on the looks of fine dining & yes we do it differently in altoona but that’s why it’s beloved. The chicken parm was top notch and the desserts are all homemade. It’s special and held in time for a reason. I’d still highly recommend.
James Schoedel
Must eat at Finelli s
Lindsey Marie
It had been years since I've had Finelli's and my partner has never been there, so we thought why not give it a try. We were seated quickly, as there was only one other occupied table. The gentleman who filled our drinks & offered refills was incredibly polite and attentive. Our server was also pleasant and answered the questions that we had. The dining furniture & decor is a bit dated. There isn't a lot of space between where guests sit and where the servers congregate - which perhaps they should be more aware of how voices travel. The food is where things took a turn. The menu is a lot to taken in and when it said only the finest imported ingredients are used, we were expecting to be blown away. Sadly, we both were incredibly let down by the lack of flavor in both meals. My meal had alfredo sauce and it literally tasted as though I was eating plain cooked noodles. The chicken reminded me of the cubed chicken that you find near the deli meat section of the grocery store. His steak was also barely seasoned and had no flavor. The prepackaged butter that's offered with the bread had more flavor than the alfredo sauce. Very disappointing for the price.
Stephen Pratel Sr.
Typical older Pennsylvania Italian restaurant.
The Caesar Salad was excellent and best part of the meal. Bread was meh, thank the restaurant gods for butter.
Main course was Veal Parmigiana over spaghetti. Asked for it over linguini, but they only had spaghetti. Not the end of the world.
But let's talk about the sauce....Ugh.... I completely forgot Pennsylvania Italians make GRAVY...... Just a step above Campbells tomato soup and Ragu.... Not a speck of seasoning or basil, etc, and not a chunk. Just a bunch of VERY acidic tomato paste....
The Veal..... Happy to say that the meat itself was very tender and perfectly cooked, though the breading was a bit burnt. Problem was it had NO flavor.
Looking around the table, I wasn't super impressed and NO ONE said 'oh my this is delicious'. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. I wouldn't argue if someone wanted to go back, but I wouldn't be happy about it.
Yeah, I'm being a NY Italian Snob. Get over it.
The Goombas money stretchy thing was fun, as was the gun/cannoli sign over the door and cutout at the bar.
Drew LeWay
Last night my neighbors from State College took me out for my birthday to Finelli's Italian Villa, it was our first time there and it was great! My Gnocchi with a rather large meatball was perfect and the red sauce was amazing, well done chef! The Cabernet Savion even made the pasta taste better, and went really well with the triple chocolate cake. Mara, our server, made the evening feel like we were invited to someone's home for an Italian feast. We talked about our meals on our way home and will be planning on coming back soon. Grazie!
Deb Page
Fantastic Italian food! Friendly service and festive decor! We travel 2 hours to dine here!
Terrible food terrible customer service We’re never eating here again
Tammy Bitting
A wonderful dining experience! The service was excellent and the food was delicious. We loved everything, the soft bread and fresh tomato mozzarella salad, the bruschetta, salad, entrees and dessert. I live in NJ where I'm surrounded by great Italian food, but this was truly a hometown dining experience. We will definitely be back!
Terri Kobal-Rehm
Never can say enough good about Finelli’s, the restaurant or the family!!
This was a long overdue dinner date and we always enjoy the food and amazing desserts! Our amazing waitress Brittany was awesome, kind, helpful and on it!! And Braden was a delight and so joyous!! He would be the perfect person to train others in customer service!! We already have our reservations for next month. If you haven’t been here… why not??!!
This restaurant is impeccably clean, the food is beyond what you will expect.
The atmosphere is warm and welcoming.
You gotta get there!!! ❤️
Ryan Myers
This is a hidden gem. I've lived in the area nearly my whole life and only just recently visited. The food is good, service is great. I suggest reservations as seating is limited.
Robbie Stringer
Not a great experience. First of all there were going to be 15 people in our group for our Christmas party. . 3 of us were there and they showed us to our table and we sat down and took our coats off and they said” you can’t put your coats on the back of the chairs. “ my friend says , well there was no space to put our coats on the coat rack. Later she comes back and says”well, I guess you can put them on the back of the chairs then. Then when the rest of the group shows up we usually like to sit with girls one end guys at the other. The same lady comes in and tells us we cannot do that because it will be too confusing for the waitresses, so we all had to move. Never been to a place where they tell me I can’t sit next to my friend before! Totally unacceptable. The food was good, not spectacular but way overpriced. They added a 20 percent tip to everyone’s bill, which I usually do anyway, but still. I just thought the way we were treated was rude. The waitresses and bus boys were very nice , but I probably would not go back because of the rudeness .
Came here for a birthday/Valentine’s Day dinner a few months ago. Sub-par dining experience. We had a 2 person rsvp for 6:30 PM. The hostess told us to get drinks and sit in the bar while we waited. We were seated around 6:50-6:55 PM.
While the waitress was initially attentive, she gradually decreased the amount of times she stopped at our table, and we had to wait for about 30 minutes to get checks/boxes for our food. Both entrees were “okay”, with filet being undercooked. Crab was good. We left close to 9 PM. Not sure if I would come back here again…
Tessa did an awesome job .. Professional and courteous..
Stopped in from NYC. Whenever I can I stop here
Excellent
Finelli’s has been a staple in Altoona for many years. I came here for proms and even brought my college boyfriend here to treat him to some of the best of Altoona!
I noticed the other reviews commenting on the looks of fine dining & yes we do it differently in altoona but that’s why it’s beloved.
The chicken parm was top notch and the desserts are all homemade.
It’s special and held in time for a reason.
I’d still highly recommend.
Must eat at Finelli s
It had been years since I've had Finelli's and my partner has never been there, so we thought why not give it a try.
We were seated quickly, as there was only one other occupied table. The gentleman who filled our drinks & offered refills was incredibly polite and attentive. Our server was also pleasant and answered the questions that we had.
The dining furniture & decor is a bit dated. There isn't a lot of space between where guests sit and where the servers congregate - which perhaps they should be more aware of how voices travel.
The food is where things took a turn. The menu is a lot to taken in and when it said only the finest imported ingredients are used, we were expecting to be blown away. Sadly, we both were incredibly let down by the lack of flavor in both meals. My meal had alfredo sauce and it literally tasted as though I was eating plain cooked noodles. The chicken reminded me of the cubed chicken that you find near the deli meat section of the grocery store. His steak was also barely seasoned and had no flavor. The prepackaged butter that's offered with the bread had more flavor than the alfredo sauce.
Very disappointing for the price.
Typical older Pennsylvania Italian restaurant.
The Caesar Salad was excellent and best part of the meal. Bread was meh, thank the restaurant gods for butter.
Main course was Veal Parmigiana over spaghetti. Asked for it over linguini, but they only had spaghetti. Not the end of the world.
But let's talk about the sauce....Ugh.... I completely forgot Pennsylvania Italians make GRAVY...... Just a step above Campbells tomato soup and Ragu.... Not a speck of seasoning or basil, etc, and not a chunk. Just a bunch of VERY acidic tomato paste....
The Veal..... Happy to say that the meat itself was very tender and perfectly cooked, though the breading was a bit burnt. Problem was it had NO flavor.
Looking around the table, I wasn't super impressed and NO ONE said 'oh my this is delicious'. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. I wouldn't argue if someone wanted to go back, but I wouldn't be happy about it.
Yeah, I'm being a NY Italian Snob. Get over it.
The Goombas money stretchy thing was fun, as was the gun/cannoli sign over the door and cutout at the bar.
Last night my neighbors from State College took me out for my birthday to Finelli's Italian Villa, it was our first time there and it was great! My Gnocchi with a rather large meatball was perfect and the red sauce was amazing, well done chef! The Cabernet Savion even made the pasta taste better, and went really well with the triple chocolate cake. Mara, our server, made the evening feel like we were invited to someone's home for an Italian feast. We talked about our meals on our way home and will be planning on coming back soon. Grazie!
Fantastic Italian food! Friendly service and festive decor! We travel 2 hours to dine here!
Great steak dinner
Restaurantji Recommends
Terrible food terrible customer service
We’re never eating here again
A wonderful dining experience! The service was excellent and the food was delicious. We loved everything, the soft bread and fresh tomato mozzarella salad, the bruschetta, salad, entrees and dessert. I live in NJ where I'm surrounded by great Italian food, but this was truly a hometown dining experience. We will definitely be back!
Never can say enough good about Finelli’s, the restaurant or the family!! This was a long overdue dinner date and we always enjoy the food and amazing desserts! Our amazing waitress Brittany was awesome, kind, helpful and on it!! And Braden was a delight and so joyous!! He would be the perfect person to train others in customer service!! We already have our reservations for next month. If you haven’t been here… why not??!! This restaurant is impeccably clean, the food is beyond what you will expect. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming. You gotta get there!!! ❤️
This is a hidden gem. I've lived in the area nearly my whole life and only just recently visited. The food is good, service is great. I suggest reservations as seating is limited.
Not a great experience. First of all there were going to be 15 people in our group for our Christmas party. . 3 of us were there and they showed us to our table and we sat down and took our coats off and they said” you can’t put your coats on the back of the chairs. “ my friend says , well there was no space to put our coats on the coat rack. Later she comes back and says”well, I guess you can put them on the back of the chairs then. Then when the rest of the group shows up we usually like to sit with girls one end guys at the other. The same lady comes in and tells us we cannot do that because it will be too confusing for the waitresses, so we all had to move. Never been to a place where they tell me I can’t sit next to my friend before! Totally unacceptable. The food was good, not spectacular but way overpriced. They added a 20 percent tip to everyone’s bill, which I usually do anyway, but still. I just thought the way we were treated was rude. The waitresses and bus boys were very nice , but I probably would not go back because of the rudeness .
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