Fantastic food and service! Awesome place to have a meal
Fred Owen
Great Italian Food. Don't think I have had better. Call for reservations. Small dining room with very little privacy but pleasant. Will go back for the food.
Parking: Lot is tight.
Kid-friendliness: Nicely accommodated family with two young children while we were there. Friendly service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Lydia Golden
My family went in this afternoon (2/7/25) 12PM) for my Dads 60th Birthday, we always like going to Moonlight , the food is wonderful. I have never written a review for a restaurant until now. I am a waitress, so is my sister and we both have been since we were 16 years old. Our waitress at Moonlight was short with us/ not friendly, there wasn’t a trace of hospitality. I understand everyone has bad days but being a good waitress means leaving that at home and welcoming people with a friendly and inviting attitude. My dad is special to me and I was disappointed immensely in the service today
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
Georgine Spratt
We ate at the Moonlight Café for dinner. The food was mediocre, the atmosphere was manic, and the service was lacking. While this may be a good restaurant for lunch, don’t waste your time expecting a quality dinner here. They can’t pull it off. It was very, very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Dan Stambaugh
What a unique restaurant. Very small and the kitchen is virtually next to every table which I enjoyed. While we had a slight reservation mix-up, we were eventually seated and enjoyed a really nice meal. The puttanesca was very well seasoned and spiced and the portion size was generous. The limoncello cake was very nice as well. While our meal was very nice, the strength of this restaurant is the staff. Every staff member who we dealt with was very nice, pleasant and engaging. Go for the meal and enjoy the service!
Vegetarian options: Puttanesca
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Richard Scandle
Highly disappointed. The veal picata was breaded, not simply dreadgedin flour. Although the sauce was not bad it was very watery. Which leafs me to believe that the pasta wasn't drained very well. And it seems like they dumped a whole jar of capers on it. Another person had chicken parm. The chicken tasted like is breaded and fried days before and reheated in oven or microwave for the dish. The crab bisque tasted sour. Again, to me, that indicates that either the cream and or milk was curdling or simply left out at room temperature too long. The Bruschetta is definitely an acquired taste. Now the meatball lasagna was really good. Overall, the food was definitely not worth the price. One and done for us!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
Connie Scholand
I had the Italian sausage and pepper panini for lunch on Friday, 11/8. It arrived piping hot and delicious!! I got a tiramisu to take home along with the 1/2 of sandwich that I was too full to finish. Always great food and friendly service. PS: Great prices, too. Cheaper than eating at McDonald's and definitely more delicious. 😋😋😋
shane urbine
Place is half the empty and I was rejected because they have reservations. They definitely don't know how to manage their tables. I'll never be back.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Jason Knowles
The food was delicious and the service was great. Definitely will be back in the near future.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Lori Neiman
Food was great as always. A bit disappointed in the service.
A not so hidden gem in the York area. Fantastic, authentic Italian dishes cooked and served piping hot. Everything on the menu looks and is delightfully fresh. Presentation is well done. The place is small so I recommend not going at peak times but the drive through window is also an option
Parking: Small lot, parking in back, recommend take out at peak meal times or make a reservation
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cream of Crab Soup, Wedding Soup
jeff clark
Food is good, but it's a bit too expensive for the little you get.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Kevin Ferra
I used to live in York for work but have since moved. Saw this place only had 100 some reviews and wanted to write one because it deserves more attention.
It can't be understated that this is the best food in York and it also competes with some of the best food in the area (York, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Baltimore).
Really nice staff, and for the price it should be on everyone's list to support.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Donna Westervelt
I have always loved this place and highly recommend it. The food and staff and atmosphere is always spot on! Our scrapbooking group always makes it a point to dine here!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Raymond D
For years, we've been told how this is the best Italian food in York, so we decided to give it a try.
The first thing to notice is that the seating area is very small with a lot of tables. The lighting and overall atmosphere is not what you expect from a high-end Italian restaurant. No romantic date nights here, but we got the small table in the corner by the kitchen, and that's the closest you will get.
It's BYOB, so we brought a nice bottle of wine, and once they saw it, they brought us glasses and a corkscrew. The fact that it's BYO does save a lot compared to buying by the glass.
We started with the spicy fried green beans, which were very good. The marinara sauce was a very simple standard american-italian marinara sauce. Which I believe would be good over a classic chicken parm or spaghetti and meatballs.
For entrees, we got the Scallops Diablo and the Spicy Sausage with Broccoli. The portions are massive, which is great when the food is good. For the Scallops Diablo, despite the scallops most likely being frozen, they were cooked well, and I was able to cut them with a fork. The sauce was very good. Whatever spices they added to it made it much better and more flavorful than the one with the beans. I changed the pasta to penne, which picked up the sauce nicely. I added a side of meatballs, which were very good and would be fantastic in a meatball sub.
The sausage and broccoli however was not very good. The sauce was too thin and watery. It was overkill with the amount of red peppers that overpowered the dish. Do not recommend the wine sauce here.
While being the best Italian restaurant in the York area is not a high bar, I think this one makes it there. If you want a romantic, authentic Italian meal, you still need to go to Lancaster, Harrisburg, or Little Italy in Baltimore. If you want a good local homestyle, American-Italian, I believe this fits the bill.
Fantastic food and service! Awesome place to have a meal
Great Italian Food. Don't think I have had better. Call for reservations. Small dining room with very little privacy but pleasant. Will go back for the food.
Parking: Lot is tight.
Kid-friendliness: Nicely accommodated family with two young children while we were there. Friendly service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
My family went in this afternoon (2/7/25) 12PM) for my Dads 60th Birthday, we always like going to Moonlight , the food is wonderful. I have never written a review for a restaurant until now. I am a waitress, so is my sister and we both have been since we were 16 years old. Our waitress at Moonlight was short with us/ not friendly, there wasn’t a trace of hospitality. I understand everyone has bad days but being a good waitress means leaving that at home and welcoming people with a friendly and inviting attitude. My dad is special to me and I was disappointed immensely in the service today
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
We ate at the Moonlight Café for dinner. The food was mediocre, the atmosphere was manic, and the service was lacking. While this may be a good restaurant for lunch, don’t waste your time expecting a quality dinner here. They can’t pull it off. It was very, very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
What a unique restaurant. Very small and the kitchen is virtually next to every table which I enjoyed. While we had a slight reservation mix-up, we were eventually seated and enjoyed a really nice meal. The puttanesca was very well seasoned and spiced and the portion size was generous. The limoncello cake was very nice as well. While our meal was very nice, the strength of this restaurant is the staff. Every staff member who we dealt with was very nice, pleasant and engaging. Go for the meal and enjoy the service!
Vegetarian options: Puttanesca
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Highly disappointed. The veal picata was breaded, not simply dreadgedin flour. Although the sauce was not bad it was very watery. Which leafs me to believe that the pasta wasn't drained very well. And it seems like they dumped a whole jar of capers on it.
Another person had chicken parm. The chicken tasted like is breaded and fried days before and reheated in oven or microwave for the dish.
The crab bisque tasted sour. Again, to me, that indicates that either the cream and or milk was curdling or simply left out at room temperature too long.
The Bruschetta is definitely an acquired taste.
Now the meatball lasagna was really good.
Overall, the food was definitely not worth the price. One and done for us!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
I had the Italian sausage and pepper panini for lunch on Friday, 11/8. It arrived piping hot and delicious!! I got a tiramisu to take home along with the 1/2 of sandwich that I was too full to finish. Always great food and friendly service. PS: Great prices, too. Cheaper than eating at McDonald's and definitely more delicious. 😋😋😋
Place is half the empty and I was rejected because they have reservations. They definitely don't know how to manage their tables. I'll never be back.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
The food was delicious and the service was great. Definitely will be back in the near future.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Food was great as always. A bit disappointed in the service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Afumicato and Veal Bolognese
Restaurantji Recommends
A not so hidden gem in the York area. Fantastic, authentic Italian dishes cooked and served piping hot. Everything on the menu looks and is delightfully fresh. Presentation is well done. The place is small so I recommend not going at peak times but the drive through window is also an option
Parking: Small lot, parking in back, recommend take out at peak meal times or make a reservation
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cream of Crab Soup, Wedding Soup
Food is good, but it's a bit too expensive for the little you get.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
I used to live in York for work but have since moved. Saw this place only had 100 some reviews and wanted to write one because it deserves more attention.
It can't be understated that this is the best food in York and it also competes with some of the best food in the area (York, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Baltimore).
Really nice staff, and for the price it should be on everyone's list to support.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I have always loved this place and highly recommend it. The food and staff and atmosphere is always spot on! Our scrapbooking group always makes it a point to dine here!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
For years, we've been told how this is the best Italian food in York, so we decided to give it a try.
The first thing to notice is that the seating area is very small with a lot of tables. The lighting and overall atmosphere is not what you expect from a high-end Italian restaurant. No romantic date nights here, but we got the small table in the corner by the kitchen, and that's the closest you will get.
It's BYOB, so we brought a nice bottle of wine, and once they saw it, they brought us glasses and a corkscrew. The fact that it's BYO does save a lot compared to buying by the glass.
We started with the spicy fried green beans, which were very good. The marinara sauce was a very simple standard american-italian marinara sauce. Which I believe would be good over a classic chicken parm or spaghetti and meatballs.
For entrees, we got the Scallops Diablo and the Spicy Sausage with Broccoli. The portions are massive, which is great when the food is good. For the Scallops Diablo, despite the scallops most likely being frozen, they were cooked well, and I was able to cut them with a fork. The sauce was very good. Whatever spices they added to it made it much better and more flavorful than the one with the beans. I changed the pasta to penne, which picked up the sauce nicely. I added a side of meatballs, which were very good and would be fantastic in a meatball sub.
The sausage and broccoli however was not very good. The sauce was too thin and watery. It was overkill with the amount of red peppers that overpowered the dish. Do not recommend the wine sauce here.
While being the best Italian restaurant in the York area is not a high bar, I think this one makes it there. If you want a romantic, authentic Italian meal, you still need to go to Lancaster, Harrisburg, or Little Italy in Baltimore. If you want a good local homestyle, American-Italian, I believe this fits the bill.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
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