Piccola Bussola Ristorante

I have been to the restaurant before and felt it was going down. I received a gift certificate and ordered take out. They charged 22 dollars for a full size penne ala vodka 24 for chicken parm and 13 for fried zucchini all full size. The penne was maybe 1 pound of pasta 3 chicken cutlets cut in half and we actually thought the fried zucchini tray was empty as it felt as if nothing was inside. I called the restaurant and thought maybe they made a mistake and gave me half trays. The person who answered informed me no I was given the full size portion. I said are you kidding me. 22 dollars for a pound of pasta??? Don’t waste your money you get nothing for it. Wasn’t even that good at least I had a gift certificate I really would have been ticked if it was my money!

Service was slow and when food came out it was 2 mins after appetizer. Food was ok but would not go put. Felt like I was being rushed out for the next customer.

Very disappointing because I had high expectations. A mixture of valet, par service, high pricing, and quality of food made this a forgettable experience. They took forever taking our order, we had to hold our menus in our laps to eat our appetizers. The complimentary bread was so toasty and hard that i couldn’t even dip it in oil. The salad was by far the worst, it lacked any flavor from the dressing and there were more toppings than actual lettuce. Their family style portions are that of regular portions elsewhere. Whenever I hear family style, I’m envisioning a plate that can be eaten by 3 or 4 people. At piccolas, it is hardly 2 people. I had the family style chicken piccatta and there were only 4 thinly sliced chicken ($ 24) and if you wanted pasta with it, that was another $ 9. Pasta should be included. Literally a half a pound of pasta is 50 cents and you charge $ 9? The next night, I had to go to Vincents Clam Bar in Carle Place, I just had to believe again that Italians could properly prepare a dish and not all is lost.

Attend a rehearsal dinner here, and I loved it! Great private area for private parties. We started off with a choice of house salad or Caesar salad. I tried the Caesar salad, and it was absolutely delicious. Really good, rich parmesan cheese that made the salad and salad dressing. The pasta options included a penne with vodka sauce or pasta with alio. I went for the penne with vodka sauce. Penne was nice and al dente, just the way I like it. The sauce was a good basic vodka sauce, just as you’d expect. The entrée offered several options including chicken, veal and fish option. I tried the veal parmesan, which was huge portion and had plenty of melted mozzarella on top. The marinara sauce was slightly sweet, but well balanced. I may be biased since I ordered it, but I definitely think the veal was the way to go! For dessert, a huge platter of desserts including chocolate mousse cake, tiramisu, cannoli, fruit, ricotta cheese cake, and probably some more that I am forgetting. I tried the chocolate mousse cake and found it to be fudgy, rich, and delightful. A perfect capstone to a great rehearsal dinner.
They offered free valet parking (be nice and tip!!), which was super helpful to out-​of-​towners like us. The service was great with an endless supply of wine and bread. I can’t speak as to how it is to eat there as a regular diner, but as a special event place for a rehearsal dinner it worked out perfectly. Would definitely recommend!

I was invited to a baby shower this past Sunday. The shower was great and all the family put personal touches to make the event meaningful. I heard the food is very good and the restaurant family favorite. The food is quite good. The Napolean cake was utterly amazing but the service was not very good.
There were no waiters to be found. After filling up waters and dropping off soda, presents were brought into the wrong rooms (only one other party room) no one came around unless asked. Perhaps since it was a family event they didn’t want to be overbearing but food was mixed up, they ran out of cake, food was tossed after being asked not to. Maybe they don’t have events often or were too overwhelmed as again there was one other event happening but there was no one in the restaurant till the parties were over so not sure what happened. I really hate to give a bad review but I wouldn’t have a party there.
I would go back and see how the servers are during lunch or dinner but I wouldn’t recommend having a party there.

Had Canadian Cousins in and wanted to show them a family style authentic Italian restaurant. Tomas helped us plan the menu and it was a hit! This is the second time I brought a large crowd here and it was equally great! Definitely try the baked clams, eggplant rollatini and the veal saltimbocca! Awesome job thanks again!

If you want real italian family style there is no other place like this! Attentive wait staff, we had a party of 10. Recommended wine was delish but only down side I went to order a drink at the bar and asked for happy hour specials… None. Then asked for a drink menu and he sarcastically pointed at the bar then ID me…
Meanwhile I sat down at our table and there was a full cocktail menu plus beer plus wine… Seriously bar tender you should know a little more about your own place.
Overall great wine and great REAL italian food!

The food is outstanding. Great pastas and calamari. The décor is a bit dated but it’s more old school Italian style. Overall good food though.

another great dinner… had my fishing club dinner there for third time… 40+ people and all agreed it was great… price point for wine included and the food was OFF THE CHARTS… Service was great and they could not have been nicer. $ for $.it is an absolute Home Run… great place !

Although we did know this was a family style restaurant, my husband & I decided to try it anyway because the place looked very welcoming from the outside, we had heard the food was great, plus we figured we would just take any extra food home as a great leftover option.
When we arrived, we liked that we had the option of valet parking because it was a very cold night (but there are also available parking spots on Jericho, if you don’t mind searching). As we entered the restaurant, the entrance foyer atmosphere felt a bit awkward because you walk right into the bar area that includes a small karaōke corner with a piano keyboard stand right to the left of the entrance door. However, as we proceeded into the restaurant, we were very pleased with the ambience in the main dining room which is decorated in warm, Tuscan colors & has a large fireplace with an enormous cherry wood mantelpiece, creating a nice, inviting atmosphere. Plus, the bar area and karaōke corner (which alternated with live singing and pleasant piano playing) was separate enough to not interfere with the more peaceful atmosphere of the main dining room. Our servers were attentive, making sure we understood the items on the menu, but the menu itself was very limited. We had hoped to find popular southern Italian items on the menu (such as eggplant rollatini or eggplant parmesan, linguini with clams «al vongole» but, in our opinion, we were very limited to a small assortment of the less common options. For example, as an appetizer we tried the stuffed eggplant starter (stuffed with olives, topped with breadcrumbs in a marinara sauce), as it was the only eggplant option on the entire menu and I had wanted to have an eggplant entrée for dinner. This appetizer was good, but it was not a favorite for us. For our main entrée, we tried the Seafood Diavolo (calamari, mussels, clams, shrimp), which you can have alone, or over pasta for an additional $ 8.00. We chose to have it over linguini. This entrée was pretty good, light & flavorful, plus you could taste the freshness of the seafood. As for their portions, both items ordered were so enormous that we did not even get through half of the 1 appetizer, nor the main course (both my husband and I had a large portion of leftovers for dinner the following day). I cannot comment on their desserts because we did not try their desserts since we had eaten too much. But, in summary, I would say this place offers great value for your money if you are going with a large family or a group of at least 4 people. The food was very good (maybe not as exceptional to us as it is to others who dine here), the dining room ambience was pleasant and the service was good as well.

This is the absolute best Italian restaurant that I have ever eaten at. The food tastes amazing. The service is top notch. My food was super hot and fresh tasting everytime. The restaurant has a nice romantic vibe. The mothers day brunch is fabulous! I highly recommend this place.

My family and I were totally disgusted by this place and I will never return. My wife and I made dinner reservations for 5:30pm for a family of 4 on Christmas Eve. When we arrived we immediately ordered appetizers so our 7 year old and 16 month old would have food quickly (the secret for a good night with young children). The dining area was loud and noisy.
About 40 minutes passed and nothing came out of the kitchen. The bread basket was empty and never replenished. My 16 month old son was crying uncontrollably. We tried to keep him entertained Some woman who was seated at the table adjacent to ours came over to my wife and demanded that the baby leave. Immediately after that, her husband and her son were threatening me and becoming increasingly hostile (using foul language), to the point where my 7 year old daughter began to cry as she feared for her parents’ safety. The owner of the restaurant came out and told us that the baby had to go. My wife replied that it was raining outside, it was Christmas Eve, and we had no place to go. He didn’t care.
At that point, I just wanted to leave. We cancelled our food order as nothing ever came The restaurant charged us for a bottle of wine which we barely touched as well as my daughter’s lemonade. Totally tasteless, but I paid it just to get out of there and salvage my Christmas Eve.
While we were waiting for our car, I went back inside and vented to the owner. He twisted the story around saying that he told us to take my son to the bar because he stopped crying as soon as we removed him from his high chair (not true). He also insinuated that we did nothing to console our son, which was also inaccurate.
If you have young children and are looking for a nice place to go, Piccola Bussola is not the place. Maybe things would be different if our appetizers came out 10 minutes early, or if they replenished our bread basket… In any event, they nearly ruined Christmas Eve for my family.

Food was great but the service was horrible. Bus boys and our server were not friendly or attentive. No one at out table were asked for a second glass of wine. Water was not refilled towards the end of our meal. We were out for my mother in laws birthday and my husband had indicated on the reservation and it took asking for the check for them to finally bring over the cake and then asked if we wanted coffee or other dessert after we’d been sitting for a good 15 min table cleared no dessert menus and running out of water. Prices were reasonable but not sure I would return even though we are considering moving to the area.

Thought it’s been around forever, with decent family style service. The salad was tad overdressed but fresh. The grilled octopus special was cooked properly enough, though the calamari was ineptly fried but at least included tentacles.

This has been a family favorite of ours for years. We go to Piccolo’s for everything, from regular family dinners, to bridal showers, to after funeral meals. The food never disappoints, the family style portions are plentiful, and the service is always good. My favorites are the shrimp fra diavolo and tiramisu for dessert. Mangia!

The family and I stopped in for an amazing meal! Would love to go back and have another meal. Great Great food

After a bit of a hassle in seating us, despite the fact we had a reservation and I explained my 91 year old Mom uses a walker, the lovely waiter, Carlos, offered to treat us to a free first round of drinks.
We came here for the stuffed artichokes as Mom is an expert. Although they’re currently not in season, she still rated them high on her list as the breadcrumb stuffing is delicious. Also, the portion is generous as it’s served family style. Minestrone soup was made at our request.
The next course, homemade fusilli with sausage, broccoli rabe and beans was delicious and enough for three.
Coffee and homemade ricotta cheesecake with cappuccino and our meal was a success!
Would have rated the restaurant higher if the seating had not been such a hassle and the general food service a bit more organized as many waiters run around the restaurant yet there does not seem to be a method to their madness.

This place has a lot of potential!
I came here for Easter Friday with the family, we ordered calamari, penne a la vodka.
Honestly the Fried Calamari was AMAZING
The Penne a la vodka, it really taste like bottle sauce not even cooked, I make it better to be honest.
But one thing I can say that I did have that was amazingly delicious is there BREAD and oh man their OLIVE OIL (marinated with red peppers) is so good :)
Would I come here again yes I would but maybe order something else to be honest.

I have been a fan of Tony Lubrano’s restaurant, Piccolo Bussola, in Mineola for many years now. It’s close, plenty of parking on the street or lot and they even have a valet service that takes your car over a covered part of the entrance. You came in to a nice size, extremely well stocked bar area where you can comfortably enjoy a cocktail before dinner, or happy hour with some friends. The dining room is an extremely comfortable place that handles a crowd well. I’ve dined when the restaurant was full and did not get blown away by noise.
On my last visit I had a house salad (ample size with a tasty house [Italian] dressing, crisp cold lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, etc… There was not an overpowering amount of dressing so you could enjoy the fresh taste of the vegetables.
I had a simple main dish of broiled fillet of sole with green beans and carrots. Fish was well charred on one side, thick and juicy. (I hate, really hate dried out fish.) The vegetables were fresh and had a nice «crunch.» (I also hate when I get overcooked soggy vegetables.)
For dessert there was a simple plate of mixed fruit consisting of raspberries, kiwi, strawberries and mellon. Fresh and tasty!!!
The servers have been there for a long time and are extremely friendly. I love when staff act more as a team and help each other out when they get busy.
There is private room off the bar, (where I have had most of my meals) that can comfortably hold a business meeting or small party.
I highly recommend this local eatery and look forward to dining here with friends and family

I’ve eaten here many times and it’s always good. This particular time, I was invited to a party here so the menu consisted of a hot antipasto, choice of 2 pasta dishes and a choice of 3 entrees. I had the Penne Pasquale, which was a nice sized dish of penne with mushrooms, peas, asparagus and a light tomato with a hint of cream; delicious. My fillet of sole oreganata was a nice piece of tender fish with a crispy breading. Dang, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Follow up with cake and coffee and I’m looking for a bed to rest in.
Normally, the restaurant serves large, family-​style portions to share. One of my favorite dishes is the Steak Siciliana, which is a thick steak with the bread crumb topping.
I might as well mention that the restaurant is clean, comfortable, has a friendly, knowledgeable staff and valet parking lot. There’s no excuse not to come here.