Tre Scalini Restaurant

Tre Scalini is a restaurant at the edge of Wooster St with a beautiful interior, good food, and excellent service. With reservations, we were seated quickly on a Sunday evening. We decided to order their Sunday dinner — my order involved a salad, penne pasta with meatballs, and a cannoli. The food was fine, although I wasn’t very impressed with the marinara sauce. I was quite impressed with the quality of their service though.
Verdict:
Pretty good — I’d consider returning.

I will never go back. Ordered semi boneless chicken. I indeed did interpret it wrong. I thought it was boneless chicken. The waitress came out and explained it but never said she was sorry was there something she could do. I don’t expect and wouldn’t of taken anything else but being Italian myself and being in business for 62 years I would have suggested something for the customer. I can’t believe they are Italian. Italians are such warm compassionate and caring people. The person in charge never came out. Believe me I would never ever suggest this place. It was our third time here and the other 2 times we had other issues. Hospitality is a big concern.

Went here for Thanksgiving. Family was spread all over this year and no one wanted to cook. This was a last minute decision and so happy we made it. Greeted at the door and immediately sat. April our server came over and went over the menu and explained everything. She couldn’t have been better, so very nice. The food was great. We are still talking about it. The staff was so pleasant. They didn’t rush us and we had a great holiday. If we go out next year we will be back here and will add it to places to come back to.

It is easy to see how tre has dropped from over 4stars down to under 3.
They have cheapened the tabletop, the glasses don’t work for most red wines, the China doesn’t match and in general the look is worn.
All this can be excused if the food is still outstanding… it is NOT.
Recent visit had stale bread, soggy pasta, and I mean drastically over cooked and served sopping wet almost like not drained.
The veal medallions were ok but not the tender pieces of old and for $ 25.00 a lacarte over priced as well. The nona salad is good but not as balanced as it should be there needs to be more subtly to the vinegar.
Add a horrible veal chop special. panko pan fried tough poorly cooked and you have our meal… a step above Any new haven pizza joint in creativity and miles below in quality.
It is a shame to see the demise of once was in the top 3 restaurants in new haven… they really need to decide if they still want to be a white tablecloth establishment or just another so so venue.

This was our fourth or fifth visit and always the food and service were excellent. I don’t understand the mediocre or poor reviews as this is one of our favorites in New Haven. Not inexpensive but very good.

Definitely marginal. Had a family celebration there recently and the food was OKish at best. I’ve had better for much less at any one of the many other fine Italian restaurants in the area. Way overdue for a overhaul of the cuisine, and (IMHO) the décor which has certainly seen better days.

Wonderful food and great servers! This place served us delicious merlot, salad, parmesan crusted chicken and the restaurant was beautiful. Love this little Italian place!

Came here for the first time the other night. We shared a pane cotto for an appetizer which was great. That’s one of my favorite dishes. I got the Cavatelli Bolognese which honestly left me a bit disappointed. There was barely any meat in it and it just didn’t wow me. Next time I will try something a little bit more adventurous and see if it’s any better. My boyfriend had the Osso Bucco which he said was very good, a little over done but still good. He said the risotto was one of the best he had ever eaten. Our waitress was super accommodating and friendly. It was a nice night out but I couldn’t help but wish my entrée was more flavorful.

The service was great. The food was bland and way overpriced. If you’re charging over $ 25 for the lobster and noodles I guess I expect some lobster. I got a part of a claw and maybe a tablespoon of leftover bits. Very disappointing when you get more meat from a lobster roll. I won’t be back.

Table for 8. Had 5 apps, all great, the pane cotto and the mushroom polenta were outstanding. Our waitress was beautiful and handled the table very well, very friendly, I was somewhat smitten, to be frank. The entrees were excellent, especially the pollo Alberto. Our favorite Italian on Wooster. Entrees were 4 star but the girl next door waitress put me over the top for a 5.

Pricey, fancy italian food in little italy on wooster (down the end of the street). I oredered fillet of sole with stuffed crab meat and asparagus with orange saffron reduction. Overall the texture was good but the sauce was too sweet for me, i’m not a big sweet entrée fan. I took a look at other dishes my group ordered, they all look very similar, somewhat lack of creativity on the presentation of the dishes. Pasta looked plain, though other commented on the salad being good. Overall, 3.2÷5 stars

First time here, never again
The food I got had no taste
The broccoli Rob and pasta had no oil just water and burnt garlic in it

Minus 5 stars should have read the reviews first! Martini everyone raves about bartender couldn’t make apple martini to little vodka !! Best part I ordered sword fish
Instead of saying there out I got the tail end just so you know that’s the piece at end of fish by the tail looks like half moon it was 3 bites video to follow on you tube it’s comical
Then the waitress said ohh that’s Italian style ?? Weird ! Seafood salad it’s a salad !
And cold antipasto was cold-​cuts from local grocery store and it was loaded up with pickled veggies you know the kind displayed in pizzeria in those 1 gal glass containers
Anyway the locals enjoy it,

Went to Tre Scalini last night with Robbinslist for ladies night. We started off with martini’s; everyone raved about the one they chose. I had the espresso martini and it was great. The white wine, recommended by the barkeep, was delicious.
They offered a fixed price menu for $ 22, and I have to say, it would be hard to beat the value for money! Great selection in each of the 3 categories. Each portion was more than sufficient, and the dessert (tirmasu) was fresh and very generous!
It was a fun evening, great service; food was excellent; drinks complimented the meal perfectly. Will be back for sure!

I’ve have been coming to this place for over 10 years and always had a great meal and great service. I don’t really know what all this people are talking about I guess just player haters. This place is one of the best Restaurants in new haven.

Used to work close by last year. Really good Italian Food. Way better than average. I love that you can eat at the bar and watch the game. Bartender, I forgot his name but he was very nice and polite. I ate there three times and all three times they changed what they offered on the menu to suite my tastes. Very cool. Will return when I am in the area

I’ve wanted to try this place for awhile. The day I went, I was so excited! Talk about a let down. The food is mediocre and it is covered in sauces to keep you from noticing it. You should always be wary of a place that smothers food, they are trying to cover up quality.
The service is something to be questioned too. I overheard one waiter talking about another waiter, within earshot of patrons, of how hungover she was and how she wasn’t helping at all. I also heard the bartender swear, repeatably, while I was waiting for the valet.
After the food and experience combined: there is no need to go back. Too many other choices within walking distance.

I’ll have to split my review into three parts.
The food:
I’ve been here 3 times, and the food is always delicious. They also have a pretty good wine menu with enough choices to make anyone happy. I saw some other reviews that didn’t rank the food so high, but it was always good for me so I’d give it ⁴⁄₅ stars.
The décor:
Hideous and outdated, but who cares when the food is tasty? Probably ²⁄₅ stars.
The service:
This is why I have a one star review for Tre Scalini. As stated, I’ve been here 3 times, each time with my boyfriend. The first time we came we noticed our waitress was painfully awkward and confused, but the food was good so we chocked it up to an «off» night — maybe she was new, maybe all the other people that were weird and awkward (see: guy who greeted us at the door) and new as well. Oh well. The next time we went, the story was the same — except it was the same waitress from before. Since it was probably a year+ since our first visit, we now knew that she wasn’t new or having a bad day, she was just a bad waitress. The food was still enjoyable, but we did spend a considerable amount of time waiting to be greeted/​served/​etc. We should have stopped with that weird visit — but, I stupidly insisted that we try them out AGAIN — probably another year after our 2^nd awkward meal. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The greeter was the same unfriendly dude, and our waitress was the same unfriendly lady. We ordered a half bottle of wine — and, I sh*t you not — she actually laughed at our order. She then said, «Uh, is that going to be enough for the both of you?» to which my boyfriend responded Yes, since we ordered it *specifically* because it would be enough, and because we didn’t need more. If there’s a problem with your customers ordering a half bottle, don’t have them on your menu. The service lagged, the food took forever to get out, and I think we wound up being stuck in their 80s era dining room for over 2 hours total. My boyfriend emailed the restaurant to let them know about their awful waitress since this was our 3^rd experience with her being a moron, and never got a response. I’m sure he was much more civil in his email than I’m being here. So, poor customer service on the part of management as well.
So, therefore, you should skip Tre Scalini. L’Orcio has better food, better décor, and better staff — so does Goodfellas and Adriana’s. Also — if you want to deviate from Italian on a menu, try Roia — great French & Italian. Don’t waste your time with a «main-​stay» restaurant when there’s so many other wonderful places so close by!

Not bad décor, a little dark, seemed deserted.
Service fine, no problems.
We were not impressed by the food. The Cavatelli Bolognese was unremarkable; watery, not too much flavor, overcooked. Wholly uninteresting; something a mildly experience home cook could whip up in an hour.
Antipasti misti, you can’t really go wrong with that. But half of this antipasto was pickled vegetables, seemingly right out of a can.
It wasn’t cheap either. I would not recommend coming to this restaurant. The food is really quite mediocre.
It’s also in a rather janky part of town at night. Wouldn’t recommend as a date place.

Yikes.
The ambiance was dated, the carpet was dirty, it looked like no-​one dusted their drapes in years. The bar in the front was deserted and looked like you were entering along side another restaurant as a guy too well dressed for the establishment led you to your table (this is not a professional steakhouse – the man was practically wearing a tux).
Upon seating, we (eventually…despite the open tables around, the staff waited until we had cleared the bread basket before deciding to take our order) ordered a few unremarkable appetizers including a soggy breaded/​fried/​stuffed cheese and prosciutto special which was underwhelming.
The salads were wet and wilted. Whatever dressing was added was just watered down by the residual rinse water on the leaves, leaving a soupy mess where a crisp salad should have been.
My peppercorn encrusted steak with a light brandy cream sauce was none of those things. First, overcooked from medium rare to well done, and was either gristly or nervy, depending on where you cut. Second, zero peppercorns. Lastly, smothered in some heavy sauce which might as well have been a vodka sauce, as it was pink, sour, and didn’t belong on a steak.
I can’t recall what the other pasta-​based entrée we ordered was, but I can tell you when it arrived, it literally looked like refuse. I’ve never seen a dish so unappetizing. A quick taste confirmed that we wouldn’t be eating any of that – bland, watery, rubbery pasta overlaid with some random assortment of ‘rustic’ elements (ie under cooked vegetables) all drenched in some kind of liquid pretending to be a sauce.
Credit to the waitress who did recognize our plight and comped our wine, however.
In the end, we still left with a bill completely disproportional to the terrible food we ordered – even if the food was great, the place is overpriced for what they offer, which is poor quality Italian-​American masquerading as some sort of fancy eatery. The menu items all listed in Italian that the wait staff had zero knowledge of should have been a tip-​off. Unless you said «you know, the pork chops», ‘costata di maiale alla valdostana’ wouldn’t get you very far.
There are so many great Italian restaurants in the area there – this one clearly fell through the cracks over the years.