Pulcinella

Authentic. Great food. Great staff. A true hole in the wall. Will be coming back for sure. Desserts are worth the trip alone.

It was bad from the moment I walked in the door. Instead of being welcomed and seated, I was asked what I was doing there. Decided to be kinder than they were, I asked if they were open, thinking that might jump start her brain into gear. «Yes, we’re open.» «Then I would like to get something to eat.» «Oh. Eat in or carry out?» «I would like to dine here.» «Oh. How many, just one?» (sigh) «Yes, just one.» «Where do you want to sit?» (place was wide open. Not a single customer in the place.) «How about if you seat me» (Let them do their job instead of me doing it for them). (She took me to the worse table in the place, next to the restroom and then seated me facing the restroom door instead of facing away from it.)
A man, I’m guessing the owner laughed and chucked to the others behind the bar when this happened. He didn’t step out from behind the register to make things right, but stood there laughing at it. For the entire length of my dining experiencing him and another lady walked from behind the bar to the restroom area and had to keep from hitting my elbow or chair. I guess they liked rubbing it in.
An empty restaurant and instead of seating the only customer in the best available seat, they seated me in the worse. Says a lot about their worldview. (Put the customer last).
Food: The bread for appetizer was fantastic. Instead of olive oil as a dip, it was olive oil and vinegar, heavy on the vinegar. Maybe this is normal for them.
I ordered a $ 8 panini and received a $ 9 sub instead. The sub was the same bread that had just been served as an appetizer but had been baked even harder, making it very crusty, which proceeded to tear the roof of my mouth open with every bite. The sausage was stated to be home made. It was ok except for the piece of gristle and large bits of fat. The sub appeared to be made with fresh ingredients, but was flavorless. The sausage was barely warm. Probably cooked earlier and left to get cold. There was supposed to be provolone cheese on it, but there wasn’t. The bill had it for $ 9 instead of the $ 8 listed on the menu. It was supposed to be a panini, but was served as a baked sub.
A second waitress took my order and then refilled my water glass. When she asked if I wanted dessert, I had all I could do to refrain from yelling out, No! I’ll be lucky I don’t yack this up in another 20 minutes. I’m not sure the sausage had been cooked to doneness before it was left to sit in the open to become cold and stale.
Instead of enjoying nice music over lunch, I got to enjoy what the owner wanted to watch on TV. Further proof the customer comes last in the mind of the proprietor.
The $ 3.83 large hot fudge sundae featuring artificial ice cream across the street at DQ was by far the best part of this Sunday lunch. I’d have been better off eating Chinese carry out from the local greasy wok.

The food here is okay, but nothing to write home about. With all the reviews I was really expecting more. My daughter had a pizza and it was really way to much bread and not enough anything else. For the low low price of $ 12.95 I just expected more. I had the Calzone again way to much bread and not enough anything else. The description said that there was salami in the filling, but there was not much more Ricotta cheese than anything again for the I think $ 13.95 price I expect more. There are much better Italian places in Virginia Beach that I would rather frequent. I will say that we did not try dessert, but they did look really good I may return one day just to try one, but I will not order anything else here again.

The food was wonderful. The atmosphere was fantastic. The server was very nice and took care of us. Definitely will go back.

Never disappointed. Specials are always a hit. Tonight’s Ravioli Michangelo was enjoyed by my husband. We also had calamari fra diavolo, gnocchi, bread and fettuccine Bella Napoli, delicious. Great way to end the week!!!

The space itself could use some updating, but the food quality was fantastic and authentic!

I’m going to have to be the dissenting vote here, I wasn’t that impressed with Pulsinella’s. I’d been here a couple years back and it was so-​so. Service was nice, but I wasn’t that impressed with the food. The spaghetti sauce was nearly orange. I had the same experience this time, with the parmigiana sauce being off-​red towards orange (not as bad as last time). I was disappointed right off the bat with them, when I didn’t get a straw for my tea; I had to use the giant spoon from the wrapped cutlery to stir in my fake sugar. The table across from me wasn’t wiped down the whole time I was there, since neither my waitress nor the other one bothered to clean it. The entrees don’t come with salad, you have to order it a la carte. The salad had a nice, tangy balsamic dressing. It was just one of the most difficult salads I have ever eaten. I chased those weird cuts of romaine lettuce around forever, just couldn’t get the suckers on the fork! Add to that the olives with pits, meh. My entrée was ok tasting. But, the sauce is quite strongly dyed. You know how when you drink orange or grape soda and it colors bits of your mouth. It was like that. Weird, and not a great remembrance of the restaurant.

If you are looking for authentic and delicious Italian food consider Pulcinella’s. Family-​owned and run, located in Kemps River shopping center –the food is consistently good and portions are generous. The service can be slow, however, the Italian owner likes to promote a more calm, relaxed experience for her diners.
Make sure to ask about the cost of daily specials, as they can be quite pricey. I highly recommend their deserts; in particular their fabulous tiramisu and scrumptious coconut cake.
I, personally, love their Chicken Picatta. The chicken is always cooked to perfection and never overdone!

Amazing authentic italian food. Everything tastes super fresh!
I love the family oriented environment.

We came here by accident after all the movies we were interested in were sold out at Cinema Café and checked Unilocal for nearby places. Small & quaint. We were the 3^rd people in and they were packed by time we left. The owner came to tell me personally that there was a problem with the salmon I ordered and he was making a fresh one for me and dessert was on the house. Husband had the veals marsala and everything was very good. I had a lemon cake and husband had the tiramisu both homemade (they said the cheesecake was from a local bakery) both were very good. Service was attentive. We would go back for sure.

I came here to eat with my friend because her friend recommended this place to her, and I was really craving a dish with pesto sauce on it.
It’s a small place and once you walk inside, there’s an odd distinct smell in the air, but you get used to it after a couple of minutes. The waitress pointed us to a table suited for 2 people, and the first thing I noticed upon sitting down is that there were no silverware on our table. I had to go through the awkward moment of grabbing silverware from another table. Not only that, once I opened up the napkin wrapping the silverware, the fork was covered in gunk. I’m giving an F for cleanliness.
The service was okay, we got bread and an oily mixture as a dipping sauce as an appetizer. I thought it was interesting. The main dish I got was the only dish that had pesto sauce in the description. It was just noodles, cheese, and pesto sauce. Not bad, but I felt like it could’ve been better. As a dessert, we shared a cannoli. It tasted really good, how a cannoli should taste.
Another thing that threw me off was that we weren’t able to tip by card. Luckily, I had cash on me.
I give this place a solid 2 stars. I wouldn’t go here again mainly because of the pricing.

I would give 0 stars if possible. I have NEVER been to a restaurant with dine in seating that only accepts cash gratuity. I would have tipped accordingly for the mediocre service, but a «cash tip only» policy for a restaurant is over the line of anything resembling acceptable.

My friend and I went here for her birthday because it was the closest Italian restaurant by our hotel, and let me tell you it was the
! I got the gnocchi and it was soo good. Very cheesy, the tomato sauce was yummy, overall very satisfying. We also had a cannoli and it was fresh and crispy and delicious as well. Not waistline friendly other than the salads I’d assume. Also I see where people come from with it being packed; it is a very small place but we didn’t really experience a wait. It’s probably a weekend thing for it being mega busy. I recommend this place. For real.

This place has come a long way in the last few years. They’ve obviously put some money into renovations, and it looks like a cute little café now. Service is 200% better, they actually greet you and do quality checks after dropping off the food! Server thought I ordered a Positano salad instead of the Puttanesca, but was appropriately apologetic and corrected my order in a very timely fashion. They still forget to ask «is there is anything else you need with your meal», but are prompt to act when asked. They’ve also moved to a Posi system, so hopefully the accusations of inflated tabs and fluctuating prices will be addressed.
If I can ever trust them enough to order anything other than their Puttanesca, then they will have officially «leveled up» in my opinion ;-)
Minuses: bring me back my change, don’t assume… unless the $ 2 on $ 20 is fine for you? I’ll drop a couple more bucks on the table, but man… And stop asking for your tips in cash, darn it… are my tips not good enough for you if all I have is credit?!? Jeebus, so tacky.

This place is slammed for dinner. All the time. They need to be bigger to accommodate their customers better.
That being said, they are slammed because they serve amazing Italian food. And who doesn’t love amazing Italian food? From the bread with oil dipping sauce to the best canolies (sp) ever, you will not be disappointed with the food.
If you don’t want to wait, come at lunch. They have great lunch specials and are not nearly as packed in like sardines as they are as dinner.
Yum.

Pretty clear that they had no desire to serve us.
We got there at 7:50, there was a table for four available. We stood there for a minute and were finally told that they couldn’t seat us because someone had a reservation for four at 8:00. Then they told us if we wanted to leave our phone number they should have a seat for four available in about 10 minutes.
Think about that one for a second.

«Molto Bene»!!! I felt like I was back in Napoli again! We really miss Italian (REAL Italian) food after living there for 3 years. The owners are Italian and they serve true authentic food here. The service was great as well! The owner came to our table and introduced himself and shook our hands. He is also the chef! His wife made the AMAZING tiramisu we ate. We had several different pasta dishes at the table. All were terrific! They make a lot of their food themselves (sausages, mozzarella, pasta, etc). You can purchase it to take home. It is a small restaurant in a strip next to Outback. Don’t be fooled, it’s the real deal. Can’t wait to go back and sample some more!

Ate there today and it is the most authentic italian I’ve had in Virginia Beach. The complimentary bread is crusty and delicious with this awesome dipping sauce. I had the Lasagna with meat sauce. In a nutshell, it was extraodinary with a total of 11 layers of cheesy, meaty, pasta goodness. The portion was huge but I was a little disappointed that at the price of 14.95 that it didnt have a small salad with it as most italian eateries would. My spouse had the Pesto chicken which was the lunch special at 7.95. Portion was large and came with pasta in a pesto cream sauce. It tasted wonderful! They have a huge assortment of homemade desserts that looked wonderful but I was too full to try. I vow next visit to have dessert! Service was so-​so but the establishment and bathrooms were very clean. Definitely recommend! !!!

Popped in for a nice Italian dinner with my brother. We found the service to be better than average. Perhaps even good.
As for the food, well that’s where they win. The bread they brought while we looked over the menu was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside accompanied by a dish of olive oil with black pepper and parmesan cheese.
Bruschetta was quite good with the right amount of toppings though the lettuce garnish was odd. Six pieces for $ 12? Okay.
For mains, we both opted for the «Bucatini Alla Matriciana.» This is a very thick spaghetti noodle that has a hollow center that lets it soak up some of the sauce for extra tastiness. VERY messy with pancetta, tomatoes and Romano cheese. I was wearing the right shirt, my brother was not. He had fortunately tucked his napkin into his collar because there were four or five splotches of oil on his napkin. Oops. Very garlicly, very oily, very delicious.
Small intimate spot for a nice dinner.

After seeing all the positive reviews of this place and had a taste for Italian, I figure I will give this place a try. Like others said, you feel like your in an authentic Italian restaurants with the small quaint space, Italian décor, Italian speaking staff & Italian music playing.
The waitress was real nice and was flexible on how we wanted our meal prepared. I had the Spaghetti & meatballs. Sauce was good & Meatballs were huge! It was a marinara & it was not tangy and acidy like some Marinara sauces can be.
The waitress said next time I come back try the lasagna becuz it’s the best, so I guess I will be back soon for it.