Nicolino Ristorante Italiano - Italian restaurant in Issaquah - 317 NW Gilman Blvd #30A, USA

Our experience here was good and bad. It was extremely busy when we got there and the hostess said they had seating outside in the covered patio which was heated. So we accepted and went outside thinking we would be able to eat much quicker than waiting for a seat inside. We were unfortunately wrong, it didn’t get us served any faster. I believe they were just short staffed, but seemed to continue to forget about serving the patio. They were definitely friendly and working hard, so that’s really the reason I didn’t rate it less. The food was very good, but the Caesar salad is more traditional, meaning it was a little more fishy than I like. Though the diner entrees were excellent! If we’re in the area again and craving Italian, it would be worth another try.

I thought this place was nice. The overall vibe was casual and fun and the staff were very accommodating and friendly to our party of 14. The food wasn’t bad but it was very standard and honestly I was expecting a little more in flavor (quantity is really good, enough to feed two people with one dish!). The italian sodas were nice. I would recommend because the staff were super patient with our indecisive, talkative members.

Nice restaurant, They were out of calamari and lobster?? Oh well. Didn’t start off busy but super short staffed! Reid was the restaurants only server and a bus girl? She was also helping out as much as she could but Reid was the only waiter and bartender… he was so busy and hard working and was attentive and so good about making his rounds while managing 7-8 other tables! This restaurant really needs to get more staff. I hope this doesn’t happen all the time! If it wasn’t for his amazing service I would have this place 3-4 stars. Reid saved you guys. Please acknowledge him. He is a hard worker!!! Thank you Reid.

The food here is awful. We got chicken parmesan and lasagne (which the server said has the same meat sauce as the pappardelle bolognese, in case anyone's wondering whether other menu items are better) and both my partner and I found it hard to eat our entrees. It tasted like the sauces came out of a can (in the Chef Boyardee way, not in the crushed canned tomatoes as a base to produce a homemade sauce way) and like the chicken base for the parmesan came from a frozen packet. The meat in the lasagne also tasted like something from a Chef Boyardee ravioli. I took home half of it and I honestly don't know if I can bring myself to eat it. It was a $29 meal. Bread service is a surprising, nice touch these days, but the bread here is clearly mass-produced store-bought white baguettes, which takes away from the appeal. The parmesan they brought out was crumbled (think Kraft shaker bottles) parmesan in an open bowl. I am not a big fan of the open bowl from a sanitary perspective, but more importantly, I expect that kind of cheese at a cheap pizza place, not at a dedicated Italian restaurant with $25+ entrees. Even Cheesecake Factory, a chain restaurant not specializing in Italian food, will come over and grate real parmesan over your pasta dish. Cheesecake Factory also manages to have better, fresher bread. I am saying this as someone who hasn't been to The Cheesecake Factory in years, because why go to a chain when there are so many great, independent, specialized restaurants around? I guess this is why. Not all independent restaurants are good. I could see into the kitchen from my seat and it looked like there might have only been a single cook back there, on a busy Saturday night, at peak dinner hours. Maybe if this place relies on frozen/canned everything, they feel 1 chef is enough, but it's clearly not. For this awful food, we waited a little over 45 mins from the time of ordering. We arrived hungry, so you'd think 45 mins of waiting would have made ANY food taste good, but no. You may be thinking 45 mins is an exaggeration, but no, we actually timed it, because we made note of the time after the server took 15 mins to take our food order after we sat down. It turns out that on a busy Saturday night, this place only seems to have scheduled a single server for the whole restaurant. The hostess (or idk maybe that was the manager or owner) was doing multiple roles, helping to run food and check on people, and the busser was also fulfilling a few roles, but come on. I've worked in food service, if you can't support the number of patrons in a place with the level of staff you have, you don't just keep seating more and more people - you leave some sections closed, so you can give th people already seated a good experience. How this place had a completely full restaurant with 1 server, 1 host, 1 busser, and 1 chef blows my mind. Nobody checked in on us or said anything to assure us during the 45 mins we waited for our food, btw. My partner and I were in between wondering whether they forgot our order and joking about walking out. Never again.

First food is always wonderful. Unfortunately the place can get very loud. That is why my husband doesn't care to go but he always loves the food. So I order take out. When we have sat in the restaurant never any problem with the order. The last 2 take outs, the order had been messed up. The first time, they forgot his soup. We live 15 miles away so going back was not an option. So I just called to let them know. They were very sorry and offered to send check to reimburse me. Said they didn't have to do that, so they gave me a credit for later use. About a month later we ordered take out again. I ordered my usual, Fettuccine Della Casa. Hubby ordered Chicken with Cherries (don't know real name). Used my credit. Got home and they messed up order again. He got Chicken Parmesan. He isn't a fan. Again I called, had to leave message and explained what happened. They never returned my call. We will order again but definitely will have to check oder before I leave. It isn't a cheap dinner so would like to get what we ordered. They write the name of the item on the container so easy enough to check. I didn't think I would have needed to do that the second time. Great food though.

The food just wasn't good at all. When I order Pollo Parmigan....chicken parm....I really expect there to be at least some breading in it. And the pasta....capallini was not good. My sisters dish the lobster and prawn ravioli was less then impressive as well. Aside from a really nice server and good ambiance it was just disappointing to have not good entrees. The bread was good. I traveled from eastern WA and paid a lot for disappointing food. Sorry for the review but just being honest.

Excellent quality Italian dishes with great service. Choice of dinning inside or out. We sat in the enclosed area outside. We were seated quickly. Drink order was just as quick. We order the Puttenesca and meat Bolognese and were eating before we finished the first round of drinks. We didn't finish the Puttenesca so they wrapped the to go box in plastic wrap to keep it fresh. Love this place!

Great place authentic food since it was founded. Nicolino's is truly an Issaquah treasure. The tiramisu is unbelievable. I know the recipes are true because I was a sous chef there under Dennis Long in the mid-90s. The only true Chef I ever trained under