Il Poeta

I came here in a group of four for New Year’s Eve dinner. It was a full house. Despite having reservations, we had to wait about 10 minutes which wasn’t too bad.
We were served water and complimentary bread while we browsed through the menus. For appetizers, we ordered the Croquette di Melanzane (eggplant and ricotta croquettes served with tomato sauce and sautéed spinach) and the Zuppetta Piccante di Molluschi (sautéed mussels and clams in a spicy tomato sauce) to share. While I did find the croquettes to be rather unremarkable, it did have a great light crunch exterior. I think the tomato sauce it was served in really took away the subtle flavors of the croquette. You get three of these little croquettes with a diameter that is only slightly larger than a ping pong ball… sad. I have to say, I did noticed a lot of people ordering the croquettes though. The mussels and clams were just okay. Again, unremarkable with decent ocean flavors. At least they were cleaned properly and were not fishy at all. The tomato broth of the mussels paired well with complimentary bread.
For my entrée I had the Spaghetti Chitarra dell Adriatico, which is homemade pasta with seafood in light spicy organic tomato sauce. I really wish our waitress would have told me that this is literally the exact same as our mussels and clams appetizer… only with spaghetti added. I would have just ordered something else! So naturally, I wasn’t excited about it. Plus, the spaghetti was overcooked. I had some of my husband’s Tagliolini del Poeta (homemade pasta with mushroom sauce, speck, and truffle oil) and I thought that was fairly good… I mean at least compared to my entrée.
Overall, I thought the food here is just satisfactory. None of my dinner companions nor myself were exactly blown away, or even remotely close to it for that matter. Food deserves 2.5 stars in my humble opinion however I did round up because the service here is very warm, welcoming, and attentive.

Had Lunch with 12 people today. Three of us had chicken parm. Each one was a different portion size mine being the runt of the litter. This is supposed to be a fine dinning restaurant. If it really was the portions would be equal. Will not go back.

Their food is amazing and fresh. I love this place, a nice quiet little spot for some delicious fresh Italian food.

Lovely and very welcoming staff, but the food was just okay overall.
The highlight dish was definitely their namesake pasta (18.50) being a creamy mushroom truffle pasta with a 2 – 3 sliced speck (salty cold cut. similar to proscuitto). Kinda weird combination but somehow it works. It’s the creamy pasta that’s the winner here. the noddles were cooked just right! The portion size is «just perfect» for one individual. Thankfully so, because any more and your arteries would for sure clog as its a heavy dish. Their seafood linguini was a little too al dente, and a little sparse on the seafood. Fried calamari was quite plain.
Otherwise, beautiful restaurant. Nice ambiance and the whole shebang for a nice night out. In comparison though for italian in forest hills, I prefer Tuscan Hills.

Party of 3, we started w eggplant croquettes, calamari and a tricolore insalate… every dish was superb. Our entrees were phenomenal, as was the service, I just found my new favorite Italian place!

Fair costumer service but the food wasn’t that great. I ordered baked salmon which didn’t taste like salmon. We didn’t have a pepper on the table and the bread was stale. I truly don’t recommend to eat at this place. Definitely, it wasn’t an Italian food.

My wife and I came here 4 years ago on our second date and have been coming back ever since, so a review of Il Poeta is long overdue. On a street with an assortment of Italian restaurants, this one stands above them all. Its charming ambiance and fantastic staff are only surpassed by the fantastic food. Everything we have eaten at Il Poeta has been simply delicious; every dish is so flavorful, but done in a way that let’s the ingredients shine through and never leave you with a heavy feeling like many Italian dishes can.
With a 3 course Prix fix menu on WEdnesdays for 27.00 and BYOB Thursday, this place allows for a great night out to break up the week or just a great date night any day of the week. If you’ve never come here, it’s a must.

Decided to try this place after passing by several times. Overall dissapointing… slow service, small portions and unimpressive atmosphere. Plenty of better choices with superior food and service in the area.

One of my favorite Italian restaurants to go to near my house. Every time I come to this place I’m never disappointed. From food to service it’s by far the best. The food taste like homemade Old school Italian cooking. The food is made with love. The portions Are decent depending how much of an eater you are. II poeta is a little gem in middle village great for family, couples or casual dates.

Every dish a winner. I wish this place was closer to me. Truly an authentic place. Dishes are not only delicious but light. No heavy feeling afterwards. Will def come here again.

There isn’t much to say about this restaurant. Certainly, many may see this quaint little restaurant and be tempted to give them credit for trying. I don’t blame them. But, if we are to accept the premise that the primary purpose of a purportedly gourmet restaurant is to provide customers with gourmet food, this restaurant has missed the mark — by a wide margin.
I ordered from the prix fixe menu and had the Zucchini and Potato Soup as an appetizer and the Chicken Breast as the entrée. My date had the mussels as an appetizer and the salmon as an entrée.
Simply put, everything was bland. The most flavorful aspect of both dishes was the ground fresh pepper offered by the waiter. The soup was basically a bowl of green mush that tasted like cardboard. The chicken was tasteless, soggy, breaded, and over salted. The salmon was dry and rubbery. The mussels were decent but definitely not fresh.
Perhaps this is what Il Poeta reserves for their prix fixe. If so, they need to understand that a prix fixe isn’t just meant to be cheap, throwaway sampling. As they say, put your best foot forward because you will likely only have one shot to impress. At the end of the day, my next dinner is not going to be here. For the same price one can enjoy an extravagant and truly memorable dinner at Danny Brown’s just a few blocks away.

As twenty-​something year olds we were definitely the youngest people in this place but it was a really nice place for a last-​minute dinner. We didn’t realize it was so nice when we chose it since it only has two money signs on Unilocal.For the area it’s one of the pricier places ($ 23 for fish, $ 20 for chicken) but the atmosphere makes it worth it. The waiters were great, they definitely contributed to a good experience. The food was ok. My salmon was a little dry and it seemed weird to us that the first didn’t come with a carb, like potatoes for example, and the chicken didn’t come with a vegetable. It seemed like an incomplete place. The dessert (crème brûlée was the special of the night-​yum) was really good and the cappucino was made well, too. We’ll probably be back here at some point.

I was very pleasantly surprised! I liked the dinner I had so much last Friday, I just made plans with a friend to go back next Wednesday!
I ate with a friend and we enjoyed everything about this lovely restaurant. We enjoyed are wine, the apps, the entrees and killed the dessert! Service was lovely… I can’t wait to go back because I liked my friends entrée so much that I already plan to order next time — it was the Tagliolini del Poeta — so good!
And I have to say I really really enjoyed the very simple dessert of whipped cream, fresh strawberries and crushed cookies… sometimes it’s just about simply letting the beautiful flavors come through… loved it.

On a cool Saturday afternoon we decided to stop in at Il Poeta, simply decorated with orange walls and white linen covered tables. We ordered a dozen baked clams, a special of porcini mushroom ravioli with black truffle and a chicken Caesar salad. We were given a plate of sliced toasted bread with lentils in olive oil and light salt… the lentils were a change from the traditional oil or hummus… it was a refreshing change and kept me coming back for more and wondering what the actual meal would taste like.
The clams were served. They weren’t my favorite but they weren’t bad. The good part is that they weren’t overly baked or too moist. The breadcrumbs were kept light and crispy but the overall flavor was a fail. However, the salad was fresh and flavorful, served with a crostini. The grilled chicken had a wonderful robust grilled charred flavor. The Porcini mushroom pancerotti with black truffle was just delicious… fresh ravioli with a flavorful filling of mushroom overlayed with a perfectly combined cream sauce with truffle. It is quite heavy.
The dessert menu had various homemade options including Napolean with chocolate or strawberries, Chocolate cake and Panna Cotta. We chose Panna Cotta as recommended by our server Ibana. She was right, it was delicious, not too sweet, and just the right amount of soothing, cool refreshing vanilla.
I witnessed the chef, Mario walk through the dining room several times. It’s nice to see a chef concerned about his dining room.
The meal was a surprise full of freshness and flavor. You don’t need to drive into Manhattan anymore for a great Italian meal, you can visit Il Poeta right in Forest Hills, Queens!

This restaurant Is great! I went there for valentines day and I can only say that i wouldn’t choose a different place. The light are dimmed which makes it romantic and yet a relaxing atmosphere. I had the duck which tasted delicious. Although they were busy because it was valentines day, they were still able to provide great service and great food. Highly recommend to everyone

Il Poeta is a small but charming Italian restaurant in Forest Hills. The owner/​manager walks around the restaurant in his distinctive vest and checks that everyone is dining happily.
We were first given our menus and a bread basket along with a small dish of their lentils mixed with salt and olive oil. Although the bread was good, the winner here was their special dip, which I finished by itself… by the spoonfuls…
Our appetizers:
–baked clams (half dozen)
–sauteed artichokes sliced and topped with shrimp, pistachios, and thick layer of parmiggiano cheese
– insert long wait here –
– insert being offered a dessert menu here –
– insert the table who came in after us receiving their entrees –
– insert asking around for our entrees –
Our entrees (finally!) :
–duck breast with sauteed spinach and sweet berry sauce — very filling
–grilled angus rib eye in brandy sauce that came with roasted potatoes and spicy peppercorns that added a pleasant kick to the overall flavor
We were too full to order dessert so we asked for the check. And little did we expect, the owner comes over with a revised bill to apologize for the delay of our entrees. He took off the charges for our two appetizers, which was quite generous and kind of him. It’s pretty uncommon that a restaurant goes out of their way to make their customers feel appreciated and end their night with a warm gesture.

It’s a small and unassuming restaurant, but it has some of the best Italian in the Forest Hills area!
Definitely ask for the specials — they’ve got some unique things going on and I loved their octopus carpaccio. You must order the house special pasta, which has porcini mushrooms, speck, and truffle oil. It’s rich, but really tasty — almost every table ordered this.
Two things here really set it apart:
1) Attention to quality: the tomatoes used are organic, the pasta is all homemade, and a lot of authentic Italian ingredients are used. It’s little things like these that matter.
2) Family-​run atmosphere: the staff is warm and attentive, and the owner is very involved. They want to make sure you are happy and will do what they can for that to happen.
I always pass by here when I’m on my way to Trader Joe’s, but I’m glad I finally stopped in. Great to see there is still quality Italian food in Forest Hills!

This restaurant is on Metropolitan Avenue which is lately called «Michelin Road.» Now Metropolitan Avenue is the new hot spot in Queens. I went there on Christmas Eve. We called them to make a reservation at 8:45 about 5 hours before, but they took our reservation.
When we arrived at the restaurant, there were no open seats so the waiter escorted us to the counter on the back of the restaurant. The waiter recommended Italian apéritif. I enjoyed the drink and I didn’t feel the waiting time was long.
They were serving Christmas Eve special menu. I ordered octopus salad for appetizer. The grilled octopus was soft and amazing. When I comeback here again, I want to order the same thing again.
For entrée, I ordered monk fish. I am not familiar with monkfish, but I tried. I didn’t like it so much. However, sauce was good.
For dessert, I ordered Panna Cotta. The desert was small, so for people who is used to American size dessert, it won’t be enough. This is only for one person and doesn’t suit for share. So it is better to order one dessert for each person. However, Panna Cotta itself was very good. The raspberry sauce was sour and sweet, and mouse part was creamy.
They have weekday Prix-​fix dinner for very reasonable price, so I want to try next time.

A buon intenditor poche parole [Few words (are sufficient) for the good listener]
This place is perfect!
Go!

This is the best Italian selection in Forest Hills. I won’t go so far as to say the best Italian food I’ve ever had, certainly not. But I have yet to select a disappointing dish. I’ve been here my a dozen times over the past 2 years and have tried to sample a wide spectrum of their menu.
Pasta is absolutely legit; never overcooked. Sauces are authentic and never too heavy. The seafood tastes fresh and they come up with creatively simple specials. Every appetizer is yummy but here again they always have at least one special and I recommend trying these specials as they have never let me down. The best I thing is their octopus salad.
The owner is almost always there and checks in on all his patrons personally, without ever being overbearing. The prices are very reasonable, the atmosphere is clean and pleasant with a touch of warmth. Not much to criticize except maybe their beer their limited beer selection. Although they do have a great Italian beer called Forst. Give it a shot if you enjoy the lighter side of beers.
Il Poeta beats its neighboring competitor and Forest Hills staple, Alberto. I always enjoyed Alberto but Il Poeta is just a different level.