Calabria Ristorante Italiano

I remember having a great ribeye in gorgonzola sauce here many years ago. Fond memories of this place with good friends was my lasting memory. In all honesty, it would’ve been better if I never came back.
The food was okay the 2^nd go round, but the service sucked. It took forever to get an order. When I ordered a second glass of wine, it came in a different glass and was clearly a completely different wine. When I asked the waitor why it tasted different, he said that the other glass was maybe «old».
Let’s stop there for a second. I thought I was drinking a different glass of wine, which wasn’t a great experience but tolerable. Now I’m drinking OLD wine? Seriously, it WAS a different wine. I think the comment was almost to save the fact he screwed up but didn’t realize he made it worst.
So sad.
I almost gave the restaurant 2 stars because there was an amazing lounge singer, but I realized that the singer was not a part of Calabria, so we’re back to 1.

We have been to this neighborhood restaurant several times before and have enjoyed it. On Valentine’s weekend, we had friends from out of town and wanted to take them somewhere special and somewhere we might be able to dance after dinner. I called Calabria because I had received a 2 for 1 dinner coupon in the mail. I made reservations and asked if we could use the coupon for two couples at the table. They said absolutely. They also said there would be a dance jazz band in the lounge, so it sounded perfect.
We got to the restaurant and had to wait a short time to be seated. We requested a table between the lounge and restaurant because it was quieter. The service was so-​so and the food marginal. The featured salad had tomatoes, canned beets and strawberries (a strange combination) and came with a flavorless dressing and was skimpy with the gorgonzola cheese. The pasta was nothing special and my boyfriends dish that was suppose to come with potatoes, came with pasta (he’s gluten intolerant) and when we spoke up, we were told the kitchen was out of mashed potatoes. We realized the bartender was our server and that explained the marginal service. She was trying hard to keep up. The real clincher was when our bill came she had not taken off the free dinners. When we reminded her of the coupon, she took off one dinner saying we only had one coupon. After telling her we had were told we could use it for two dinners when making the reservation, she went to ask the manager. The manager came to our table, was very dismissive and simply said rules are rules. We begged him to reconsider as we didn’t want to leave with a negative experience, but he just shook his head. Our bill was over $ 140 and the good will he could have done with honoring what we were told over the phone would have saved face for the restaurant. With so-​so food, so-​so service, and management that was inflexible and rude, we will never return to this restuarant.

This place used to be pretty good, however it has changed ownership, and is now awful. Also, I believe the name has changed to a different variant of «Calabria».
My wife and I dropped in for a quick dinner before meeting up with friends, but nothing about our stay there was quick. We sat at out table for 15 minutes before someone came by to take our drink order. Then another 10 minutes to actually receive the drinks. The Chicken Parmigiana I had was maybe the worst meal I’ve ever paid for. It tasted like a pre-​cooked frozen chicken breast, smothered in Ragu, under cooked spaghetti noodles, and topped with a small slice of mozzarella cheese. Terrible. My wife’s Chicken Cesar Salad wasn’t much better, seeing as how the lettuce had brown spots on it.
The piano bar section is still OK, but the service back there is also pretty poor. If the guy with the spiked Fohawk is your server, I feel your pain.
All and all, I left angry for wasting $ 60 and over an hour of my life in there. I had eaten there many times, but since the change of ownership I will never go back.

I had to plan a bachelorette party and since we aren’t 21 anymore, I thought it would be fun to do something different!
I reserved a spot for the 5 of us at the piano and we were serenaded by Joe for a few hours while we enjoyed cocktails, wine and surprisingly good pizza!
It was a Thursday evening and by 11pm the bar was packed… we all had a really fun time — I don’t think I’d go in to sit in the restaurant, Joe and the piano bar is where its at!

My husband and I finally went to have dinner at this restaurant because of the coupons they send out in the mail that we’ve accumulated over the recent weeks, and it wasn’t bad at all. I had the crab raviolli and my husband had a special with salmon and over a bed of fettucini which was beautifully presented and as good as it looked. My dish was good, but I expected to taste the crab a little bit more and was not a fresh as I wanted it to be. still the house wine we had with the dishes paired well.

This used to be my favorite restaurant on the Eastside. Then they changed owners and it all went downhill.
Runny soups and sauces, stale bread, weak drinks, 3 small pieces of chicken. No thank you.

Really really disappointing. My minestrone soup was undercooked (as in the carrots were still crunchy), and my meal came out lukewarm and with two inches of shredded parmesan cheese on top. what ever happened to asking someone if they wanted cheese? The glasses were dirty… all round, it was a waste of my time and money.

There is the smallest piano bar in the universe in the back of this place.
If you can avoid being devoured by the Kirkland man-​eating cougars who have a hunger for manflesh long enough to get a drink into your system, it gets more fun. They lair here in large numbers and always seem to want more.
I felt like a girl scout at a prison riot. Yikes.
They serve food here too, I guess. Besides raw beefsteak, that is.

One of my favourite places :) Good food and service. The highlight is the live piano player on weekend nights.
Also for a reasonably small restaurant they accommodate parties of 20+ very well. One time they gave us the entire side room for my birthday party.

My wife and I had dinner here on a recent Friday evening. We called ten minutes ahead, and they had a table waiting for us. The live piano music was a nice touch and appreciated. Our waiter was most definitely not Italian, but he knew the menu (and the wine list, which I thought a tad on the pricey side) well, and knew the preparation of each dish I asked about.
We started with the Antipasto Rustica, which wasn’t bad (although a bit more variety with the olives would have been nice), and the serving size was quite generous.
The main courses didn’t fare so well. My wife ordered the Penne Carrettiera. The individual ingredients were not bad (the ham in fact, by itself, was quite tasty) but the dish was so smothered in the heavy aurora sauce as to make tasting the individual ingredients almost impossible. (You might try asking for the sauce on the side and saucing the dish yourself.) The dish was also heavily salted, again making it difficult to taste much of anything but salt and cream.
I’m a big fan of a pasta Puttanesca, and I ordered that off the menu. I was very disappointed. Huge chunks of undissolved anchovies overpowered the dish (and I’m an anchovy fan, so it takes a lot for me to say this), while there really wasn’t a red pepper flake to be seen. There was almost no tomato flavor to the sauce, and it was way over salted (probably the exorbitant amounts of anchovy contributed to this) The Kalamata olives were good, and the pasta was perfectly cooked, but those were really the only two redeeming features I could find.
We opted to skip trying anything off the dessert menu.

My husband and I are fans of Calabria, so much that we had our wedding rehearsal dinner here! (I highly recommend anyone else to host their wedding rehearsal dinner here. They blocked off the entire north wing of their restaurant and arranged the tables into a «U» shape. They made a menu just for our group, and the food was excellent. Everyone got to select whatever they wanted off of our private menu. The service was fantastic – just attentive enough, but two or three dedicated waiters to make sure everyone had their food on time!) The food is great – much of your standard, safe «American» Italian fare, which is just what we like. We’re not fans of super-​gourmet, strange food, so we’re very comfortable at Calabria.
The food is priced well and the atmosphere is quaint and romantic. My husband and I shared a Valentine’s Day dinner in their private alcove with only one table. The staff and owner, Jesus, are very friendly. I have a feeling that the food isn’t too authetic and I don’t believe there’s a single Italian that works there (they’re all Mexican).
Despite that, the food is still delicious. I love their Chicken Parmesean and their rich Gorgonzola Gnocchi. My husband is a sucker for their veal dish. We usually reserve Calabria for nice romantic dinners – not casual meals.

Sunny summer evenings in Kirkland usually means crowds, traffic, more traffic, and long searches for parking spots. It’s a busy spot with the beach parks, lots of restaurant options, a marina, and a generally pedestrian friendly feel.
Sporting the best outdoor dining option of the three Italian themed restaurants in Kirkland; Calabria provides a great atmosphere for a summer evening. The cavernous interior is rather dark and non-​descript and we’d recommend requesting the patio seating. If you do want to sit inside, check out the lounge happy hour from 4:30 — 7:00 for $ 1 off most adult beverages.
Calabria excels at delivering the quality Italian food. The menu contains real deal authentic Italian fares from affogati to cioppino. We dined on ravioli in a white funghi sauceand the fusili caprese — and were more than satisfied with each dish.
Calabria fell a little short is in their service and ambiance. While diners can appreciate a good recommendation the endless up-​sell attempts get old pretty quickly here. The staff was efficient, but far from friendly and warm that you’d expect from a place with old country food this traditional. Also, a server at an Italian restaurant should know what a Negroni is, its not that uncommon of a drink.
If you are one to find yourselves easily lost on the eastside: Take the 520, exit Lake Washington Blvd toward Kirkland and cruise along the lake straight to Calabria before the summer sun sets.

I went out with the lady check out Kirkland uncorked and the legends car show. After walking around a bit we decided we needed some lunch, so at the recommendation of a good buddy we went and hit up Calabria.
My buddy absolutely swears by the pollo gorgonzola and he claims that he has had it atleast twice a month for the last two years. Well I followed his recommendation and went ahead and ordered the pollo gorgonzola while the lady had the manicotti. The service was quick despite them having quite a lunch rush and a really busy patio. Our waiter paid just enough attention to us, yet left us to our conversation.
When the food came it looked and smelled delicious, I had a beautiful creamy gorgonzola sauce covering a semi-​rubbery ¼ inch thick chicken breast. The chicken was not very tasty, however the sauce made up for it two fold. It was rich and creamy, yet had these great citrus undertones that just kind of exploded on my tounge. I just really wish they would use better chicken, it would really make this dish stellar. The girl enjoyed her manicotti, however said it wasn’t her favorite.

This is such a cute, hidden Italian place in the heart of Kirkland! Everytime I’ve come here, I’ve been impressed! The service is very attentive but not overly so. Even though there was a very large group that our server was taking care of, he did not neglect us!
I’ve been here a few times now. I came here with my family for my 21^st birthday (pre-​nightly activities) and when the server found out it was my birthday, he immediately brought a birthday shot over to me in honor of my special day! It was still during that time when drinking alcohol (with expertise) in front of my parents was a little awkward. But great, nonetheless!
I came here last night with my mother and boyfriend, and again the food was great! I really liked the sauce on the pasta (I ordered spaghetti bolognese… not very creative on my part, but good nonetheless). Normally when I make pasta at home, I’ve gotten used to the very sweet, preservative, chemically-​induced tomato sauce that you purchase in stores. This sauce tasted like actual tomatoes and I really liked the little carrot chunks that were included in the meat sauce! The minestrone soup is really good, too! Lots of veggies and great broth!
I really want to come back here and try the happy hour sometime…

garlic jim’s credit card machine was down and we had a hankering for carbs and things of that sort.
Anywho I ended up ordering the pollo gorgonzola, and my date had the Ravioli con Funghi. My dish was the winner

I’ve been here several times over the past two-​three years. Food is great– highly recommend the specials– they are usually a bit fancier but always great– menu items are menu items. clams for appetizer are great.
piano bar is fun but loud– don’t try to have intimate dinner conversation.
one of the much better italian places in our area! and i love non-​chain places.

The best part of the evening was definitely the live piano player!
The restaurant is kind of set back in a strip mall, but the interior is charming and a bit rustic-​looking. I had beef tortellini with crème sauce. The sauce was heavy, but not completely overpowering. The meal came with tasty bread and dipping oil infused with some kind of red pepper — unexpected but spicy and delicious.
The food came out very quickly after we ordered, but otherwise the service was a little below average. I had to ask for water multiple times and our waiter did not come back after our food was served to see how we were doing.
The food was solid, nothing spectacular, but I’d come back for the atmosphere and live music.

I will always have a soft spot for Calabria as they have always treated us nicely and accommodating despite having a newborn with us (it is a toddler now). This was in opposite to the place next door Mixtura where it was made more than clear to us that we were unwelcome.
I love the live piano music on Saturdays. I like the various salads even though I wish they would offer them in smaller sizes so I could enjoy the salad and the main course. My favorite are the penne with peas and ham. The service has always been very friendly and helpful.

Calabria is a fairly hidden gem, in the back parking lot of Mixtura and Bank of America. My friend and I arrived around 5 PM on a Monday evening, for happy hour.
Interior: warm and inviting, though the bar area is way, way, way too dark. At 5 PM we were one of only two tables in the restaurant filled.
Service: Slightly above average. Our waitress, at first, seemed fairly unexcited to be serving us (and the rest of the time, a group of waitresses hung out and chatted at the bar) but by the end of the meal was more friendly.
Happy Hour: Food prices are considerably lower (by about half, bringing each appetizer on the HH menu down to about $ 4 – 7 instead of $ 8 – 14), drink prices are only $ 1 off the normal price.
Food:
The spinach and artichoke dip was definitely different than the usual standard mayo-​heavy fare, but tasted pretty much like spinach; it was good, though probably not something I’d get again.
The chicken/​mushroom/​onion skewers with gorgonzola sauce was SO SO GOOD! Seriously, next time I’m getting a pasta dish with the gorgonzola sauce. That sauce, on its own, is reason enough to go to Calabria! The accompanying bruschetta, however, was pretty non-​descript; I make a much better and more flavorful version at home. ^_​^
My entrée was the penne pasta with ham, mushrooms, peas, and aurora (aka pink) sauce. It was a little bizarre and I’m not sure I’d get it again, but was decent. There’s some kind of an odd after flavor like clove or cinnamon that tastes just… off. The peas were also undercooked.
Overall, a very decent experience at Calabria. Next time I’ll stick with the gorgonzola sauce pasta! :)
Oh, and for you microsofties, they take the prime card!

So if you get regular flyers in the mail this place often has one in there for get the one entrée for free etc etc. go use it.
Well this is a great deal and you should definitely try it. The food is always good. Staff are friendly and attentitive. There are two pianos one in the main floor and the other in hidden bar to the south of the building. The Antipasto is great range of meat and cheese, vitello picatta is delish, and the few pizzas I have had are really good also. The lasagna is really fresh and tasty. Priced well and a good fun place to get dinner and then head into the bar for a night cap or more.