Ristorante Machiavelli

My favorite Italian in Seattle! It is worth the wait, which can be long some nights — but last night we walked right in and were seated just before 7pm (first time). As always, the food was amazing, the service was great and the open windows on a summer night made it feel like a special place.

Don’t let the long wait keep you from eating here! The food was absolutely delicious and well worth the wait.

Really long wait time on the weekend, and probably the worst gnocchi I’ve ever eaten. The marinara tastes like Chef Boyardee. Other people seem to like this place but I can’t figure out why.

I’ve been living on Capitol Hill for almost 5 years and found this place within a few months. Every since Machiavelli’s has become pretty much a staple in my diet. This isn’t a super authentic or fancy Italian restaurant, but for what it is — its perfect. I have yet to have a meal here that didn’t come out pipping hot, fresh, and completely delicious. My boyfriend and I come here about once a month for an easy date night. Between the price, food, and service this place is a go-​to on the hill!
Must try:
1. The chicken Milanese is the best chicken dish I’ve ever had! Perfectly thin and crispy in a really bright delicious lemon sauce. My boyfriend and I always get this, and then a pasta dish to split. So good!
2. Caesar salad (w/​or w/​o anchovies) is one of my favorite caesar salads.
3. Lasagna bolognese is the definition of italian comfort food. Perfect cheesy-​meaty and noodle ratio.
4. Cheesecake — If you still have room for dessert, their cheesecake is excellent.
5. Carafe or half carafe of house wine — $ 20 for a carafe of wine ($ 10 for a half) cannot be beat. The have a good selection of other wines, but for the price the house carafe is our go-​to!
The only thing I miss is the their old spinach shells that they used for the Conchiglie della Casa. Used to be thicker spinach shells but they’ve switched to normal shells. The sauce is still great, but not the same without the spinach shells.

I really like the food here but I’ve been waiting 2 hours for a seat after being lied to by the hostess. This is unacceptable. Do not come here for any reason on a Saturday. If you want to eat here try an off day.

Was a regular for 20 years, I used to go once a month or so… but I have not gone back in over a year due to hostile server who seems to be best buddies with the new owner. .
THAT SAID the food is very good, I miss the wonderful food.
I recommend any of the basic noodle dishes, and the
Caesar salad is the best in the city. Get it with the anchovies, if they still have them.
Just DONT IRRITATE your server.
Keeping in mind that unless you get there at 5 pm sharp, you may have to wait an hour
to be served, as well. But try this place at least once,
I miss this place, but not the screaming at I got…
… Who needs the aggravation?

The food is delicious. The employees are very kind and friendly. It is a very crowded restaurant and the wait is also very long.

Good things first:
1) Awesome food. Gone with few friends and We had ordered Pizza and pastas and all of the items were amazing.
2) Service was quick.
Not so Good things:
1) as mentioned in earlier reviews, the wait time on Friday night for the place was more than 1.5 hrs. we decided to wait for the period after reading Unilocal reviews.
2) after we got our table, we were informed all the items in Speciality menu were finished, they had no chicken left and there was only 1 lasagna left. Ouch !!! That was terrible. After waitin for so long, you end up with almost 60−70% the menu not available. That’s we ended ordering pizza and pasta. By the way, when we ordered the food, It was still 1.5 hr before their closing time. Since this place appears usually crowded, I would have expected better stocking of food.
Final words: this place is definite a good one for food if you don’t mind the extra long wait time and the possibility of the item you wish to order is simply not available any more

Great italian food at a reasonable price and unpretentious ambiance. Machiavelli is a really small restaurant on the west edge of cap hill. A few friends have been recommending this for quite some time, but we’ve been turned away by the one plus hour wait, but finally made it there late one friday evening.
Food: 4* Ambiance: 4.5* Service: 4* Wait time: 2*
Getting there at 10pm, we were told they had a 30 min wait for even a small table. Since it was a plesant evening, we decided to wait it out. They have a small bar area where patrons can grab a drink and wait, but that too was full, so we stood outside the restaurant for 10 mins till there was space at the bar. We got a carafe of house wine to share, but fortunately, our table was ready earlier than expected, in 15 mins, so we took our drinks to our table.
The dining area is much smaller than I had expected. There are maybe 8 four-​top and 4 two-​top tables, which were all occupied when we were seated. The décor is classic wood, and lighting is on the darker side. It’s not exactly classy, but gives a warm feeling.
It is a great place for date night, but it also has a casual atmosphere, which makes a great place for small groups. Since it’s that small, it’s not suited to groups larger than 6.
We got the spinach ravioli and penne with pesto sauce, both of which were delicious. My friend got a veal entrée, which I was told was decent, but not that great. However, the bread they served was really hard and did not taste fresh. The portions were decent sized, but not too large.
Even though the restaurant is on the classier sides with good ambiance and great service, I found the prices pretty inexpensive, and a great value. Pastas were around $ 13 – 15 and entrees around $ 18 – 20, very reasonable in my opinion. It could be the reason of the popularity of this place.
Pros: Good food, ambiance, inexpensive, location
Cons: Long wait, no reservations, hard to find parking, closed sundays
I enjoyed my food and experience, and would definitely recommend it if you don’t mind the wait. I will be back, but probably on weekdays when there is less rush.

Great little piece of Seattle. Staff was nice, service was prompt, and food was great. Started with unique olive bread and an oil and vinegar mix and ended with a tiramisu. The Caesar was fishy, but I like it that way. I had the fettuccini carbonara. It was a little heavy on the pepper, but forgivable. My husband’s Long Island ice tea was all one could ask for on a warm evening. The water was always full and the bus boy asked about dessert and had us a piece of tiramisu to share before I finished asking. Not romantic, but like many small eateries in Italy, a great little table for two or four with lots of people watching. Highly recommend.

Spinach ravioli was Heavenly! Must have. This is a go to place for pasta.
My friend ordered a different pasta and he loved it too.
The only issue is the wait time. On weekends expect a wait time of 1.5 hours and they do not take reservations. But totally worth the wait. You can have a couple drinks while you wait.
If you can’t think of any place, don’t think twice, the small restaurant has amazing flavors especially spinach ravioli.
Updating: Two things gets me here every week. Spinach ravioli and the pretty smile of the lady who seats me.

Diners, beware! The wait time here is ridiculously long. Despite having a late dinner around 9PM, there was still a 45 minute wait. Luckily, the restaurant is right in the heart of lower Capitol Hill so you can kill time at the Starbucks Roastery & other local bars and eateries!
We ordered the fettuccine carbonara, linguine alla vongole and the artichoke & mushroom pizza. Both pastas were lukewarm upon arrival, even though we were seated a few feet away from the open kitchen. The fettuccine carbonara was sub par — small portion and light in flavor. If it weren’t for the grated parmesan that topped it, the pasta would’ve been bland and boring. We enjoyed the linguine alla vongole, but were left searching for the clams! They were SOOOOO, sooooo tiny and tasteless, leaving me to wonder if they were canned. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the pizza! Because, yeah, it was forgettable.
I gotta say, my favorite part of the meal was the complimentary bread at the beginning of our meal! Nothing struck me with a wow factor, but I suppose it’s alright if you’re looking for decent pasta that is reasonably priced.

Totally my type of restaurant. Romantic but casual atmosphere. Feels like a place with a long history of traditional food, which is a refreshing change from the many brand new restaurants popping up specializing in fusions.
I ordered the chicken liver lasagna. I was actually very excited when I saw it on the menu, since I didn’t even know liver lasagna was a thing. I was impressed with the subtle role the liver played in the dish. The texture of the dish was a consistent soft and melted’ness, like a thick sauce. I really loved it.
The complimentary bread here is also great — loved how soft it was.

I come in for dinner all the time and I’m appalled
I was waiting for an über and used their bathroom since I am there all
The time and the employees all
Gave me evil looks. It was so mean and rude. Not okay.

Cute little place with interesting menu options. After 40 minute wait for a table we were seated at a small table only 2 feet from the table to our right and 2 feet from our table to the left. We had a tuna appetizer and ordered the prawns and spinach and also the chicken liver lasagna. Waitress made an error and brought the prawns over pasta. No big deal… We split the lasagna. It was outrageous. Very different and yet the liver almost tasted like sausage. The prawns finally came and they were very tasty too. The spinach was outrageous! We ordered the cheesecake for dealer and it was special! The coffee came but they made an error and brought 2 regular coffees when it should have been one decaf and one regular. Not a big deal but as a visitor from NY I have been having enough trouble sleeping. That coffee would have kept me up for hours. The food was extremely tasty here. I took off the one star for:
2 mistakes on waitresses part plus the
40 minute wait for a table on a Monday night.

Great little Italian mom and pop shop, but definitely will always have a wait-​be prepared for it!
Little hint, stay at the bar area and eventually a table space will open up so you can eat there-​saved us about 45 minutes.
Anyway the food was good, not great. I think for the wait I was expecting blow your mind fantastic, but it wasn’t. If I had come up and been sat and ordered right away, I would have had given 5 stars. But I am a little jarred to have waited for an hour and have only good/​classic food.
One thing I do recommend is the spinach ravioli! Get some extra bread and go in for that amazing sauce! So good.

Super packed on a Friday night, and without accepting phone reservations be prepare to wait at least an hour or so…
Here’s the secret: sit at the bar area and eat! You can fully order at the bar area, except there’s no service, you order at the bar and they bring your food. I’ll take that over waiting hours for a table…
Anyway, food was just okay. I was expecting so much more since the wait and a heavy crowd. We got the shrimp linguine with red sauce, the cured beef appetizer, and the lasagna. The shrimp pasta was okay, need more red sauce and the sauce needed more volume, like maybe real tomatoes, garlic, etc. The lasagna was okay, it also needed more sauce. The best thing was the cured beef appetizer, I never had cured beef before… Mostly cured pork. This was a surprise and it was better than beef carpaccio.
I’m glad we didn’t wait an hour! We sat at the bar seat… Because if we waited an hour we would have been disappointed.

This restaurant came highly recommended by a friend so I was very eager to eat here and leave a 5 star review. The ‘a-​ok’ rating is more appropriate for my/​our experience.
House wine/​wine via carafe was excellent. Pricing is very fair.
The food was average at our table, not bad, but not exceptional and considering their reputation, I was expecting the latter. We had the antipasto platter, chicken parmesan, prawns with linguini, fettucine alfredo, and a ravioli special. Again, nothing was wrong with any of these dishes, but they didn’t live up to our expectations for a place that has been in business so long. We really wanted to know if they make their own sauce/​pasta but saw no mention of it… I’m guessing they don’t (?).
Our host and our waitress for part of the night was pretty curt/​rude so we didn’t feel very welcome, which also detracted from the night.
Reminders: Very close to the Paramount if you want dinner before a show! No restaurant parking, so you need to plan ahead. They don’t accept reservations, so don’t stop by if you’re on any sort of schedule.

What can I say ,
Besides the «please wait here «stupid old school poster and those busted steps
Everything was dope and Nothing but the best food on our table. Great prices and chill food
The staff was extra nice and super cool.

This place is pretty pricey for the proportions that you receive. I came here for a Monday dinner and the place was busy, but not to the extent where my party of three had to wait for a free table. This restaurant is in the sh*t, so you’ll need to find metered parking, pay at a lot or wait after 8PM for them to go off.
The meal was nice. We got their when there was still light out, but the sun soon went down mid meal and we found ourselves in the semi-​romantic atmosphere of Ristorante Machiavelli. This is definitely a nice place to have a date. Though, it gets a little loud if the main dining area is full.
The food, even though portions were rather small was great. My party of shared a Bresaola Alla Valtinellese which wasn’t much. It was 5 slices of cured meat but, very tasty. As entrée, we shared the fettucine carbonara, spaghetti and meatballs and pesto pizza. The fettucine was very creamy and the noodle were cooked very well. I distinctly remember that the pesto on the pizza we very tasty. The spaghetti was good too. The sauce wasn’t heavy and the meatballs (you get only two) were juicy. All the orders were delicious, but nothing really stuck out to me.
Being in the area for about a month, this isn’t the best Italian place that I’ve gone to. It’s a pretty good eat though and a place to go on a date.

Cuisine excellente !!! Le tiramisu est à tomber !
Je recommande

Veal in lemon butter is to die for!