Carmello's

Reviews about Carmello's

• 2 / 5

  By Charles Little
  This restaurant is in a strip mall with ample parking. At 7:00 on a Friday night the restaurant was at less than 50% capacity, so no reservations needed. Based on Yelp reviews I was expecting this to be a dive with good food. Charlottesville Yelp was misleading on that one.
  
  The host and our waiter (he appeared to be the only person working the floor) was nice if not a little odd (he reminded me of some Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi hybrid). The service was definitely on the slow side.
  
  I ordered the Fettuccine Carbonara. While we waited we were brought bread with an herbed butter that was pretty unappetizing looking, but tasted okay and house salads. The salads were way overdressed and the dressing wasn't particularly good (no idea what it was supposed to be either which was a little strange). When our meals made it out I didn't have particularly high expectations anymore. The pasta itself was cooked well, but everything else about the meal was pretty disappointing. It was very garlicky and the pancetta was flabby and hadn't been crisped at all.
  
  This is another example of a restaurant experience where everything we had we could make significantly better at our home. When I dine out I expect my food to be better than what I can prepare myself, which doesn't seem unreasonable since I don't cook professionally. The food being sub par, tied with the dated restaurant and the slow service definitely puts this as a "Meh" in my book.
  February 03, 2017
• 5 / 5

  By sarahntripity
  They serve you the most delicious, warm bread with a really yummy garlic butter spread. I got their eggplant parmesan and it was perfectly cooked and came with a ton of food! I got 3 giant pieces of eggplant that were so big I had to take most of it home. The employees were also super friendly :)
  June 02, 2016
• 3 / 5

  By Adele Roof
  Don't go on a holiday night. They can't handle it.Even with a reservation, we waited an hour for the appetizer, although entrees arrived in a timely manner. Good wine list. Husband thought veal angelica was excellent. My fried veal dish was overcooked and dried out. Salads were cold and wilted, as if they had been refrigerated, uncovered, in advance for too long. Crab mushroom appetizer tasty but small for the price. Door to outside did not fully close when people left, and we jumped up 5 times to close it, as the cold air coming in was very bothersome.
  May 31, 2016