Looking for some Italian comfort food worthy of a nonna’s home cooking? Marcella is a charming new Italian diner in Old Montreal at the corner of Saint Francois Xavier and Saint Paul streets. Open every day for lunch and dinner, locals and tourists can enjoy Italian-style pasta, such as the classic carbonara dish, in a cozy atmosphere.
Dinette Marcella is described as a charming intimate Italian spot in Old Montreal with a warm cozy atmosphere and a touch of old world charm that makes it suitable for date nights or casual dinners. Reviews praise fresh, flavorful pasta, gnocchi and tortellini, bruschetta and arancini, burrata and focaccia, along with a strong wine list and craft cocktails, with many calling the food excellent and among the best Italian in the area, though a few dishes are noted as too salty, not hot enough, or lacking seasoning and some visits feel rushed or louder than desired due to crowds. The service is frequently described as attentive friendly and knowledgeable, making guests feel welcome, but pace can vary on busy nights and timing can be inconsistent. Reservations are advised because the space is compact and the ambiance can be loud, especially at peak hours, yet the overall sentiment remains highly positive with many expressing plans to return. All in all, Dinette Marcella is regarded as one of the top Italian spots in Montreal by many reviewers.
5/5 for everything!! The entire vibe, location & decor is beautiful. Washrooms were very clean & the seating is spacious. The service from Sandy was outstanding. She was friendly, knowledgeable of the menu & always checking up on us. She went out of her way to also sanitize the counter in the washroom for us to change our babies diaper. Some of the best customer service I've ever experienced. The food was fantastic, you can tell fresh ingredients were used, everything came out so hot but the wait times were not long. Our group had a large variety of the dishes & everyone was so happy with their meal. Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone & everyone. We'll 100% be back when in Montreal.
In the heart of Old Montreal, the cozy & warm atmosphere of Marcella was welcomed on a cold January night. A bottle of Valpolicela was a great way to start the night. Two appetizers, the Polpette which are tender & delicious, served in a beautiful tomato sauce, & the Arancini in a truffle cream sauce. Both were exceptional. The cream sauce with the arancini should be bottled because it is so wonderful. Our mains were the bolognese, & we lucked out as the special was a braised beef ravioli served in a cream sauce with a nice portion of chopped lobster claw. Pasta was cooked to perfection, & the sauces were delicious. You cannot go wrong with this restaurant. Strongly recommended!
Jan 3, 2025
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
Atmosphere is beautiful & cozy, food was really good, i ordered the tortellini, the flavor was great but the portion was a bit small for the price, & the I ordered the limonata mocktail, it was good but not worth 13$
Dinette Marcella was as great as I remembered it the first time I went. It's a beautiful, calm atmosphere with great service, drinks & food. The mozzarella sticks are top tier. Everything about this place is great. The menu is a bit small but everything is delicious.
Sep 8, 2024
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
We love this restaurant - the food, the ambience, the service are all excellent. We love the decor & the beautiful open windows that let in fresh breeze. We were unlucky in that it also let in a number of bees & wasps too, which was very unpleasant. This is not the fault of the restaurant though, & hopefully was a one-off incident. We've been before & it was fine.
Beautiful restaurant & great atmosphere with an urban-chic Italian feel. However, we felt rushed by the manager who kept on coming over every couple of minutes for our food order, when we had just been there a couple of minutes. It was a Tuesday night, not extremely busy but we felt that he was on a mission to turn around the table, when there was no one in queue & when we left, the restaurant was half full. But will come back! Hopefully will not feel rushed again! :)
Made a very last minute reservation & so very glad we did! What a lovely restaurant! The food was beautifully presented & equally delicious! Service was very friendly & extremely efficient. The decor is very nice! Terrific cocktail menu. The'Pear Pressure' was my cocktail of choice & it was a good one! Thoroughly enjoyed the cavatelli pesto main course!! We will be back!
Jul 31, 2024
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
The place is really cute, beautiful aesthetic & atmosphere. My niece & I had mocktails which were not very good, but drinkable (very sour). The seafood pasta was supposed to be in a lobster bisque sauce, but it was only a tomato sauce that only tasted like tomatoes. The pasta carbona was salty & tasteless.
Bustling Friday night Italian dinner... the restaurant was booked but we went in at 6:20 to inquire, & the kindest hostess was Able to accommodate us by reserving 7:30 bar seats for of three of us. Even if a table was preferable, the atmosphere, friendly bartenders, & flavourful food made the experience beautifully worth it. The lighting inside, interactions at our barstools, & tasty meals, show that Dinette Marcella is a five star experience :). Thank you to the helpful & kind workers for this wonderful night out.
Wow! What a gem. Food was outstanding & enjoyed every bite. Staff was kind & worked hard. Beautiful decor & atmosphere, a definite must & a definite return!
A favourite dining experience for us in Montreal. Wonderfully kind staff who were nice enough to accommodate our requests. Stunning historic room with large windows that open up to the streets of old Montreal for a lively view. We absolutely loved the dishes we ordered & will certainly dine here again. Ordered the aubergine appetizer (similar to an eggplant Parmigiano or lasagna), beautiful tomato sauce & lightly fried eggplant. We also ordered the carbonara pasta & tartufo gnocchi (made fresh in house!) Lovely meal, generous portions, wonderful ambience & kind staff. We wish we had room for dessert! Recommend booking a table in advance, it was a full room on a Tuesday night!
May 29, 2024
on Google
🍽️
Know where to eat in Montreal before everyone else.
Get the first look at the hottest openings, secret menus, and RestoMontreal.ca's weekly top picks. Join 50,000+ foodies.
Loved everything about this place! Excellent food (the gnocchi were WOW & the burrata was so fresh) & cocktails (I recommend the Pear Pressure!). Great service & beautiful decor. Can't wait to be back!
This is easily one of the best Italian restaurants we've been to, & we've been to A LOT. The place's ambience & decor is lively & beautiful, with twinkling lights & hanging lanterns from the ceiling. The staff was efficient & friendly. Our reservation was for a Friday at 7 PM & we left around 8:15. having enjoyed a three-course meal. It did feel a little bit hectic, kind of like when they expect you to dine quickly so that they can free up the table. Thus, if you are planning on a long relaxing meal, this may not be the place for you. Maybe it's less busy during weekdays.
