Pinocchio's Italian Eatery

Tim Worley

Me and my family are new to the Brighton area, however Pinocchio's name has been mentioned a couple of times. Making it a must try for us. Immediately upon walking in you're greeted with a smell that can only be described as cleaning products masking the smell of something else. The decor and atmosphere reminded us of any episode of kitchen nightmares before the makeovers. After seating, and plenty of red flags, we then pull up the reviews and quickly discovered almost all recent reviews were 1 star with a copy and pasted response from Pinocchio themselves for each one. We contemplated getting up and leaving but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt because of the recommendations. There were 8 tables with people when we arrived at 6:30pm, there was 1 server for all 8 tables, including us making 9, his name was Wes and honestly he's the only reason this isn't getting a 1 star review. We then overheard the manager state to another table, but never to us, that they were out of half the menu, which not a huge deal to us because we weren't interested in any of those items. However if we were it would have been a major disappointment. We sat in front of the kitchen and could see and hear most of everything in the back, first we could hear manager or chef giving instructions on preparing food to someone else by how long to microwave almost everything. Second, 3 people working in the kitchen. All seemed to be hanging out on the clock while Wes was host, server, busboy and probably prepared our salads himself. The one chance he had, he used the restroom after literally running around the restaurant, the manager seemed upset at him being away. By 7 o clock the manager was telling all new people walking in,"sorry we're closed" each time with a different excuse, all of which were lies, "the fridge is broken","we have no ice", etc. hours posted said closed at 8:30 When our food came it was exactly what we were overhearing, microwavable frozen food at 10-20 dollars a plate. Would never recommend this establishment, would highly recommend Wes.

Crystal Gutierrez

I really wanted to like this place from some of the reviews, but unfortunately we will not be returning. The waitress was really sweet, but very scattered as well. Now, she was the only waitress there and another waiter showed up about 15 min later, but man, super spacey and just couldn’t get orders right, from giving us someone else’s order, to not getting our order correct and then even bringing us some bread and then taking it away because it belonged to another table. At that point, we were really just trying to be patient. Then came the food, I will just say this, I took maybe two bites and my boyfriend couldn’t even eat his. The chicken was like rubber and the flavors were just not good at all. We literally asked for the check and left full plates there. The salads were edible, but was a mixture of wilted lettuce with green lettuce, just not great. I hate to give a negative review like this, but I rely on reviews and I wish I would’ve known all this before spending over $40 for myself and my boyfriend. Sad to say, but you’re better off going to Olive Garden. Management, I truly think it’s time to really pay attention to the quality of food that is being served for the prices. Also, while I understand there is a shortage of staff out there, maybe communicate with staff to see what is missing and some of their stresses, needs and concerns. I know when management takes care of their employees, employees will go above and beyond because they feel appreciated and cared for. I hope for the business, the employees and customers things can turn around. Although, who knows, maybe we just went on a bad day.

Jeff Zimmerman

Fantastic if you’re in the mood for Italian. We’ve often try new things on the menu and have yet to be disappointed. Portions are plentiful, service is quick and restaurant is clean. If theirs one thing I could add it would be cannolis! We are the cannolis? They have many other deserts but missing my favorite. Fair pricing overall, will be back! Leave a "Like" if this reviewed helped. Thanks!

Jason Duncan

Great ambiance and great staff. The food is awesome too! I had the lasagna with Spicy Italian sausage added. Was the bomb 💣