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Michael's Restauraunt
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
19 reviews for Michael's Restauraunt
19 reviews in English
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Review from Amanda A.
4/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
I always feel right at home at Michael's. Plain and simple: I love their sauce. I always order the soup, a basic pasta dish and never finish. The portions are HUGE and the service is incredibly fast. I've never had anything I didn't like here. They have a delicious antipasto that my parents always order, and the greens and beans is my favorite. My boyfriend likes the eggplant parm, the gnocchi, and parms whatever dish he gets (they offer this option)...he insisted I add this into my review.
I guess they serve a nice Sunday Brunch too! -
Review from Fox E.
Clarence, NY
Updated - 12/9/2011
How was I the first person to review Michael's? That makes about as much sense as bombing another country for their own protection. ;)
Tied with Roman Cafe, this is my favourite Italian Restaurant in Western New York (and the world, since my fave two are in Western New York!).
Michael's is a lovely and excellent family-owned Italian restaurant in the heart of Niagara Falls, USA, that I'm willing to travel over an hour to, despite there being a hundred other Italian places that are closer to my house. The service is mixed: one older waitress who has been there years is a joy to order food from, and makes you feel truly welcome. A couple of the other waitresses including a spectacularly beautiful young lady with a very dark tan and black hair, are much less welcoming and abrupt in a typically youthful manner, but very good looking.
The food is wonderful, but you need to know what to order. Yes, everything is good, but you really must try the Beans And Greens soup. I don't like soup, but it's so good I could live off it. It's the best soup I've ever tasted. It's so wholesome, amazing, garlicy, dreamy, delicious and sinful, it's indescribable. It's worth the price of admission all by itself. Then there's the salad with the added Rolled Mozzarella balls (upgrade to it, it's called Chef's Salad). Absolutely phenomenal!
The entrees are sometimes lacking something, it depends what you get. Their tomato sauce is some of the best I have ever tried, and they are famous for it. However their signature dish, The Chicken Parmesan, is a little bit like schnitzel in that it's too crispy, too thin, and not chickeny enough, the veal is a similar story (a bit like a fried burger patty), so I never order those anymore. I've started getting the Eggplant Parm because it's healthier for you and much juicier and more delicious than the Chicken Parm! You can substitute Gnocchi for the regular kinds of pasta - do it! It's so fluffy, milky, some of the best pasta I've tried, it is incredibly filling and comforting.
If you prefer Pizza... Their pizza is excellent. As long as you're getting the Beans-N-Greens and their salad with Rolled Mozzarella, with whatever dish you order, you're going to leave happy. The prices are decent if not bargain basement, but the portions are enough to feed some small countries. They are probably the biggest portions I have ever seen.
PS
I saw someone complaining about their (awesome) salad and their (orgasmic homemade) sauce, and about a lack of choice of sauce. Well that is how we do things up here! Family Italian places have their own style of sauce, and it goes on everything. That's how it's always been and long may it stay that way. -
Review from Jody G.
12/6/2011
I kinda feel like anyone can boil up a box of pasta. If you're a newbie, set the timer on the stove for the number of minutes it says on the box, and when you hear the "ding" just drain and the pasta will be al dente. So for me it's not about the pasta. It's the sauce. And "Michael's" has great sauce! Not too sweet... not too acidic. Just perfect!
This place isn't fancy, but the service is always good, the prices reasonable, the portions huge, and the food yummy. There are many, many pasta choices, as well as "American" dinners, sandwiches, pizzas, salads, and calzones. And, there are always interesting specials listed on the board.
Most recently I ate here with my favorite dinner companion. This time rather than ordering different things and sharing tastes we both had the exact same thing.... Spaghetti Parmesan Dinner with Meatballs. Dinners come with either a salad or a cup of soup. We both had the Beans and Greens soup which is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I would make the drive just for that soup!!
The pasta was perfectly cooked and the meatballs were definitely homemade, and the entire dish was covered with PLENTY of bubbly cheese. And, the portion was HUGE. But, we knew it would be. Of course you can get a "half order".... but it's so much more fun to get the full size one (for just about a dollar more!) and take half of it home for the next day. -
Review from Debora S.
Lockport, NY
5/17/2012
The place is nothing to look at...if youre fat you wont fit in the doorway...its loud...the food is always good and the portions are large. Enough said.
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Review from John D.
Fort Worth, TX
4/15/2012
Great place. Found this place on Yelp and it didn't disappoint. Basic, tasty homemade Italian. Nice quick service. Lots of food for the money. Tasty bread, great greens and beans soup, delicious ravioli.
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Review from Blazer P.
Vancouver, WA
4/8/2012
OK, so I'm from Oregon and we have Mexican food there, not Italian. My first time in the great state of New York and we went to see Niagra Falls (more than lived up to the hype!) and were looking around for some Italian food and found Michael's.
The decor is fine and as it was busy at 2PM we were feeling good about our choice.
We had a pizza and a calzone. Now this was Italian food!! Very different from west coast Italian and I wish I could find a better word, but it was "alive". From crusts to real pepperoni... it was just an excellent meal.
Highly recommended by this west coast boy. -
Review from Aimee L.
West Falls, NY
3/20/2012
Just thinking about a calzone from Michael's makes me quiver with delight!! It will feed two or three people, depending on their appetites or give one person at least two meals! Their sauce is yummy and their gnocchi is delicious! The downsides to Michael's are parking and seating. I usually have my mom, who is in a wheelchair, with me and it's pretty awkward and tight in there so we don't go as much as I'd like.
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Review from Allen B.
Nazareth, PA
1/18/2012
If there is one thing I hate when dining out, it's being rushed. I called this place at 7:45 and asked what time they are open till. They said 10:00. I arrived at 8:20 and the place had 4 people in the entire joint. The servers were obviously in a rush to leave and constantly rushed through everything to get me out the door as soon as possible. The food and menu were mediocre at best. I will never return - this place is a waste of time and money. Don't go.
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Review from Chelsea D.
Queens, NY
4/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
I am rarely let down by fellow Yelpers in New York City. Even if I don't get a chance to read the reviews, I usually have at least a three star time for those places rated with 3+ stars. Yelpers in NYC, they watch out for me, and I appreciate it. I figured the same courtesy would be extended to me elsewhere in the state and country. But I was wrong. I was so, so wrong.
I am not entirely sure where the people who gave this place 5 star reviews have eaten before, but I'm going to make the harsh assumption that they've never eaten anywhere else. Because nothing about this place is worth 5 stars. Maybe the service; our waitress was nice and the hostess was pretty nice as well and the food got to us in a decent amount of time, but that's it. That is the only good thing about this restaurant. And honestly, I should have anticipated that the only good thing would be the service when I realized that the menu didn't even have a choice of sauces.
First we received our obligatory basket of bread -- three or four cold slices of a large, soft, nondescript loaf of white bread slapped into a basket with three times the necessary amount of butter packages. Gross. Super super super gross.
Then came the salads. Iceberg lettuce, two cherry tomatoes, two slices of pickle (what?), and rolled up deli-sliced mozzarella cheese completely covered in a half inch thick slathering of bleu cheese dressing. Super gross! Pretty much inedible.
After that, the entrees. I ordered ravioli, and got seven giant most likely frozen raviolis covered in what I'm pretty sure was Ragu sauce. Boyfriend ordered chicken parmesan and got some breaded chicken covered in deli-sliced mozzarella and the same Ragu sauce. He also got french fries, and those were pretty good.
In total with tip, the bill was $40! making it our most expensive "non-fancy" meal of the trip.
In short, if you like Italian food, don't come here. And if you like Ragu and frozen food, just buy it at the grocery store and make it at home. -
Review from ADAM V.
Atlanta, GA
7/23/2011
Much love I have for this restaurant. I used to live in the falls and came here frequently. I got the chance to visit in May and Michael's was the one Italian stop on the food tour. Amazing is all I can say. I had the veal parm and my partner had a "calzone the size of your head." Hopefully, someday soon we will visit again!.
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Review from Jen L.
11/2/2009
Michael's has got sort of a "Your Host" feel to it, all booths and plastic-covered menus. However, that being said - their sauce is delicious.
I wish whoever writes the daily specials on the whiteboard could spell a little better, but I'm a bitch about that kind of thing. -
Review from Aich K.
Lockport, NY
2/27/2010
Rave-E-Olis!
I can't say enough about Michael's Restaurant. Whatever you do, make sure you order the soup. The soupses are always good, any kind! Even the muchroom and muchrooms are fungus. You could stun a yak with their raveolis, their so big! And many! The sauce is sweet and yummy, the bread is fresh and yummy, and the bathrooms are tiny, not yummy. And the bread is free, but I bet you still have to order something or they wont give it to you free. I dont know because I havent tried. Good luck to you if you want to.
Pros: Some of the best Italian food!
Cons: Ive never been able to order desert! Im too full! And the straws are all crinkled from being in the waitrsses' pockets to long!Listed in: Restaurants
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Review from Linda H.
Buffalo, NY
1/31/2011
I love this restaurant. My parents went here when they were dating, I went as a child, and have taken my own children who are now adults here. I moved out of the area - as part of the area's brain drain - a little over 13 years ago. When I visit the area i always insist on eating here.
The beauty of the place is that it never changes which is the way that it should be. All of the food is delicious. I always want to order everything on the menu because everything is so good.
Their pizza has the taste of really good homemade pizza rather than a pizza assembly line. I love eggplant parmigiana and theirs is perfect. I could go on & on about each and every menu item but I'm sure that you get the picture.
ALL of the servers are fantastic - young & old. In fact, I have always been impressed with the teenagers that work there. They are exceptionally friendly and are good at what they do.
Who cares if it is crowded and has plastic tablecloths and menus? It's part of the wonderful history and memories that go with this place.
When people tell me that they are going to Niagara Falls, I give them directions to Michael's. They always call me and thank me.
Please never change a thing or ever close this restaurant. It needs to be declared a Niagara Falls landmark. -
Review from GoPhast A.
Norfolk, VA
1/30/2011
meh. my pasta was overcooked, the atmosphere was dark, dated and depressing (kinda like niagara falls, ny), the pizza was good - not great.
however, the soup was to die for. yup. best ever soup! -
Review from Darren R.
Niagara Falls, NY
3/12/2011
Amazing, nice and quiet restaurant! A must when in town!
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Review from David D.
12/29/2010
I've never had better restaurant service anywhere, ever. The only down-side to this was the booths and tables were a bit crammed. The booth by the door also had a cold breeze coming in. The greens and pea soup was delicious, and the main course portions were huge. But don't fret, they even wrap your left overs up for you!
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Review from Carly R.
Scottsdale, AZ
7/28/2010
When I come "home" to Niagara, Michael's is #1 on my list to eat. I grew up in Arizona, but my family is from Niagara Falls, so when I visited a couple times a year growing up, I became accustom to this wonderful authentic Italian food, and it is my very favorite. The lasagna is mouth watering and where else can you get salad with big chunks of cheese?!?! I wish I had a Michael's closer to home, but I guarantee each and every time I come back to NF I will be sitting in a small Michael's booth, savoring every bite!
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Review from Liz S.
Kingston, NY
4/26/2010
All time favorite...i may be biased since I grew up here, but I never visit home without stopping at Micheal's. The beans and greens soup with a side of garlic toast is a must. The house salad with their homemade dressing is excellent, too. For a real taste of Niagara Falls Italian cooking...try any of their pastas. I'm partial to the baked ziti. Micheal's also holds it down with their pizza and wings. Great for late night eats.
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Review from Chris C.
Lewiston, NY
7/20/2010
I'm not sure where the other folks who have written a review of Michael's may have eaten before, but in my opinion this place just sucks. To me the food is just plain, bland and pretty awful. It also feels like being surrounded by wanabee old time gangsters sitting in a booth. Pretty tacky I would say. I have eaten here twice and each time the pasta has been way overcooked, and the sauce reminds me of store bought jar contents at best. I know this place seems to be a favorite among many locals, and for that reason I would like to say something different, but for the life of me I just can't understand why that would be the case. It baffles me. In my opinion do yourself a favor and eat at home. If you have even a very basic skill in cooking, you will probably at least equal this place. Otherwise you will sadly no doubt be quite disappointed. Edible at best is all I can say. On the plus side, the portions are huge, and I must agree with Fox E. that although one of the waitresses is stunningly beautiful, she seems almost rude in manner, and none of that makes up for the plain awful food.
