Caterina de Medici at The Culinary Institute of America

The steak was incredible, the desserts were incredible, just an incredible experience overall!

We attended a pasta dinner. Nothing ala carte except for a couple of items. Drinks, coffee, and an add on appetizers that was offered all took an extremely long time. We were long done with dessert before the coffee arrived, and it wasn’t hot. The appetizers came after dinner was served. And my glass of wine came after the salad. I still love the place. It won’t stop me from returning.

We went to the pasta dinner. Excellent food and service. Always a wonderful atmosphere!

Wasn’t aware that Saturday evenings were fixed price menu
I prefer ordering from the menu

Unfortunately, they were a little heavy handed with the salt. Just about every plate was over-salted except for the ravioli dish. Appetizers and dessert was great though.

Appetizers came before drinks, no one asked if they could refill drinks. The dessert came and was cleared before coffee came. Did not seem like staff was trained. Bar staff standing around yet drinks were very slow.

Great meal served family style. Great experience. The service is always good.

Unfortunately I wanted to take home some of my food but they didn't pack a few of the items I asked for. The waiter was awful and his attitude wasn't great,

Pasta dinner was predictably good - though the chefs should watch the salt. Some pastas were particularly salty. Dessert was fair

One of the best meals that I have ever eaten. Perfect setting with the noise level low enough that I could enjoy my meal and conversation with my husband. Servers were attentive but not intrusive.

My husband and I were excited to try CIA, particularly Caterina de Medici. Our daughter surprised us with a generous gift certificate to CIA.

The overall service was exceptional, although Angelina, our primary waitstaff, didn't ask if we enjoyed our dinner. I would have told her that the scallops were gritty, sandy. The accompanying vegs. and starch were cold when served. The presentation wasn't very appetizing for either mine or my husband's meal.

The energy at Caterina de Medici was wonderful. Staff couldn't have been MORE accommodating.

We will surely return and select other menu items.

The dinner was fantastic. All the food was delicious and the serving staff was prompt frssional and courteous. I would definitely eat there again.

Everything was lovely. The food was delicious. I highly recommend the branzino. It was incredible ! It was my daughter’s birthday and they tried to make it a bit specials
However if you go understand you are being served by students and ours was terrible. Hahaha! He spilled water on two of us and coffee on one of us. Very hot coffee!
All the coffee saucers were filled with coffee which made the cups drip. He did not clean them. He was super forgetful and didn’t seem to know any dining etiquette . He said he was a second year student. Maybe that’s next year.
Anyway... you should still go. We have been before with great service. It was just a lucky night but it made it very funny and a great memory!

delicious food! great service. There was a large group there but we could still talk to each other..

Excellent food and atmosphere. The service was a little slow but I would rather have it that way then feel rushed. Overall, an exceptional dining experience!

Anniversary

Excellent dinner and ambiance. Wish there was a protein selection during the pasta dinner, but overall it was a great dining experience. Looking forward to returning.

Food was good, Waiter John was great. Disappointed that braised veal was no longer on the menu. Lamp shank was ok but not as good as the braised veal.

Desserts are way to small, coffee was very good.

this was our first visit to the cia. it was an excellent experience in every way. Juan, our waiter, was doing his best to make our evening grand and he succeded grandly. special mention to the service bartender; his cocktails were PERFECT. a DRY chilled glass, garnish & pour were spot-on. In my experience, The Highlands in Birmingham has the best cocktail service...the cia's was at that level of excellence this week. WELL DONE!

We have been coming here for years, and have visited all of the restaurants - but Caterina de Medici is our favorite. As retired teachers ourselves, and with a life-long fondness for fine, authentic cuisine, we always have trouble deciding *which* of the delectable offerings will will combine for our meal. We enjoy watching the development of the future chefs and restaurateurs, and are encouraged by their supervising teachers to ask questions and engage the students in profession-related conversation. We have attended "learning dinners" at various restaurants in the US and and in various countries, and and several times have found *those* not to be of the same high standard as that provided by the staff and future chefs of the CIA. Clearly, their education is thorough and very detail-oriented - and therefore, the entire meal, from greeting thru service and cuisine, is a delightful experience. We will back again - soon! And with more friends!

The waiter was superb. He answered all of our questions and was very attentive. This restaurant has always been wonderful. We look forward to coming back soon. Thank you.

Going for lunch when they have Restaurant Wek or during the slow winter months is an outstanding value. The food was excellent. The service attentive without being intrusive. Lovely atmosphere, like being in Tuscany.

Food was good just needed alittle larger portion. Service was very attentive to our gluten free requirements. Love having gluten free bread. Need more GF options for dessert

My moms 80th birthday and it was the BEST!

One of the tastiest and well-considered meals we have had at the Caterina de Medici room.

Four friends enjoyed a leisurely lunch at an excellent price: $19.99 for three courses; remarkable! Two of us loved the risotto appetizer and the quail stuffed with cabbage; the others were pleased with the gnocchi with cheese fondue, the pork, and the braised veal. We shared a bottle of Nero D'Aola; very tasty. We loved the desserts: vanilla gelato with an espresso sauce poured over it and warm chocolate cake.

The dining room is decorated in a warm Italian style with very comfortable chairs and enough room between tables for comfortable chatting

Our servers were good but not as knowledgeable about the CIA as we would have liked.

Way to much salt on the sauce that was over a beautiful piece of fresh snapper.

Very nice ambience. Very nice service. Expected more of the food for a culinary school. Also messed up our orders on both appetizer and entree and not offered anything to make up for

We had the best experience! They were so accommodating to my Mother who had a lot of allergies, despite the Prix Fix menu. The waiter/staff was so polite as well. Overall, great experience and we will be coming back soon!

Fantastic experience.. treated my adult daughter up there (2.5 hour drive from our house) because she needed a get away from work and school. She loves the restaurants: the level of service, the quality and originality of the meals, the food pairings, and the attentiveness of the staff. Our joke: “I don’t deserve to be treated this well”. It’s not really overpriced either, considering the quality of the food. I was disappointed in one dish and I let the house manager know (remember, the students prepare the food) but the rest were excellent. Next for us is the Borcuse.

A wonderful restaurant, students working both sides of the house, doing an excellent job. The chef on for the night NAILED my medium/rare NY Stripsteak, maybe the best one I've ever had in the 20 years I've been in the US! All of us came out with the feeling of an exceptional mean, in an exceptional setting and exceptional service. Well worth the $$$!

Service was prompt but not rushed.
Food was the perfect temp. and flavor was excellent.
Our servers were curtious and communicated clearly.

It's great to support students to be excellent in the culinary field. Service was very attentive. Food beautifully presented and delicious. The restaurant was very full so the atmosphere was energetic. They ran out of a couple of dessert choices, but substitutions were made.

What a great way to support students as they learn the restaurant business and also be able to enjoy a wonderful meal! The students impressed us with their knowledge of how the meal was prepared and, while they were present in the room, they were not intrusive at all. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon with good food and wine. I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough.

The service is attentive, the food is imaginative and delicious and there are cloth tablecloths and drapes, so it's not noisy even when it's busy. This is one of our favorite places to eat.

Great food though the lamb shank should have been cooked until the meat was falling off the bone. Great service. We really enjoyed the experience.

The baby octopus was a little weird. I did not like the texture. I've had your octopus before and I guess I was kind of expecting something similar. Our waiter was wonderful. My children had the Chicken dish and they were a little disappointed, they would have preferred to have it boneless. They thought it was strange to be picking food off the bone with their fingers. Lastly our guests wanted a digestif, and the waiter was unaware of what she should have. Kind of surprising. Lastly, your beet ravioli was phenomenal. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep up the great work.

Setting is bright, lots of room at tables, plenty of space between table, service is exceptional, lots of wait staff to come around and keep things updated removing finished dishes and glasses and asking for refills. Prix fix winter special is a great value. Don't know if I would go without the price discount. Our entrée cost was more than the three course deal. Tips/gratuity automatically added at 20% to bill so no figuring out additional cost - bill is good to go when it arrives. Had a great time, good meal, relaxing setting.

Service was not up to PAR for CIA restaurants. Order confusion and allergy mistake.

The staff took forever to get to our table even though it was a quiet evening. Our waitress paid more attention to the table next to us. The food was not anything out of this world. The dessert tasted store bought. For two people, the bill was $111. We could have paid less at any Italian restaurant and gotten more.
I truly thought this place was going to be amazing, however, it did not meet our expectations. And, it's not like we're fancy foodie people. We just wanted to eat yummy food. It was not yummy.