Depalma’s Italian Cafe

All eight people in my party though the good was superb! The atmosphere was great and the service was too.

My all time favorite is the PASTA DEPALMA dish. It’s a angel hair pasta baked in rosemary alfredo sauce with chicken, mushrooms and mozzarella and petite salad. I’d add one of salads either mixed field greens, greek or apple walnut salads. Don’t worry about your waste line at least while you’re dining here and don’t miss out on breadsticks. I’ve been a customer of Depalma’s since 1997 consistently. A great date, family gathering, or catch-​up with a friend restaurant that won’t disappoint.

I discovered this place while looking for an Italian restaurant with a friend. We both got the Shrimp Charmaine and literally it’s THE BEST! I came back couple more times within a few month just to have that dish. They also serve complementary bread which is also very delicious. I tried not to fill up too much on it so I can enjoy the pasta but I always end up asking for more bread. Overall, this is an excellent restaurant.
P. S. They ask if you would like salad with your pasta but it cost extra. Didn’t know this the first time and ended up paying way more than expected.

Drove over to Athens to see a show at the Classic Center.
Walked past a couple of eateries and chose Depalmas.
Girlfriend and I both enjoyed our meals.
Foccacia bread is really very good as was the eggplant.

Great food and wait staff. We had 9 for an early pre show dinner. Everyone was extremely happy with all of the meal suggestions. The lasagna special and tortolini/​sausage were the favorites. Most importantly, the staff (Meredith) was very helpful in menu suggestions and accommodating special requests. This is now our fav in Athens.

The eggplant was amazing. Order breadsticks as soon as you sit down. They’re not to be missed!

Had to sit at bar … This is as fine, b/​c bartender was great! However, seat very hard — had told host I have a back problem. He made zero effort to move me to a booth. Minus one star.
The bartender = 2 stars. The bread = 1 star.
Had requested my son be given extra noodles, since he only eats pasta with butter. Result: no extra noodles! Tried the Eggplant — poorly seasoned. Generic.
Cannot remember the name of the bartender, but he’s the reason for the 3 stars!

My first time here was pretty swell, but that was at another location, a less crowded one definitely.
Came on a Friday night for a small party.
Service was great and very attentive and talked most of us into the specials while I cowered at the thought of trying something new and ordered plain chicken fettuccine.
Caught the restaurant at a bad time and waited over 40 min for food. Was not a happy camper but at least the server compensated with continual bread offerings. Our food came and mine was not worth the 40 min wait.
My advice is to NOT get the chicken fettuccine and try something else. The sauce lacked flavor and the chicken was dry. Peas didn’t go well with it.
I am definitely willing to try something else on the menu since this place has a lot of potential!

Let’s start with the outstanding
Anything with the scallops
Homemade focaccia bread
Breadsticks-​best part of the meal
Pasta cooked just right aldente
Now the not so good
Anything with tough small shrimp
Shrimp scampi with extra garlic which didn’t have extra garlic
And finally the horrendous
Meatballs that were lumps of unseasoned ground beef, not browned just plain yuck

Like the menu pasta is what they have and the bread AND SOOOOO GOOD. My husband created his own dish with meatballs and he. loved it.
I had the shrimp fettuccine with sun dried cream sauce and oh did I mention the bread.

I’ve had several meals here; some have been 4 stars, others 3 stars. The variance of the meals caused me to hold off on reviewing them for a while, but I am reviewing based on my most recent meal, which is a buckwheat pasta with mild mushrooms. It was cooked properly, but the flavor was fairly dull – pretty much one note, unexciting. It would’ve benefited from an additional ingredient or two, to diversify the flavor. At $ 14 for the dinner entrée, it’s not too pricey but also not particularly cheap.

You know that question in your «About Me» section on your profile that asks what your last meal on Earth would consist of? For me — it’s Depalma’s Goat Cheese Ravioli without question.
I went to school at UGA and was thrilled to discover the wonder that is Depalma’s. Even now when I make a return trip to Athens, it’s on my short list of places I have to visit every time I come. When you walk in the door, you’re greeted by a smiling host who is happy to seat you in one of the comfiest booths ever. There are tons of vintage art and movie posters on the wall that come from the early 1900s with lots of Italian flare. There’s a cozy bar setup with an impressive wall of liquor and their wine list is well regulated. They’ve got a separate room with a view of the kitchen (my favorite place to sit since you can see the cooks and flames shooting up) and a separate private dining room where you can host events and get-​togethers.
The wait staff here is great. They really know their menu and are happy to recommend a good bottle of wine to pair with your selection. You can tell they love the food as much as the diners do and are passionate about their trade. On my last visit to Athens I stopped in for an early lunch with a girlfriend and the restaurant was a little slow. The waiter chatted and joked with us and made sure we were well taken care of. The extra attention definitely went the extra mile.
For starters, we of course got the goat cheese ravioli. If you get nothing else at Depalma’s please get this — I’m begging you. Five pieces of deliciously made ravioli with just enough bite that has warm gooey goat cheese filling. It pairs perfectly with the pear wine sauce they glaze it with and the roasted, candied walnuts and gorgonzola/​blue cheese on top knock it out of the park. I also highly recommend their apple walnut salad as a starter. It comes with a balsamic vinaigrette, but I always switch that out for their house made gorgonzola dressing. The mixed greens come with thinly shaved green apple slices, candied walnuts, gorgonzola, and red onions and is always fresh and super tasty. You can get it as a side salad or a main course.
On my most recent lunch visit, I opted to go with the calzone which was HUGE. I couldn’t finish hardly half of it and ate the other half for lunch the next day. They have build your own options with tons of toppings and specialty offerings or you can choose from a palate they’ve created. The pizzas are done in the same way and are fantastic. The crust is perfectly chewy with a little crunch on the outside and the cheese stringy and melted just right — like an Italian pie should be.
On past visits I’ve sampled various pasta offerings and they’re all wonderful. They change up their lasagna offering daily depending on what’s local and in season and during the week they have lunch specials that give you a slice, salad, and soda (perfect for the college student on a budget who can’t for the life of them eat another PB&J). I’ve had nothing but good experiences at Depalma’s over the years and their attention to detail and quality keeps me coming back for more.

We stopped in on a Wednesday night around 8. Not really that crowded which was nice after a long drive into town. Had a very nice and funny waitress and the meal was great. Wife and daughter shared a Margherita pizza and I had chicken parm. Both were excellent.

Nice atmosphere and our waiter did a great job. Food took a while, but was delicious and worth the wait. Highly recommended.

My husband loves Italian. If we are traveling and anyone asks him, what would you like for dinner? His answer will be «Italian» every… time…
Ok, so that meant our recent trip to Athens Georgia had to include at least one nice Italian place so we hit Depalma’s one busy weekend for dinner. Here’s my review!
We sat at the bar — yes there were tables available. No we didn’t have a reservation. Yes we are weird that way.
Bartender was great — never let our glasses go empty, attentive, talkative without being intrusive. We enjoyed a nice glass of port and they even have grappa! Didn’t have a grappa, but am always impressed when I see it available. Now if only I would start seeing some good sherry options on wine lists, that and absinthe and I’d be one happy girl — but I digress…
Nice glass of wine — great wine list and very excellent wine glasses — more restaurants need to realize how important wine glasses are! Started with a cesar salad which was perfectly dressed. I have an unusual love for gnocchi, can never get enough gnocchi. They said they don’t make it there but it sure tasted fresh, just the way it should, soft but not too mushy. I had this with the tomato vodka sauce which was good but not excellent — needed more vodka. I always think this since I started to make my own vodka sauces at home — vodka sauce needs lots of vodka :)
Atmosphere is classy, almost chic. You could wear a suit/​dress but also feel comfy in jeans. It was about 1000 degrees out on this early August evening and we walked from the hotel so I was like a wet washcloth when I arrived… but I digress again.
Overall highly recommend this lovely Italian place!

LOVE DePalma’s. My brother went to UGA and I have been many times over the past 6 years even after he graduated. Food is great and so is the atmosphere. Servers are very professional and attentive, they run a tight shift for sure. I end up getting the Eggplant florentine a lot of the time. DIfferent twist on an eggplant parm, very flavorful and has some spinach angel hair tucked underneath. Their cheesy bread is phenomenal, we always get that in big groups. Overall great place right DT.

A go-​to place for a classic night out in downtown, Athens. Nice classy interior, great wine choice, and efficient service. It’s well decorated for a date, a family night, or just a night out with friends. The wine list is a very good complement to the dinner menus. Delicious wines! I’ve tried the riesling, malbec, and pino grigio, and they were fantastic. The service depends on the night. I went with a large group of friends once and receieved a very rushed, lacking service (but it’s understandable to an extent considering we were a large party). The waitress rarely peeked her head in. However, when I went with just a few friends, this waiter was very helpful, knowledgable, and friendly. We had a great time, even though it was a busy game day.
The only thing I would be iffy about is the food. I’ve only ever tried the pastas, but they’re not something I find myself craving. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good… just average-​good. Still, I return to this place because it’s a nice place at a prime location downtown.

Bad service — the server took away my partner’s plate while I was still eating, never refilled our water and then came out with the bill. All while I was still eating! The food also took ridiculously long and wasn’t worth the wait.
I went here because when I Unilocal searched gluten free restaurants they came up. First, they didn’t have any quinoa pasta. I was also told that when the do have it, they cook it in the same water as the regular pasta. A big NO if you are advertising as gluten free. So we had the mushrooms and a couple of salads. I am also feeling sick to the stomach as i write this so Avoid if possible.

I came for lunch the other day and was so happy to see delicious lunch specials, and of course, my fave meatball and onion braided breadsticks. The marscapone ravioli paired amazingly well with the spicy charmaine sauce — I highly recommend the combo! Delicious! I ended my lunch with a delicious cup of lemon ginger tea. Well done, DePalma’s!
Move to Atlanta, plllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

Every time I come to Athens, I HAVE to come to this place. Between all of my visits to this city, I have probably dined at DePalma’s about six times. And every time, it is a 5-​star visit.
This past visit, we went on back-​to-​back nights. The server was very cool and down-​to-​earth. It wasn’t too busy on these weeknights, so we actually spoke to him for quite a while. All the meals were excellent (as usual), but the standouts were the Eggplant Florentine and the Basil Gnocchi with Pesto. Both «wow» dishes. They have a good wine selection by the glass, with a great selection of bottles at reasonable prices. They even have some excellent high-​end wines. And their bread with olive oil and balsamic is an excellent pre-​meal treat.
We didn’t try the desserts this time around, but I do want to mention that they have a good selection of scotch. I usually go for the Oban 14, but this time went for Compass Box «Hedonism.» If you drink scotch and are open to various types/​profiles, get this. Trust me.