Penne is a modern Italian restaurant with an emphasis on fresh, handmade pastas that are served in a fun, stylish dining room. An extensive wine program, featuring selections by the glass or flight, compliments the outstanding bar menu.
"My girlfriend's family was in town recently for a night and due to her grandmother's age, we were looking for a nice Italian place near Drexel's campus, where we live. So I took a gamble on a restaurant I'd never been to, and booked a res at Penne. From first walking in, the restaurant is appropriately nice - not overly-fancy, but definitely an upper-scale feel to the place. Her family was impressed with the wine list and raved about the food. Without being too over-the-top expensive or extravagant, Penne pulled off what felt like a really nice dinner at a much higher end restaurant. Penne made me look good for my first encounter with my girlfriend's family, and that's worth everything. Definitely reccomending this place to my friends."
Dined on 6/13/2013
2013
Special Features: good for groups, notable wine list, neighborhood gem, hot spot
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"Lunch was great at Penne. The server was excellent and the food was extremely tasty. I also enjoyed the wine. I rate this is a great place to take someone to lunch!"
Dined on 6/04/2013
Special Features: great for lunch
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"Service was terrible. We had to ask for everything including plates, the wine list, a kids menu, and booster seat. The waiter couldn't even give reccomendations. He was very rude. And it's not like it was busy because we went early with kids and no one was there. The ziti was wonderful. My husbands sea bass was at best okay. Not very much flavor. The wine (super tuscan) we choose was great. But when you're paying that for a place, I would expect better service. Was at the same par for service as the Hilton hotel since we were staying there. Wouldn't reccomend either the restaurant or hotel."
Dined on 6/01/2013
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"Food and wine better than usual for a hotel restaurant. A safe bet if you are looking for an agreeable meal and decent glass of wine at reasonable prices. Desserts are surprisingly good. Overall, surprised on the upside. If you are staying at the hotel and looking for convenience, you won't be disappointed."
Dined on 5/23/2013
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"This has always been our go-to place because they had the best calamari. Recently they've taken it off the menu, and I haven't found anything else I really like. Their gnocchi and ravioli are way too dry, they have increased the prices on their wine list (I can buy a whole bottle of the same skimpy glass of wine for the same $$), and the price of their margarita has almost doubled while the size of the drink has been significantly reduced. Service this time was very slow (25 minutes to even get our drink order in) and blatantly rude. Plus the waiters consistently forget appetizers or drinks that we've ordered.
This used to be our favorite restaurant and was always our go-to for a nice night out. They have now lost two customers."
Dined on 5/18/2013
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"My boyfriend and I dined here one Friday night and had a wonderful time. Penne far exceeded our expectations. All dishes were served promptly and with beautiful presentation. We loved the ricotta appetizer, the bolognese pasta dish, the duck tenderloin, and the custard dessert. Our server was friendly and attentive, and the chef even came over to our table to ensure we were pleased with our food. What a nice touch! All in all it was a great dining experience and we'll be sure to return and recommend Penne to our friends and family."
Dined on 3/23/2013
Special Features: fit for foodies, romantic, notable wine list, neighborhood gem, special occasion
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"Three of us had different selections and we were all highly satisfied. The pasta dishes are always excellent, but this trip I tried the scallops which were delicious."
Dined on 5/11/2013
Special Features: neighborhood gem, great for lunch, special occasion
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"I really love everything about this restaurant. The small bar is cozy with a great bartender and the food never disappoints. I can't eat anything with gluten and Penne goes above and beyond in making sure everything is perfect for anyone with food allergies. I had gluten free pasta with a creamy mixed variety of mushroom sauce that was top notch. My husband had wild mushroom ravioli with a side of sautéed kale and garlic. Both dishes were excellent. We've eaten there many times and are never disappointed. Two thumbs up to chef and staff at Penne."
Dined on 5/09/2013
Special Features: good for groups, neighborhood gem, special occasion
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"I like how the kitchen was open in the front and you can see them cooking your food. it was a very quiet atmosphere, the food was excellent, the servings was more then enough and was seasoned really well."
Dined on 5/03/2013
Special Features: great for outdoor dining, great for brunch, kid-friendly
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"Reservation for two on Saturday night, 4/13/13, at 6:00. Second time there. At that hour, not busy, so "noise level" was very quiet. Got busier by the time we left, but still a quiet noise level. Service outstanding, and food very good. Prices reasonable for what you get and a decent value. Would return again."
Dined on 04/13/2013
2010
Special Features: neighborhood gem
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"A stunning room! Food was prepared beautifully. Loved the prefix menus. Wine bar with many by the glass. Quiet enough to talk. Romantic enough to look into your sweety's eyes. Loved everything about the Inn at Penn and especially Penne."
Dined on 04/09/2013
2006
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups, romantic
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"Service and ambiance were good. The salads were well prepared and tasty. Of the three main dishes ordered, one was excellent, one was very good, and one had very little taste."
Dined on 04/14/2013
2008
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"I loved this restaurant and would definitely come back. This restaurant is within a hotel and the lighting was the right setting not to bright and not to dark. There were both tables and booths creating a cozy atmosphere. The service was wonderful warm and friendly from the moment I arrived. As far as the food it was very good me and my friend shared fried calamari it was nice and golden and very tender. My entree was sweet potato ravioli in a cream sauce it was delicious."
Dined on 03/25/2013
2013
Special Features: good for groups, romantic, special occasion
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"We were staying at the Inn at Penn and so had reservations at Penne for conveniences' sake. But the service and the meal was as good as any we might hope for had this been a "destination". We had fresh and interesting salads, delicious ristotto and complex, tasty wild mushroom ragu rigatoni. Both our waiter and the maitre d' brought professionalism and warmth to the table - happily omitting the awful "hi, I'm xx. I'll be your waiter tonight.""
Dined on 03/20/2013
2013
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Review 24 for Penne Restaurant
Overall rating
(Fair)2/5
OpenTable Diner
Food
(Fair)2/5
Service
(Poor)1/5
Ambiance
(Good)3/5
Noise Level
Moderate
"We were a party of 5 welcoming a new staff person to the department. We all ordered pasta dishes: 2 gnocchi, 2 shrimp fusilli and the other ravioli. the shrimp fusilli came without the shrimp and had to be returned to the kitchen. Our waitress never apologized or commented at all. We all noticed that the portions were EXTREMELY small - they actually looked like an appetizer portion, not a lunch portion. Except for the bread on the table, there was no other food; no salad along side the entree. Had we known, we might have ordered a salad. While the food was well-prepared and tasty, we did not feel it was enough. Our waitress never asked if we wanted dessert; we had to ask for menus. We were very disappointed."
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Review 25 for Penne Restaurant
Overall rating
(Fair)2/5
OpenTable Diner
Food
(Good)3/5
Service
(Poor)1/5
Ambiance
(Very Good)4/5
Noise Level
Quiet
"Lovely restaurant but the service was very slow. They seemed understaffed. Our meals would have been delicious but my salmon was very undercooked and inedible. When I asked if the chef would please cook it more, they threw my perfectly good but rare salmon away, cooked another fish and brought that to me totally undercooked as well. I has finished the rest of my meal by then so I never ate the salmon. The manager did not charge me for the salmon which was nice but he did not seem bothered by the poor service or the waste b"
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"I thought it was funny that the name of the restaurant was named "Penne" and they didn't serve Penne pasta. The pasta was just OK. Nothing special. Didn't taste like home-made as claimed. The martini glass was small compared to the price they charged for a drink. Overall the service was good."
Dined on 03/16/2013
2009
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"The garden salad was delicious. For some reason they had to cook my steak 3x so everyone else was almost done with their meals. They didn't charge for it but the shoestring potatoes were dry/overcooked and the warm chocolate tort a was not warm so overall it was a disappointing lunch. It will be a while before I will eat there again."
Dined on 03/07/2013
2007
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"The food at Penne never disappoints. This is the restaurant we like to take all of our out of town visitors from other Universities or from Pharmaceutical companies. However, the portion sizes are getting smaller and smaller! I know its lunch and all... but still. If i'm paying $14 for a pasta dish, I want to be at least a little bit full when I leave.
Oh well... it's still delicious and I'll keep coming back."
Dined on 03/05/2013
2008
Special Features: fit for foodies, special occasion, great for lunch
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"We were here for lunch. The lunch portions are just perfect. Homemade pasta is delicious, gnocchi was light and tasty. I did enjoy the grilled scallops."
Dined on 02/28/2013
2007
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups, special occasion, great for lunch
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"Very convenient to Annenberg Theater complex-right across the street. Service was a little slow, and we had made it clear we were going to the theater. Food very fresh, and nice mixture of flavors, but it was a little difficult to find heart-healthy selections, or smaller portions for those of us who are concerned with health issues, and also who don't want to fall asleep in the theater after a large meal, or cart around half a filet of cooked fish to the theater. We have been to other Italian restaurants which specify heart-healthy selections and portion control. Otherwise it was fine."
Dined on 02/27/2013
2010
Special Features: fit for foodies, good for groups
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"I started looking for restaurants too late for Valentine's Day and this one was the only one that had tables. I thought because of location across from U of Penn that it would not be very fancy. However, it was quite elegant and very appropriate for a Valentine's night dinner."
Dined on 02/14/2013
2008
Special Features: neighborhood gem, romantic, special occasion
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"Amazing how this place can even ruin pasta (ravioli had crust so thick it felt like a sticky sandwich, the sauce tasted like Krafts cheesefood. But it is convenient for Penn people meeting hotel visitors, so it does a certain amount of business"
Dined on 01/21/2013
2007
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