In Business Since 1976
(248) 474-3033
The Best Kept Secret In Metropolitan Detroit. Exquisitely Prepared Food & Genuine Italian Hospitality
Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri 11:30am-11pm, Sat 5am-11pm, Sun Closed
AMEX, DISCOVER, MASTERCARD, VISA
Features: DiRoNA, Cigar Dinners, Credit Cards, Great Wines, Parking, Private Parties, Reservations, Smoking
Reservations: Takes Reservations.
* Hour Detroit Restaurant Of The Year
* Wine Spectator Award of Excellence Winner
* Zagat Rated
Review it at YellowPages.com
Posted by tiptopdiva on 9/27/2009
A mouse-like rodent ran across my foot while waiting for a table. The host was not concerned, he mentioned it was cold and that the doors had been open a lot. Makes me wonder exactly how many vermin occupy Cafe Cortina. The fact that the waitstaff/host/owner did nothing or even apologize was the most disturbing. If you can get past the rodents, the food is quite delicious.
Posted by TATAR on 9/5/2009
I took nine of my friends to Cafe Cortina last night for our anniversary and frankly was quite disappointed. The attentiveness and ambiance was good. The service was quite poor, servers were confused who had what food hence wrong food was placed in front of several (most) people. We had to actually shift food out of several plates to get the right food and sides in front of the right person!!! The starchy foods, such as pasta and side potatoes, were extremely salty and not uniform in taste, e.g. the lobster pasta had globs of salt here and there. They brought the Prawns grilled when the menu indicated they were sautéed. Servers were attentive but not trained properly. I recommend the place only to very small groups, like two. Double check the menu and food preparedness with the servers and don't assume you will get what you think you ordered. If you don't like too much salt, let them know that specifically. Go there when its nice out and ask for outside seat ing. Inside is nice but somewhat ruined by their small Gas fireplace. You would really want a real fire place in such places, Don't you think?
Posted by lisadrew on 6/26/2009
The Tonon family runs this beautiful restaurant, and I love to dine here. My husband and I enjoy romantic dinners here, and we love the food, service, and wine selection. I believe this is the best Italian restaurant in Metro Detroit, and WDIV says they're the best romantic restaurant, and I agree! Yes, it is more expensive than say, Buca Di Beppo, but I wouldn't compare a family owned restaurant with fresh, garden grown herbs to a national chain with prepackaged ingredients! The veal here is fabulous, as is the eggplant parmigian-my two favorite foods. The service is impeccable-they are Zagat rated, and more importantly, my Italian friends recommend this restaurant to everyone. We needed a gift for a couple for their wedding anniversary, and we chose Cafe Cortina gift certificates, because they're discerning people who expect the best, and we knew they'd be happy here. It's important that if you have any problems with waitstaff or the food, that you notify the Tonons immediately. They will see that you are satisfied, and it allows them to prevent a problem for anyone else. Sometimes I think the people who rate here are from other restaurants, or just expect an "Olive Garden" menu; they won't find a chain experience here, and I would hope that anyone looking for that go to the chain, where they'll get what they want! I prefer locally owned restaurants with locally grown ingredients, and that's why I go here.
Posted by daveact on 2/15/2009
I don't usually write bad reviews on restaurants since it could've been an off night, but I felt compelled to review Cafe Cortina. My wife and I went there on Valentine's Day (Sat night)...maybe not the best night to go, but we had a reservation. We had high expectations since it is one of only a handful of 4 diamond restuarants in the city. When we walked in there was a crowd of people crammed in the entrance all waiting to be seated, but no host/hostess, so mass confusion. When the host appeared 10 minutes later he arrogantly walked through the crowd telling everyone they would be seated shortly with a ridiculous smile and swagger. He didn't check reservations and seated a group every 5-10 minutes, even though there were plenty of empty tables in sight (some people actually seated themselves when he was gone). We actually got skipped over a few times for regulars and were finally seated at 7:45. The host apologized to us and the couple behind us for the long wait and gave us a BS excuse how he wanted to give us a fireside view, which was ironic since the fire was behind my wife's line of sight and a wall blocked my view, ha. The poor couple behind us got stuffed in the corner, no view. After we got our wine and water we waited 25 minutes for our server to show up, who turned out to be excellent. We ordered 4 shrimp with green geppercorn as an appetizer ($12). It had no flavor and was very mushy. My wife ordered the pasta with lobster ($34), and I ordered a half and half of two different kinds of ravioli (one with cheeses, one with lamb and artichokes - $32). My wife's lobster dish was underwelming, the lamb in my ravioli was excellent, but the sauce ruined it. The cheese ravioli's were excellent. Overall, I would say we felt we got better pasta a less expensive restaurants like Brio, Bravo, and Andiamo's. We then ordered desert (Flourless chocolate cake with expresso gelato). The portions were very small. The cake was good, but the gelato had freezer burn.
Posted by a2davidr on 6/24/2008
We have eaten at this restaraunt 3 times. It is always incredible! The food is the best anywhere. The atmosphere is awsome and the service is always "a cut above the rest". We just can't recommend Cafe Cortina enough.
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