Le Castagne

This is a great place for a private party. The owner spent a lot of time helping us plan the menu and decorations. The brunch/lunch food was fabulous. I would recommend the spinach and goat cheese fritatta. Also loved the french toast with Nutella. Very good service, delicious food and very nice atmosphere.

Having arrived early, (4:40 pm) I was still served a delicious cocktail at the bar, only to note a bit later that my friendly bartender retreated to finish his own pre-service meal after making sure another staff member was taking care of me. Now that's not just customer service, that's kindness. The Carpaccio is the best in the city: elegantly dressed with a discreet drizzle of truffle oil and accompanied by peppery micro-greens and Parmigiana-Reggiano, it could be the signature dish. Here, as in all courses at LE CASTAGNE, high cuisine technique merely showcases the values of Italian cooking: fresh products, depth of taste and a clear, sensible "discussion" among only 3-4 flavor ingredients per profile. The minestra of the evening, enhanced with sweet sausage, was beyond delicious. The black ink pasta with frutti di mare was like velvet yet with an al dente bite, and the seafood was perfectly cooked in a light saffron broth rounded with a bit of richness from pancetta. The handsome (Italian Modern) room's high ceiling befits a downtown fine dining venue, and tables with crisp linen create a canvas for clean-lined stemware and sleek, curve-handled cutlery. Delicious food, attentive and kindly service, a complete bar, LE CASTAGNE has it all. It brings a higher level of execution to Italian fare in a district well served with very good Italian BYOs. Also, being full service, LE CASTAGNE avoids the onslaught of the "young and the entitled" who take over lower price-point BYOs, ordering little more than a salad as an excuse to guzzle their box wine and cackle as though they're "family" at Olive Garden. BRAVISSIMO, LE CASTAGNE. My new favorite Italian Restaurant in the Rittenhouse Square district.

With so many marvelous restaurants to choose from in the city we really had bad luck when we chose Le Castagne. While the food was inventive and most of our five entrees were acceptable, the service was absolutely not good. NOT recommended!

I took my family to Le Castagne for dinner on a Thursday night. Everyone, including my elderly grandmother, concluded that this is now one of our favorite restaurants. The service is wonderful and the food is divine. The waiters (we had several over the course of our meal) recommended several dishes from the menu that were all huge successes. The lentil salad is fantastic and I plan to go back just to order that. Also, the pappardelle bolognese was incredible. We also ordered dessert (even though we were all stuffed) because they make all of their desserts at the restaurant. The tiramisu was amazing. I had no room in my belly but the tiramisu was so light and moist that it slid down easily! We will definitely return to this restaurant soon.

Food was excellent. The pasta itself was superior in taste and texture which added to enjoyment of the toppings. A parmaesan flan was a real treat. The restaurant itself was lovely with tables spaced nicely apart and translucent curtains dividing the space visually. Another reviewer liked having many waiters instead of one but we did not. It was unexpected so at first we waited for the original one to reappear. Also, there was a little of each waiter assuming the others had performed a service.

i thought the service was wonderful because we had more than one waiter and could ask whoever we wanted for what we needed..the food i fell in love with..the salads were so different and just wonderful and light..Every plate was presented beautifully..I didn't want to leave the place..The [select]ion of wine was crazy..It is a great restaurant and i am definitely goin back with more friends to show them the great taste of italian food..

Visited in June 2007. While we had reservations, we were told that the only place available was in the bar area. Service was not quick and we waited about 20 minutes for drinks. The appetizer was good, the rolls were cold and hard, and our main course of pasta was hard and crunchy. You could tell it had been plated in advance and then microwaved. To add insult to injury, the pasta came out before the bottle of wine we ordered. We left most of the pasta and just drank the wine. For a total of $178 for 2 people, this was a poor value.