Il Palio Ristorante

The food was so good! The risotto was excellent. I sat at the bar & received excellent service!! If I lived here it would be a regular spot!!

Service was very good and friendly...The food was very average, definitely nothing to write home about.I was surprised by the pasta prices.I understand a $55 steak but a $50 plate of spaghetti???That killed my experience.Pasta should never be that expensive not even if it was lobster (which one was), but it was ravioli, it's not like it had half a lobster but only little pieces of it.Spaghetti carbonara is pasta bacon and an egg, come on, with the prices over $50. Talk about inflation... specially when the menu i saw here was WAY Way lower priced.

Really enjoyed this restaurant! The service was quick and kind. The restaurant was nice and clean and it was conveniently located inside of a hotel. The apps were delicious tried the bruschetta and the calamari. The calamari was huge and so chewy. The black truffle tagliatelle was tasty and the noodles were fresh. For dessert we had the pumpkin cheesecake and tiramisu. Absolutely loved the pumpkin cheesecake but the husband preferred the tiramisu. All in all the place was delicious for Italian style food.

If you are in chapel Hill and want a fabulous place for dinner, Il Palio will not disappoint. It is located in the Siena Hotel on Franklin Street. The bar is small but you can eat there without a reservation. If you want to eat in the restaurant try to make a reservation. It books up quickly especially if there are local teams playing. We had fabulous cocktails, generous pours of wine and fantastic pasta dishes. The staff are so friendly and know what they are doing. Locals eat there so that speaks volumes!!!The hotel is fantastic too!! Beautiful rooms, very responsive staff, and extremely comfortable place to chill away from home.

Phenomenal. A very easy 5 stars. The whole staff took amazing care of us. They gave us the best booth in the house and were all very friendly. The tenderloin was very rich, extremely flavorful, and the cream sauce was outstanding. The clams in the linguine alle vongole were very sweet and the handmade pasta was fabulous. The chef sent out free dessert for us- almond cake. And after finding out I am allergic to almonds, immediately brought out a slice of cheesecake and left the almond cake for my boyfriend to eat. Such an overall wonderful experience! World class.

Amazing food! Had the tagliatelle with truffle and wild mushrooms. My friend had the chicken piccata. Service was superb. Highly recommend.

We were in town for Football Season Tickets and Had been to this location once before but sat in the bar as we did not have reservations, and Yes Reservations are necessary if you want to full experience, although our first visit a few years before was so good we decided to make reservations for this meal, and we were not disappointed. We were sat outside and what a night to sit outside, beautiful and yes the road is right there but we did not notice it at all. We were Served by Ryan who was assisted by Kevin and man these guys were on it, we wanted for nothing including attention, and to top it off Ryan had just moved to the area from Charlotte and had been a server at places we ate there and some we had not and are on our list to visit now, because of him.We started with the amazing White bean crustini's(?), WTH where have I been to have never had this before "ANYWHERE", So good.We had our main course, she ordered the Butter nut squash ravioli and I had the Duck confit as noted in the picture if you like olives it is just amazing and if you do not, still try it...We also had the Bread service, if you find it better anywhere, please DM me and let me know where it is, but this is at the top of my list right now.To finish things off we had the Almond Cake which was just decadent.To experience dining at its best you have to pay for what you are getting and we had the entire package here, Service, Delicious food and a wonderful ambiance.

Very disappointing pasta. The entire table ordered different pasta dishes and each person said that theirs was mushy and stuck together. Everything is overpriced for a very mediocre meal. Don't bother.

ABSOLUTELY RUINED WHAT SHOULD'VE BEEN ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE NIGHTS OF OUR LIVES -- and charged us $300 (for 2 people, without wine) for the privilege. NOTHING romantic at all about this restaurant. Mediocre food, shockingly clueless service -- in a room that's like a coffee shop. Before Covid, my husband and I visited Chapel Hill and stayed at The Siena, which is a lovely hotel. It was my birthday and he made reservations outside at Il Palio and had a lovely flower arrangement delivered to our table. Food was excellent. Don't know what happened -- this is not even a shadow of the former Il Palio.Restaurant was expensive (even compared with S. Francisco, which we then our home) but we agreed it was some of the best Italian food we've ever had in the US (husband a native of Manhattan and we've visited Italy a number of time -- and were actually married there.My husband lost his wedding ring. I decided to buy a new one -- then thought that I would take him to the most romantic restaurant I could find, get down on one knee, pull out the special-ordered presentation ring box -- and ask him to marry me. Our dinner was also celebrating the acceptance of his latest book by his publisher, our successful move across the country to Durham, and the purchase of our new home. I had only eaten outside at Il Palio --and knew they had a crummy bar -- almost like a portable bar you'd find in someone's house. But I carefully checked reviews for "romantic restaurants" in the Triangle and Il Palio seemed to get high marks.Having never been in the dining room -- and given the EXTREMELY high prices for their food -- I assumed that the room would be dimly lit, beautiful, elegant, romantic. I imagined getting down on one knee and people around us clapping or at least being touched, etc. Husband tearing up (he's quite emotional), etc.I called the restaurant -- they called back. I explained what I was planning to do and they seemed very excited and "on board." Went to the bar as husband was parking. Asked what champagne they were pouring. No champagne (whaaat?) Only had Prosecco. Three on the menu -- they only had 1. The bartendress was dressed, spoke and behaved as though she was working in a not-to-popular sports bar in Philly (not the accent, but the lack of polish). Ok - so, that wasn't great.Hostess lead us into the restaurant and find NO tablecloths. NO flowers on the tables, No soft "mood lighting." There was a little candle -- like one of those 2" tall, 2" wide clear glass rings with a candle in it -- you now, like you buy a dozen for $2.99 at the Dollar Store (probably half that, wholesale?) NOTHING at all special or nice or even interesting, trendy. Everything about it had the ambience of a mid -range coffee shop in maybe 2000. The waitress arrived and put an FTD type clear glass ugly vase on the table with dk red roses in it -- but the cheap kind that you buy at the grocery store 4 days after they were delivered to it. I later learned my husband called, explained we'd dined there our 1st time in Chapel Hill, what we were celebrating and asked if they could do something special -- that as it. Our waiter was "Massimo." Massimo had the bearing, voice and charm of a longshoreman. It had Foie gras on the menu. It was $30 PER PERSON as an appetizer but husband loves it, so we ordered it. It was NOT foie gras. It was like a thin smear of liver pate on slices of plain old bought-at-Harris-Teeter small baguette. AND there were just two tiny slices for each of us. $60!The rest was about the same. And most things came -- as the foie gras had -- weirdly garnished with something like a chive that's 4" long but as fine as -- literally -- a horsehair. It was like trying to pull a green hair out of your mouth. AWFUL.I was hoping that miraculously, the desserts might be great. Nothing interesting -- tiramisu, etc. Most flourless cakes are like fudge, so I asked if it was heavy. Massimo said "no" so I ordered it. It was like a glue-y chocolate brick.I don't knoOur server looked to be a college student of maybe 20. She was clearly had no training or previous experience as a server in a fine-dining restaurant. That was made starkly apparent when she bought the cutlery -- which she practically tossed on the bare table and BACKWARDS. She literally did not know which side of the plate a fork goes on! When I imagine the meal we could've had in Manhattan or San Francisco -- even Paris -- for $300?! (By the way, we were smart and brought our own bottle of wine -- a special gift from friends. Corkage fee was $35 -- otherwise, our bill would've been MUCH higher than $300). I am 60 and have traveled widely, as has my husband. this was, HANDS DOWN the most disappointing dining experience of our lives. I had ONE chance to "propose" to my husband and they ruined it. It finally happened at 11 pm under the oaks on the Washington Duke Club terrace.

The food is beautiful to look at and delicious- a feast for the mouth. I had the truffle pasta and the stuffed artichoke hearts. Excellent. The service is outstanding. Massimo knows exactly how to make his customers feel at home. He took the time to chat with me and we had a great conversation. The atmosphere is very elegant, yet not pretentious. One does not need to be dressed up. The hostess is very friendly. The entire experience was very pleasant.