Osteria Il Centro

I came here for dinner to fuel up for a marathon I had the next day and let me just tell you, my body was more than fueled after coming here! They have very generous portion sizes and their food is absolutely amazing. The scallop linguini was fresh and the chicken with risotto was chefs kiss. All of the staff were friendly. The restaurant is tucked in a small rustic building. It’s quaint and has charm.

This evening was our first visit to this establishment, but it won't be our last. Everything from the atmosphere, to our service, to the wonderful food, was top-notch. The setting is elegant without being pretentious. The serving staff was professional and excellent with their timing and attention. I could not recommend this place more!

This is just the best Italian place around! Im from out of town and the 1st night I came in for dinner with my 2 kids the place was packed but they worked us in. The service was BEYOND EXCELLENT, thank you Jay! And the food, well, DIVINE. So much so we went back the next night! Fast forward 3 months, im back in town and of course I want my authentic Italian! Jay immediately remembers us, what food we loved and even the wine I wanted. I cant day enough about this place! TRUE, LOCAL, ITALIAN! INTIMATE, EXCELLENT, SERVICE! get the chicken Parm and the lobster Ravioli! Heck, everything is supurb!!

This was my first time El Centro from the moment I walked in. I really loved the vibe. It’s a small place and every seat is probably always filled. They’ve got an amazing bar, which looks like at sometimes you may even need a reservation to sit at the bar, but I would recommend this place for a fancy evening with your significant other or a date night with friends. The food is phenomenal and if you’re lucky you’ll get Jay Ensor he is phenomenal and always there to serve. You have any special request. He’s got your back. I will definitely be back just to see Jay again.

Our server was fabulous. The food was so good, I'm still thinking about it. I had the short rib ravioli, my husband had the walnut chicken and we both had steak soup. It was the best pasta I think I've ever had. We will absolutely be back. Next time, we will set a reservation. We only waited a few moments for a table but they were so full I don't think they could seat anyone else until.

There is nothing bad on the menu. Had their filet medallion special and the steak was cooked perfectly. Even better than the food is the service. The people that work there act kike they have known you for years and their menu suggestions are always perfect.

Always a great experience! The wait staff are attentive, helpful, kind, and really care about you having the best experience. The food is the highest quality and so delicious. The chicken cannelloni is a favorite but we tried the short ribs ravioli and orange roughly this time. Amazing!

Delicious food, exceptional wine, spot-on vibe. Whether you are having a date night or going out with friends, you will enjoy every moment here. Unfortunately, I was too busy enjoying myself to take pictures. The portions were so large, I could only eat a third of my meal. I will share though, that I ate the rest the next day, unlike most left overs that turn into science experiments in the back of my fridge. Our server had a great personality and was very knowledgeable about the wine selection. Salute!

We had such an incredible dinner, the service was outstanding! We walked into the restaurant we were greeted and seated right away for our reservation! Our waiter was such a positive influence on our dining experience, very attentive! I think it's my new favorite Italian restaurant in Kansas City and I can not wait to go back and try more of the menu!

Always enjoy dinner at Osteria, but the recent meal didn't wow me like previous visits. We all had pasta dishes (4 different ones). Had the lobster ravioli (3.5 of 5), the pesto tortellini (3.75 of 5) the Gorgonzola pasta (4 of 5) and the Spaghettinni Della casa with sausage (4 of 5). The wine list is awesome. Lots of different choices and regions of wine. Prices are reasonable ( most restaurants overcharge for good wine and Osteria follows suit). Service has been good every time we visit. Definitely recommend as one of the best Italian restaurants inKC.

I came here for dinner to fuel up for a marathon I had the next day and let me just tell you, my body was more than fueled after coming here! They have very generous portion sizes and their food is absolutely amazing. The scallop linguini was fresh and the chicken with risotto was chefs kiss. All of the staff were friendly. The restaurant is tucked in a small rustic building. It's quaint and has charm.

Love this small intimate dinner spot. The focaccia is so dense but soft. Bruschetta is delicious! Great wine selection. Service is always spectacular.

10/10, could not recommend more! We live within walking distance to Il Centro and it's our favorite restaurant. The vibes inside are perfect for the small Italian restaurant: it has a very local feel but still elegant. The food- always delicious. We both love the chicken spiedini. Service is incredible; most of the staff have been there for some time. Lastly, the drinks...!!! The bartenders have quite the contest going on who makes the best espresso martini (very much so recommend getting one) and the wine is wonderful.

We had a great experience this evening at Osteria I'll Centro. Ernest was our server and we had a wonderful experience with outstanding food! We shared the shrimp and artichoke appetizers , then I enjoyed the meatballs for dinner. So well made and delicious, the red sauce was flavorful and hot. Could not have been happier walking out. This is the epitome of a neighborhood Italian restaurant with the best food you can dream of!!

Nice place.. cozy and with great service. The food, as expected from a real Italian family restaurant. Good wine selection. If there is something to improve it would be the space between tables.

food was delicious. I had shrimp bisque and eggplant Parmesan. This was the only time I had ever been asked how I wanted. My eggplant cooked? Server recommended a little crispy around the edges. I thought the sauce was a little thin, but overall the dish was delicious. The shrimp bisque was barely warm. Bruschetta appetizer was delicious. Service was outstanding. Noise level was difficult for conversation. We went on 730 on a Friday night with reservations.

Food and service perfect, as usual. From the mushroom appetizer to the salad and veal Parmesan - all delicious and presentation great. Ended dinner with the famous expresso martini. Yumm!

What a fun spot 4 of us had most awesome dinner. We shared shrimp Ciofinidi & couple bottles of Hall cab. Lobster ravioli a hit as was short rib ravioli. Great service plus fabulous flavors a most comfortable spot. The menu had so many nice options can't wait to return.

We have been coming here for years as it's our favorite Sicilian like Italian place in town. We visited on our Anniversary on Monday and boy was it packed. Barely a place to sit and the staff seemed stretched. This is not usually the case, took a bit to get our drinks but once it did and the big group to our left departed our waiter seemed to liven up. Having said that I had the Spaghettini with sausage and it was very flavorsome. Husband had the chicken Parmesan and pasta with vodka sauce he loved it and ate it all. That's a PLUS! Excellent wine list - Hall was our pick. Delicious. Have had their fish dishes and chicken Marsala here before, so good. Recommend coming here but book early and plan for a wait as it's a small place but lively and worth it usually. Was a bit surprised by the lack of care about our celebration but as I said it was a busy night. Though it was a Monday. Maybe it's changing.... Not as cool as it used to be? Hence my 4 vs 5.

Service and friendliness was fabulous when your within your 2hours of your reservation. You only get 2 hours at your table. We received our bill at 6:50pm and at 6:52pm another waitress came over and told us we over stayed our welcome & it was time to leave as she was picking up the spoons to our birthday dessert that just came out. Our party of 5pp spent over $411 before tip. There is many ways to communicate unfortunately she chooses wrongly. It was 100% wrong the way she chose. We had a great time unfortunately it's timed and someone is watching you. Watch out!

The goat cheese, incredible. I need 85 character so they let me post this shit so im just writing to take up space

Loved the lamb chops! Small intimate space perfect for date night. The small pizzas were good too.

I recently dined at Osteria IL Centro and left feeling quite frustrated. Despite the promise of a great meal, my experience was marred by service issues that overshadowed the food. Upon arrival, the restaurant was not too busy, as it was early evening, 5:15 or so. When the waiter finally appeared, she seemed rather pushy, urging us to order appetizers, salads and/or soup, and then annoyed we only ordered 1 round of drinks and an entree each. The pressure felt unwarranted, as we were there to eat a meal and get out. The bill arrived, I paid with credit card and left as we had another engagement. Upon review, I was shocked to see we were charged for items we never received. After bringing this to the waiter's attention, I had to return to the restaurant to request a refund for the overcharges. (she claims they had no way of contacting me yet they phoned me because we were a bit late.) I asked that charge be voided, she assured me it would be. I then paid cash AND gave a tip. I checked my statement, the restaurant refunded the original bill but kept the original tip. BEWARE in this grifting economy, do the MATH.

This hidden quaint gem is beautifully decorated with amazing Italian food. The service and atmosphere is awesome!

Had a reservation for tonight at 7:15. My table was seated at 7:40 was completely pushed out of our table before 9:00 pm ... literally the staff said you need to go we are over booked

Starting with our very friendly and attentive server, Lisa, our experience was destined for greatness! We've eaten here a half dozen times now and never had a bad experience. Loved EVERYTHING! Even better pricing because we went during Restaurant Week!!

My husband and I dined here on my birthday and it was a very special time from start to finish! All of the staff understood what great service is, and were versed in the menu and very helpful.... The courses were brought with just the right timing; appetizers were of a size to enjoy them and leave room for more- when I told our waiter it was my 70th birthday, I received a bottle of wine to take home, with a birthday message on it! And there was enough of the chicken Parmesan to take home! Il Centro is in a charming stone building with cozy old-word charm- looks to be a favorite for the diners there... will go again!

I had been wanting to go here forever and finally went for the first time last month! I didn't realize how small the restaurant was on the inside, which was actually kind of nice. It made our experience more intimate and personal. our waiter was super nice and gave us some great recommendations. We started with the bruschetta and split the house salad. Both we delicious and made for a good size to split for apps. For dinner, we split a pizza and the pesto ravioli. Both great good! The pesto was delicious. The pizza was smaller than I anticipated but that's ok. I really liked this place and would def come back. Was it the best Italian I have had? No, but it was super solid and I enjoyed our meal start to finish.

Food was good, nothing too special. Service was nice and quick. Ambiance was a bit loud due to music and people talking overall. 8/10.

Love this restaurant! We've been going for years as a family. It's small and intimate, and their staff are so friendly. We each got a different dish, and they were all amazing. The chicken spiedini is always a favorite, and the eggplant parm also always hits the spot. They even gave us a birthday bottle of wine to take home to continue the celebration!

Always try to dine here whenever I'm in the area. The take out service items were neatly packed in sturdy containers. This time, we received a large amount of bread...not complaining thou because it's better than not having enough. The bread slices were very large; almost like Texas toast! The pasta dishes could easily feed two people! Everything was very delicious. Sorry forgot to take a pictures of the cheesecake with raspberry coulis and the chocolate decadent cake which came with a mini scoop of vanilla ice cream. Glad we ordered takeout as the restaurant has a pretty small dining area. Pick up is on 51st street. This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Call ahead to ask f what the soup and special of the day is. Tonight it was Chicken Parmigiana. Wished it were the veal variety!

It is so hard to find good Italian food in the city, even with all its history KC is lacking in that cuisine! This was a place picked on a whim because the first place I wanted was closed...however, this is No second option restaurant. The moment I walked into the door I was immediately slapped with not only the cozy atmosphere, but very friendly and attentive staff who were the most accommodating people I've ever met. the food was by far the hardest decision as everything sounded amazing. Finally decided on the sample platter, the delicious stuffed mushrooms and then had the carbonara that was to die for! Amazing wine selection and just could not find fault in this place. I think I found my go to spot!

Walked here after Church and we were promptly seated (without a reservation.) Our waiter, Jay, was hilarious and attentive. The atmosphere was all about friendly, fun and fabulous food. Definitely coming back.

Had dinner here to celebrate a special occasion with our family. We made our reservations WELL in advance and it was absolutely worth the planning and wait. The staff were awesome and service was top notch. Each and every dish was fantastic and their willingness and helpfulness to ensure each and every dish suited the people in our party just made it perfect. You just can't top the food and experience. Well done!

Great service! Very mediocre food...too bad. It's a real shame. It used to be so good.

One of my fave happy hours in the area, with really tasty and reasonable apps (love their calamari and their goat cheese spread) and drinks and a cozy atmosphere with good service - I need to try coming for an actual meal as well one of these days!

The food at this local Italian restaurant was wonderful. Just as nice was the staff and the ambiance (we could have been in a vibrant spot in Florence or Rome)! We will definitely be going back soon! Note: the restaurant is not huge and it fills up every night. Plan ahead!

What an adorable spot! Quality Italian food and great service! I will say this place is small. Highly recommend a reservation. But the menu has plenty of options. I ordered the salmon, which was lovely. My coworkers ordered the cannelloni, and they were stuffed (with happiness)! They also have daily specials, which all sounded very yummy. I love a good local spot, and they definitely delivered!

This place was just amazing. Sat at the bar because we didn't make a reservation. The attention, the detail, the food. The genuine human kindness was amazing. Cannot say enough good things about this place. Wow. Blown away. Setting a standard for any business - food industry or not.

We thoroughly enjoyed our anniversary dinner here. I had lasagna and my spouse had the chicken walnut pasta. We both had wine, dessert, and coffee. My husband also had the small Caesar salad. From start to finish, our meals were excellent. Chris, our server, was friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. Highly recommend.

Went here for a first date and we had Jay as our server. He was amazing and recommended the best bottle of wine that complemented the lobster Ravioli. Very pleased with the service and the food quality. The atmosphere was also outstanding for a smaller place. Everyone was very friendly and happy thanks to the great food. Date night went well, will be back soon

Favorite Italian. And if you're in KC and don't go here...we'll, your loss. Great food, great service and great drinks. Many times here, so many good choices. And the desserts? Always a great - oh the tiramisu! And if you are looking for a great place to take a date, this is the first place I'd think of in KC.

This is our favorite Italian restaurant in Kansas City! It's small and quaint. My husband always gets the lasagna and he said it's the best he has ever had! You do need a reservation but we lucked out and they had a "no show" so don't hesitate to try to get in. Service is great and they don't rush you through dinner. A must try for everyone !!

The food was good and that's why there are two stars. However, I've never been in a restaurant where we just spent $150 and less than 2 hours after our reservation started we were told "Ok, we need this table!" (The waitress said this as she started drumming the table with her hands.) It was abrupt and not even our waiter who approached us. We were not told we had a time limit on our reservation so it was quite a big surprise. I brought these friends and was excited to show them the restaurant and experience the food. Needless to say, I left embarrassed and disappointed.

This was my first time at this restaurant. It's tight inside so you're basically stacked on top of each other. If you're reading this review during the pandemic and that freaks you out then you probably shouldn't go to this restaurant during high time. Our reservation was at 9pm so almost every table was taken. The salad was good and the chicken tortellini was delicious. I ordered it because the photos of it looked so good and it did not disappoint. I will return to try their signature lamb chops.

Absolutely loved my wine and salad! The ambience is spectacular and our waitress was super attentive. I got the cannelloni which was much larger than expected. It's one of their signature dishes but I don't think I loved it as much as others do. I'll definitely be back though!

Definitely a five star experience. Very cute place! Quaint and moody in the best way. The service was nice. Very upscale environment and you're are treated as such. Also the staff is accommodating, and you know I love that. Especially because we ate here on a Saturday night. We didn't make reservations in a timely manner but they still worked with us! The food was good. No complaints here. The seafood pasta was delicious but a little light on the seafood. The quality was there but it was mostly pasta. The lamb chops were cooked perfectly, as was everything else. I want crazy about the sauce, but it's more of s personal presence thing. The chef definitely knows what he's doing though as far as pairing flavors. I don't live in KC, but I will be back next visit!

The customer service my husband and I recieved today trying to have a dinner at your establishment for our wedding anniversary was unacceptable. We were pretty much denied a proper service and were given a time limit to have a meal for just a party of two due to an upcoming reservation coming in within 45. The man who claimed he was running the floor said that we could be seated at the bar or be seated at a table and be rushed to have a decent meal. I stated to the man that it was our anniversary and he acted like he didn't care what occasion we were here for and had no empathy to try and accommodate us nor attempt to bring his manager out for us to speak with him. Insted he made the executive decision to make his own judgment call becuase he said his manager would give us the same response. We had eaten at this establishment before and wanted to come back to enjoy the service and food you provide for a very special occassion. After this encounter something needs to be done to address the floor managers unacceptable customer service. No one should be treated in a manner that we where today. My husband and i have both worked in hospitality/customer sevice for over 15 yrs and this establishment did not aim to foster a welcoming or hospitable environment. We will never eat at this restaurant again and will be sure to inform others to not eat at your establishment.

I love Il Centro. Great food, a wonderful wine list, friendly atmosphere and the best service. A great part of our community.

This is our #1 favorite Italian restaurant in KC. Being of Italian decent and having lived in Italy, we are super picky about dining out for Italian. Every item in the menu is wonderful. Not easy to get into, so plan ahead!

This restaurant is smaller than I expected on the inside, but there are still plenty of tables and room at the bar! Not your typical Italian restaurant interior, they had super cool art everywhere which I loved! They were able to accommodate our party of 6, but gave us a 2 hour limit which is understandable because of the size. It ended up being plenty of time. We stared with the goat cheese and garlic spread and the bruschetta with prosciutto and mozzarella. Both of them were very good! The bread that came with the goat cheese and garlic spread was lightly grilled, and the bruschetta was fresh and delicious! Great recommendations from our waiter Chris. Overall, my group enjoyed their meals. I had the pesto chicken tortellini, and it was definitely worth the hype. I loved the pesto cream sauce, it wasn't gloopy or super thick like some cream sauces at other restaurants. Two people on my party had the orecchiette carbonara with Gorgonzola cream sauce. I tried a bite, and it was fantastic. It had a very light Gorgonzola flavor which was nice since it can be a very strong cheese. Our waiter was awesome, very tentative and friendly. Desserts were great too! I'd definitely recommend this play to anyone feeling like a nice Italian dinner. I can't wait to come back and try their happy hour!

Definitely worth a shot! You should try this restaurant since it such good service, small little place. Good has great attention to detail.

Very cute but tiny place, definitely make reservations!! My sister and I started with a lemon drop martini and an Italian Margarita. I loved the margaritas and so did she, she ordered one for her second drink. Then we had the appetizer platter. It was all very good. Then we shared 2 entrees, the chicken marsala and the orrechiette gorgonzola. They were both good but I loved the marsala.

This place is a wonderful gem. The food is great and the service was outstanding. We had a reservation at 7:45 pm on a Wednesday and this place was still full! I ordered the Lobster Ravioli and it was phenomenal. So Creamy and delicious. For an Italian place in the middle of the BBQ capital of the Midwest - you'll enjoy the change of pace and everything about this place.

Their building / seating is small so make a reservation. The portions are good and the food is even better. They also have a fantastic wine and whiskey selection.

Usually the food is great but had the salmon and it was over cooked and I didn't finish my meal. Appetizer's and wine was good and the service from the bartender was outstanding. This is a nice little restaurant that is hard to get in sometimes but definitely worth a try. Normally I would give this place a 5 star but just couldn't this time.

Simply Outstanding. Started with a Prosecco and then enjoyed really nice variety of wines by the glass to taste and enjoy. Great ambiance and Lasagna was amazing. We also enjoyed the Veal Piccata- perfect. Dessert was gelato ball- just get it- you'll be delighted. Jay is also the best server I have experienced in many years of dining in KC.