Nina's Trattoria - Philadelphia

Four and a half stars. I've been here a handful of times for normal dinners, once for brunch, and twice for big birthday group dinners, and Nina's never fails me (THANKS NINA'S!!! Love the location- the Italian Market is my favorite place in which to pretend i'm Italian. The restaurant itself is cute and cozy, with a spacious upstairs area for private parties. Most recently, we had a group of 17 here for my boyfriend's birthday, and service was impeccable. Not the longest or most creative menu, but solid options across the board nonetheless. Prices are reasonable for the portion sizes, and loooooove me a good BYO, too. Definitely worth a stop in if you're in the area!

Tips: 1. BYOB with corkage fee 2. Looked like reservations only 3. Food came out family style, prix-fix menu 4. Cash only We went with a large party on a snowy evening and had a delightful meal. Husband and wife duo create a warm and inviting atmosphere. Dining room is small, located in the heart of the Italian Market. Garlic knots came out first, followed by our appetizers: Calzone, Meatballs (in a fantastic red sauce and an arugula salad. Sauce was so good we were dipping our calzone in it. Main course was chicken parmesan and 2 different pasta sides: gnocchi in a red sauce, and gemelli in a lighter beef broth type sauce. Given the hearty first course, half chicken breast portion of the parmesan were the perfect size. Dessert was zeppole- fried pastry with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of icing. They reminded me of beignet (and I'm not complaining about that! . I had seen other reviewers mention 2 deserts being offered, and as a huge Tiramisu fan I was a bit disappointed but one bite of zeppole and I soon forgot about the Tiramisu. It was such a charming delicious evening! The space is tight and I can understand why its reservation only, as it is a smaller scale operation. I thought the price was very affordable for the quality of food. A gem in the Italian market. Perfect for family get togethers.

Reading through the reviews, it looks like I'm not the first person this has happened to. I made a reservation for 2 for a Saturday night. I was called the day of the reservation and was told that my reservation was being cancelled because they had a larger party book a reservation, so I was basically pushed out. No offer was given to reschedule that night and I was told I could try walking in if I wanted. I'm glad to see all they care about is their bottom line at the expense of alienating customers. P.S. I made my own gnocchi that night after cancelling my reservation and it was delicious. Thanks a lot.

TRUFFLE OIL PIZZA. The taste is still right there at the back of my tongue !! Highly, highly recommend, and request arugula for a huge handful heaped on top. The cheese of this pizza immediately hits you when you take your first bite. Auuugh !! So good. Also, ARTICHOKE HEARTS. Their artichokes have the texture of perfectly tender falling-apart chicken. $10 for a small helping is a little bit steep, but it is a quality restaurant and that's how prices go at these places. If you're feeling appetizers, do try! I'm reading some unhappy reviews about their tomato sauce that came with most of the gnoccis but I loved it! I thought the flavor was multilayered and interesting, and was perfect with whatever pizza crusts we had left over. There were actually two birthday parties happening the night we went, but even though the kitchen was busy, and there was literally one guy in the back handling everything. Our waitress was upbeat and prompt and very professional. My friend thought the chef was cute. Because our group was so large and they only have so much kitchen space to be pumping out our orders with, we were given several rounds of garlic knots and meatballs. I know they were just doing it to appease us from getting hangry, but it did feel like we were being treated like esteemed guests.

Came here on a Sunday afternoon with a friend to use their two course brunch Groupon, and it was great! It's super tiny and cosy inside. Our waitress was so nice and helpful too! The food was really delicious! The Groupon was for a brunch, selected by the chef. We actually didn't know this before arriving, but it was a cool experience. We had no idea what would be coming to the table, was it was all really good! All together four different dishes came out and my friend and I were able to try a bit of all of them. The first course was the sausage frittata with spinach, tomatoes, potatoes, and ricotta cheese, it was tasty but a little runny in the middle, which we weren't fans of. A spinach salad also came out with it, it had bacon, gorgonzola, and an onion dressing. I am not the biggest fan of onions, but I loved this salad, so simple yet delicious! The second course was two pasta dishes. We had the penne mushroom alfredo which was delicious! It was so rich and creamy, I would definitely eat it again. The other dish was pasta with a bolognese sauce. It was alright, nothing special. It was our least favorite of the four dishes. Overall, it was a really nice brunch and we would definitely return if we were in the Italian Market area again!