Cortese Restaurant: Experience Authentic Italian Cuisine in Binghamton

Absolutely the best chicken sandwich ever. Bartender recommended I have the chicken Angelina as a sandwich. I will order this every time. The chicken was so moist and juicy. The roll was perfectly crisped. I got light sauce and it was perfect. We drive 45 minutes to come here and it’s worth every minute. Paul is our favorite bartender, always making great drinks with good conversation.

I had a half order of chef spaghetti. I am not a small person, however, a half order is plenty to eat. It comes with a garden salad. The chef spaghetti has restaurant made pasta fresh that day. The sauce is well balanced, they definitely do not add corn syrup in it however, I do not know if they add a pinch of sugar or just use vine ripened sweet tomatoes. There is a lot of meat in the sauce as well as a meatball one sausage, several mushroom shoulder, sliced up, however, I believe the mushrooms were canned not fresh. I could be wrong with that. The three people I were with one had a special order hamburger and a baked potato, drowning, and butter because they asked for it to be drowning in butter. The hamburger was cooked exactly the way they wanted. The second person had ribeye. I may be a little old-fashioned, but the ribeye look to be between six and 8 ounces. It was cooked the way a rib I should, on the rare side. They ate all of it. The third person had some type of fish. As I remember them saying the fish was delicious, not overcooked. We were seated at a table. Which means all of the sound from the other 15 or so tables interfered with our conversation. I have eaten there at least 20 times and we typically get a booth which keeps most of the noise out. We always eat on a Saturday and make reservations. Those people that don’t make reservations can usually wait 45 minutes or more to get seated. There is a zero step entrance so it is handicap accessible. There are two doors to get in through so someone will have to help you open the doors. It is mostly an Italian menu, so there are not very many vegetarian dishes available. I am not certain that the sauce is meat sauce so ask

Cortese always knows the assignment. I’ve had the crab cakes, French onion soup, mozzarella sticks, fettuccine alfredo, and the rigatoni bolognese, and everything has been excellent. Killer steaks too! The portion sizes are enormous and even the house salad is delicious. One thing I really appreciate is the pacing. The timing between the appetizer, salad, and entrée is impeccable, so you can actually relax and enjoy the meal instead of feeling rushed. The staff at the front door are always cheerful and welcoming, and the service has been fantastic every time. I recently brought my mom, who is an absolute doll, when she came down from north of Albany and she raved about it. After that drive she needed something delicious, and Cortese delivered. Also, shout out to the overflow parking because that makes busy times much easier. Honestly, just come hungry. Classic Italian done right. If you leave hungry, that’s a personal decision.

Had a takeout pizza garlic with pepperoni was delicious ate in my car. Could not wait to devour the delicious pie. Grabbed a Stewart's black cherry soda to wash it down.

Got the chicken cutlet parmigiana dinner to go, with the soup of the day and the pasta side. All of it was fantastic - the sauce is the right side of tart for what I typically enjoy for tomato sauces. The tomato bisque was great as well.

Went here for moms 75th birthday. First time there. OMG so delicious. From the homemade French dressing to the awesome bread served at the table. Super yummy homemade mozzarella sticks. Everything is so delicious there. Server was awesome. Never had an empty drink or an empty bread basket.

Great Italian meal with a wide range of choices. Excellent pork, chicken, fish and beef selection. We really enjoyed our meal. We also enjoyed sitting in the lounge section of the restaurant.

This restaurant was recommended to me while in Binghamton on business due to its long legacy in town. Food was delicious and sitting on the patio was extra nice. Nicely landscaped and lots of flowering plants. I was happy to discover the sauce wasn’t a sweet sauce, and had great flavor. The house Italian dressing was a hit for me because it had a nice zing of vinegar. Clams were tender and prepared perfectly.