Judging from his food, chef Marcelo Croitoru got tired of making rubber chicken. In 2005, after years running a banquet hall and pimping out meals for the masses, Marcelo and his wife , Rodi,opened Marcelo's Restaurant in Cambridge, hoping to allow the chef to unleash his skills in cooking high end Italian cuisine. Given the chance to cook the food he loves for 40 instead of 200, Croitoru is taking full advantage of the opportunity.more...See more text
now that's italian cooking at its' best! started off with an eggplant and arugula appy, then the prosciutto - provolone veal and hand made pappardelle pasta in a bolognese sauce...a master piece! also, tried the home made bean soup....full blown foodie alert here ! go see Marcelo and Rodi, you will not be disappointed!
Wow! One of the best meals we've had in years & we consider ourselves foodies. You can taste Marcelo's passion for cooking in his food - fresh ingredients, real food everything made in house.
Don't judge a book by it's cover - it's a hidden jem. We kindof like that this restaurant is not on the main strip alongside the Blackshop. It makes it more like our little secret getaway.
The waiter was professional - attentive & knew when we needed him without seeming too bothersome. Atmosphere - cozy - we were seated at a table in the back which made it romantic. Which we love for our "date" night. Not fancy but nicely done.
We started with the fantastic bread - with the dipping oil. Best bread - watch out it's additive but comes in handy for using to clean up your tasty sauce and bits to come.
Best ceasar salad we've ever had. Calamari was cooked to perfection and sauce was great.
Mains my husband had the Rustica - Gnochi & sausage and mushrooms. Other then wanting more sausage it was awesome. I had the veal scaloppine. Which was the most expensive item at $24 but for the price was incredible. Real flavours and sauce.
Dessert we shared choclate canollis with a fresh mixed berry reduction. Perfect way to end a fantastic meal.
Great meal we felt like we were on vacation and actually had a conversation trying to remember the last time we had such a great time and great meal.
Again, never heard of the restaurant, but driven by many times.
Excellent (!) service and red wine (!). Food was homemade, wholesome and satisfying. I would definately go again. Wonderful Italian rustic breads. Atmosphere is a bit sparse (empty). Tables comfortable and I liked the low lighting. It made up for the intimacy that was lost with the tables close together (It's a fairly small place).
After living in Cambridge for a few years, I had never heard of - nor seen - Marcelo's. It was only after an adamant recommendation that I visited it at all. Well worth it, and long overdue. The service is phenomenal with the restaurant small enough to be comfortable but not cramped. Walking in you pass the kitchen and the chef smiles/waves, making you feel instantly comfortable. Of course, all of that doesn't matter if the food isn't up to snuff. From the starters to the mains, all of us were incredibly satisfied - the food is fresh, well-prepared and very tasty. The menu is kept small and authentic and is executed perfectly. This is above-the-bar Italian in the KW-Guelph-Cambridge area. The wine selection was small but offered a wide range of options for geography and price. Overall, with the service, food and atmosphere, it was almost the perfect restaurant. Not that I'm complaining, but the location is a little off-putting (Eagle St beside a muffler shop) - but you can't really hold that against them. A MUST visit if you're a foodie in the area.
I heard great things about this place from many repeat customers, and since my girlfriend's favorite food is pasta, I made the reservation for her 30th there. We started off with a fantastic Ceasar salad & home made gnocchi (I hope I spelt that right) that was to die for... oh so rich & creamy. I'm a steak man that much enjoyed their rib-eye in like a light gravy. The birthday girl ordered some of the best ravioli I've ever tasted , & she agreed it was yummy. The duck she ordered was a little tough, but they approached us about it first. After asking to replace it, which we declined, they insisted they take off of our bill. Desert for the birthday girl was on them as well. They were also very apologetic. Overall great experience & we both WILL go back.
4 of us from our office went to Marcello's for lunch recently. Even though the location is very non-pretentious (in a strip mall with auto services!), when we walked in, we knew this was something special.
The kitchen is open and you can see the chef preparing meals as soon as you walk in the restaurant.
We were greeted warmly by the hostess who sat us at our table, then before we even looked at the menus, brought us toasted garlic bread along with olive oil and other dippings. It was absolutely delicious.
I ordered the Veal Parmagiana and the presentation was superb, far beyond what I expected. The pasta was swirled in to a very pleasant arrangement and the meat was perfectly done. I must say this was one of the best and most original interpretations of this classic dish I have had in many years.
We left the restaurant very impressed and definitely plan on returning soon.
The server brought out two baskets of toasted bread with an olive oil and chile mixture to use for dipping. It was very tasty.
There were 5 choices on the lunch menu, plus a daily special. It may not seem like a lot of choice, but every item on the menu and the special sounded great.
Our meals came out quickly and were presented very nicely. Everyone was very happy with their meal. 3 of us had the chicken parmigiana, which was very moist and flavourful and came with linguini as well. It was just the right portion for lunch. A great value at $13 for a meal that is prepared to order.
The server and hostess were both very friendly and provided good service. The chef even thanked us for coming on the way out.
Everyone in our group expressed interest in returning very soon.
We went to Marcelo's because of reviews on Restaurantica. The food was good and the waitress was attentive. However, we were a little disappointed a the pricing, which for most items did not include a salad or any side dishes. For a restaurant in its location and with its limited menu, we felt the whole thing was somewhat pretentious. For the money, we would have been happier with a simpler, less elegant decor and more food, at a lower price!
My wife and I tried Marcelo's as a result of its rating on Restaurantica, and we're glad we did.
The service was top notch, and the food was fantastic.
As others have alluded to, the ambience/atmosphere is the best you can make of a restaurant that shares a building with Apple Auto Glass and is nestled amongst car dealerships and automotive repair garages.
Also, the menu is very limited, but I was still able to get something I loved.
I had the seafood fettucine, which was awesome. The noodles were noticeably fresh, and the food was full of flavour.
My wife wasn't as impressed with her lasagna, but still liked it.
The service was especially great. They weren't pushy, but were exceptionally helpful and responsive to our requests. I would recommend Marcelo's to a friend.
Marcelo's is the kind of restaurant that turns a diner evangelical. I made it a mission to make sure that every friend and family member (and not a few strangers) visited the restaurant to enjoy a meal because it's one of the few restaurants that's never disappointed. If you love Italian food, this place will thrill you.
The service alone would bring me back. Every server is so attentive and each person seems to genuinely care about your experience and your enjoyment of the food. The chairs are uncommonly comfortable and the tables are dressed in rich fabric and decorated with bumble bee napkin rings that add a touch of whimsy to the table.
On my first visit, the friend I was with was making such orgasmic noises that I half expected someone to say "I'll have what she's having". Marcelo's is the kind of place where just seeing a dish pass your table makes you wish you'd ordered it, until you see the amazingly presented meal that was made just for you... I've never wished I'd eaten anything else once I've been served.
The Caprese salad is a work of art that's filled with so many complementary flavours. I can't imagine a better way to start a meal. The veal scallopini is tender and served with fresh noodles that are made in the kitchen daily. (be sure to peek into the open kitchen, it's sparkling and orderly and you can tell it's run by a chef who cares about every detail) The bread is sinfully good and far too plentiful for anyone who doesn't want to gain 10lbs. The tiramisu is one of the best I've had.
The only drawback to Marcelo's is the fact that it is housed in a strip mall setting instead of an Italian villa but that's soon forgotten as soon as the food is served.
Decided to try this restaurant after seeing all...
Decided to try this restaurant after seeing all the great reviews it had gotten. The atmosphere was very nice and romantic although it was a tad dark and I had trouble reading the menu. One of my major issues with this restaurant is that we had close to five people serving us... We ordered our drinks from one person and then proceeded to be asked if we would like anything to drink from every other waitress. That went on for the entire evening, making it quite hard to have a conversation when we were constantly being interrupted. Our main courses took a long time to be brought to us and it didn't live up to my expectations. The food was rather bland and my fiances salmon was burnt. After our meal we waited nearly an hour and a half for the bill. Will not return as I felt very out of place and the food was not what I had expected.
Marcelo's is a restaurant I recommend to visitors...
Marcelo's is a restaurant I recommend to visitors to and locals of the tricities alike! And I have never gotten anything but positive feedback from people. Each person I know has become a regular there after my recommendation.
Marcelo's has a concise menu: a few options in each category. At first this may seem a big change from other restaurants, especially chain ones, but the smaller menu guarantees that everything is fresh and...well perfect! The menu seems to change regularly so that when I visit a few times a year there will be new items to try.
My favourite item on the menu is the caprese salad. The bocconcini cheese is just amazing- you can't find anything like it in a store- and the combination of items and sauce is just delicious. Of course another favourite is the bread- made fresh daily crusty bread with peppers, olives, or garlic baked into it. Fantastic!
At Marcelo's you won't find the typical pasta meals we've come to expect at canadian italian restuarants! Don't get me wrong, he makes a wonderful pasta, including delicious gnocchi, but he tends more to meat entrees with fantastic pasta side dishes.
Everything at Marcelo's is great! The service is friendly and prompt. The location is a tad odd, as people have said before, but not an issue once you get inside and immerse yourself in the wonderful meal experience.
I've lived in the tricities my whole life and this is by far my favourite spot! Please try it, you won't be disappointed.
So amazing it borders on unbelievable, especially...
So amazing it borders on unbelievable, especially for what you are paying. Ever since I have visited Marcelo's for the first time, I have had difficulty eating anywhere else. I just haven't found anything in the tricities that comes close. The price can range anywhere from $15-25 for an entree. So you can actually walk out of there under $30 per person with an appetizer and entree but I don't know why you would want to. A drink on top of that and you're at $25-35 per person even with one of the more highend entrees. I always end up ordering more than I can eat to try different things. But let's talk about the actual important stuff: the food.
Most recently I had the seafood pasta. I loved it so I asked him about it and why it tasted so differently. He makes the noodles at home by hand and apparently he even cuts the little dimples at the sides into it himself. The mussels were easily 2 or 3 times as large as I have seen anywhere else and definitely the freshest. You can tell that absolutely everything is made from scratch and on the spot which is something unheard of for this price or in this region. I always found something pre-made no matter where I went before this place.
I like the restaurant itself too. The kitchen is exposed so you can see him preparing the food. I like knowing that there is a sparkling clean kitchen being used. But just seeing him work, or the flames rising above his head is pretty fun as well. He also comes out of the kitchen to chat sometimes, which is something I always enjoy because I can ask about what everything is or how it's made. You can tell he has very high standards for himself and what he makes which I think is why the food so well priced for what you get. He's charging you for the food price and whatever on top but no where near what you should be for all the attention to detail and effort he puts in.
You can expect to wait at least 10-20 minutes on a course though depending on what you order and number of people in the restaurant. Everything, including the bacon on top of the caesar salad is made on the spot so you imagine why there is a bit of a wait. This has also taught me something though. There are still times when I go out and have something come out in 5-10 minutes. Now I wonder exactly what parts and how much of that plate was made beforehand and how long it has been sitting/frozen etc.
Trust me and the others who swear by this place. It's in a off-beat location so perhaps you don't even know they're there but just go one time. You won't regret it. You won't believe the flavours that come out of his food. Also, I go every once in a while. The reason I do though is because the menu is always changing with the season. Sometimes once a month, sometimes after 2 weeks. The veggies are always seasonal as they should be.
I have eaten at every place listed in Cambridge, except the new Hobson where the Blackshop once was, and almost all of the like-places in Kitchener so I have no problem saying this but... best restaurant in the city.
I must say that finding Marcelo's was fantastic...
I must say that finding Marcelo's was fantastic. My mother was visiting over the Christmas and New Year Holidays. Last week I suggested we go for Italien. What a perfect choice. The greeting right on through to the service and excellent meal went perfect. Marcelo's is a small quaint place in the midst of car dealerships and auto needs stores. You can imagine how pleased we were to walk in and find a gem! The food presentation shows the love put into each dish. Try the ceasar salad plate, very different and refreshing.
On my way out, I asked if I could return often on Thursdays or Fridays in the late evening with my husband for an appetizer and a nice glass of wine. They were so happy to welcome the throught.
Must have been the most enjoyable meal we ever had. The service was excellent as was the entire meal. From the warm home made bread with roasted red peppers to the desert was fantastic. Not to mention the incredible entrees. The only draw back was it was in stripe mall. If you can get over that & work your way inside, you will not be disappointed.
i do not like italian food they have here in canada but the food i had at marcelo's is real italian food like in italy.
very fresh and clean taste. you should try the rabit when on special and the duck .the best i had so far and trust me i am a chef too.
BRAVO
The first thing you notice at Marcelo's is just how clean the kitchen is. It's all on display, and it's all gleaming. The second thing you notice is Marcelo himself, with boundless energy he runs that kitchen flawlessly, and turns out meals that rival the best of Toronto dining.
There was not a single complaint at our table, no small accomplishment, considering all five of us are quite versed in Italian food. From the unique fresh bread, to the pasta, seafood, and veal dishes, everything was fresh, cooked to order, and impeccably presented.
If time permits, Marcelo will come out and chat with his guests. He really loves his work, and it shows.
Try it, you'll return.
Marcelos is definately a hidden gem of cambridge...
Marcelos is definately a hidden gem of cambridge, they have been open for 2.5yrs and I just found them recently. A great place to get dressed up and take your wife/girlfriend out for a great dinner, relax to the italian music and be prepared for the best food presentation you will ever see. (so good we didnt want to mess it up by eating it) The veal chop was to die for, cooked to perfection and tender like no other veal I have ever had and it was very reasonably priced at $22. All I can say is MARCELO'S is a must try for anyone from anywhere worth the drive!!!
