Taverna Novo — Restaurant in City of Saratoga Springs

Taverna Novo was a delightful experience and surprise. Who would think in such and unassuming place on a street call Beekman in Saratoga Springs, NY is a wonderful Italian restaurant! When my wife and I walked in Taverna Novo it had a bar and about a dozen tables. But there were more tables outside. Almost like a few Italian restaurants in Brooklyn. Not heavy on decor but the food speaks for itself. I am of Italian heritage so I remember a lot of my grandparents cooking which was GREAT! My wife and I were greeted nicely by the host at the door as well as our wait person Kassandra. She was great. She made us feel comfortable right away and was very convivial. Kassandra handed us the food menu and the wine list. Well when I saw the wine list and wines listed by the glass, I was like a kid in a candy store. Throughout our dinner my wife and I tried a couple of different wines. We had a great Verdicchio and to my surprise a great Vermentino from Maremma which is one of my favorite regions in Tuscany for wine. The best part it’s sometimes very hard to find whites from Maremma. But to top off my night I had a Baby Super Tuscan that was delicious and velvety. Ok now my wife and I ordered the warm Burratta and olives as our antipasti. Delicious the crushed Marzano tomatoes were sweet and savory and the sauce seasoned perfectly that spelled Italy. Assorted warm olives were a wonderful accompaniment. Then our main course we went with pasta. I had the Cacio Pepe with Bucatini. The flavor and creamy flavor brought me back to Rome. My wife had the Penne Fresco with roasted tomatoes , artichokes and fennel. Delicioso! Dessert Pistachio Cheescake, espresso and my wife hand Frangelica and I had Lemoncello. What can I say? We can’t wait to get back again in near future. Ciro Matrecano. Former Food & Beverage Director of New...

Last weekend, the hubby and I joined a couple of friends for dinner Saturday night at Taverna Novo. First note, this is a small space - reservations highly recommended! I emailed them early in the week and was lucky to score a table for 4 close to the time I wanted.

We had a fabulous experience- the food, service, and overall environment combined to make for a terrific and fun night out.

Bread service with dipping oil is the start of the evening. We followed this with appetizers - stuffed mushrooms, short rib ravioli, and a special appetizer of the evening - a burrata dish with crostini. The others reported that the mushrooms were delicious and I can vouch for the ravioli- a very large portion of 8 or 9 good sized pieces filled with tender short rib and covered in braised mushrooms and a pan sauce. Highly recommend! Burrata was also yummy. Caesar salad was huge - enough for us all to have some.

Next were our entrees - one wood fired pizza, one eggplant parm, and one bucatini amatriciana. The meatlover pizza was good, nothing over the top, but good. Eggplant parm was very good; served with a side of pasta, both topped with a thick and delicious homemade marinara sauce. Huge portion that came home. The bucatini was also said to be awesome - good to the last drop! Well flavored and another large portion. Potatoes ordered as a side were simple but delicious. Highly recommend.

We ordered 2 portions of the specialty dessert - an Irish bread pudding. There are no words for how good this was. We were told it usually runs out quickly. I only wish I had ordered my own instead of agreeing to share with the hubby.

Make your...

After several unsuccessful attempts at dining here we finally were able to. Although the place was nearly empty the hostess who was very nice asked if we had a reservation, we did not. With all the empty tables and impending reservations she pondered where to seat us.. hmmm. I take it the owner was the one who spoke up and said no problem you can seat them over there. A couple of things you should know, I'm Italian, like many my Grandparents came over here from italy. So as you could imagine cooking fresh ingredients from scratch is the only way. Having said that, I had the Lasagna. When it came out it was in a cast iron caldron or skillet. That is something you should never do. I don't think the cast iron was seasoned. I say that because the sauce had a heavy metallic taste. Use glass or porcelain only. In addition, the Lasagna looked like soup that monsieur boyardee made. Terrible! Hardly any meat or cheese. The salad, was ok I don't mind the taste of anchovies but my wife wanted to throw up. The waiter is a little gruff and abrasive, he should be a bouncer not a waiter. Check your comments people have mentioned that several times. $65 bucks for that. Oh and the waiter walked off with my change. I had to ask him for change after taking our payment he ignored us. There was no was I was giving a $18 tip after that. Never again people. If you want a great recipe for lasagna...