Bar Italia — Restaurant in New York

If this were just about the food, I'd give the place 3/12 or 4 stars: tasty, fresh, if somewhat overpriced Italian fare. But here's what happened. As we were eating, a big 'ol roach skittered across the table, pausing in our oil dish before continuing on its death march. And it was a death march -- because while my friend pretty much jumped into the lap of her scowling next-door neighbor on the banquette, I grabbed the corner of the white tablecloth and squished the sucker. Fortunately, the restaurant is so loud you couldn't really hear our screams. Without missing a beat (was this a regular occurence, I wondered?) , the silent, grim waitstaff came over and moved all our stuff to the adjacent table , while changing the roachy tablecloth and quickly seating the next poor woman in our seats. (Incidentally, this is something that's always bothered me at this restaurant...the waitstaff seem kind of miserable.) And then...nothing. Nobody said a word. My friend , who is a regular here, was really annoyed. I wished she hadn't done what she did next, because I wanted to see what the restaurant would do on its own. She called over the manager. He joked, "Well, he didn't make a reservation" (Ha Ha HA). My friend asked how he planned to make it up to us...would he comp, well, something? He muttered, "Well, if it would make you happy". Uhhh, kinda! It's not like we spent 1000 dollars here. Considering we only ordered 2 salads, one drink and 2 cappucinos between us, it was a fairly modest bill, about $120.00. He took 20 percent off. You can decide for yourself whether grudgingly taking 20 percent off was an appropriate response. Now, roaches happen. It's NYC. But I've lived here 40-ish years, eaten in some fabulously skeevy places, and have never had a roach perp-walk through my food. Would I have gone back if the meal was comped and we'd had an apology to begin with? Yeah, I think so, because although I don't love this place, my friend does. Or did. But as it...

So, we dropped some serious cash expecting a great time, but boy, did things take a nosedive thanks to the clueless hostess. Don't even get me started - major "liar, liar, pants on fire" situation here.

Alright, let's break it down: the food and service were pretty solid. Tons of yummy options on the menu and the staff was on point. Props to the waitstaff for being all ears and helpful.

But here's where it went south. There's this empty outdoor table, and guess what? The hostess conveniently forgot about the promise she made to seat us out there. Not cool, right? And the way she handled it? Ugh, major letdown vibes.

And don't even get me started on the manager. He's just chilling there, witnessing the whole debacle, but not a word from him. So much for customer service, huh?

Oh, and heads up: if you're thinking of chilling indoors, be ready for an eardrum assault. The noise levels are off the charts, and I ended up with a pounding headache.

Bottom line? Our wallet took a hit, all thanks to Miss Hostess with the Mostest Attitude. Some parts of the experience were cool, but the unresolved issues and the manager's MIA act left us seriously...

If I could give Bar Italia 6 stars on Google reviews, I would because this place is fantastic. From the service to the quality and taste of everything we tried, Bar Italia knocked it out of the park. Starting with the service, the entire staff was excellent - they offered to check our bags/coats when we arrived and were extremely friend and attentive throughout the evening without being overbearing, as an added bonus/nice touch, the owner/chef was also out interacting with guests on a few occasions. The food was exceptional. We tried several things - burrata caprese, a red wine/tomato sausage rigatoni, veal milanese, and the branzino, finished off with the key lime pie and mixed ice cream. Everything was excellent but I think my favorites were the pasta dish and the branzino. The ice cream is also made in-house and was so delicious.

Bar Italia isn’t cheap but it is absolutely quality in every aspect and you get what you pay for here. Can’t wait...