Cafe Luce - Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar — Restaurant in New York

Having come now about 4 times at increments of a couple months, I would say the quality of the food and service has dropped slightly since they expanded into the next door dining area. I still think it's one of the better choices for pasta at a reasonable price point $20-30/pasta, and I love burrata (the fried burrata was not really worth the price, though). That being said, our server didn't seem particularly enthused to offer an alternative when one of our party complained about the cacio e pepe being too salty (and it really was...). Even with the three lasagnas, they were baked to different degrees of doneness, with one having a much crunchier bottom sheet than the others, so the consistency is somewhat lacking. Regardless, they're usually timely and gracious. One other pet peeve of mine is how they serve parmesan and crushed red pepper in those shakers that you find at pizza hut. I'm not sure why they decided to do away with freshly grated parmesan but it gives the impression that they're cutting costs and possibly not even using parmigiano reggiano, which would be a real shame considering the effort they say goes into their fresh pasta and other ingredients. The sauces are still good in general (bolognese, alla vodka, pesto, etc.) but seem to lack the depth of flavor that they had on my first two visits. Maybe the magic just wore off, but I certainly haven't been as impressed in more recent visits.

I've come in groups of 2, 3, 4, and 6 now, and I have to say that it's not necessarily the best place for a larger (noisier) group even if you have a reservation. The atmosphere is generally intimate and we felt a little sorry for the patrons who were clearly on dates. The back of the restaurant closer to the restroom gets cold, and the entrance has the issue of being close to the door. The smaller room and the larger room have different lighting and ambiences as well, so it would be nice to be offered the choice between the two, even when making reservation. Despite all the criticism, I think this place is still a great option for a reasonably priced Italian dinner in a comfortable environment, especially in...

Check out my 🔥🔥 🔥 response to owners below! Spoilers: meal was below par, owners should be concentrating on food and talking with own staff.

Had a disappointing brunch here today. Brought my wife the wrong starter and down hill from there. Pasta was overcooked and the croquet Madame was like a cheap toasted sandwhich from a bodega. Used to be good but today they seemed to have lost it

Edit: So owners claim to have checked the cameras but I wander if they checked in with their staff.

We order the fried burrata for starter and as you can see in your cameras we didn’t receive this but some standard burrata and we called the server over to comment on this after.

If you talk to the server she will confirm this.

No offer to take of bill just oops sorry.

Next we had the croque madam, which was cheap toasted sliced white bread ham and cheese sandwhich. All the right ingredients just put together cheaply. Ok, I thought this sucks but I am hungry I’ll eat this.

My wife had some pasta and again if you actually check your camera you’ll see half the pasta left there.

If you checked in with your servers we commented on it being overcooked and she went back and we heard them discuss it in the kitchen.

So do yourself a favour and don’t claim like you checked this out.

Talk to your servers, listen to the feedback we have taken the time to give you alongside our money and maybe actually double check footage.

This is YOUR business so maybe take some feedback without trying to deflect.

Yeah, you got fries...

Food so good we went back for a second bite.

This Italian restaurant was walking distance from our hotel and what a find it was.

The food was excellent and is amongst the best Italian food we've ever eaten.

On our first visit we shared a Bruscetta Pomodoro to start and we knew straight away we were going to have a night of delicious, full flavoured food. Mains were Diavolo with fresh homemade spaghetti and Meatballs also with spaghetti. The food came to our table piping hot. Beautiful sauces coating amazing pasta and generous portions. A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to wash it all down and we savoured every mouthful of both food and drink.

We enjoyed the experience so much we went back on our last night in NYC.

This time we shared a Fried Zucchini starter followed by mains of Bolognese and Cacio E Pepe with Chicken. We ordered both with homemade spaghetti. The same Sauvignon Blanc was again a great accompaniment to the delicious food.

Our server on both nights was Bronilda who was friendly, helpful and courteous without being intrusive.

You are encouraged to view the menu by scanning a barcode but for those who prefer not to have devices at the table printed menus are available on request.

This is a small restaurant and tables are quite close together but the food more than makes up for this so don't miss out.

We will definitely be back on our next...