Canto West Village — Restaurant in New York

Canto made me feel like, after dating hundreds of restaurants all over NYC, I’d finally found the place I wanted to marry. First, the food. It took restraint not to order another round of arancini (rice balls) they were so good. A Sicilian grandma would weep with jealousy. I found it inconceivable that a dish as relatively simple as the fusilli al pesto e zucchini could be packed with such rich and nuanced flavor. The bucatini alla carbonara was creamy, pancetta-packed bliss. The special, a branzino finished with some sort of butter and caper sauce over mashed potatoes and spinach, came out piping hot and was perfectly cooked - a great compliment to the pastas. The desert menu is filled with thoughtfully chosen temptations but I only tried the cheesecake, which was light and textured and just sweet enough, and - a first for me - the top was lightly flambéed like a crème brûlée, perhaps a subtle nod to Djamel’s (the owner) French roots. Djamel himself is an epic host. A smile and attention for every patron. The team he’s assembled are all kind, quick, efficient and fun, which is probably why the ambiance is such a win. The music was so good I wanted to find their playlist on Spotify. This is the kind of place that deserves to be a West Village classic, a perennial destination. Don’t go just for a glass of wine and a 2 hour chat with your friend. There are plenty of places for that, like Vin sur Vingt or Cafe Cluny. Go to Canto with an appetite as big as Djamel’s personality. Get something from every part of the menu. Don’t just have tap water. Order a dirty martini or a Negroni and a bottle of wine, which are perfectly chosen to pair with the exceptional, comfortable and perfectly executed menu. Tip more than you usually do. A restaurant this generous deserves your generosity. Dinner was so memorable that I went back the morning after for brunch. I guess that makes...

WHO IS OUT FOR VIOLENCE AT 6PM ON A THURSDAY??? WE WERE ENJOYING OURSELVES UNTIL WE WEREN’T.

It doesn’t matter how good the frozen espresso martinis were, we will NOT be coming back to this place. We came for the famous frozen espresso martini, and we will not be returning because of the disgusting behavior we experienced.

We were thrown into a corner and were rudely told by the hostess that “we were too loud”…

#1) The music is extremely LOUD so we have to raise our voices in order to hear each other. -they gave us excuses that the music is at a “normal” volume and “other tables were complaining” when in actuality, we can hear them as well, and it is not a quiet atmosphere.

#2) EVERYONE is LOUD because we are in a LOUD environment where liquor is served and everyone is having a good time.

#3) Why would you tell your HAPPIEST customers to quiet down? We are enjoying ourselves and not being obnoxious or anything of the sort.

The hostess already came up to us because we had a reservation for 5 people but had a surprise visit and thus had 6 people. She came up to us with an extremely bitter demeanor as if we committed a terrible sin, saying we must inform them next time…. But it’s a SURPRISE and only one extra person. The manager already said it was fine because there are extra seats…So there’s already some ill feeling to our party.

With that being said, it’s very hard to believe the complaint wasn’t personal. Especially when we spoke to the OWNER HIMSELF, he deflected the issue onto the manager. This left us puzzled and a bad taste in our mouths as we were just saying how lovely this place was until we were treated otherwise and the situation was handled poorly.

OVERALL, the way they handle situations and concerns brought up to them is giving DISTASTEFUL. READ ALL THE OTHER LOWER RATING REVIEWS AND YOU’LL SEE THEY SPEAK THE TRUTH AND I’M NOT...

My party had a reservation for 9:45pm and waited for over 40 mins. At ~10pm we had asked the staff on the status of the table and she had informed us that they were running a bit late and is checking in with the servers. Understand that her job is not easy and must be stressful but after 30+ minutes we were still aimlessly waiting with no updates. By about 10:30 the hostess comes out and informs us that the next table still has 1hr & 45 mins to their table, and she says "i dont know what you guys want to do". This is unprofessional and not very respectful of our time. The staff should have informed us earlier that the restaurant may not be able to honor our reservation, instead of rudely telling us to keep waiting, and suggesting we explore other options after waiting for this long. Many other parties were also stuck outside waiting, and were not happy. The staff had known that many tables were behind yet still failed to provide us with a truthful update. We spoke to the manager after who did not really acknowledge us and just told us that they are busy. Few mins later he comes out offering us bar seats which we had mentioned earlier on we were ok with. It isn't fair to keep guests waiting after the 15 min mark. If we are honoring the reservation on our end with a 15 min grace period, the expectation is the same for the restaurant. After we went inside, we were offered a glass of wine as an apology, however, we did not want that and asked for first round to be covered by the restaurant. They did not agree to that which is fine, but will not be returning or recommending to anyone any time soon. The bar staff and staff inside the restaurant were super nice and respectful though, and we appreciated...