Garlic & Olive Pasta Eats — Restaurant in New York

My partner, and I decided to try out this place tonight. I left pretty disappointed.

When we came in and sat down, they asked us if we wanted still or sparkling water. We both said “still”, but I was surprised they brought us out an $8 bottle of Saratoga spring water. I was expecting tapwater, but before I could say anything, the bottle was opened and being poured in a glass next to us. Oh well, not the worst thing in the world.

We ordered two glasses of wine. They have a pretty OK selection. It was nice that they had wine from different regions like Spain and Georgia, and a pleasant surprise to see some orange wine.

We ordered the burrata and arugula salad to start. They brought us 4 tiny pieces of garlic bread on a paper plate. Really odd that this place served paper plates, after just serving me an $8 bottle of Saratoga spring, but whatever. The burrata was OK, though the portion was kind of small and it wasn’t super creamy. The salad was also OK, but nothing about it felt very Italian or inspired.

We ordered our main entrées, which was the rigatoni alla vodka, and the tagliatelle funghi. They bought out both of our dishes, but we were surprised when they unveiled a cheese wheel that they used to mix the mushroom pasta in. It wasn’t bad per se, but it was sort of unexpected. It felt a little awkward as well, and I’m not entirely sure if all that much cheese made into the dish because there wasn’t anything to warm it up. The pasta sauce for each dish was pretty good, but the mushroom pasta was advertised to come in a mascarpone cream sauce - and when my partner was finished eating it, it had a pool of oil in the bottom. It’s unclear where the oil came from because the pasta was just mixed in the cheese wheel, and the pasta was creamy before it came in. I assume the sauce was an emulsified properly so it was a bit unappetizing to see. My pasta sauce also seemed to separate a little bit, but still tasted fine. I also think the pasta came to us overcooked, not al dente.

I will say the Server was very nice and pleasant to us and she did a great job. It’s very clear this restaurant is not Italian owned - which is not a dealbreaker, but overcooked pasta in an Italian restaurant is a sin.

I’ll also add that nearly all the photos in the menu were AI generated, which is really disappointing. A paycheck was taken away from a photographer or graphic designer, and as a small business, it’s important to support each other especially with many artists living in the community. It’s also odd, because the food being shown in the menu looks nothing like what is probably offered. I think if you have real pride in your food or your craft, you should take the time to make sure it’s being displayed proudly.

Overall, I probably won’t be back for dinner. It’s probably worth it for a glass of wine and maybe a small snack, but there are many other options in the neighborhood. I grew up in NYC and love good Italian food, and this just isn’t up to par.

Pros: service was good, and had some good wine options. Cons: dishes were not executed well, and the recipes were basic. Pasta was not al dente. Use of AI on menu was...

An odd but not altogether unpleasant experience. After having drinks nearby we decided to try this new place, since it was one of the few on the road listed as being open until 11 pm on a Sunday night. We arrived just before 10 and they clearly looked like they were just preparing to close. Everyone seemed very surprised to see us, but accommodated us politely and took our order. The crostini was a tiny portion and refrigerator cold — not pleasant. One of us ordered gnocchi with pesto and he was told that as they were out of gnocchi they could substitute it with penne— we accepted this, as it was late and there weren’t a lot of meat free options, but were charged the same as the gnocchi we didn’t get. While we waited for our order we asked to order bread and the server seemed completely confused and said that “we haven’t had bread for a long time”…? This is all while the staff sat around having their meals while we waited. Truly bizarre scene for a place that should be working on impressing their new clientele. I do have to say that once the main dishes arrived, they were totally delicious! We were very surprised, as by that point we weren’t expecting much. But honestly, some of the best pasta I’ve ever had! So kudos there. The owner kept apologizing—but no effort was made to actually make up for their shoddy service (a complementary glass of wine? dessert? or maybe just a simple and fair price adjustment for an out of the pantry pasta substitution?—penne for gnocchi, not the same, my friend!) Anyway, I wish them luck, but I see from other reviews that they’re quickly becoming Not a new restaurant anymore, so I hope they up their game and fast. The food IS good— but atmosphere and service…gotta work on...

We ate here on what (I think) was their second night of service, so I'm going to cut them some slack. The food was very good but the service could use some work. But I'm feeling generous with stars, and I have been a beginner too.

First, the beet salad was very good but needs more beets. Pistachios and fruit (apple) was a nice touch and overall very good but too much lettuce and not enough beets for a salad called "bietole". Pasta alla gricia was excellent. Rigatoni was perfectly al dente, the guanciale was nicely rendered and served hot and delicious. Chicken parmigiana was also excellent. Perfectly cooked, hot and juicy.

Now for the service. Hmm. Servers were new. I mean really, really new. One young woman clearly knew what she was doing, the others not so much. But they will get the hang of it. They seemed flustered that we ordered a whole bottle of wine. (Really?) Please teach that server how to use a corkscrew. Our 3 orders (one salad, one pasta and one main) all came out within 5 minutes of each other yet the table next to us that arrived at the same time waited probably 20 minutes for 2 pasta dishes. (I saw their annoyance.) Please give us some serving utensils (big spoons) to serve with. Overall the kitchen seems focused and capable but still some stuff to work out as well, like timing.

I was sorry to see Purple Yam (previous occupant) go and the neighborhood could use an Italian restaurant, so I wish them well. I also wish them to work out their growing pains but we will be back, especially for more of that fantastic rigatoni...