Gennaro Restaurant — Restaurant in New York

HOSPITALITY AND CONSISTENCY!! The benchmarks for all great restaurants, even more important than the food itself. This gem of an Italian restaurant specializing in Sicilian style cooking has been doing those exact deeds since 1996. That alone should speak volumes about this establishment. The owner/chef Gennaro is passionate about his food. Being a lover of Sicilian cuisine, I was wowed by his Caponata( ever so slightly sweetened eggplant appetizer) and Sicily's Chief pasta dish... Bucatini Con Sarde....a thick walled spaghetti with fresh sardines, raisins, and wild fennel. A taste and texture sensation for the soul. My dining friend ordered a half order of a different pasta which he left the bowl so clean that the dish could have been put back on the shelf. His main course was a pounded breaded veal chop with salad on the top. The veal chop was the size of Rhode Island and was moist, flavorful and satisfyingly memorable. Our waiter was intuitively available on a moments thought and answered all our food questions with an inviting attitude. My friend and I had not dined together for many years and our waiter seemed to pick up on that and never bothered us unless he was needed. The timing of the food was well tuned and the room had a good vibe especially for a Monday night. It had been too many years since I had been there last, but rest assured I will be back soon. I live in Northern NJ and only wish Gennaro was in my town. This is a true labor of love establishment. The owner cares about his food preparations and the restaurant has a welcoming, warm and alive feeling about it. You will leave with a fond memory of the dinner and hopefully in three hours you will burp and get to taste that glorious...

Very disappointing. I really wanted to like this place after all the great reviews. My wife & I arrived with our friends (4 total) at 6:30. Nice ambiance, though poorly lit. We were immediately seated. Nice wine list. Reasonable prices. The waiter kept trying to push us to order. Didn't provide any useful information, just said they were running out of things in the kitchen, despite it being 6:45 on a Friday night and the restaurant was less than half full. He pushed the antipasto, which was decent quality, but way too large for four people. My friend and I had the sardine pasta because we both love sardines. It consisted of crumbled dry sardines mixed with pasta. Poor flavor profile. I asked the waiter for a side vegetable. He named several, including brussels sprouts, my favorite. Great. It turned out to be a cold salad of shredded brussels sprouts with pecorino cheese, not a side dish. Once the food was delivered, the service was poor. I asked for the owner, who wasn't there, so I spoke with the manager and explained the above. She apologized and hoped they would do better the next time. Dinner for four for $300 with these results? There won't be a next time. Too many other,...

I got spaghetti with rotten swordfish. Asked to bring this disgusting smelly substance back to a cook and exclude it from my check. Got a check with spaghetti excluded but with a $10 on a top of an ordered bottle of wine. I asked to eliminate $10 from my check. A waiter yelled at me claiming that this is precisely the wine I ordered. Got a new check with the real price of wine I ordered but with $21 for linguini that I did not order. I asked to exclude linguini from a check. Received new check with the exact list of meals and wines I ordered but with 18% tips included. I explained to a waiter that after yelling on a customer he is not eligible for any tips. After a new round of screaming from his side I repeated the same. I have explained to a manager that his establishment is not available for any tips because of the yelling waiter, rotten fish and numerous attempts to defraud me. The manager replied that I consumed a wine $10 more expensive than I paid that is why I should pay $20 tip (as a punishment as far as I understood). Handed over $2 tip to this desperate for my money manager and left this restaurant forever. Otherwise excellent...