Gnocchi on 9th — Restaurant in New York

This is one of those TikTok hype places that does not meet the hype. I walked in because I like pasta and it seemed like if it’s a gnocchi only place, they probably have the best handmade gnocchi and delicious sauce.

That was a terrible assumption on my part. I was the only one when I walked in and just wanted to check things out. The main guy was very loud and I felt a bit pressured into a, once you step in you have to order type situation.

I then saw they have a wall of packaged gnocchi (De ceccio I think is the brand) that you can buy for $4 from instacart and immediately regretted my order.

While waiting for my order a group of 4 nyu kids came in. When asking how they found him, they said they saw it on TikTok to which he enthusiastically replied, that’s how everyone is finding him.

I guess $10 is supposed to be a deal for a small takeout container of pasta? It seemed like that from afar but the gnocchi was very bleh. You could make it a lot better at home. And the vodka sauce I got was super bland. Everything was like warm.

The atmosphere just felt kind of gross. The loud man directly things and a latinx woman rushing to put my order together. As a life long New Yorker I am always down to support the small businesses that pop up in my neighborhood but this one was seriously lacking and feels a bit like a facade that is finding success through some TikTok videos.

It sounds like it’s a rip off from the Montreal joint however that’s half the price and the gnocchi is all made in house.

They also advertise $10 but if you add cheese and such then you’re at $15 which could be a nice bowl of...

Be ABSOLUTELY sure to tip them, or they WILL mess with your order.

I’ve been there a few times, and every time I go I get two orders of their gnocchi (I’ve got a big appetite, I know). I order one first, tip for the two, eat, order the second and don’t tip when I pay for my second order as I’ve already tipped for the two in my first order. I do this just to keep it open-ended as I might not necessarily feel like eating a second order after I finish my first, but still want to reward them for their “great service” - even though it doesn’t even make much sense to tip in this case in particular to begin with, since there’s no real value add from the staff (no tap water, bread, table service, etc.)… It’s just getting your food from the counter and that’s it. They don’t even have any tables there.

In any case, what I’ve found in doing it this way is that when I place my second order, they, consistently and without a miss, “accidentally” skip it and leave me waiting for an unreasonably long time to get my meal, so it seems like a hell of a coincidence that when I tip, I get my order without any hiccups, when I don’t, my order gets delayed.

That, or maybe the owners should pay their staff better and stop relying on us, customers, to pay for their employees.

Finally, as many other people have expressed in the reviews, the food is pretty average - to say the least. Personally, I will not be going back to that place - I think it’s gonna go south...

if you're like me and your main aspiration in life is to eat pasta and loiter, look no further. the pasta is scooped out of a big metal pot and handed to you in an open to-go box like you're in an ice cream parlor. it's not made-to-order like sit-down restaurants, so i'm speculating that's where the cost-cutting happens.

i went right before closing and was impressed to see they are open until 9 on the dot. the gnocchi alla vodka is soft and doughy with a tangy taste, which i didn't expect. i wish it was more al dente and savory instead of sour, but maybe the tomato batch was bad today. i opted for red pepper flakes and parmesan on top, and the spice overpowered the taste of everything else. overall, the pasta wasn't unpleasant. it could be improved, and i wonder how italians feel about this, but the convenience and price are not to...