Il Cortile — Restaurant in New York

Let me start by saying that the only reason I gave it two stars rather than one is because the staff were amazing. Came across this spot when I had visited From Canada. Ordered a few dishes The sangria was the only thing I can say that was delicious. So I was in New York, more specifically Manhattan. I was told the Italian Food in New York was delicious, which I found out by trial and error was incorrect in my opinion. I Google searched best Italian restaurants and searched on Instagram for the best restaurants to eat Italian Food in Little Italy. The restaurant was well reviewed, high ratings and on the top three of every list I saw. I convinced my wife and two other friends to give it a try. We were greeted by a wonderful, polite and amazing hostess. She was Turkish but seemed to know a lot about Italian food and recommended a few dishes. Once she seated us we were being served by another amazing staff member he was Italian American, Sicilian to be specific and a true Native of Brooklyn. We had great time with him and he as well gave his recommendations for food. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and ordered the suggested dishes. We ordered cocktails but I think wine would have been better suited especially because the prices weren’t bad at all. Cocktail were average at best. We ordered some apps which were the Burrata and Pan Seared Pear. That actually wasn’t bad at all. It worked well together. The other app we ordered was the Mozzarella in Carozza which I personally didn’t like but my friends liked the Pablo type of crust it had. Next came our mains. My wife and I decided to share dishes, she ordered Ravioli stuffed with crab and cognac crème sauce. I ordered the stuffed Veal chop with the bone In. The ravioli came out and there was 4 pieces of Ravioli. The sauce looked watery but I dug in to give it a chance. The ravioli were a disaster, they were way too soft and as soon as you cut the piece the pasta could hold the filling and broke apart. The sauce was heavily salted. I didn’t not enjoy that dish at all. The stuffed veal wasn’t what I expected at all. When it came out it was this round ball that lucked like a giant meatball that they stuffed and inserted a bone. The veal wasn’t stuffed rather than rolled like an involtini and it actually did have the bone Inserted in. The meat was cooked fine and heavily stuffed which was the only good thing. It had this gravy sauce with mushrooms that was again overly salted and to the point I felt like my body was shutting down. There was no taste to the food but salt. It was awful. I tried my friends Penne alla Vodka which thank Gid was at least cooked somewhat Al Dente but the sauce wasn’t tasty at all. My other friend ordered Sunday Sugo which was Sausage, Braciole and Ribs cooked in Tomato Sauce the sauce wasn’t bad at all. The sauce was very very sweet though, too sweet for my likings to ever order again but the meat was cooked in the sauce and very soft. The ambiance was a very nice setting, clean, well arranged and decorated. The staff were amazing and made me feel comfortable and welcomed. If you are looking to have good conversation with the staff and a welcoming, warm and beautiful environment then Il Cortile is the spot but if you’re going to have a good authentic Italian meal or just an overall culinary experience the. Please don’t...

My wife and I first visited the restaurant from the UK 2 years and fell in love with the place - the food and atmosphere were superb!

This week we returned to NYC with our children and wanted them to experience il Cortile!

We dined with on Weds 31st Aug 2022 around approximately 630pm, there were 4 of us (myself, wife, son,daughter), we sat in the conservatory area next to the checkout and kitchen entrance.

We ordered: Puttanesca, lobster ravioli, fish special with spinach risotto and pasta with meat sauce for my daughter.

Our daughter has a dairy allergy so when ordering the pasta both me and my wife asked on two separate occasions that the meat sauce contained no milk or dairy products and the waiter said it did not.

Unfortunately, despite our request, the food DID contain dairy products and after leaving the restaurant Weds our daughter had an anaphylactic shock and has been in intensive care on life support in Hassenfeld childrens hospital since.

At this time we are unable to return home and there is no discharge date due to her medical status.

As a business you have the legal obligation to conduct business with ordinary care and must ensure meals for customers are safe. Negligence is a lack of care and we experienced food negligence this week during our visit.

Il Cortile has a high duty of care to protect customers and should be aware of all ingredients in your products especially when we raised our concerns twice whilst ordering.

I dont know the name of the waiter who served us but know that he was dark haired man from Montenegro. The food cost was $231 and I tipped the waiter $20 in cash.

This lack of care for such a important issue is not acceptable - our daughter was literally moments away from death Wednesday evening following our visit had it not been for the superb medical staff here in NYC.

Our trip to New York very nearly ended in the most unbearable circumstances imaginable as a parent due to some moments of neglect.

Restaurant has been ignoring our messages and hasnt even responded to apologise or offer a refund.

Appalled...

So we really wanted to love this place in Little Italy. We had done some research into the neighborhood and had a few contenders based on reviews and food bloggers recommending Il Cortile as a top 10 must try’s in Little Italy.

The restaurant itself seemed a bit tired and outdated. They had your typical kitschy Italian decor with statues, busts, and faux floral arrangements so there wasn’t a lot of ambiance in my opinion.

The service was fast and the wait staff was terrific and attentive, however , there was much left to be desired. We started with a tomato and mozzarella appetizer. It was plated nicely however I do believe they used red wine vinegar opposed to balsamic vinegar as was described on the menu. I ordered the penne vodka with chicken. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the vodka sauce had a nice little kick to it. However, the chicken was horrible. It was rubbery and chewy, with no flavor. I honestly believe that it was either boiled or microwaved . I had to pick all of the chicken out and put it to the side. My husband had Chicken Scarpiello and it was described as a bone in chicken. However the chicken was cut into smaller pieces , requiring my husband to have to Pick through every piece of chicken to find the bones which took a lot of enjoyment out of the dish. The flavor was good but nothing spectacular. We live in New Jersey and are fortunate enough to have many great Italian eateries locally so being that we were eating in Little Italy , we were expecting something to knock our socks off in this historical neighborhood. Also, we don’t mind paying high prices for food , but we definitely feel like the price tag did not fit the quality or taste. As we were underwhelmed with our first two courses, we skipped dessert. I’m not sure if there was a change of staff or chef but it looks like most of the low reviews were within the...