Longo Bros — Restaurant in New York

We had dinner over Valentine's Day weekend and we were the only two people in the entire restaurant which was indicative how the food would be. I originally booked this restaurant because I read the concept on Resy was a liquor store that expanded to a restaurant and I loved that.

MEATBALLS $10 parsley, garlic, parmigiano reggiano *6 meatballs that were extremely dry and very small, tasted like they were deep fried. I had no idea what meat this was because it was so dry and crumbly. I asked for some marinara or tomato sauce on the side which showed up room temperature for the very last dry meatball which I soaked in the sauce hoping it would taste better - which it did not.

CARBONARA $18 artesanal dry spagettone gragnano, smoked pancetta, organic free range eggs, pecorino sardo *I really wish I had sent this back immediately - the pasta was very undercooked almost gummy and the dish was a large portion that I picked at but did not enjoy

PESTO $18 housemade trenette, basil, pine nuts, garlic, evoo, parmigiano reggiano *The pasta had a nice chew but the dish was completely flavorless, it was really confusing how that was even possible because pesto sauce is typically very flavorful. Also I think for their pastas they should have an option to add a protein because 3 out of 4 are vegetarian.

MARGHERITA PIZZA $16+ $4 for mozzarella di bufala *san marzano tomatoes, evoo, mozzarella di bufala, basil tomato sauce was extremely runny, the ratio was heavy sauce and so very little cheese that the cheese slid right off and only 4 small pieces of basil. Not thrilled to pay an extra $4 for a terribly small portion of cheese - poor value.

SERVICE Well I mean we were the only table and we were in and out within 40 minutes. We were extremely disappointed by the food and price. Edible but definitely not enjoyable. Yes it's a pandemic but so far this was the worst meal I've had in 2021. We boxed the two pastas because we didn't want to waste food but it was thrown in the trash...

We saw 4.6 rating, so wife and baby daughter decided to try this place. Waitress was great. Busboys were ok but hovered a bit (too attentive at clearing the table immediately when a plate went empty).

That in itself isn't enough for a bad review. But the food was terrible. We ordered sardines, grilled octopus, Wagyu beef carpaccio, croquets, and pesto pasta.

All the food was under-seasoned and generally bland at best.

The sardines literally taste like straight-from-the-tin-can Costco sardines (but in larger pieces) and just had some olive oil drizzled. I make them far better at home with some thinly sliced (think mandoline) sweet onion, salt, pepper, and generous amounts of olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

The wagyu beef would have been OK had it been seasoned well. The arugula was very fresh and the thin cheese slices on top were alright. But this dish doesn't hold a candle to the wagyu tartare we've had at Lafayette. OMG. That was fantastic.

Octopus did come out hot, but was rubbery and a bit wet/slimy inside. Google "should grilled octopus be slimy" and you'll see how it was likely improperly cooked. The potato puree with the octopus did taste pretty good (I think it was the best flavor of the evening... maybe 7/10?)

Croquets were barely warm and bland.

Pasta (which we hoped would be the best dish there since this is an Italian restaurant) was also barely warm, had a bit too much basil (to the point of being bitter), and the pasta's texture was chewy such that we suspect it was microwaved, but we're not sure.

Would love to make my sardines for the owners to show them the difference. Otherwise, will not return and would not...

I’ve been here three times already:

1st time - went solo, sat at the bar, and had pizza (I think it was crudo e grana) olives, and a cocktail. All absolutely delicious and made me want to go back and take other people. Everything about he pizza was good and the negroni cocktail was the one that actually made me like negroni, which I didn’t like before. I heard some of the staff speaking Italian and thought it was cute and authentic.

2nd time - took a friend who’s lived in Italy and doesn’t like to pay for pasta (prefers to cook it). We both thought the pasta Amatriciana was really really good. I don’t remember what else we had for food but wine recommendation was on point and we left happy.

3rd time - had Amatriciana again (wanted to introduce my parter to it because it was so good before), carbonara, salumi, meatballs, and wine, but the amatriciana was not as good as I remembered, and the staff didn’t seem welcoming for a restaurant was not busy. I hope the server was not going through some tough time.

I would still go back because I wanna have that pizza and...