Morandi — Restaurant in New York

Incredibly disappointing experience here. Came in to try everything for a potential wedding reception booking. Had a a disrespectful table nearby interrupt my friends and I "shhh-ing" us and yelling at us unprovoked in the noisy bustling restaurant. He was being very aggressive while settling up his tab saying it wasn't a bar in the very loud restaurant that we were no different then any other table other than I am Black (my friends are White as was the aggressor) and I happened to be wearing a head wrap. I was already ignoring the old women behind me saying ignorant things for the same reason "is she Muslim" blah blah etc. And just shrugged them off. However the manager/waiter comes over and instead of protecting the table with more women (us) he allows the man to continue yelling at me (which was where it was really directed) as he leaves the restaurant and he puts his hand in my face to bait me to act. It was disgusting. Then the manager who I asked to speak to as we had several plates of food coming and hadn't even ordered the bottles of wine we wanted to try. He comes basically defending his actions saying he had to see whose fault it was first being incredibly pointed and when I tried to speak to him in Spanish which was clearly both our natives he responded saying I have to speak to them (my White friends) to explain as though my presence didn't matter at all. I excused myself and had a frustrating cry in the bathroom. I am person and often am treated less than. It is not right. My friends were beyond offended cancelled everything and we walked out. We will never go back there again. You can't help how patrons behave but how mgmt handles sensitive situations is paramount. I was racially attacked and then disrespected and overlooked by the manager. Clearly my business wasn't welcome and he thought I was "lucky" to be...

I came based on a suggestion a friend made about a year ago, but I was really unimpressed by this place and found it extremely overpriced for what it is. We came in on a Saturday night with a reservation, and the whole experience was underwhelming.

We were seated quickly and asked to order G&Ts. The waiter asked "what kind of gin?" and we said "do you have house gin?" because we're not that classy. He said yes, and I was shocked to see that they had been $12 drinks when their fancy cocktails were $15. If I had known, I would have tried one of their drinks from the menu -- but I suppose this is my fault for not asking.

We both ordered pastas, which were small servings. My friend got the pasta with meat sauce and said it was 'fine' -- which isn't worth the price. I got the gnocchi and it was so oily that I felt sick and couldn't finish it. For mediocre food at high prices, I start docking stars.

Lastly, we were swarmed the entire time we were their by people, but not our waiter. Although we had water at our table, random people came by constantly to top up our cups, which was really disruptive. Someone in a suit (manager?) hovered around the section and occasionally checked in with us. Our food was brought by not-our-waiter, so when I was considering ordering something else, he was no where to be found. I felt somewhat sick so we decided to pay and leave.

Finally, once we got our check, the man-in-a-suit began hovering over our table waiting to clear it, to the point that when we tried to leave I physically couldn't put my coat on without bumping him. He seemed totally oblivious.

So. Overpriced. Not great food. Overbearing staff.

Would not go back...

Soooo, my friend had her birthday here last week. She was excited to indulge in some quality, authentic Italian food, and quite frankly, so was I! I’ve never been before, so was excited slash nervous because, well, I’ve had “Italian” food from “Italian” restaurants where the food was less than mid, sadly. So when it’s a place I haven’t been, I have my guards fully up! I arrived for my friend’s birthday gathering, and it was such a lovely setting. This place is great for group dinners! Lovely atmosphere, decor, and the staff is wonderful! Everyone was so accommodating and friendly! Our waitress was great! She was so knowledgeable of the menu, and made some great recommendations! I needed a boost in energy and so I ordered an espresso martini, which turned out to be delicious! They are not easy to make and believe me, I’ve had some bad ones. This one was perfect! For my starter, I had these puff pastry things that had prosciutto on them. They were stuffed with cheese, and honestly, I could’ve eaten a dozen of them, they were so.good! Chef’s kiss! Our waitress also brought out some bread and olive oil, which is always one of my favorite parts of Italian restaurants lol. I was pretty hungry, so I needed that bread lol! For my entree, I really wanted some good, housemade spaghetti, so I ordered that with bolognese. Once it was served, the waiter came and grated some fresh Parmesan cheese over it, and it truly just made me so happy. This was authentic Italian food at its finest, and my friend couldn’t have been more happy! She loved her food as well! I need to get back here ASAP because I need a round 2! I highly recommend! You will not be...