Osteria 57 — Restaurant in New York

Very long review coming but the situation was less than pleasant, would be a 0 star if I could.

We had a reservation on Friday night at 8pm to celebrate my cousin’s 31st birthday with my family, we were not sat until 8:45. I gave my card to the host, Luigi, since I was planning on treating. Our waitress was nice and offered the first round of drinks on the restaurant due to the wait. We ordered two apps, our waitress brought those and two other apps out “compliments of the chef”. We ordered our dinners (delicious) and drank wine. Our waitress let us know that she was heading home for the night and that other waitstaff would take care of us for the remainder of the evening, we were just about ready to leave anyway.

Then the bill came… the bill included the first round of drinks (fine) and the two apps we didn’t order that totaled $50ish (not fine).

They apologized, took the appropriate things off the bill, brought it back over. I said “oh you actually have my card, could you please run it”. After a few minutes, the host came back over and told me our waitress actually left with my card and would be back in 30 minutes.

There was no real apology, and when we all said that was pretty much inexcusable, I gave my card to one person, expecting it to be left at the POS machine, but it changed hands and ended up in the pocket of someone else. I was extremely patient, but explained that this was not ok, the host told me that don’t have a POS machine (I could see some sort of cashier/station) and continued acting like our concern was a nuisance. The host was belittling and dismissive, down to saying “I don’t understand what the big deal is, she’s coming back with the card”… the big deal is that she left with my card. It felt like it was escalating due to the host’s attitude and what should have been an easy “we’re so sorry, this is our bad” turned into a restaurant not taking blame for a mistake and arguing.

Our waitress walks in, doesn’t say a thing to our table, and leaves. Host said “I don’t know what you want, I guess I could take 50% off the bill”, that’s not the point, but we have now waited over an hour after our meal waiting to figure this all out, on top of not being sat when our reservation was. The host/hostess is supposed to represent the front of the house, Luigi is a rude representation.

The next day, the manager followed up with my cousin (who was the contact in the rez), was supposed to call on Monday to discuss the details and never did. Incompetence is the word that comes to mind, all around.

The unfortunate part of this was the meal was very good, but the experience and treatment were horrible. If you’re getting food from here, I’d order takeout and...

My friends and I came here at 6pm on a Sunday upon a recommendation, and I was excited to try the food because the Yelp reviews looked great! From an ambiance perspective, their outdoor dining mini rooms are very cute and give a private feel. However, they are NOT set up for the summer! Do not be fooled! There is no AC! We were very fortunate that the hostess offered us a table inside. I will note though that it was still humid and toasty in the restaurant. You would think for a pricier restaurant that they would want their patrons to be cool, but I guess they are trying to go for a rustic feel. The inside is on the darker side, which lends itself to a romantic atmosphere.

We ordered a variety of things including crispy cauliflower ($19), cacio e pepe ($23), rigatoni pomodoro ($24), linguine vondole ($28), and linguine lobster truffle ($58). My friend who ordered the crispy cauliflower swore up and down that it was the greatest thing ever, but I found it was nothing special, but definitely needs the sauce. I do not have a professional food palate, so I could not tell you the difference between the rigatoni pomodoro there versus one I made at home with Prego. The linguine lobster truffle had a copious amount of truffles (probably to justify the price), which bordered on overkill according to my friend. There was also not enough meat to balance out the dish. If I were to come here again, I would try the cacio e pepe, but had an engagement after this and didn't want to take a chance on the dish in case it did not sit well with my stomach. As usual, the food was not bad by any means, just not special or outstanding enough to justify the price.

The thing that was the absolute best here was the service. If you are trying to impress a date with a restaurant where you will be taken care of and that person is more impressed with ambiance over taste, this would be a great spot. I have been to very few restaurants where the water refilling was as attentive as Osteria. Our waiter Eli was so knowledgeable about the menu and had a great personality. This was the best part of the dining experience, but not enough to compensate for average food for me...

I was very excited for my meal at Osteria 57. As a recently diagnosed celiac I was excited to eat out somewhere with great reviews from other gluten free diners. I made a reservation ahead of time and made a note that I was celiac at the time of my reservation. We were 5 of us total but I am the only one with the dietary restriction. I informed our waiter and everything seemed normal. I had read online that there was fabulous gluten free bread. A man (not our waiter) brought us two baskets of bread and clearly set one down in front of me and said it was gluten free (my friends can attest) and that the other was not gluten free. I start eating and am immediately blown away by how delicious the bread is. I even offered it to my friends who were also in shock of how good it tasted. Well five minutes later the same man comes back, visibly a little nervous, with a plate of bread that looks completely different and says that this is the gluten free bread. I am literally mid bite. Everyone starts freaking out for me but I hate to make a scene and I say that I will be fine. I was not fine, but not until much later in the evening. Our waiter came over horrified and asked if I was going to be ok and I said yes, to which he responded “is it just a preference?” which it is not. I just wanted to enjoy my meal with friends I had not seen in years. It was very awkward and uncomfortable for me. The gluten free bread was actually very good and so was the pasta. We were comped free gelato. Unfortunately I feel I must post for other celiacs to be...