Paola's — Restaurant in New York

We have been coming to what is now called "Paola's" since it was "Busby's" and the food was terrific. We were away from Busby's for a long time during which it underwent a few changes then re-emerged as "Paola's". We returned last Easter for brunch after church at Heavenly Rest. The food was dismaying. The eggs benedict were cool, not hot, the Hollandaise sauce was tasteless, and the French Toast was cold. The portions were surprisingly small for what they cost. We ate it anyway without complaint. This Easter, thinking surely things would have improved, we returned, stupidly, for brunch after church at Heavenly Rest. The eggs benedict were cool, not hot, the Hollandaise sauce was tasteless, and the French Toast was cold. In addition, this time my son ordered a pasta dish, and it was cold. The portions were surprisingly small for what they cost. We ate it anyway without complaint -- except this time decided to speak out here and also on Zagat, as well as informing our friends and associates. Fool me twice, shame on me. Who's running this kitchen anyway? How hard can it be to get hot food to the table in such a small restaurant? How can small diners make tasty Hollandaise that would put this place to shame? Something is truly amiss at Paola's, and we are not...

I recently visited Paola's Restaurant for lunch as part of Italian Dine Out, where there was a fixed 3 course lunch special for $26. As I approached 92nd Ave and Madison, I started to second guess myself. Was I dressed appropriately? Will they mind that my reservation changed from 2 people to lone little me? Is this one of those she-she, nose in the air, kind of spots or would it be less stuffy?

My first positive sign, young families with kids. Whew! If the restaurant can tolerate crying kids and kid size messes then I'm a drop in the bucket. It was a Sunday afternoon when I checked into the restaurant and things were quiet and sparsely populated inside so I opted for outdoor seating. I was provided with the Italian Dine Out Fixed Prix menu and selected my 3 courses.

For starters, I had the artichokes, secundi was lemon asparagus spaghetti and for dessert, lemon tart. My favorites were the spaghetti and torte. The food was amazing, the pasta fresh yet light and the torte was a perfect ending to it all! One minor complaint was that the service slowed after dessert. I had a bit of a wait for the check. In their defense, they may have noticed me on my IPAD and not wanting to interrupt, gave me time to enjoy...

Paola’s is a fabulous upscale restaurant that recently relocated from Madison Avenue to Lexington Avenue. Let me break down our most recent meal. We started off with the warm mozzarella which is hands down the best in the city. The portion is a bit small but the taste makes up for it. We also started with the Arugula Salad which is always very good. For main courses we ordered the salmon, branzino, the veal and the pesto which we got to share. Both fish dishes were a relatively big portion and were very tasty. The veal was small but tasted really great and so did the potatoes that came along with it. Finally, the pesto was a pretty small portion, but very good. For dessert, the cappuccino was just the right size however it could have been a little warmer. We also got the tiramisu which was so so good. Finally the biscottis were just the right thing to top off the fabulous meal. Overall a great...