Positano — Restaurant in New York

We were 2 couples, who had 8pm dinner reservations last night. Saturday March 22nd. Upon arrival, we valet our car and went inside. We were greeted by a really friendly host and were seated immediately. Our waitress was Denise. She was absolutely amazing. Funny, friendly and very tentative. As soon as we sat down, they poured water in our glasses, served us nice warm focaccia with homemade caponata. Denise immediately took our drink orders and we got our drinks within 10 minutes. We then ordered fried calamari and their special ricotta stuffed zucchini flowers. Let me tell you, the appetizers were absolutely delicious. The calamari were probably one of the best we ever had. The stuffed Zucchini flowers were just as good. BTW, my mojito was also very good. For Dinner, we ordered 1) The special : Potato gnocchi with sausage and shitake mushrooms in a reduced wine sauce over arugula. This literally melted in my mouth. Generous portion and was delicious. 2) My wife ordered G.F ( yes they have G.F pasta and you can choose any of their sauces. ) She had G.F spaghetti alla Positano. She said it was excellent. As a matter of fact, she ate the whole thing, which she rarely does. 3) My friend ordered the risotto alla pescatore. Almost like a seafood paella. He loves this dish and rarely enjoys it, because most places don't get it right. As soon as he started eating, he didn't stop ,not even to catch his breath lol. Seriously, he said that this was the best he has ever had. Finally, his wife ordered the Lobster ravioli. Once again, another delicious dish that was cooked to perfection. While ordering our dinner, the manager Pasquale, came over to our table and started talking to us. This guy was amazing. Professional, friendly and overall a great guy. Being that we speak Italian, we started to engage in conversations with him that were hysterical. He speaks English well, but since he knew that we spoke Italian, we had some really funny conversations. I can't speak highly enough of Pasquale and Denise. As a matter of fact, the entire staff there seemed amazing. The guy who makes the espresso and cappuccino, actually brought the coffees out to us himself and jokingly said " Now this is authentic espresso " He was right. Most restaurants don't know how to make the perfect espresso. He did" For dessert, we shared what I call the absolute best chocolate lava cake I ever had. This one had melted Nutella inside. Yes freakin melted Nutella. Served with whip cream and a scoop of vanilla gelato. My friend and his wife had Tiramisu and a pistachio gelato. I tasted both, and as expected, they both tasted amazing. I have to say, I've been to plenty of Italian restaurants, which are really good. What stands out with this restaurant, is that everything from start to finish, whether it was the food or service, was absolutely the best we have experienced. Thanks again to the manager Pasquale , the amazing waitress Denise and everyone else who made this a fun and satisfying evening. We will definitely be back over and over again. You won't be...

Wow. The amount of good reviews on here are shocking. The first time me and my girlfriend came here, we waited an hour to be seated after we were told it was a 25 minute wait. This was after I had called a week in advance to attempt to get a reservation and was told that reservations are not accepted. As I stood there, we were skipped over by another party of two that claimed they had a reservation, and then another party of 3 that arrived after us. By the third time we were skipped I said something and they sat us next. The only thing that saved the experience was a wonderful waitress, who made us feel like we were at home, the only person in the place that night that was hospitable. Flash forward to today. I convinced my girlfriend that we should give it a second chance, and told her that at least the food was great that first time. Embarrassingly enough for me, after I pushed the issue, I was dead wrong. It was early in the day so plenty of open tables. We sat down. And waited. And waited. And before we knew it 15 full minutes passed before we spoke to a server. With maybe another two tables in view, it was surprising but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. We ordered, and when we received the food I knew we had made a mistake instantly. My food was as cold as if they had delivered it from another restaurant, and my girlfriends filet Mignon was not only the fattiest piece of that particular cut I had seen, but it was over cooked and mediocre. With this many good places in the area there is no room for mediocrity. Don’t take my word for it. I always think people should try for themselves. But the prices don’t reflect the lackluster food and service and I honestly just to want warn anyone with reservations about...

My boyfriend’s family and I have dined at this restauraunt for years, hosted family parties at this restauraunt, etc. In spite of being loyal customers, the treatment that we experienced tonight was appalling. As it began to downpour, many customers who were not covered by an awning had to put up a fight to be moved, even though there were several empty tables under shelter. My boyfriend and I, however, were quite patient and waited until our lovely waitress pushed to have our table moved under shelter, much to her managers dismay. The manager then proceeded to tell us that he had a party of 5 coming and that when they are to show up, we were going to have to move back to our original seats in the pouring rain. Once again we did not put up a fight, as we were taken aback by his complete disregard for us. Then as we were eating, he had the staff rushing us throughout our meal, making us feel unwelcome. Once again our waitress was incredible and told us to take our time. Although I did not catch your name, thank you for doing the absolute best you could. Your kindness did not go unnoticed. After we were rushed by other staff to have our dinner plates cleared, we asked to see a dessert menu. We could tell this upset the manager. This upset him so much so infact, that he came up to our table and told us that after dessert we were to wrap it up and get a check. There was no apology, there was no compensation, nothing. This treatment is absolutely discusting as we are paying customers who are staying loyal to your restauraunt during a global pandemic. After the treatment we recieved by the manager we will no longer be dining at this restauraunt again, and will be sure to tell our family and friends to do the...