Rosemary's East — Restaurant in New York

Whoever arranged the deal between Rosemary’s East and StuyTown needs to be given a raise and a promotion because it might be the most brilliant kind of restaurant to be nestled in the residential complex: it’s bright, airy, the food is easy and appealing, and as a result the restaurant almost always has a neighborhood buzzy feel to it that, unlike the West Village counterpart, is more families and old friends than hungover brunchites (no offense to them).

The food’s got something for everyone, from salads to veggies to pastas to entress to, if all else fails, good ol’ fashioned pizzas. This makes it especially great for a meal with kids–as does the space and the outdoor dining–as there are no stresses that you won’t be able to find something for the little ones. As far as execution goes, I’d say dishes tend to be very good, but shy of great. Part of that seems to be their homey nature, but I do find that seasoning comes up a little short and that there is some kind of hard to put my finger on it “wow” factor. Maybe I need to explore their dinner menu more deeply next time I’m there (and not bring my kid so I can focus on the food more).

As for their beverage program, I’m all about the wine side of it but think I’m not quite the target demo for the cocktail side, which skews a bit brighter and lighter than I generally go for. Given their Italian vibe, I sure wouldn’t mind seeing them lean into the amari more and offer more bitter cocktails (or even just some kind of a make-your-own bitters + soda/lengthener), but I’ll admit that’s me being picky.

I’ve never had any personal complaints with the service, though when things get busy it can get a little hard to flag down staff, which can be disappointing when you just want to order another (high margin) drink before you need to finish up for the meal. Along those lines, I do think there’s a huge missed opportunity with their bar–it’s a short but beautiful block of marble set under a very nice skylight, yet for some reason it feels like an afterthought rather than the centerpiece it could be. Having the space behind the seats be where staff run dishes back and forth doesn’t help, nor does the slightly tight seating, but even with those factors, there’s an opportunity here for the right GM to turn the bar into something beyond just additional seating and into a special experience that uses the limited seats as a scarcity feature–think tasting (wine or food) menus, that aforementioned aperitivo service, or some other hook that makes those seats desirable rather than a strange stepchild to the rest of the restaurant.

Worth mentioning is the pantry next door, which allows grab-and-go access to many of Rosemary’s dishes (the lumache is a standout) as well as a cafe space with ample seating. The coffee itself leaves something to be desired and feels more like push-button espresso than something more bespoke, but the location and room to breathe is killer and the space seems completely slept on by the neighborhood. With the right staff and sourcing, this could easily be an Abraco-light space.

When it comes down to it, success is Rosemary’s to lose in their East 20th location: They’ve got great space, a built in neighborhood clientele, very good food and drink, and lots of runway to play with concepts. Based on what I’ve seen so far they already seem plenty successful, which is great–now I’m curious if they will use their platform to launch a few more creative ideas to keep diversifying their customer base and picking up PR and accolades...

We’ve been coming to Rosemary’s for over a year. Our experiences since we’ve moved in nearby have been horrible. This is mostly a result of the service.

Between the wait staff, the servers, and kitchen staff, nobody can seem to get it right. Even on nights that are relatively not as busy, we continuously have issues. Issues that shouldn’t happen, especially after we express the concern with our server.

Two weeks, in particular, stands out. From the get go the service was awful. Our server didn’t even introduce himself without us having to reach out to him for his name.

Then my friend who has a gluten allergy specifically told him about this allergy and the burrata still came out with the bread on the plate—touching the cheese. This led my friend to say that he didn’t trust the staff and was really worried that the rest of his food would be contaminated.

Lastly, we all ordered pasta. It took over 40 minutes for pasta dishes to come out from the kitchen. I’ve been to a lot of restaurants and none take this long for a pasta dish. Especially when most people all ordered the same thing. We also got charged for the wrong wine.

The manager made up for the above situation, only to then again be disappointed. We were given a gift card and used it for dinner another. We ordered pasta and a pizza. I got a text stating that my order was ready. Upon arriving at the restaurant the host proceeds to only give me a bag, which contained the pasta. You would think these people would be intelligent enough to look at the order and realize it's not complete. But no, he was confident that was the only thing in the order. When I proceeded to tell him that there was a pizza missing and that I wasn't sure why I was texted saying that my order was ready when it really wasn't he was dumbfounded. "I don't know why," he said to me. I then had to wait for the pizza to be finished. Then I wanted some bread and a little marinara on the side for dipping. So I kindly asked him, the host, for some. He asked one person by the bar who seemed to have no idea what to do. Then some woman came up to the front and acted as if my request was the most complicated and difficult request she had ever heard. I was eventually given the bread and sauce and then finally the pizza was ready. Thank god we used a gift card and didn't have to pay, because you won't be seeing us at any Rosemary's...

Much to both my disappointment as well as my guest's this was one of the most disappointing meals had by both of us.

In early March, 2022 we went there for dinner. As there are few places to dine in the PeterCooper Stuyvesant Town area people have little choice if they wish to eat out without having to travel blocks.

With that in mind please know that if you wish to eat there despite this review you will have to accept the following:

1)Bread is ONLY served at your table if you ask for it. Our waiter explained that if you don't request bread they won't offer it. 2)There was neither salt or pepper on the table and with the waiters running from stem to stern finding someone to bring to our table it was impossible. Of course we could blame the lack of salt and pepper on the waiter but as it was one of a number of challenges it didn't seem to matter after awhile and I can only hope you don't want it. 3)When we realized our waiter was not going to come over we asked anyone passing by if we might have pepper (forgot the salt) only to be summarily handed a grinder and left to take care of ourselves. 4) I ordered Prosecco and while the kitchen can't be held responsible for the quality of their alcohol it was without a doubt the poorest quality Prosecco I have tasted and that is quite a statement to make! 5)Finally, NONE OF THE ABOVE would have caused me to take up "pen in hand" had my guest not described her pasta dish as paste. Mine while not paste was boiling hot while at the same time tasteless. Seriously tasteless.

That we were both so disappointed before having spoken to one another leads me to believe that if you still have to dine there you might want to stop with a prayer and a pizza .

The above not withstanding the restaurant was packed which we assumed is due to the Japanese restaurant across the street being renovated as well as newer residents of the Peter Cooper/Stuyvesant Town complex not knowing about the secret little restaurant behind the street entrance where pizza is made on 1st between 21st and 23rd named Frank's Trattoria and while I thought about not telling you as I will hate to see it lose it's charm if too many people go there I could not live with myself after complaining so strongly...