Torrisi — Restaurant in New York

If hospitality is a your expectation when coming to Torrisi, please refrain from coming here as the restaurant does not value their guests' time or show any sincerity when dealing with problems.

On a Friday evening, my family of 3 decided to queue for dinner. We had gone to Torrisi several times both with and without a reservation so we were familiar with the place. We had queued previously for Saturday lunch and had no issues securing a table and so we waited in the queue for over an hour for their 5pm service. At 4.45pm. their doorman emerged and took a headcount of our party and made no remarks to any issues. Around 4.55pm, their female hostess took another headcount but now told us that we would not be seated as their bar was for up to parties of 2. Never hearing of this policy, we informed her that we had been waiting for over an hour and that we were not informed of such a restriction. She then brushed us off and told us to "come in and we'll see what we can do".

After entering, she said that we would be on their cancellation waitlist and reiterated their policy. Whilst we've known about similar policies from restaurants like Tatiana, such places inform their guests ahead of time via their websites or resy pages. We did not see or hear of this policy prior to waiting in the queue (their resy and website had no such rule at this time) nor did their doorman make any remark to us when we informed him of our family of 3. We made this point and she then told us to wait at the side and she would call over her manager. Not wanting to hold up the queue as we were 2nd in line, we agreed.

Unfortunately, once set aside, their the female hostess returned to her station and made NO attempt to call her superior as we continued to wait. Befuddled at being so blatantly dismissed, we later informed the waiter, who came to ask for drinks, that we were waiting for their manager and he finally called him over.

Fio, the manager, was the most unpleasant personnel we've ever experienced. Once we explained our situation, he reiterated their policy and adamantly stated that: "their policy was PLASTERED ALL OVER the door" (his exact words). We asked what that meant and he stated that they have a sign at the door of the restaurant and we probably queued up without checking them- asserting that the fault was on us.

We again stated there was NO SIGN, and with a shockingly-patronizing tone, Fio vehemently denied it saying "it was ALL OVER THEIR ENTRANCE" and gaslight us by stating we did not see it despite there being no sign. Our interaction with Fio went on for much longer. At this point, we no longer felt welcome and any air of civility vanished as Fio continue his tirade.

By now, it was past 5.40pm and we knew that our time was wasted. Not only in the queue, but in dealing with their unruly staff. Not wanting to waste more of a Friday evening, we decided to leave. Once we exited, we searched for the sign Fio CLAIMED was there and saw NO SUCH THING. Asking their doorman (a Hispanic man was a large build), he informed us that they've kept that sign in the back room behind closed (opaque) doors as they were "no longer allowed to put it out".

While we respect restaurants' policies and rules, as guests, we also believe that restaurants should respect their guests' time and effort and actually inform their potential guests before they make the decision to queue and waste their time. We would have respected their policy if it had been displayed beforehand, it was clearly not with their own doorman admitting so. Despite Torrsi being at fault, their staff denied any wrongdoing and showed no sincerity. And instead deflected any signs of blame onto us despite not being at fault. Your manager, Fio's, self-aggrandizing and egotistical attitude was the driving force to our decision to write this review. It is not only a disgrace to such a reputable restaurant as Torrisi, but it shows a lack of respect for guests time. A true shame for a restaurant that prided itself on it's...

Had to say that this place knows what they are doing most of the times.

Went for the Thanksgiving day feast and ended up so stuffed.

The fritto gnocco with prosciutto and mango chutney is impressive. Especially I taste some wasabi/horseradish in the mango chutney that adds extra layers of flavors and wonderfully accompanied the savory prosciutto and sweet mango. The doughs are fried to perfection: crispy outside and creamy inside. I would order them again if I come again.

The salad is also very good, though I had to mix the sauces in myself. The leaves are curved and held lots of sauces and it was hard to disperse the dressing in homogeneously (or maybe they shouldn’t be?). The toppings were sweet and savory, and the way I liked was to pair with the liver bits (or whatever they are) on top to add some creaminess to the overall texture to balance the citrusy.

The pickled vegetables are acid, and that’s pretty much the only note I got from them. The bread is crusty and seedy with a very soft and open structure to go with the whipped butter.

The tortellini pomodoro is great, creamy, and filling. The salinity is just right to go with the cheese blended in the pasta dough with a bit chew. I added truffle and it was great flavor.

Tagliatelle with black truffles are egg pasta with truffle cheese sauce. Both cheesy pastas made my day. I wouldn’t go wrong with any of them.

Turkey is fantastic. I always thought turkey is bland and so boring yet this place made the turkey the perfect carrier for the umami sauce. The pieces of turkey had a bit of fat and tendon that gave extra textures.

I loved loved loved the sides, especially the casserole Angelina, the zucchini gratin. It was so addictive and I wanted the recipe. The Chinese broccoli is okay. The stuffing is great with a twist from Italian sausage. The cranberry sauce is fine, tangy and sweet and giggly. The scalloped potatoes had an interesting flavor: it tasted herby and not like a buttery cheesy potato at all. I had to taste twice to figure out what it was.

They sent out extra lemon shaved ice before desserts and this was tangy and refreshing to my taste buds. Then the deserts were bombs, especially the almond cake (with almond mousse and almond biscuit bottom). It is aesthetically and taste-bud pleasing. The pumpkin pie is their new item: a bit too sweet to my liking but the addition of pumpkin seeds on the exterior is really nice. It has torched soft meringue top, pumpkin mousse-ish and pumpkin filling, with a ginger/pumpkin spiced biscuit at the bottom. Both desserts seemed delicate but packed bunch.

Superb service, nice decor, no wonder it takes forever to get a...

first off we were a walk-in and they do not offer tables to walk-ins, you need to sit at the bar. since i am under 21 i cannot legally sit at the bar and they were sweet enough to create a table for us which i thought went above and beyond already! the interior of this restaurant is so cute and the lighting is amazing! this is random but on the way to the bathroom they have a suggestion box which i think is a nice touch because it makes me feel heard if i have critiques. as for food we ordered the zeppoles which came with prosciutto and a pineapple chutney. i literally ate the chutney with the spoon because it was so good. the zeppoles were also amazing, they were light and fresh with the smallest bit of sweetness to them. for entrees we ordered the famed tortellini in pomodoro and the jamaican beef ragù. the ragù is spicy so be warned about that but it was very good. the quality of both the sauce and the pasta was amazing. the pomodoro was the star out of the entrees. it was the freshest sauce i’ve ever tried. i am not a big fan of red sauces but this was absolutely amazing. the inside of the pasta was filled with cheese and it was so fresh (sorry i keep saying that). i could have eaten 10 more if they gave them to me. they give you little scoops of sorbet in between entree and dessert. we received lemon and tangerine. both were very strong and acidic flavors which are not my favorite but the lemon was very good. for dessert we ordered the almond cheesecake and the affogato. the affogato would have been perfect if they removed the espresso granita because the espresso flavor was so strong and it was so cold that it overpowered the other flavors. we kind of brushed it off to the side and after that the dessert was very good, i loved the sauce and the ice cream was really high quality. the winner of the desserts, and the one i think you cannot leave without, was the almond cheesecake. i love cheesecake and it was one of the best in the city. very creamy and there was not fridge flavor which often happens. it comes with a little cherry compote which i don’t normally like but in this case if paired perfectly. i also want to mention the amazing service here. from our server to the bus boys everyone was so sweet and all spoke to us. we had some nice conversations and good laughs. i loved it here not just for the food but the amazing staff and beautiful interior. i cannot recommend this restaurant enough and personally i think it is better than carbone (its sister restaurant). also wanted to say that the butter was...