Truly over-hyped spot. I'll give you this, the free bread and veal parm are well worth stopping by for without a doubt. The meatballs decent, everything else is just a waste. The pastas we had were so middling that it was hardly funny. I can't believe anyone is ordering pasta with such little flavor and thought after waiting in a line to get in. Now there is a line to get in, always, they manage it that way and the service is horrible once you're inside. They think gruff italian vibes = authentic. Please, go to Torrisi, that's real fantastic instead. The vibe is cool, I get it, but this is more of a spot to impress your college girlfriend than a real date night spot in NYC. Get the Veal Parmesean, it might be on eof the best veal parmeseans in the city.
Mar A.
i had the best tiramisu here 10/10 everything was amazing i loved how there were pictures all over the walls. truly a gem. will definitely come back.
Rj W.
Best Italian I've ever had .... Must try veal parm and the setting is like out of a old school Italian mobster restaurant very awesome spot
Philip Schmitz
one of the best bagels I've ever eaten. If you're in New York, go and buy yourself a bagel...
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chin C.
It was good food, albeit overpriced but you know that going in. $40 for a piece of chicken with no pasta is kind of the price of admission and why you only go once. My issue is that they got the order wrong and thought we ordered a salad. We corrected it before we got our food and that's fine, it happens. But when they brought out the chicken Milanese we actually ordered, instead of making it the way it says on the menu they just dumped the salad they thought we ordered on top. We didn't realize it until later after we left. Very disrespectful--they're mistaking old school for poor service. Probs won't go back.
Ryan Black
Vodka chicken parm and tagliatelle bolognese were some of the best I’ve had. The bolognese was a real gravy instead of red sauce. Not a bad wait for the Friday 515pm. And we chatted with the owner who is in every pic on the walls. Nice guy. Goooooo!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce, Chicken Parmigiana
Kate Tell
Classic Italian food, small dining space, fresh, delicious pasta. This place is the real deal. For context, we went for late lunch on a Saturday at 2pm and had 0 wait time. If you have that kind of flexibility & want to splurge on a nice meal, this is the place to do it.Vegetarian options: A few apps, a few salads, 1/2 pasta main courses
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce, Cheesecake & Tiramisu, Caesar Salad, Focaccia
Jack D. R.
This would have been the third time that I had dinner at Ballato's. This past Wednesday, we arrived at 6:30 patiently waiting to get in. The 4 of us were celebrating a special occasion. What we did not know and were not informed, was that there was also a private party going on and seating was limited. A torrential downpour and freezing temperatures added to the misery. Some people cut the line and pushed forward. Some miraculously procured reservations. After getting thoroughly soaked, I asked the owner how long would it be to get a table for 4. The answer, "who knows?". Well we know and left freezing, cold, and wet. The callousness, disregard, and disrespect was self-evident. Disgratziato!
Caitlin Wasilewsky
Was the wait worth it? Hmmm but the food was yum. Don’t know if we’d go back again to wait from 5-7pm for a table while masses of people got ahead of us by walking in with a reservation (even though there is no reservation system … the MD said there’s a $200 fee to pay per person to get a table which is insane). The tiramisu was yum and wine was expensive.. $20 for a glass of house wine! But a cool experience and it’s worth a visit if you have the time
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce, Cheesecake & Tiramisu, Focaccia, Chicken Parmigiana
Jon Lee
WARNING! Do not bother with this place unless you are willing to stand in line for more than 2.5 hours or longer to get in. Our family of 4 included small children who are not ideal for this kind of commitment. Lots of couples may want to come here but leave your children at home.if you do. They will not understand why the restaurant staff keep picking “special” people out of line to get ahead of your family into the restaurant. The difficulty in being seated may be one of the biggest reasons to come to Emilio’s. Accept this limitation and the food and service are definitely good.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Soheimon Polpette, Vitello Parmigiana, Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce
We waited outside for at least one and a half hours before we were spoken to. Many times people who knew the rude lady would walk up and right into the restaurant. Many people in the line were complaining to her and she would wave them off with no regard. To make things worse I overheard the people who were skipping the line say that they would do it all the time and the lady knows who to let in. The hype for this restaurant is ridiculous. AVOID THIS RESTAURANT!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Melinda J.
Worst service I've ever had. My daughter and I walked through the door at 1:30pm and a big guy sitting at a table said "are you coming in or out, either way shut the door!" Instead of asking us where we wanted to sit he aggressively gestured to a table beside him. There were 11 tables at the restaurant and 5 were empty. When I sat I turned and I looked at the big man and thought about saying "you're really rude!" A few minutes go by and the man sitting with him asks my daughter where we're from. She lives in NYC and we're both from Nashville. He told her welcome to NYC! Then he introduced "the big man" as the owner. I was like "oooohhhh". The experience got worse with our waiter, Hassan who never mustered a smile, it took him about 10-15 minutes to even ask us for our order, and he asked us to repeat our order at least 5 times. I tried to order a limoncello, and instead of ringing it in, he told me I couldn't order it until dessert. Our entrees arrived and I will have to say the food is fabulous. This was overshadowed by our rude waiter and an already bad intro to the restaurant. We tried to order dessert and were told the specials without prices. We then chose to get the limoncello we "couldn't order" earlier. The waiter seemed confused, but then rung in our order after, again, repeating it about 5 times. He brought us the drinks quickly, along with the check. We did not ask for the check. We decided to pay anyway, and the waiter brought us the check back quickly. I always tip 25%-30%, and we chose 20% because of some of the issues we had already faced with the service. As we got the check returned, my daughter's fiancé had suddenly been able to join us. Because I live in Nashville, I love to be able to spend as much time with them as possible, and we asked the server if we could place an order for him as he takes the subway here. The server's entire attitude changed. He huffed, muttered under his breath, and said he'd "have to ask the boss". At this point, it was around 2:30 pm. The restaurant had about 7 EMPTY TABLES. We ordered an appetizer, the calamari. Again, the server did not offer us a menu. He went to the kitchen, and then told us the calamari is not available, but the burrata is. We agreed, and then he rolled his eyes and rung it in. We no longer felt welcome, but we decided to stay and enjoy our lunch with my daughter's fiancé. During the wait, our water ran out but the server did not check on us or ask how the food was. The burrata was brought out, and we enjoyed that as well, but then my daughter asked if she could ring in her fiancés order so we wouldn't have to wait on his arrival to order. He snapped, and told us we'd have to "hurry up because (they) have more people coming." My daughter reiterated yet again that her fiancé was almost there, and rung in his order. She went to the bathroom, and the order was prepared quickly. At this point, the restaurant maybe had 4 empty tables. My daughter's fiancé arrived after a minute of this, and the owner, still seated, did not welcome him or say anything to him. He ate his food very quickly, and said it was good. The server was still rushing us out, and brought us our check again without asking, we debated leaving a second tip, but decided that this service was too awful to tip again. I have travelled to more than a dozen countries, been to many Michelin star restaurants, and have received better service at a random diner in a third-world country that does not speak my language. I have visited multiple restaurants in NYC, from Le Bernadin to Jean George, and never received treatment this horrific. For a restaurant this celebrity esteemed, I would expect to be treated like a paying customer, not a subordinate. I wish I could recommend this restaurant. The food was amazing, but not worth the awful experience.
Daniel Hemmert
Favorite restaurant in NYC. Got the chicken parm and penne arrabiata with a tiramisu for dessert. Was all incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nick Maou
This review is purely informational if you plan on going here. We arrived Friday night at 5:12 PM. The line was already very long. If you don't want to wait, you have to get there no later than 4:45pm. The wait at 5:12 was 1:30.Inside the restaurant is very small in the main dining area. Everyone is packed in. It is also a little loud in there. There's another dining area through the kitchen but I didn't really get a good look at it.We enjoyed our meals, although portions were pretty small for the prices. Service was fine. We were committed to the wait, so we couldn't jump off the line but it's doubtful I'd ever do that again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Cole Garza
I’ll start by saying I appreciate that they do not accept reservations as I would’ve never been able to dine here, unlike other NYC establishments that have a 3 month wait to get on a list. We were lucky and arrived around 5:30 getting to the front of the line for my birthday dinner.We had to wait around 30-45 minutes and there is a favoritism where friends and family skip the line. I don’t mind this as they’ve been around forever and take care of the people they know personally. Is what it is.There is a true Italian-American vibe from interacting with the management to our server, which is cool to me. Service was prompt and effective. Not chatty as some people prefer, but in New York it’s about quick service as a measure of hospitality.Got the burrata and prosciutto special as an app along with their focaccia. Now I hate the store bought stuff, it must have fallen from the sky it was so good. We shared the chicken Parmesan, vongole, and sausage with broccoli rabe. It was all top tier. If I had to make one critique, it was that the vongole didn’t have much depth, though it was simple and done right.Giving the service 4 stars as they forgot my partners birthday request she made for me. Other than that, people give the service here too much grief. Go to a social club for long conversations, let the servers hand you your food and be on their way.Would I wait 2 hours when the queue gets crazy? It depends how cold it is lol. Go early around dinner opening during the week and you’ll slide in without too much fuss.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Linguine Alle Vongole, Focaccia, Chicken Parmigiana
Truly over-hyped spot. I'll give you this, the free bread and veal parm are well worth stopping by for without a doubt. The meatballs decent, everything else is just a waste. The pastas we had were so middling that it was hardly funny. I can't believe anyone is ordering pasta with such little flavor and thought after waiting in a line to get in. Now there is a line to get in, always, they manage it that way and the service is horrible once you're inside. They think gruff italian vibes = authentic. Please, go to Torrisi, that's real fantastic instead. The vibe is cool, I get it, but this is more of a spot to impress your college girlfriend than a real date night spot in NYC. Get the Veal Parmesean, it might be on eof the best veal parmeseans in the city.
i had the best tiramisu here 10/10 everything was amazing i loved how there were pictures all over the walls. truly a gem. will definitely come back.
Best Italian I've ever had .... Must try veal parm and the setting is like out of a old school Italian mobster restaurant very awesome spot
one of the best bagels I've ever eaten. If you're in New York, go and buy yourself a bagel...
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It was good food, albeit overpriced but you know that going in. $40 for a piece of chicken with no pasta is kind of the price of admission and why you only go once. My issue is that they got the order wrong and thought we ordered a salad. We corrected it before we got our food and that's fine, it happens. But when they brought out the chicken Milanese we actually ordered, instead of making it the way it says on the menu they just dumped the salad they thought we ordered on top. We didn't realize it until later after we left. Very disrespectful--they're mistaking old school for poor service. Probs won't go back.
Vodka chicken parm and tagliatelle bolognese were some of the best I’ve had. The bolognese was a real gravy instead of red sauce. Not a bad wait for the Friday 515pm. And we chatted with the owner who is in every pic on the walls. Nice guy. Goooooo!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce, Chicken Parmigiana
Classic Italian food, small dining space, fresh, delicious pasta. This place is the real deal. For context, we went for late lunch on a Saturday at 2pm and had 0 wait time. If you have that kind of flexibility & want to splurge on a nice meal, this is the place to do it.Vegetarian options: A few apps, a few salads, 1/2 pasta main courses
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce, Cheesecake & Tiramisu, Caesar Salad, Focaccia
This would have been the third time that I had dinner at Ballato's. This past Wednesday, we arrived at 6:30 patiently waiting to get in. The 4 of us were celebrating a special occasion. What we did not know and were not informed, was that there was also a private party going on and seating was limited. A torrential downpour and freezing temperatures added to the misery. Some people cut the line and pushed forward. Some miraculously procured reservations. After getting thoroughly soaked, I asked the owner how long would it be to get a table for 4. The answer, "who knows?". Well we know and left freezing, cold, and wet. The callousness, disregard, and disrespect was self-evident. Disgratziato!
Was the wait worth it? Hmmm but the food was yum. Don’t know if we’d go back again to wait from 5-7pm for a table while masses of people got ahead of us by walking in with a reservation (even though there is no reservation system … the MD said there’s a $200 fee to pay per person to get a table which is insane). The tiramisu was yum and wine was expensive.. $20 for a glass of house wine! But a cool experience and it’s worth a visit if you have the time
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce, Cheesecake & Tiramisu, Focaccia, Chicken Parmigiana
WARNING! Do not bother with this place unless you are willing to stand in line for more than 2.5 hours or longer to get in. Our family of 4 included small children who are not ideal for this kind of commitment. Lots of couples may want to come here but leave your children at home.if you do. They will not understand why the restaurant staff keep picking “special” people out of line to get ahead of your family into the restaurant. The difficulty in being seated may be one of the biggest reasons to come to Emilio’s. Accept this limitation and the food and service are definitely good.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Soheimon Polpette, Vitello Parmigiana, Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese Pasta with Meat Sauce
Restaurantji Recommends
We waited outside for at least one and a half hours before we were spoken to. Many times people who knew the rude lady would walk up and right into the restaurant. Many people in the line were complaining to her and she would wave them off with no regard. To make things worse I overheard the people who were skipping the line say that they would do it all the time and the lady knows who to let in. The hype for this restaurant is ridiculous. AVOID THIS RESTAURANT!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Worst service I've ever had. My daughter and I walked through the door at 1:30pm and a big guy sitting at a table said "are you coming in or out, either way shut the door!" Instead of asking us where we wanted to sit he aggressively gestured to a table beside him. There were 11 tables at the restaurant and 5 were empty. When I sat I turned and I looked at the big man and thought about saying "you're really rude!" A few minutes go by and the man sitting with him asks my daughter where we're from. She lives in NYC and we're both from Nashville. He told her welcome to NYC! Then he introduced "the big man" as the owner. I was like "oooohhhh". The experience got worse with our waiter, Hassan who never mustered a smile, it took him about 10-15 minutes to even ask us for our order, and he asked us to repeat our order at least 5 times. I tried to order a limoncello, and instead of ringing it in, he told me I couldn't order it until dessert. Our entrees arrived and I will have to say the food is fabulous. This was overshadowed by our rude waiter and an already bad intro to the restaurant. We tried to order dessert and were told the specials without prices. We then chose to get the limoncello we "couldn't order" earlier. The waiter seemed confused, but then rung in our order after, again, repeating it about 5 times. He brought us the drinks quickly, along with the check. We did not ask for the check. We decided to pay anyway, and the waiter brought us the check back quickly. I always tip 25%-30%, and we chose 20% because of some of the issues we had already faced with the service. As we got the check returned, my daughter's fiancé had suddenly been able to join us. Because I live in Nashville, I love to be able to spend as much time with them as possible, and we asked the server if we could place an order for him as he takes the subway here. The server's entire attitude changed. He huffed, muttered under his breath, and said he'd "have to ask the boss". At this point, it was around 2:30 pm. The restaurant had about 7 EMPTY TABLES. We ordered an appetizer, the calamari. Again, the server did not offer us a menu. He went to the kitchen, and then told us the calamari is not available, but the burrata is. We agreed, and then he rolled his eyes and rung it in. We no longer felt welcome, but we decided to stay and enjoy our lunch with my daughter's fiancé. During the wait, our water ran out but the server did not check on us or ask how the food was. The burrata was brought out, and we enjoyed that as well, but then my daughter asked if she could ring in her fiancés order so we wouldn't have to wait on his arrival to order. He snapped, and told us we'd have to "hurry up because (they) have more people coming." My daughter reiterated yet again that her fiancé was almost there, and rung in his order. She went to the bathroom, and the order was prepared quickly. At this point, the restaurant maybe had 4 empty tables. My daughter's fiancé arrived after a minute of this, and the owner, still seated, did not welcome him or say anything to him. He ate his food very quickly, and said it was good. The server was still rushing us out, and brought us our check again without asking, we debated leaving a second tip, but decided that this service was too awful to tip again. I have travelled to more than a dozen countries, been to many Michelin star restaurants, and have received better service at a random diner in a third-world country that does not speak my language. I have visited multiple restaurants in NYC, from Le Bernadin to Jean George, and never received treatment this horrific. For a restaurant this celebrity esteemed, I would expect to be treated like a paying customer, not a subordinate. I wish I could recommend this restaurant. The food was amazing, but not worth the awful experience.
Favorite restaurant in NYC. Got the chicken parm and penne arrabiata with a tiramisu for dessert. Was all incredible.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This review is purely informational if you plan on going here. We arrived Friday night at 5:12 PM. The line was already very long. If you don't want to wait, you have to get there no later than 4:45pm. The wait at 5:12 was 1:30.Inside the restaurant is very small in the main dining area. Everyone is packed in. It is also a little loud in there. There's another dining area through the kitchen but I didn't really get a good look at it.We enjoyed our meals, although portions were pretty small for the prices. Service was fine. We were committed to the wait, so we couldn't jump off the line but it's doubtful I'd ever do that again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
I’ll start by saying I appreciate that they do not accept reservations as I would’ve never been able to dine here, unlike other NYC establishments that have a 3 month wait to get on a list. We were lucky and arrived around 5:30 getting to the front of the line for my birthday dinner.We had to wait around 30-45 minutes and there is a favoritism where friends and family skip the line. I don’t mind this as they’ve been around forever and take care of the people they know personally. Is what it is.There is a true Italian-American vibe from interacting with the management to our server, which is cool to me. Service was prompt and effective. Not chatty as some people prefer, but in New York it’s about quick service as a measure of hospitality.Got the burrata and prosciutto special as an app along with their focaccia. Now I hate the store bought stuff, it must have fallen from the sky it was so good. We shared the chicken Parmesan, vongole, and sausage with broccoli rabe. It was all top tier. If I had to make one critique, it was that the vongole didn’t have much depth, though it was simple and done right.Giving the service 4 stars as they forgot my partners birthday request she made for me. Other than that, people give the service here too much grief. Go to a social club for long conversations, let the servers hand you your food and be on their way.Would I wait 2 hours when the queue gets crazy? It depends how cold it is lol. Go early around dinner opening during the week and you’ll slide in without too much fuss.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Linguine Alle Vongole, Focaccia, Chicken Parmigiana