Abhya Pandey

One of the best Italian food in NY. My husband took me here for my birthday date, and the food was absolutely mind blowing. I have tried a lot of NY Italian upscale restaurants, and this was definitely on top. They have a lot of vegetarian options too. I got gnocchi and patate. It was exceptional. Apart from the quality and taste of food, ambience and service was amazing too.

+2

ReedH

This was perfect for a late dinner in the neighborhood after a show. It has a great atmosphere with a nice open kitchen and the servers were all really nice. The food was all wonderful - traditional Italian with fresh ingredients and well prepared. I started with the rollatiini - sliced eggplant stuffed with ricotta and topped with tomato sauce which was excellent but the star was the pasta with pork cheek, which has a wonderful texture similar to pork neck, and was incredible. I finished with the tiramisu which was one of the best I’ve had in recent memory. I’ll return.

Navjot Singh

The food was really tasty and the wines were good too! We ordered a red sparkling wine which was a new discovery for us. Gnocchi was not spectacular and the pizza’s size was small but taste was really good. When asked what’s their recommendation for dessert, we were advised to go with Ricotta Cheesecake - apparently famous through NYC. And it absolutely lived up to the hype! Located in downtown, the place has a good vibe. Overall, highly recommend it!

Brigitte

Went last night for dinner 6:30pm. The place got packed pretty quick. Lots of big parties. They have the inside outside seating as well as indoors lol. The bread they serve is so good and comes out warm. I had the rughetta salad to start followed by the pollo alla parmigiana. Everything was delicious. The sauce on the chicken had to be some sort of vodka vs the usual tomato. So good.

Andra Leeke

Lovely decor with a cozy vibe. Good service. The mushroom and sausage papardelle was very good. The menzana eggplant was also good. Fried artichokes were just okay.

Arthi N

Rafele is a pretty standard Italian restaurant in the West Village. We came here around 9:30pm on a Saturday night, and the atmosphere was less lively than expected. This also didn’t give a vibe of authenticity, unlike some of the better choices in the neighborhood. They have a decent wine selection and solid menu, but compared to other restaurants in the area, I wasn’t wow’ed. Bread service was a bit meh - didn’t seem super fresh and came with an eggplant cold dip vs olive oil. The arancini and Cacio e Pepe were the standout dishes. Arancini had a lot of flavor and didn’t need any sauce. Cacio e Pepe tasted authentic with pasta cooked al dente. The Bolognese was pretty underwhelming as it appeared to be more like the lamb pasta dish (meat was stewed and shredded) vs ground in a traditional bolognese and wasn’t very flavorful. If I was hungry and in the area without access to the many other wonderful Italian restaurants in the village, I’d eat here again, but wouldn’t go out of my way to come back.

Gee Brar

Food is great, staff is friendly but the service was very very very slow. Took Forever to get our drink order, food came out slowly. We were seated at 845 and our main course came out at 10. Some dishes that came out were not very hot either. Additionally , we were seated by the window—it was freezing. Uncomfortable experience but the food is undoubtedly good.

Jia Sun

A comfortable Italian restaurant in west village with a large menu selection. Nice open dining space with an enclosed outdoor area. Portion sizes are for individual, not family style. Lots of options to choose from pizza, lasagna to pasta and proteins. Really like the Italian cheesecake. A good place to brunch or have dinner.

+12

Dana Bashi

Came through a recommendation on the “simply NYC” website and it was great. We had the fired pizza as a starter and then the amatriciana,pasta pomodoro and spinach ravioli for mains. Portion sizes are normal and not the American size which is great. The food itself was a bit too greasy in my opinion but overall really good. Service is friendly.

Ross Flieger-Allison

Very solid food overall! The spinach ravioli was probably my favorite dish I tried although the crab cake is good as well. Just feels a bit overpriced. It’s also a spicy tomato-y take on crab cakes where I tend to prefer a more lemony tarter sauce crab cake. Still not make complaints regarding the food quality.

Unfortunately when you walk in there's a distinct smell of bathroom cleaner. I learned later it's because the bathroom is right next to the kitchen which is open to the restaurant. The service was friendly but spotty. The recommended calzone arrived cold on the inside. The dough was nice but the cheese was cold not melted. The salads had way too much dressing. Overall a mediocre experience, sadly. We were expecting so much more.

Melissa Schwartz-Reed

We made a reservation here for my husband's birthday. The host staff was helpful with our reservation. We booked for 6pm, but we were in the neighborhood a little earlier and they were able to take us before the evening rush. We ordered the calamari and crab cake as an appetizer and everything was fresh and delicious. We also appreciate a true jumbo lump crab cake! We also enjoyed their mocktail menu for those of you who are non drinkers. It's a nice restaurant for adults to be able to enjoy, but good options for children as well as far as spaghetti and pizza. All the food and beverages were well above average. As the evening began to pick up the service for the wait staff was not as attentive as we would typically like. Our server stepped out the side door to smoke Marijuana before the big rush and not only did the cold draft blow into our table, but also the smell of Marijuana. Just not our vibe when at a more upscale dinning experience. Overall a lovely evening and we enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant.

Saahil Dutta

Great spot in the west village for a nice dinner. The food was decent, the service polite and prompt. About halfway through our meal, we noticed a furry little friend scurrying around under the empty tables. Understandably, it’s New York City, so there are bound to be mice in every corner and crevice. We informed our server of the situation without alerting other patrons, and the incident was handled professionally and efficiently. But unfortunately, we had lost our appetite. Overall, “mice in a kitchen should only be kept in the movie Ratatouille, not Rafele.” - My Date