Louis Schornstein

Where do I start? Gian and his team have set a new level for gastronomic standards! The experience we enjoyed is beyond that of spots that have been in existence for decades! The atmosphere is warm and inviting! The food quality and presentation is first class! The service makes you feel like you are part of the family! You will not be disappointed! Treat yourself to an experience of a lifetime! God Bless Blue & Gold!! God Bless America!!

+5

Jacqueline Cerniglia Dion

If you know you know. Best institution of the UES. Cannot go wrong with the pastas - their constant endless list of specials. Love the staff - great old school high quality spot.

+3

Amal

5 stars toward the food 👍fresh, delicious, the aroma of the dishes feels like a old Italian lady singing & cooking for her guests, trying to get the best ingredients and prepares the meal with love. 3 stars ( wine list needs a boost) Atmosphere cool 👍 small tables a little crowded but will go again.

Josh Willits

We enjoyed our experience at Scalinatella. Was recommended by a friend. The flavors were excellent, we were happy with most of our dishes. Friendly service which was very attentive, at least until it was super busy in the dining room. But we like to eat pretty early (had a show to catch). Wasn't a problem for us. Only complaint was our pesto pasta was undercooked. Nearly crunchy. I like al dente, this was just a hair too undercooked. Still ate it because the pesto was very flavorful. It's expensive, but so is everything these days. It felt like a fun, neighborhood spot that if we were regular locals we'd be family.

Rachel Tichauer

Intimate cozy setting. Friendly and attentive service staff. Food was overpriced and under seasoned. Lamb was overcooked. Chicken Parm had zero seasoning. Branzino was flaky and fresh. Cheesecake was great but tiramisu was disappointing. I have never salted my food at a restaurant until that chicken parm. And I needed spoon fulls of red pepper flakes on top to make it worth eating. Lots of hype but not worth the price tag. $800 plus tip for 4 ladies. Only one cocktail each.

eunah k

Food was good. Bolognese was little bit salty. But still good. size and grounded meat sauce are generous. Also they offer complimentary small appetizers. I liked Dover sole. Since Dover sole is my favorite fish, I have been tried Dover sole at many restaurants in NYC. The way it’a cooked is simple since I ordered plain one. It was great. It’s more difficult to cook delicious food with simple cooking method or no sauce .because there is no way to fake it. In this respect, Dover sole was great! And I expected to be higher price since many reviews complain about over price. Well.. price was fine ,compared to other restaurants in NYC. At least here , taste is good. There are countless restaurants in nyc pasta is $ 40 , but tastes terrible. And white truffles are fancy ingredients itself. Not surprising charge $100. (I did not order, i saw from the menu). And dover sole was $98. And .. dover sole is commonly over $80 ,easily go up over $ 100 anywhere in nyc . Issue is the service. They are friendly. However The way of manner is not refined . Too rush , no apologies for interrupting our conversation . Extremely obsessed with taking dirty plate away. I think they believe taking plates away is the most important role as a server. Service did not match for price. But again, food is good!

Sinclair Lim

All of food is way too good that I had to over rate more than what we experienced. BUT, I must say that verbal menu must be written with each price. All most $200 for fish over $100 for pasta are TOO MUCH. Also the system of waiters must be improved. He was asking what drinks to order 4 times to me while my friend is in a restroom. No rulls at all!

+4

Andrew Davis

The staff was very disjointed - we moved to three tables, two waiters attempted to give us the specials, and the hostess was not welcoming. Weird location in the basement, and the lighting was too dark. Food was decent - bolognese and the tiramisu were the highlights (the rest was meh)

+3

Lisa Tirone King

First of all, the food is delicious. I will not deny that. However, when the waiter offered us Parmesan cheese, olives and meats, he should have also said it was $66! For four people, one piece of meat, two olives and cheese. $66!! Then, after ordering, he asked if we wanted an appetizer of zucchini florets- almost demanding we get them- we said sure! They were $57! One small florets for each person! They really need to be more transparent about these “special offerings!” We NEVER would have ordered the meat and cheese or the florets for those prices. Very unfair. Especially when we don’t over $500 for four people.

Diana G

I felt like a Times Square tourist… And not in a good way-The quality of the food was very good, but that is the only real positive I have for Scalitenella. where to start? should I start at the end when I received a phone call from the restaurant at 11:45 PM(!) accusing me of leaving without paying my bill. Here’s how it unfolded: 1. THE RESERVATION - reservation was for 7:30 PM but not seated until 8:30 PM. The restaurant is small and very full. Kudos to them but wasn’t great for us. 2. THE BAR WAIT - we were asked to wait at the bar, which is quite small, we were a party of three, and there was one chair available. So we squeezed in and took the one chair and two of us stood for an hour. The entire time we were there an older gentleman was giving us the stink eye. because he felt he was there before us when the hostess asked us to sit there. …at this point, things are still salvageable BUT THEN, 3. we are finally seated and instantly affronted with a very busy waiter, who proceeds to give us 3 very paltry menus, and then rattles off probably 30 “specials“ but as he’s rattling off all those specials, he’s NOT rattling off the prices - no clue on pricing 4. tried to order appetizers (since we were seated an hour later than we had anticipated, the couple I was with was hungry) but i was told, as the waiter huffed off “not placing any orders until you order your entrée”. 6. later a busboy whisked away my friends appetizer plate and fork out of her hand. She was not done eating. 7. we asked for our leftovers to go, but the beef carpaccio that was left (1/2 of the order) didn’t manage to make it into the box with the leftover pasta. 8. in the end, we had three appetizers, two entrées, a glass of champagne, a martini, a glass of wine, a port, and two desserts. 9. The bill with tip came to $420+/- which I paid with my AMEX at 10:22 PM, and which I also retained a customer copy receipt of thankfully. so imagine my surprise… 10. ACCUSED OF NOT PAYING - when at 11:45PM I get a phone call accusing me of leaving without paying my bill. I did have two martinis so in the back of my head I’m thinking anything is possible… So I checked my Amex card and sure enough it showed the charge pending and I had a copy of my receipt that was printed out from the processing machine. I called the restaurant back and explained the situation and they said they would check into it and then they called ME back and told me I paid the WRONG bill….In a way that made it sound like it was my fault that I paid the wrong Bill, not that they gave me the wrong bill and i paid it accordingly. (My bill was actually $60 less than the bill I paid). I was asked to come back in so that they could credit the wrong Bill an recharge me the correct amount. I told them I would be in the next day, they wanted to know what time and I said I didn’t know. The next day a woman called me and asked me what time I would be in or if they could take my credit card information over the phone…at This point I am not comfortable giving my credit card information to the restaurant over the phone so I told her I would be in later; the woman aggressively asked me if I could be in “now” and I told her no I was working and she said can you be in within an hour and I said no I’m working and she said “when can you be in” and I said between 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock. none of this exchange is friendly or apologetic on the Restaurants part. I did get to the restaurant later that afternoon, and they did process the credit for the $60…i received a hug for my troubles but even that felt disingenuous. I was hoping for a neighborhood, Italian restaurant experience at a high end, but I ended up walking away, feeling like a Timesquare tourist to be taken advantage of. I would not go back, nor would I recommend dining at this restaurant. I understand that they were left with one ticket unpaid, but who calls a customer at 11:45 at night to accuse them of not paying their bill without making sure it isn’t their mistake first - 🤷🏻‍♀️

+3

Kyle Munoz

This place is the biggest rip-off in NYC. They charged $118 for 8 zucchini flowers, which is already outrageous. We also ordered a sampler pasta with three different pastas, and somehow they billed us for 1.5 servings of the truffle pasta within that sampler. The end result was $360 just for the truffle pasta — absolutely ridiculous. To make it worse, the staff tried to sell us olive oil while we were eating dessert, which felt pushy and unnecessary. The food was fine, but the pricing and billing tactics completely ruined the experience. Would not return. I never review places or complain about prices. This place was a rip off. Avoid this dump.

Jeffrey Rubin

My family had a horrible experience at Scalinatella. After a very overpriced dinner for my daughter’s birthday, a good friend treated us to dessert. In addition to the dessert we also brought a cake to celebrate her birthday. When the check arrived there was a $40 dessert fee added.. I asked the owner about this fee and he turned and asked the waiter how much we spent for the dessert they served to us. This will be the last time I ever go with my family to this overpriced and poorly managed restaurant. If I could I would give it zero stars.

sid computer

"I recently visited this restaurant for a dinner meeting and was left quite disappointed by the experience. After a ten-minute wait, we were finally approached by the captain who alone was permitted to distribute menus, which oddly only listed about a dozen items. Instead, he insisted on reciting over 20 specials, leading to some confusion and necessitated repetition. Despite opting to order from the regular menu, the captain served and charged us for individual pieces based on the number of attendees, rather than per dish as ordered. For example, instead of one Caprese salad, we were served—and billed for—seven separate portions at $15 each, without regard for whether everyone wanted it. The quality of the food, including the mozzarella, was also underwhelming. Additionally, we received multiple unwanted dishes, further inflating our bill. The establishment itself was in poor condition, with torn chairs, unclean bathrooms, and malfunctioning fixtures. Concluding the evening, we were presented with a handwritten bill totaling $979, a stark contrast to what one might spend at high-end venues for superior service and ambiance. This experience was unfortunately memorable for all the wrong reasons. I have dined at many of New York's top restaurants and have never encountered such practices. I believe future patrons might appreciate a forewarning of these issues."

+6