Neighborhood restaurant with very good Mediterranean food, intimate ambience and friendly staff. Great place if you don't want a scene! Try the rib-eye with bone marrow.
Peter
The positivity of this review is based almost exclusively on the quality of the food. It was great! The rest of the experience was not and I can only assume it was an aberration. We had a 6:45 reservation but arrived early, at 6:15. We were told they were running late anyway and either have a drink at the bar or come back at 7. There was a bar we wanted to try next door so we went there for 45 minutes. When we returned we were told our table was still not ready so we had a drink at their bar. The bartender was clearly in the weeds but was extremely pleasant. We finally sat in the empty back room at 7:45. It appears they had a big party there that went much longer than expected but we had to figure that out for ourselves. They did compensate us with a free drink and mezze plate which was nice but we wish that had been a little more communicative with what was going on.
Richard
Outstanding food. Quite original mezze platter. Excellent service but it takes a long time for the kitchen to get things to servers
Jeanne
Amali was a wonderful experience from the ambience to the delicious food to the excellent service. I will be coming back!
Reva
It's a lovely restaurant. The food was very good and the service very attentive. We all talked about coming back again.
R. Lee
One of our favorite pre-theater lunch spots on the east side, we had another great time yesterday. Besides the always prompt and polite service, two things stood out yesterday. First my steak and eggs was FANTASTIC! I don't often get that dish and it was so good, I had to ask myself, “why don't I get this more often.” The steak was perfect and the fingerling potatoes were outstanding! Second, my wife loves shakshuka, and as she was slowly eating her dish, the server seeing her eating slowly asked, “Is everything OK, do want me to send it back to the kitchen,” to which she replied, “Heavens no. I'm just taking my time enjoying it!”
Kevin
Used a Pulsd deal for brunch with 2 of my friends and it was perfect! The manager helped us with the voucher and we were able to redeem it. We also added additional items since there was 3 of us. The service was great, and water refills were fast! The food also tasted fresh and delicious.
Marcia
INCREDIBLY noisy! to the point of displeasure. The food that was good was good, but it was pretty spotty and not terribly flavorful. The staff is attentive & lovely. Food, so~so. Then they charged us for wine that we didn't have and had to reduce the bill but now, 24 later the original incorrect charge is still on my credit card bill. Way overpriced for what it was! Sorry. We wont be back.
Chandra
Very cute restaurant- all the food was great! Specially liked the chicken and the Basque cheesecake. A bit hard to get the waiter's attention.
Jim
Always excellent. The Mezze of 4 dips is amazing and a meal in its own. Salmon Salad is delicious
The food and the service was very good. It was WAY too loud, which ruins the whole dinner I am sorry to say. It's a problem
Mark LaPointe
I went with some coworkers for lunch. The food was very salty and didn't have much flavor otherwise. Service was nothing special and maybe even a bit impersonal - I felt rushed when ordering. Overall atmosphere is ok but it does tend to get quite loud during lunch or dinner rush with few soft surfaces. I think there's better options for the price. Good location though.
DM
We hosted a private dinner at Amali expecting a thoughtful, well-managed experience — but instead, were met with incredibly unprofessional behavior from their on-site manager, Pedro. From the start, he was unnecessarily loud, performative, and repeatedly made comments loud enough for the entire room to hear, creating several embarrassing moments for us in front of our guests.
Our setup time was cut short despite prior agreement, and throughout the evening, we were constantly pressured into upsells, including being pushed toward a more expensive bottle of wine without being asked our preference. The worst moment came during cake-cutting, when Pedro loudly insisted on charging a plating fee — even though it had already been waived in writing, contingent on us ordering dessert (which we did). He made this announcement in front of everyone, disrupting what should have been a celebratory moment.
This was one of the most uncomfortable and poorly managed hospitality experiences we’ve had in NYC. For a venue that charges a 25% service fee, the service was absolutely undeserving of it. We’ve hosted events across the city and have never seen anything like this. Unfortunately, I would not recommend Amali for private events unless there are serious changes in management and training.
Raju
Sorwdfish was over cooked, and mushy. there was a slight mixup on the bill. Over all ok experience
Anna I
We booked a private room for a wedding rehearsal dinner. Everything was amazing - the vibes are great, food was really tasty, service was prompt. My only warning is that if you don't book out the entire space, you might get a loud neighboring room, but it's not the restaurant's fault. Highly recommend! We spent a total of 5.5k for 20 people.
Neighborhood restaurant with very good Mediterranean food, intimate ambience and friendly staff. Great place if you don't want a scene! Try the rib-eye with bone marrow.
The positivity of this review is based almost exclusively on the quality of the food. It was great! The rest of the experience was not and I can only assume it was an aberration. We had a 6:45 reservation but arrived early, at 6:15. We were told they were running late anyway and either have a drink at the bar or come back at 7. There was a bar we wanted to try next door so we went there for 45 minutes. When we returned we were told our table was still not ready so we had a drink at their bar. The bartender was clearly in the weeds but was extremely pleasant. We finally sat in the empty back room at 7:45. It appears they had a big party there that went much longer than expected but we had to figure that out for ourselves. They did compensate us with a free drink and mezze plate which was nice but we wish that had been a little more communicative with what was going on.
Outstanding food. Quite original mezze platter. Excellent service but it takes a long time for the kitchen to get things to servers
Amali was a wonderful experience from the ambience to the delicious food to the excellent service. I will be coming back!
It's a lovely restaurant. The food was very good and the service very attentive. We all talked about coming back again.
One of our favorite pre-theater lunch spots on the east side, we had another great time yesterday. Besides the always prompt and polite service, two things stood out yesterday. First my steak and eggs was FANTASTIC! I don't often get that dish and it was so good, I had to ask myself, “why don't I get this more often.” The steak was perfect and the fingerling potatoes were outstanding! Second, my wife loves shakshuka, and as she was slowly eating her dish, the server seeing her eating slowly asked, “Is everything OK, do want me to send it back to the kitchen,” to which she replied, “Heavens no. I'm just taking my time enjoying it!”
Used a Pulsd deal for brunch with 2 of my friends and it was perfect! The manager helped us with the voucher and we were able to redeem it. We also added additional items since there was 3 of us. The service was great, and water refills were fast! The food also tasted fresh and delicious.
INCREDIBLY noisy! to the point of displeasure. The food that was good was good, but it was pretty spotty and not terribly flavorful. The staff is attentive & lovely. Food, so~so. Then they charged us for wine that we didn't have and had to reduce the bill but now, 24 later the original incorrect charge is still on my credit card bill. Way overpriced for what it was! Sorry. We wont be back.
Very cute restaurant- all the food was great! Specially liked the chicken and the Basque cheesecake. A bit hard to get the waiter's attention.
Always excellent. The Mezze of 4 dips is amazing and a meal in its own. Salmon Salad is delicious
Restaurantji Recommends
The food and the service was very good. It was WAY too loud, which ruins the whole dinner I am sorry to say. It's a problem
I went with some coworkers for lunch. The food was very salty and didn't have much flavor otherwise. Service was nothing special and maybe even a bit impersonal - I felt rushed when ordering. Overall atmosphere is ok but it does tend to get quite loud during lunch or dinner rush with few soft surfaces. I think there's better options for the price. Good location though.
We hosted a private dinner at Amali expecting a thoughtful, well-managed experience — but instead, were met with incredibly unprofessional behavior from their on-site manager, Pedro. From the start, he was unnecessarily loud, performative, and repeatedly made comments loud enough for the entire room to hear, creating several embarrassing moments for us in front of our guests.
Our setup time was cut short despite prior agreement, and throughout the evening, we were constantly pressured into upsells, including being pushed toward a more expensive bottle of wine without being asked our preference. The worst moment came during cake-cutting, when Pedro loudly insisted on charging a plating fee — even though it had already been waived in writing, contingent on us ordering dessert (which we did). He made this announcement in front of everyone, disrupting what should have been a celebratory moment.
This was one of the most uncomfortable and poorly managed hospitality experiences we’ve had in NYC. For a venue that charges a 25% service fee, the service was absolutely undeserving of it. We’ve hosted events across the city and have never seen anything like this. Unfortunately, I would not recommend Amali for private events unless there are serious changes in management and training.
Sorwdfish was over cooked, and mushy. there was a slight mixup on the bill. Over all ok experience
We booked a private room for a wedding rehearsal dinner. Everything was amazing - the vibes are great, food was really tasty, service was prompt. My only warning is that if you don't book out the entire space, you might get a loud neighboring room, but it's not the restaurant's fault. Highly recommend! We spent a total of 5.5k for 20 people.
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