Food is ok, but not the best in the neighborhood. Ambience is cute but food could improve.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ben Blumenthal
Food has went downhill. Came out in 3 min and was cold. Terrible service. Never going back. Don’t go and overspend
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
Joseph Petito
A restaurant for high schoolers and others who don’t care about having to wait a long time despite reservations and getting orders wrong.
Kid-friendliness: Very noisy so wouldn’t notice kids
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 2
Alex
Great place. Wish they would adjust menu now and then. Worth a try.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
M K
Made reservations for 830 and 30 minutes later we’re still waiting to be seated. What’s the point of reservations.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Jessica Lew
I have been a regular of UVA for about five years, and of UVA Next Door as soon as it opened. I typically always order the Pappardelle al Ragu di Vitello. The homemade ribbons of pasta is offered with a hearty and meaty sauce which has been lovingly cooked over clearly many hours. This Secondi, which eats like a complete meal, deserves its place as a mainstay among pastas in the Upper East Side. I decided to finally try the Meatball Monday, which has been advertised, and sadly found myself disappointed. As an appetizer I ordered the Vitello. The presentation of the dish immediately caught me off guard. The brownish-red stewed sauce and ice cream scoop of polenta, with the meatballs on top had no fresh garnish or color at all, it came in a tiny metal tray, which was not large enough to easily navigate all of the elements of the dish, which all felt a bit uninviting. The sauce was quite good, a nice herbal flavor paired well with the fresh mushrooms which were cut in generously-sized pieces to add some texture to the sauce. The plain polenta was nice with the rich sauce, it had a good bit of grit to it while having an overall soft bite. The meatballs, I will only write about once here as to not be redundant later - the meatballs have lost a lost of flavor and moisture in the reheating process. In each dish, the meatballs have been reheated and never been partially cooked in the sauce, and became bland and dry. The Spaghetti was my main, it had a lovely tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes perfectly cooked to maintain the integreity of some very small pieces of tomato, although I found the sauce a touch too acidic. I will not mention the meatballs again, as they were prepared in the same fashion as the veal meatball appetizer. Please see above for that critique. I ordered La Palma di Gelato for my dessert. The apples were lightly coated and fried in zeppole style batter, which gave a fun crunch as almost pie-like experience with each bite. I also enjoyed the gelato, I always enjoy a gelato that actually tastes like milk rather than just refined sugar. The dessert bread that the gelato came in was not my favorite - it was dry and made me wonder whether it had just been over-toasted or was not made the same day. I felt the dessert could have been lovely with just the apples and gelato. In future, I will skip the meatball Mondays menu, and I will stick to the same order that I have been enjoying for a long time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sauce
DT
Ordered an appetizer and 2 main courses. Excellence food, taste great, worth the price- no, can get similar food with a more affordable and right price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Gnocchi Di Ricotta Gnocchi, Soup
Dayne Slay
I had dinner there tonight, and it was mediocre at best. I ordered ragu and it came out cold. It did not taste fresh. You could tell it had been sitting out for hours. I originally wasn’t going to say anything but I spent almost $60 on dinner tonight (ragu + glass of wine + 20% tip) and it didn’t seem like the restaurant put effort into the meal at all. I’m all for spending almost $60 on dinner if the restaurant puts quality into their delivery. Don’t give reheated pasta. Ew.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Amanda Libero
Came here on a cozy Thursday before Christmas. We had a reservation but they make you wait until your entire party is there. Our full party arrived and they had a wait an additional 30 minutes until a table was ready for us which was ridiculous. The tables are also VERY small and close together so you may be constantly bumped into and not enough room for plates on the table. However the food came out fast and was absolutely delicious. We ordered mushroom bruschetta, fried artichokes, truffle gnocchi, eggplant parmigiana, and seafood stew. The food was good enough to go back but experience may be disappointing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Ada
I recently visited Uva on a Friday evening with friends. Having had a great experience here before, I was excited to recommend it to them. Unfortunately, this visit fell short of expectations. We had a reservation and were squeezed into a two-person table (party of four, anyone?) which wasn't ideal, but hey, we're flexible people and rolled with it since the place was busy. We started with appetizers—the vegetarian platter and bruschetta—which were both delicious. The Gavi white wine we chose was the perfect partner in crime for these starters. For the main course, we ordered three Melanzane alla Parmigiana and one Polenta. These dishes were good, though nothing exceptional. The real disappointment, however, came with the service. From the moment we finished our main course, we felt rushed. Instead of being asked if we'd like dessert, we were immediately offered the check. When we decided to order dessert—a tiramisu and an apple tart with ice cream—things only got worse. Within minutes of being served, three different bus boys came by repeatedly, asking if we were done. This happened four times in just five minutes. To make matters worse, the check was brought to us unprompted while we were still eating, interrupting our evening further as my friends had planned to order espressos. When we brought this up to our waitress while paying, she explained that it was due to management's instructions and offered to have the manager, Giacomo, speak with us. Plot twist: Giacomo ghosted us! This kind of standoffish behavior from management was disappointing - apparently, addressing customer concerns isn't on their rushed menu! Look, I enjoyed this place's food, but being treated like we're in a dinner-themed escape room isn't my idea of a pleasant evening out. If there's a time limit on tables, just tell us - we're adults, we can handle it! Until they figure out that good service means more than just rapid plate clearing, my friends and I will be taking our appetites elsewhere.
The Bottom Line:
Food: Pretty good Wine: Even better Service: More rushed than a packed 6 train during NYC rush hour ;-) Manager's response: Missing in action
We were vegetarians on that day and felt that there could be more variety in vegetarian food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Michael Kramskiy
Great food and wonderful outdoor space in the back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
alessandro arseni
Best italian spot in Upper East
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Francis Bel
Came in for dinner with some friends. Ordered cavatelli pesto, burrata, carciofi fritti, meatballs, parppadelle and tiramisu to share and everything was delicious!! Plates left empty. Love the ambiance, staff was super attentive.
Food is ok, but not the best in the neighborhood. Ambience is cute but food could improve.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Food has went downhill. Came out in 3 min and was cold. Terrible service. Never going back. Don’t go and overspend
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 2
A restaurant for high schoolers and others who don’t care about having to wait a long time despite reservations and getting orders wrong.
Kid-friendliness: Very noisy so wouldn’t notice kids
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 2
Great place. Wish they would adjust menu now and then. Worth a try.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Made reservations for 830 and 30 minutes later we’re still waiting to be seated. What’s the point of reservations.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I have been a regular of UVA for about five years, and of UVA Next Door as soon as it opened. I typically always order the Pappardelle al Ragu di Vitello. The homemade ribbons of pasta is offered with a hearty and meaty sauce which has been lovingly cooked over clearly many hours. This Secondi, which eats like a complete meal, deserves its place as a mainstay among pastas in the Upper East Side. I decided to finally try the Meatball Monday, which has been advertised, and sadly found myself disappointed. As an appetizer I ordered the Vitello. The presentation of the dish immediately caught me off guard. The brownish-red stewed sauce and ice cream scoop of polenta, with the meatballs on top had no fresh garnish or color at all, it came in a tiny metal tray, which was not large enough to easily navigate all of the elements of the dish, which all felt a bit uninviting. The sauce was quite good, a nice herbal flavor paired well with the fresh mushrooms which were cut in generously-sized pieces to add some texture to the sauce. The plain polenta was nice with the rich sauce, it had a good bit of grit to it while having an overall soft bite. The meatballs, I will only write about once here as to not be redundant later - the meatballs have lost a lost of flavor and moisture in the reheating process. In each dish, the meatballs have been reheated and never been partially cooked in the sauce, and became bland and dry. The Spaghetti was my main, it had a lovely tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes perfectly cooked to maintain the integreity of some very small pieces of tomato, although I found the sauce a touch too acidic. I will not mention the meatballs again, as they were prepared in the same fashion as the veal meatball appetizer. Please see above for that critique. I ordered La Palma di Gelato for my dessert. The apples were lightly coated and fried in zeppole style batter, which gave a fun crunch as almost pie-like experience with each bite. I also enjoyed the gelato, I always enjoy a gelato that actually tastes like milk rather than just refined sugar. The dessert bread that the gelato came in was not my favorite - it was dry and made me wonder whether it had just been over-toasted or was not made the same day. I felt the dessert could have been lovely with just the apples and gelato. In future, I will skip the meatball Mondays menu, and I will stick to the same order that I have been enjoying for a long time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sauce
Ordered an appetizer and 2 main courses. Excellence food, taste great, worth the price- no, can get similar food with a more affordable and right price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Gnocchi Di Ricotta Gnocchi, Soup
I had dinner there tonight, and it was mediocre at best. I ordered ragu and it came out cold. It did not taste fresh. You could tell it had been sitting out for hours. I originally wasn’t going to say anything but I spent almost $60 on dinner tonight (ragu + glass of wine + 20% tip) and it didn’t seem like the restaurant put effort into the meal at all. I’m all for spending almost $60 on dinner if the restaurant puts quality into their delivery. Don’t give reheated pasta. Ew.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Came here on a cozy Thursday before Christmas. We had a reservation but they make you wait until your entire party is there. Our full party arrived and they had a wait an additional 30 minutes until a table was ready for us which was ridiculous. The tables are also VERY small and close together so you may be constantly bumped into and not enough room for plates on the table. However the food came out fast and was absolutely delicious. We ordered mushroom bruschetta, fried artichokes, truffle gnocchi, eggplant parmigiana, and seafood stew. The food was good enough to go back but experience may be disappointing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
I recently visited Uva on a Friday evening with friends. Having had a great experience here before, I was excited to recommend it to them. Unfortunately, this visit fell short of expectations.
We had a reservation and were squeezed into a two-person table (party of four, anyone?) which wasn't ideal, but hey, we're flexible people and rolled with it since the place was busy.
We started with appetizers—the vegetarian platter and bruschetta—which were both delicious. The Gavi white wine we chose was the perfect partner in crime for these starters. For the main course, we ordered three Melanzane alla Parmigiana and one Polenta. These dishes were good, though nothing exceptional.
The real disappointment, however, came with the service. From the moment we finished our main course, we felt rushed. Instead of being asked if we'd like dessert, we were immediately offered the check. When we decided to order dessert—a tiramisu and an apple tart with ice cream—things only got worse. Within minutes of being served, three different bus boys came by repeatedly, asking if we were done. This happened four times in just five minutes.
To make matters worse, the check was brought to us unprompted while we were still eating, interrupting our evening further as my friends had planned to order espressos.
When we brought this up to our waitress while paying, she explained that it was due to management's instructions and offered to have the manager, Giacomo, speak with us. Plot twist: Giacomo ghosted us! This kind of standoffish behavior from management was disappointing - apparently, addressing customer concerns isn't on their rushed menu!
Look, I enjoyed this place's food, but being treated like we're in a dinner-themed escape room isn't my idea of a pleasant evening out. If there's a time limit on tables, just tell us - we're adults, we can handle it! Until they figure out that good service means more than just rapid plate clearing, my friends and I will be taking our appetites elsewhere.
The Bottom Line:
Food: Pretty good
Wine: Even better
Service: More rushed than a packed 6 train during NYC rush hour ;-)
Manager's response: Missing in action
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
We were vegetarians on that day and felt that there could be more variety in vegetarian food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Great food and wonderful outdoor space in the back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best italian spot in Upper East
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Came in for dinner with some friends. Ordered cavatelli pesto, burrata, carciofi fritti, meatballs, parppadelle and tiramisu to share and everything was delicious!! Plates left empty. Love the ambiance, staff was super attentive.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tiramisu, Carciofi Fritti, Meatballs, Pizza, Burrata Barese, Truffle Gnocchi
The food and staff are terrific! One of my favorite spots.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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