That might be the best chicken I've ever had in my life!
Pete
Solid appetizers and wonderful staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Gene Brown
We walked in without a reservation and got a table for 4 right away, which was highly unusual. The butternut squash ravioli was amazing and everyone at the table agreed that the aglio olio was the best we've ever had!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Taylor Hill
I really came fully prepared to hate on this place, most of all because C picked it, but also because it is hyped to death. Further hatred materialized when I waited in line for our reservation and felt like a schmuck.
Then I realized the line wasn't for people with reservations, I went inside, we were seated immediately, our waiter was fabulous, the food was fabulous, and the wine was fabulous. Everything was phenomenal and extra, extra good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Regina Rizzo
Run, don't walk to this magnificent place. I sat at the bar and the service was prompt, kind, and helpful. I had the Aronccini, Finnochio, Meatballs and cannolis. Absolutely chefs kiss!! I accompanied my meal with a Biciciletta drink.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jennifer Kopp
I will be drooling for the rest of my life after my lunch outing at Via Carota. I ate way too much, but when there is no hotel nearby and you can't take it to go and refuse to waste one drop of the magic that was on your plate, you eat it all.... Every single bite and there will never be one regret about it.
This was Via Carota and what I ordered (picture attached) was Tagliatelle (with Parmesan, prosciutto & peas and a dash of hazelnut in the sauce, if I recall correctly). I had no reservation, walked right in around 11:30 am and got a spot at the bar! So good and definitely worth a visit (on a very, very empty stomach....).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pardon my French
One of the best Italian restaurants in the city hands down. We always order the 'insalata verde', which is so simple and so perfect. Not the complicated salads (like Elaine's big salad ;) with lots of junk to make it taste different than rabbit food. This is just salad and yet it tastes fresh and light and satisfying. Takes me back to my childhood in France :) Once they had vitello tonnato as a special of the day - a sign they honor real Italian food: this is a genuine Italian dish - which sounds really funky to the uninitiated, but if done properly, it's great. Theirs was excellent. Love their Negroni list - try the ones with Cynar or Chinato to switch things up!
Aram Kocharyan
Food here was great - cacio e pepe, arancini, and tiramisu were the standouts. Service and experience was subpar. There was a big line of people putting their names down and it felt like a revolving door of business travelers and tourists. They forgot my wife’s birthday and the entire exchange was curt and transactional with the waitress. Nothing felt special or memorable. The food was the highlight and I’m glad we got to try it, but I won’t be recommending it to my friends.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Bianca R
Via Carota is a NYC staple. No frills space, super cozy, great for a simple but delicious italian meal. All the appetizers were good and the quality of the produce stands out in all of them. We loved the tomato cucumber salad and the burrata, as well as the sourdough bread to go along. Carbonara pasta is the star of the show, but don't sleep on the desserts: both the tiramisu and the strawberries with zabaione were great. Maybe not worth waiting in line for, but if you see a reservation spot open up, then snag it for sure.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
John Kim
The food was good, except everything was a little too saturated in my opinion
Definitely come for the pasta! I don't usually favor the parpardelle but the parpardelle ragu was delicious - paper thin ribbons of house made pasta really hit the spot. I got in easily as a walk-in solo diner at the bar on a weeknight at 6:45pm. Reservations are hard to come by.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Calvin Rose
Such a nice spot with great service and great food. The cappuccino was the best we've ever had!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Boo Murphy
Mushroom / scamorza was interesting, and apparently the zucchini flowers were delicious. We then had the lemon risotto (sorry wasn't called this on the menu of course), wild boar ragu and what the French call a steak hache. All a bit underpowered and bizarrely to be eaten off ice old plates... We were sharing but really the plates should be warmed so the food doesn't go cold. Tiramusu for dessert looked good, tasted okay. You can see from micetype on the menu that the desserts are a bit of an inconvenience. The wooden chairs we were seated on were very uncomfortable, for my bony butt at least. Our waitress was comedically disinterested and aloof. Had a lovely time because of the ambience and company but food was distinctly average.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 2
Lina Levovski
The food at Via Carota is absolutely incredible — truly world-class. Every dish was perfectly cooked, bursting with flavor, and beautifully presented. The servers themselves were kind and professional once we were finally seated.
However, the front-of-house experience was shockingly poor. We had a 4:45 PM reservation, arrived on time, and were told to wait. What followed was 35 minutes of standing and being ignored. The hostess kept saying “just a minute,” while seating people who came after us. No apology, no water, no sense of care — just complete disregard.
Her attitude was rude and dismissive, to the point that I eventually had to demand to speak with a manager just to be acknowledged. When the manager arrived, she offered no apology either — instead she told me that “a reservation doesn’t actually guarantee a table at that time.” Hearing that at a restaurant of this reputation was simply unacceptable.
Even once we were finally seated, there was no gesture at all to make up for the unpleasant experience — not a drink, not a dessert, not even a kind word. We sat down feeling frustrated and unwelcome, and no one made the slightest effort to fix it.
It’s a real shame, because the food deserves five stars, but the hostess and manager’s complete lack of professionalism and hospitality left us with a sour taste that no excellent meal could erase.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
Gabriele Budni
Forget about reservations, stop by and leave your name on the list! Food is phenomenal, it’s definitely worth the wait.
That might be the best chicken I've ever had in my life!
Solid appetizers and wonderful staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
We walked in without a reservation and got a table for 4 right away, which was highly unusual. The butternut squash ravioli was amazing and everyone at the table agreed that the aglio olio was the best we've ever had!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I really came fully prepared to hate on this place, most of all because C picked it, but also because it is hyped to death. Further hatred materialized when I waited in line for our reservation and felt like a schmuck.
Then I realized the line wasn't for people with reservations, I went inside, we were seated immediately, our waiter was fabulous, the food was fabulous, and the wine was fabulous. Everything was phenomenal and extra, extra good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Run, don't walk to this magnificent place. I sat at the bar and the service was prompt, kind, and helpful. I had the Aronccini, Finnochio, Meatballs and cannolis. Absolutely chefs kiss!! I accompanied my meal with a Biciciletta drink.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I will be drooling for the rest of my life after my lunch outing at Via Carota. I ate way too much, but when there is no hotel nearby and you can't take it to go and refuse to waste one drop of the magic that was on your plate, you eat it all.... Every single bite and there will never be one regret about it.
This was Via Carota and what I ordered (picture attached) was Tagliatelle (with Parmesan, prosciutto & peas and a dash of hazelnut in the sauce, if I recall correctly). I had no reservation, walked right in around 11:30 am and got a spot at the bar! So good and definitely worth a visit (on a very, very empty stomach....).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best Italian restaurants in the city hands down.
We always order the 'insalata verde', which is so simple and so perfect. Not the complicated salads (like Elaine's big salad ;) with lots of junk to make it taste different than rabbit food. This is just salad and yet it tastes fresh and light and satisfying. Takes me back to my childhood in France :)
Once they had vitello tonnato as a special of the day - a sign they honor real Italian food: this is a genuine Italian dish - which sounds really funky to the uninitiated, but if done properly, it's great. Theirs was excellent.
Love their Negroni list - try the ones with Cynar or Chinato to switch things up!
Food here was great - cacio e pepe, arancini, and tiramisu were the standouts. Service and experience was subpar. There was a big line of people putting their names down and it felt like a revolving door of business travelers and tourists. They forgot my wife’s birthday and the entire exchange was curt and transactional with the waitress. Nothing felt special or memorable. The food was the highlight and I’m glad we got to try it, but I won’t be recommending it to my friends.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Via Carota is a NYC staple. No frills space, super cozy, great for a simple but delicious italian meal. All the appetizers were good and the quality of the produce stands out in all of them. We loved the tomato cucumber salad and the burrata, as well as the sourdough bread to go along. Carbonara pasta is the star of the show, but don't sleep on the desserts: both the tiramisu and the strawberries with zabaione were great.
Maybe not worth waiting in line for, but if you see a reservation spot open up, then snag it for sure.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
The food was good, except everything was a little too saturated in my opinion
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Definitely come for the pasta! I don't usually favor the parpardelle but the parpardelle ragu was delicious - paper thin ribbons of house made pasta really hit the spot. I got in easily as a walk-in solo diner at the bar on a weeknight at 6:45pm. Reservations are hard to come by.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Such a nice spot with great service and great food. The cappuccino was the best we've ever had!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mushroom / scamorza was interesting, and apparently the zucchini flowers were delicious. We then had the lemon risotto (sorry wasn't called this on the menu of course), wild boar ragu and what the French call a steak hache. All a bit underpowered and bizarrely to be eaten off ice old plates... We were sharing but really the plates should be warmed so the food doesn't go cold. Tiramusu for dessert looked good, tasted okay. You can see from micetype on the menu that the desserts are a bit of an inconvenience. The wooden chairs we were seated on were very uncomfortable, for my bony butt at least. Our waitress was comedically disinterested and aloof. Had a lovely time because of the ambience and company but food was distinctly average.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 2
The food at Via Carota is absolutely incredible — truly world-class. Every dish was perfectly cooked, bursting with flavor, and beautifully presented. The servers themselves were kind and professional once we were finally seated.
However, the front-of-house experience was shockingly poor. We had a 4:45 PM reservation, arrived on time, and were told to wait. What followed was 35 minutes of standing and being ignored. The hostess kept saying “just a minute,” while seating people who came after us. No apology, no water, no sense of care — just complete disregard.
Her attitude was rude and dismissive, to the point that I eventually had to demand to speak with a manager just to be acknowledged. When the manager arrived, she offered no apology either — instead she told me that “a reservation doesn’t actually guarantee a table at that time.” Hearing that at a restaurant of this reputation was simply unacceptable.
Even once we were finally seated, there was no gesture at all to make up for the unpleasant experience — not a drink, not a dessert, not even a kind word. We sat down feeling frustrated and unwelcome, and no one made the slightest effort to fix it.
It’s a real shame, because the food deserves five stars, but the hostess and manager’s complete lack of professionalism and hospitality left us with a sour taste that no excellent meal could erase.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 1
Forget about reservations, stop by and leave your name on the list! Food is phenomenal, it’s definitely worth the wait.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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