Acappella

I hosted my husband's 40th birthday bash here. The staff could not have been more attentive or accomadating to our party. The food was beyond comparison. We dine in the city frequently, this was by far one of our favorites. Yes, it's dark, but that is part of the atmosphere. If there is a negative it is the location of the restrooms, after too much birthday celebration.

I've frequented Acappella for years and have neverhad a bad meal or poor service. My mother-in-law, who grew up dirt poor on the east side and moved to Florida in 1945, was treated to a meal last Christmas Eve and told me "other than the birth of my children, this has been one of the best days of my life!" While I can't go quite that far, I'll say that having had an entertainment expense account and the ability to try many restaurants - mostly in lower Manhattan - Accapella usually gets the best reviews from my guests.

The food was incredible and the service was outstanding. The staff would sweep in, silently, whenever something needed attention. The bar was comfortable and quaint. I recommend this place to everyone who loves Italian food.

Although we had booked, and confirmed, and arrived on time, the table was not ready for us and they had to lay it while we watched, despite them not being busy. The room was very poorly lit ? only half the wall lights were on. It was impossible to read the menu by this light so we asked for a 2nd candle and had to hold it in front of the menu to be able to read it. At this point they explained they had a problem with the electrics. Almost as soon as we sat down, Amuse Bouche were unceremoniously dropped onto our plates with nothing said at all ? impossible to see what they were. Also brought with no explanation were some other nibbles ? again impossible to see. My partner took one bite and quickly realised they were covered in chilli ? to which he is allergic. Had there been sufficient lighting, this would have been obvious. A waiter arrived and rattled off 6 appetisers and 6 entrees as ?specials?. At the end, I couldn?t even remember one of them so had to choose off the main menue. The minestrone soup was very weak, could easily have come out of a packet. The broccoli we ordered as a side dish was covered in chilli ? completely unexpected and impossible to see due to the poor light. The result was that my partner was ill within one hour of leaving the restaurant. Both main dishes were smothered in sauce it was impossible to taste (or see) anything else on the plate. The service was exceedingly poor and so we chose not to leave a tip. Upon leaving the restaurant, we were challenged as to why we had not left a tip at the main door.

We are from Vancouver, Canada and got married in New York June 23, 2005. We had done countless of web searches for an Italian Restaurant as a venue to celebrate our wedding. As we were staying in the area, decided on Acappella. Vancouver has dozens of fine restaurants, particularly those Italian, so our standards are extremely high. The food at Acappella was delicious, and the service superb. Particularly the melt-in-the-mouth pasta, stuffed with 4 cheeses and a small piece of pear. We regularly talk about it and wish we had more! We had a very small issue with one of our desserts. After bring it to our waiter's attention, he immediately brought us on the house a huge cognac in a pretty impressive glass. While the prices were not inexpensive, we felt we had excellent value for the experience we had. Thank you to all the fine gentlemen of Acappella who helped make our day so very special.

I read the previous reviews, and I have one question: Anonymous, did you eat at the same restaurant that the rest of us did? Our experience could not have been more different--the wait staff was informative, amusing, and more than patient with our inability to decide among the nearly limitless options. And the staff we encountered spoke perfect English AND Italian. Not only that, the head waiter stopped by our table often to check in on us and make sure that we had everything we wanted and needed. The food was heavenly--I had the ravioli stuffed with lobster and shrimp for an appetizer. After devouring it, I wished I'd ordered it for an entree and dessert. Who knew that nirvana came in the form of pasta? All in all, a wonderful experience, from start to finish. If you rarely come to TriBeCa (and if money is not too much of an object because the prices will make your head spin), then try out Acapella--it's beyond words.

The food was excellent, but we had to wait FOREVER to be served, and the service left much to be desired. About the only fast thing about our meal was how quickly they took the bill. I know they're going for that authentic Italian atmosphere, but my attitude is this: If you're willing to take my good ol' American money, then have the decency to translate your menu into that good ol' American language--or hire people who can and will translate it for me. This place was NOT worth the $185 we paid.