MenuPages

If you enjoy delicious Italian fare, tremendous food choices, attentive but not hovering staff, a great bar and all around intimate ambiance, then Arté Café will be your 'go to' restaurant. I have come a few times now and each time the experiences have been vastly different. Sitting at the bar and dining is fantastic (appetizer portions are large). One always meets locals who call the restaurant 'home'. Last night was my first time dining seated at a table. I brought some friends from out of town and they were thrilled. The salmon was perfect and the wine (Malbec) so affordable by the bottle for Manhattan. I am really looking forward to going back and, when the weather warms back up again, sitting in the back garden. I find that the dining experience in Manhattan is usually determined by the attitude you bring to the staff the minute you come through the door. They take your lead. If you are warm and appreciative, the night will fall into place. Arté Café is no exception. They gave us a fantastic meal and I will be back.

I have never before written a review on menupages. I was motivated to write one after enjoying an exceptionally good meal of filet of sole last night. To the reviewer from a few weeks ago who was saddened by the disappearance of the sole from the menu, I understand your distress very well, and the sole is back! It was a generous piece of fish (two large pieces actually -- more than I could finish) sauteed and served in a light lemon and caper sauce. The fish was served (and probably cooked) in a coil, which looked great on the plate and probably contributed to the moistness of the fish. Arte Cafe isn't Michelin star quality; it is a local restaurant that serves simple Italian food at very reasonable prices. There is a wide selection of decent, reasonably priced wines at reasonable mark-ups. Am I the only one growing tired of restaurants that have sub-$20 entrees and virtually no wine under $40 a bottle? On a previous visit, I was less than thrilled with the pizza. Pastas are fine, but the sole was worth the trip. Hopefully, I will find more gems on their menu. If not, I'm quite content to have a great piece of fish or other good food at a reasonable price in a pleasant space.

I don't understand why they changed their menu - I used to have a few favorites that I ordered regularly for delivery (and I mean AT LEAST once a week), and when they "upgraded" the menu to have fancier dishes at higher prices, they eliminated all of my favorites. What a great way to lose a loyal customer.

I used to go here all the time, then stopped when they expanded and the service got bad. After being a Coppala's regular for the past four years, I decided to try Arte again- for delivery. After trying to navigate their really lame home page, I managed to find the menu link. After clicking on the delivery menu, I had to go back to their home page to find the phone number (the home page is like "Where's Wald0".. try it, you'll see what I mean). After selecting what I wanted to order, I called and was put on hold for THREE minutes. When she finally came back on the line and I gave her my order, she told me they no longer had that dish. When I complained that they should take it off the menu and update their website, I realized I was talking into thin air, because I had been hung up on. She had my address and phone, because she found me in the system. No call back, of course. I emailed the manager and have gotten no response. What a surprise ;-). I would like to comment on the food, but I can't. I will never frequent this place again.

I am a local and loved to go to the Arte, however like many reviewers have struck the Arte from the list. Subpar food, no service and no longer do they have that fabulous sole... So sad.

I happened upon the Arte Cafe on sunday afternoon...the place was crowded both out front and inside...but there's so much space that we were able to get a table. The food was delicious (I ate eggs but everything that went to other tables looked amazing as well)...I agree with the other reviewers about the somewhat slow service...but it was very busy at the time and the service was reasonable for the crowd they were handling. I highly recommend this place, at least for brunch/lunch!

I love the Upper West Side and I've lived there for a while so I know exactly which places are nice and which ones to avoid. I tried Arte Cafe a couple of years ago and the experience was rather disappointing. I never went back until yesterday with a friend of mine who was in the mood for Italian. We were both blown away by the freshness and quality of each dish we tried. Pasta was perfectly cooked and delicious. Salmon delicate and tasty. My only complaint is about the service: rather slow and sloppy but the food is so great that I will definitely go back. What an amazing improvement!