Arte Cafe

The early bird special we had on Friday evening was super. The salad, soup, and pasta were all right on. The service is perfect and the restaurant has plenty of room to enjoy a comfortable, quiet, and unrushed dinner. The value and quality is among the best for Italian food on the UWS. Outdoor tables are also available now that the weather is warming up.

This is the first time I've ever been compelled to write a review - we ordered delivery (lasagna and orriechete) and it was literally the most disappointing foodI've ever had from a restaurant, especially at these prices. The lasagna was in a strange round shape and the quality of the meat was very poor (my high school cafeteria lasagna was tastier). The orriechete was overcooked and oily.

Despite past negative experiences, I decided to give Arte Cafe another shot. Unfortunately, my party had yet another unacceptably low quality experience. Never again will I dine at Arte Cafe. To keep it short: Our waiter took 30 minutes to take our drinks order and never returned for the rest of the night. We were served by the bus-boys and no one came to check on the quality of our meal. We poured our own wine, we were never read the specials, the food was undercooked, and obtaining the check was nearly impossible. The quality of the food and service was reprehensible. There are too many high quality establishments on the Upper West Side - don't waste your time with this one.

I hadn't been to Art Cafe in some time, maybe 2 years. Well, I found out why last night. My girlfriend and I thought we'd give it a shot - mistake #1. The place always looks decent, but I should have been clued in when I saw not a single smile on the faces of the waitstaff and hosts. They were about as friendly as an IRS auditor and had really no interest in where we sat. We chose outdoor patio, mistake #2. The door leading in and out screeched loudly every time it was opened, which happens every 1-2 minutes. Our waiter, who decided after about 5-7 minutes to even acknowledge us was about as interested in providing us service as DMV employee. He was more interested in humming songs to himself and wandering in and out of the door. We ordered food, mistake #3. First, we were served ice cold bread from a basket stored outside on the wait station, not too unusual, but this bread was horrible. Maybe 2-3 days old. The olive oil was cooking oil placed in a Patron bottle on the table. Really? You couldn't even afford your own oil dispenser? We got our food and I took about three bites before realizing how tasteless and lacking in any culinary skill it was. The sauce was clearly from a 32 gallon drum of commercial (read military grade) sauce. The pasta, which they claimed to be homemade was clearly Play-Doh masked with less salt and pounded into submission before being dipped in tap water and plated. The chicken for what they claimed was Chicken Parm was clearly raised in an environmentally unfriendly cage, because it was quite angry and tough. We couldn't get out of there fast enough - and asked for our check about 17 minutes after our arrival. We laugh about it now, but we want to spare ANYONE (enemies included) from ever stepping foot into Art Cafe. There is no art happening here ... clearly.

Arte is a great place and the food is always fairly good, but the cocktails are priced as if they thought they were a club in the meatpacking district. A $15 martini at a dinner place on the UWS is preposterous! Go enjoy the food, but never order one of their ridiculously priced drinks.

went for brunch with a few people. physically the resturant is nice looking and pleasant, in a nice neighborhood. The menu had a decent selection and you can add $14 to your brunch item if you want unlimited cocktails. Due to time being late, I did not opt for that. The food was so so. Not bad but not great. Just average I guess. They serve a muffin to start-it was a good muffin, but texture a little off for me. I ordered a panini which i thought was a pretty safe bet, but the bread was tasteless. My corner deli makes better ones. The ice tea was over brewed and horrible. Everyone else had same comment about food. Nothing special, at least the brunch selections. basically, OK but nothing great. The service was so-so. it seems like a lot of wait staff just doesn't speak or understand English well. I don't think I would return. too many great places in the city with tastier food. It's not expensive, but that doesn't compensate for bland food. Maybe if I was in the area I might stop by for a coffee or drink, but that's about it. I would rather spend my money elsewhere

Today we made our 3rd and very likely last trip to Arte Cafe. The food was decent but the service was poor - most notably, when we saw a waiter dip his hands in a water pitcher and fix his hair! We were disgusted and almost walked out of the restaurant before our food even arrived.