Babbo

Tonight, with my wife, Mario was there, a Surprise! Food great, service great, what more could you ask for? A lively bar crowd, eat at the bar. The best place to eat. Hey it is Babbo, if you know what I mean. Mario, I would have roasted you to, but I will be at Del Posto this week,and I do not want a bad table. Thank you for GREAT dinner, even though you were not in the kitchen, do not let fame go to your head. Just like your hair, you will lose it, FAST..... Kim & Rick.

A fantastic restaurant... from when my bf and I walked into the restaurant we were greeted by great service. Our waiter was awesome and made perfect selections and the floor manager was very attentive. The dishes are flavorful and unique; the best italian I've ever had. The portions are small, so we order a good amount of food; we had a little of everything. The steamed cockles (were just average; the same in many restaurants), Goose Liver Ravioli (wonderful and rich; I don't usually like pate/goose liver but this dish was sweet and tasty.), Beef Cheek Ravioli (Yum.. many people have reccommended this dish and I can see why), Black Pepper Pappardelle (good Duck (was a bit dry and bland, unlike all the rest), BBQ Squab (the best of the Secondis, the roasted beat sauce is excellent and makes the plate colorful and vibrant).

I recently went to Babbo with a party of 8 and had the most amazing meal of my life. I love all foods and go to a nice restaurant about once a week, but nothing compared to the quality of food at Babbo. The ravioli, skate fish, and dessert was delicious. I made reservations again for my bday.

When you think about Italian cuisine the first thing that comes to mind for many is pasta. And, while the pasta here is very good, the meats are the real winner. My wife had the lamb chops and I had the pork chop. We both agreed that they were the best dishes of thier respective kinds we had ever had, surpassing the Four Season's lamb chops and the pork chop at Union Square Cafe. The pork chop had to be two inches thick, and it was moist and flavorful. Our first courses were both very good as well (beet salad and artichoke). We split the pasta course, the beef cheek ravioli, which was also quite tasty. Desserts were mediocore, very good but not memorable. The service was also splendid. We had a pleasant waiter who took time to explain everything to us about the menu and the specials. He also reccommended the pork, so I owe him one there! The wine list is something to marvel at - more Italian wines than you can imagine, and only Italian wines. The space itself is cool, and it does generate an intimate environment. However, if you don't have reservations and you have to sit at the bar you may find it crowded, and you may find it loud with the classic rock playing definitively from the bar speakers. If you have reservations you can avoid both of those problems. All in all, this place is a must because of the food!

We had so looked forward to our visit to Babbo in NYC! And it was so disappointing! It was to be a highlight and we're foodies -- watch the Food Channel, have bought the cookbooks, love to cook! We had 9:30 reservations, but we still had to wait and, as the bar was over-crowded, all we could do was stand at the maitre d's stand and wait...and wait! Finally, when a table was available, we climbed the long stairs up. The wait staff was okay. But the meal was hurried and the food was only luke warm when it arrived. We did the pasta tasting menu. We expected "extraordinary". What we got was very average. It is hard to live up to all the Zagat stars and expectations of most diners will be high! We were uncomfortable the entire evening, a real change from the other top drawer restaurants we had eaten at. Glad to leave and put it behind us. No need to return. Sorry, Mario! You need to have a more welcoming staff and watch your kitchen a little more.

The service was very polite and accomodating at Babbo. However, the food and the atmosphere were lacking. Perhaps it is because my guest and I arrived at around 10pm, rather on the late side. Still, I do not think this is an excuse. We ordered two Traditional Tasting Menus, with eight courses. I appreciate that the food seemed to be made fresh, but it took a full 2.5 hours for all of the food to come out. I was falling asleep by the time the main course (3rd) arrived. I was not very impressed with the food -- extremely on the salty side for 3/8 of the courses. The Pappardelle was much too greasy and salty. Our first course was a tiny, shriveled eggplant slice. The atmosphere is also not very good. We decided to wait at the bar until a table was ready, and when we made the switch to the table, it was so small and crowded (I elbowed two people) and so loud (we couldn't hear each other speak across the table) that we decided to just go back to the roomier bar. Right when our sixth course came around, it was around the time when the restaurant started to close up, apparently. Two females on the waitstaff sat near us at the bar, very drunk, and were shrieking, laughing, and slurring very close to us while we tried to eat our meal. Then they started to paw at and flirt with one of the older male waitstaff, which was quite uncomfortable. For the price we paid, the unpleasant atmosphere, and the lackluster food, I will not return. Sorry, Batalli. I'll just watch you on the television.

Our Picks for Two: ANTIPASTA: Steamed Cockles with Red Chiles. This probably wasn't the best start to our meal. It was just average, something you would find at your typical Italian fare. PRIMI: - Goose Liver Ravioli with Balsamic Vinegar and Brown Butter. This dish was absolutely phenomenal. I'm not much of a fan of pate, but with the balsamic reduction the two ingredients worked perfectly together. We had this more towards the end of the meal; being a sweet dish it was a great lead into dessert. - Beef Cheek Ravioli with Crushed Squab Liver and Black Truffles. This was my favorite out of everything we had, and a lot of people seemed to have ordered it too. A rustic and simply done dish. Although the black truffles didn't add anything to the already great pasta it was plainly used for aesthetics. SECONDI: - Duck with Sweet and Sour Cabbage, Speck and Brovada. The duck was cooked very tender and crispy, it almost tasted like the crispy pork you get in those chinatown restaurants. I would have probably enjoyed it better if it had a different sauce paired with it; I wasn't too crazy about the crushed up lima beans. It didn't overpower the duck which was good. - Barbecued Squab with Roasted Beet “Farrotto” and Porcini Mustard. Really, Really flavorful. I think the Roast Beet "farrotto" made the dish. Everything was wonderfully put together and the flavors and ingredients worked very well with eachother. DOLCI: Cherry Upsidedown Cake and Moscato (sweet wine). I don't usually like cherries it my dessert, but yet again this restaurant does everything wonderfully. We had Moscato to top off a fantastic meal. - - - Service at Babbo is nothing less than great. Our server made great suggestions to the menu. Him and the rest of the staff were very attentive. Not at all annoying, came over once to see how things were and when you needed something he was always there in a second.