Bar Italia (CLOSED)

Last week i made a reservation at the new location on Madison Avenue, After asking for bread and to order drinks several times we left. Tonight i decided to try the 2nd avenue location. it was fantastic. the wine was great. the service was great. the food delcious. this is without a doubt my new "go to" spot for dinner on the upper east side

Dennis from Cipriani has brought his downtown skills uptown. Amazing apps and entrees. Love the pre-dinner drinks.

I should have been leery of a place that has 2 pastas with truffle oil. There's really nothing quite as un-cheflike as dousing some noodles with the stuff and passing it off as fine dining. (20+ bucks per dish) We had delivery. I ordered the Papardelle with Truffle Oil (I really wanted Paperdelle). My wife ordered the Cavateli. We agree its the worst pasta we've had in a long long time. Bad bread cut up into Crostini pieces. No cheese. Ugly plastic bag. The pasta. Mushy (I know al dente is hard with fresh pasta delivery...but it has been done before), poorly executed, unattractive, no depth of flavors (except for overwhelming truffle oil on mine). A lack of fresh herbs... if you have to eat on the UES (and I do cuz i live here), i would order Italian from PerLei or even Caffe Buon Gusto.

Probably the best italian restaurant in the city. Chef Dennis comes from 15 years experience with Cipriani restaurant. The service make you feel at home and welcome. Pasta with clams and mussels, Pasta with mushroom and Gnocchi with taleggio e pere are delicious. Pasta is homemade. Different kind of tasty meats. Average selection of wine.

We celebrated my husband's birthday at Bar Italia and it was beyond fantastic in every sense of the word. The food was fantastic -- the caprese salad was so fresh, the gnocchi melted in your mouth and the tiramisu left me wanting for me which is saying a lot since I typically don't care for tiramisu. The wait staff went out of their way to make sure we were taken care of, and the owner stopped by our table to ask us how our dinner was. We will definitely be back!

Came here for my mother's birthday and I was incredibly disappointed with the food. When I plan to spend $20+ on an entree of pasta, I expect to have something that is AT LEAST cooked and seasoned correctly. I ordered the taglioni with clams and it was entirely over salted. To the point of being inedible, the clams were fishy and tasted as though the pasta was soaked in clam juice. The cavatelli with veal ragout was also inedible. The consistency of the ragout, which did not by any means taste like ragout, was incredibly gelatin-like. If these dishes weren't $20+, I might be less offended, but when a restaurant wants to present itself as a high-end eatery, then AT LEAST cook your dishes well.

The best time to go to Bar Italia is for lunch on a weekend. It's not crowded and there is usually an old Italian movie playing, or when in season, some football. The wines and the food are truly delightful. The Beef Carpaccio is perfect, as is the Tartufo Nero pasta (my favorite, and I think their best selling item). The gnocci were equally memorable. The portions are perfect sizes too. However, I have also been here on a weekend evening... The kitchen seems to try its best, but is clearly understaffed. We were seated, LITERALLY, on top of the table next to us. Once against the wall, there was no way for my companions to get out once there were plates/glasses on the table without spilling everything. Worst of all, the service was not only unattentive, but awful. I have had the same waitress several times and she seems to be intentionally abrupt and obnoxious, ignoring our requests for water, mixing up our wine order, and blatantly not caring when we pointed out her indignant nature. The manager apologized, but an apology can only do so much.