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What a disappointment. We were looking for a tried and true restaurant and selected Barbetta. The maitre d' was affected. The restaurant was empty and when we asked for a particular table, we were told it was a table for 5, not 4. Not ten minutes later 4 people were seated there. There was no heat and the waiter was rude and "bothered" by questions. Sorry we stayed. Must say that the food was halfway decent. Never again.

We held a private party in the upstairs room for about 30 people on a Friday night. I was a little nervous based on previous reviews but I have nothing to complain about. The building is a brownstone and the room was beautiful and we could wander around the whole upstairs. The waitstaff could not be better from making sure our glasses were full at all times to providing the scores of the Mets/Yankees game. Additionally, when a guest commented he was a seafood lover the waiter provided him with a meal that was not on our pre-set menu at no extra cost. The food was excellent - the beef tenderloin like butter...no knife needed. The dessert cart looked heavenly and again the waiter allowed us to have more than one type of dessert at no extra cost. The baked pears were delightful with the creme zabaglione. I would definitely return to this restuarent on my own.

Our third visit to this lovely restaurant was unpleasant. We were dining for lunch prior to a theatre performance. Six tables were occupied. Our food was warm, not hot. We ordered along with our entree a pasta dish to share, we never got it. the coffee was old, and served with skim milk. Service was poor, poor, poor! We had to we had to summon the waiter continuously .Two of the six occupied tables got a lot of attention. The person passing out bread was very attentive. We were seated at a table near the doors opening to the porch, and they opened up letting in very cold air to an already unpleasant dining experience. After having been here before, this is not what we expected on our return to Restaurant Row.

The waiters were curt and the food was sub-par. The garden, on the other hand, is a lovely place for a bottle of wine on a nice day.

We had our company lunch here and everyone was very pleased. It was a beautiful day out so we ate in the garden. It transports you out of NYC for the time you have your meal. The garden is pieceful and very pretty. The food was excellent as well. The appetizers of octopus and also the peppers were very heavy on the olive oil but still tasted great. We all loved our entrees ranging from the frutti de mare to pesto pasta, crushed olives over pasta and the cod and swordfish. All delightfully prepared and a pleasant experience for lunch. I highly recommend this restaurant for the garden, atmosphere, food and decor.

If you want to impress a date, bring them here! Especially in the summer when the garden is open. Beautiful garden! The waitstaff are very professional and friendly. The host was lovely. The only complaint I have is when I was there with my family, the owner yelled at the waitstaff a couple times, which indeed put a damper on our expensive meal. I think it is very unprofessional even if it is her restaurant !! All in all, we had a nice time

Barbetta offers a restaurant experience that's hard to match, even in New York. The space is elegant in the Old World, old school style, with a well-executed menu to match. But you need to go after the pre-theater rush to appreciate this. The good news is that Barbetta stays open late enough to accommodate post-theater dining. The bad news is that today's theater goers prefer jamming groceries down their gullets at 6:30 (then complaining about the experience). If you can break away from the early-bird mentality, you are in for a treat. The place does have its quirks, including corded electric lamps on the well-appointed tables and a chef who apparently doesn't mind throwing a tantrum within earshot of the dining room. But these things are part of the charm of the place. This is La Dolce Vita writ large, in all its fading glory.