MenuPages

We took my sister and her husband here when they visited NYC on their vacation. I chose Biricchino sight unseen because it was one of the only places fairly near their hotel. It turned out to be great. Each of us ordered something different and we all commented how good the food tasted. The service was fine, the atmosphere not fancy but quiet and relaxed. The tables are far enough apart that you don't feel squished in. Overall, we really enjoyed the place and my husband & I will definitely eat here again any time we're in the neighborhood.

The service was what killed the experience. Though the waiter was not rude, he was entirely inattentive. He barely spoke to us, was completely unprofessional and disappeared when it was time for us to go. This was an inconvenience for us as we had to be at MSG for a game... The worst part was that he never showed up and offered parmesan or black pepper on our dishes. Italian? WEAK! Otherwise, the food wasn't bad. Oh yea, frozen butter sucks. Where is the olive oil?!?

To start, the homemade Bresaola and the warm crusty bread were delicious and it only got better from there. I had the Insalata Biricchino to start which was simply delightful. For dinner I had the Fusillo and my husband had the fish of the day which was Sea Bass. The dinners were both absolutely delicious and were presented beautifully. For dessert I had the Profiterole and my husband had Gelati. Again, both were delicious and the perfect ending to the perfect evening. The food, atmosphere, service and price could not have been better. I will come back many, many times.

My friend and I dined on 2/15/07. The Bread was good and the butter was frozen as commented on buy other reviewers. The salad course was very good. We had the fish of the day, sea bass, and it was flavored with artichoke and something else and those flavors clashed to make it sour tasting. Dessert was a Napolian, skip that unless you like cheese instead of creme. Capuccino was weak. Service was very good, and this restaurant is so well located to trains and Madison Sq. Garden.

Aldo and I had just returned from a vacation in Italy and were looking for a restaurant that would not only allow us to experience the fine dining Italian style but also enjoy the service of warm and friendly people just like in the old country. Biricchino was the place we were looking for. The homemade sausages and fine french bread was only the beginning of a sensational meal. The waitresses were professional yet simple and went out of their way to see that we were enjoying our meal. The chef occassionally walked into the dining room with a smile and on one occassion we exchanged stories about our experiences in Italy.. Our primo piatto, risotto alle seppie, which is a firm risotto colored with squid ink, certainly enticed us and the flaor was out of this world. Our secondo piatto was the fish of the day which was a Halibut smothered in some sort of white wine sauce. Our meal would not have been complete without a frothy Venice style Cappuccino. We highly recommend this restaurant not only for its authentic Northern Italian cuisine but also for its relaxing service..

Our server had no clue about anything on the menu, and we were all mislead into ordering dishes that we did not care for. It was a bland and uninspired meal that begin with chewy bread and hard butter.

I was so upset with my experience at this restaurant that I joined Menupages to review it. The general quality of restaurants in NYC is good enough to make me forget how poor and overpriced most restaurants in the US and Europe are, but Biricchino brought the memories back. To start with, some decent if uninspired bread was ruined by butter that came straight from the freezer. They took the wine menu from the table before we could order. After some time waiting for service in an empty restaurant, my friends and I received meals that were not very good. Admittedly it is difficult to eat a decent meal in midtown for a decent price. But I'd rather walk a few blocks to Times Square and eat at some generic touristy place than go back to Biricchino.