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I ordered from here the other night. And was very disappointed with my meal. The whole wheat pasta with mariana sauce was smothered by sauce. I couldn't even finish it which is always a disappointing experience when you pay $20 for a simple pasta dish. I would not recommend this spot. I won't be ordering from here again.

If you're looking for a lovely, reasonably priced dinner, go here! The food is great and perfectly-priced. The bill only gets big when you order from their over-priced wine list (go Sun, Mon or Tues when wine is half off!) Lastly, make sure you ask to be seated in the courtyard. It is cozy and quiet in the back and many people do not even know it exists. Inside is ofter jam-packed and louder than a high school cafeteria.

Pleasantly surprised this evening...sat in the outdoor garden. Lobster Fra Diavlo with Black Ink Linguini was very good. Gnocchi was soft, yet tasty, and the hospitality was great. We felt at home.

I took my elderly parents here yesterday. Both of them use a walker and have diffciulty getting around and so taking them out to a restaurant can be extremely challenging. We had a wonderful waitress named Rita, who set up a table out front for us so that we could dine al fresco and my folks would not have to navigate walking out through the kitchen into the restaurant's back garden. Rita took the time to make this a great day out for my parents and I really appreciated that. The food was fantastic and. I plan to go back very soon.

I cant get enough of this place. I cant vouch for every dish on the menu here, but I am a life long upper east sider and this is one of my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. I would highly recommend the VEAL BUON GUSTO. This dish will not let you down. I'm salivating just thinking of it. Good portion, reasonably priced under $20 bucks, and its absolutely delicious. The staff has always been spot on in my experiences. But seriously, order the veal buon gusto!

Now we all know that the Upper East Side is not exactly known for its great food, which is probably why a place like this survives.The wait staff were quick & efficient, however that was not enough. Our mussels app was the only decent part of our meal, our main course was bland, the pasta undercooked (not al-dente if that was their aim) the meat was overcooked, i think the worst part was when complaining, the manager offered to have our food packed to go?! I think they were trying to hurry us out to make room for ripping off more customers, I will not be going back here, the food is frozen or tinnedand manager needs to learn how to deal with complaints. Caffe buon gusto left a bad tasto in my mouth.

We were very excited to visit cafe buon gusto. The other reviews identified it as an excellent authentic italian restaurant where the food would be prepared as we like it: delicious but light (e.g. not covered in cream and butter as low-end italian restaurants do). Clean and well appointed, they have indoor and outdoor seating in front, but we opted for the garden instead. After being led down several narrow service hallways, we arrived at a cozy back garden with around 8 tables, candles and an overhead vine canopy. The appearance and atmosphere were both excellent. The service was also excellent. Our waiters were prompt, curteous and on-top of things. My water was constantly refilled, our courses served promptly, and we never waited a second for service. A+ on service no doubt. Unfortunately, the food did not match, and was disappointing to say the least. They started us out with a simple italian break basket which was fine, but not exceptional. We ordered a ricotta and fig bruschetta as an appetizer off their specials menu and a single glass of chianti for my wife. This is where the pain started... The ricotta and fig bruschetta ($6) was a total flop. They had taken a piece of sliced white bread (think Wonder), toasted it, and put some ricotta spread on top. Not fresh ricotta and sliced figs mind you... it was clear this was from some prepackaged tub and they just smeared it on top of the toasted wonder bread. It was tasteless, and put fear into us that the rest of our dinner would match. The chianti ($9) matched the appetizer perfectly. Had they spouted it from a box and then added some vinegar for good measure, I would not have been surprised. It was so terrible, that the two of us couldn't finish the single glass together. Bleh... Out came our entrees... spinach and ricotta ravioli ($15) from the menu for myself and pappardelle with mushroom sauce and truffle oil ($19) off the specials menu for my wife. My ravioli was delicious, in a cafetaria food-line sort of way. The raviolis tasted frozen from a bag, but they probably figured I wouldn't notice after they'd covered it in a quart of heavy cream sauce. The pappadelle was covered in heavy oil instead of cream, and salty like the sea. This was a meal you'd expect at some bad tourist restaurant in little italy, not from an authentic italian restaurt on the upper east side. They asked if we were interested in coffee and desert, but we'd already had our fill.