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Our first dinner in NYC was at Caffe Linda. Unique Salads like the Shrimp, Avocado & Garden Greens Salad we had. Very good. Loved the Black Linguine with fressh Lobster and Shrimp. It has a very spicy hot sause that perfectly compliments the sweer lobster and shrimp. BEST DESSERTS in NYC!!! The four of us shared Tiramisu (my Wife's and my favorite) and Cheesecake. Superb! My Mom loves chocolate, which she mentioned to the waiter, so they then brought out a Tartufo Al Cioccolato, free of charge!!!! How nice was that??? It is Fantastic!!! A very special experience. Prices were less than I expected for Uptown NYC, sepecially on entrees. Portions were good sized. We cannot wait to visit NYC and Caffe Linda again.

Yes, I know, there are more famous, more fashionable, more glamorous Italian restaurants in town, but Caffe Linda just seems to have the right balance of what makes the essence of Italian food: simple but tasty, casual but with elegance; the staff is welcoming and provides caring service, the atmosphere is nice and warm (especially at dinner time: they play good music, light the candles... all you need for a nice date). I've been eating at Caffe Linda quite often lately and everything I tried was very yummy... Just once I wasn't satisfied with a salad and the waiter changed it for me right away. I had a delicious whole Branzino fish, wonderful linguine with fresh scallops and sweet pepper sauce (amazing!). They have great appetizers too, such as a crispy but moist grilled octopus or polenta with mushrooms. Nice wine selection too, and a good hard liquor bar. I sometime get a Cosmo or a Dirty Martini and the barman did a great job mixing them! And all of this for a very decent price that the more famous Italian places can't beat. I speak a little bit of Italian because my grandmother was from Calabria, and I often overheard Italian tourists eating at Caffe Linda complimenting the staff on the great food, saying it tastes just like home!

i have been going to this place for years, perfect lunch place. lunch is generally packed so go early if you want a table. food is simple, delicious, abundant and most of all, pretty reasonably priced. chicken milanese is exceptional and salads are delicious!

Quite possibly my favorite 'quick' dine-in spot in Midtown East. I'm not sure what they do to their tomato sauce, but it is incredible. Be sure to try the Chicken Milanese, one of the best i've had. I also love the black linguine with grilled shrimp in arrabiatta sauce. It really is a nice, affordable, consistenly good Italian cafe in midtown. If you're ever looking to eat well and do it for around $15. This is your place. One piece of advice - if you go for lunch get there at noon or shortly thereafter. The place gets packed and there's usually a wait between 12:30-1p. At noon, it's wide open Enjoy!!!

>It is a better deal for lunch than dinner and don't listen to the uptight old "Jewish Guy" poster below. Its a simple casual meal at a decent price in Midtown. Nothing more. Agreed on all counts. "Passable and decently balanced, but again no notes of Italian lineage." You say it was good. That is sufficient. You do not need to see a diagram of the DNA. "What was disarming was the music, not Italian but Latin (Spanish). I love Latin food, music, and culture, but why pipe in Latin Music as an overlay for what is meant to be an Italian dining experience?" Hello. This is a cafe in midtown Manhattan, which serves pretty cheap Italian food. Not a hologram of the Piazza della Signoria. When in Rome, one can listen to whatever a pretentious twit’s cliche idea of “Italian music” is.

I've been going here since it was in the basement of Benetton on 5th avenue. It is a better deal for lunch than dinner and don't listen to the uptight old "Jewish Guy" poster below. Its a simple casual meal at a decent price in Midtown. Nothing more.

After seeing reviews on this site for Caffe Linda, and raves from an outgoing customer as we entered, I had high hopes for an enjoyable dining experience. That was not to be. The Ceasar Salad was composed of fresh Romaine but was the blandest I've ever had with no taste of either anchovy or parmigiano cheese. Despite copious grated paragiano and cracked pepper added as an afterthought, the salad was sustainance at best and not worth anywhere near the $7 or $8 price. My date remarked it was the worst Ceasar Salad she'd ever had. Things went from bad to worse when I ordered the Lasagna. It was absolutely horrid and had no resemblance to any Italian Lasagna I've encountered in 47 years of life. The sauce was bitter and the bottom layer was burned. The "fillings" were nothing more than the same meat sauce; no carefully-crafted layers of cheese or meat as one would expect with a traditional Lasagna recipe. The pasta itself was decimated, overcooked almost to mush. My date had a bowl which contained mini pasta shells with Broccoli Rabe and bits of Sausage in a garlic-olive oil flavored sauce. Passable and decently balanced, but again no notes of Italian lineage. Still, I was jealous at how much my date enjoyed, especially in light of her pained reaction to tasting my Lagagna. I'm not one to complain about decor, which for sure was plain and unassuming. What was disarming was the music, not Italian but Latin (Spanish). I love Latin food, music, and culture, but why pipe in Latin Music as an overlay for what is meant to be an Italian dining experience? Take a pass on Caffe Linda, although reasonably priced there is much better tasting dining available elsewhere on the East Side for the same cost.