MenuPages

Party of 6.No problem seating on a Sunday night.Staff was OK.Meal good.Prices seemed standard for the area.Desserts good.My shrimp with pasta was very good.Bathrooms were well kept downstairs.Quiet no rush to leave.Would return.

Just came back from a nice meal soured only by the waiter who brought the wine list and wine first but had to be tracked down to ask for a dinner menu! he looked miserable, unfriendly, never smiled. Other staff snatched dishes and glasses from under our noses while we were still eating! There is no understanding that staff attitude IS the ambience. There are other neighborhood choices staffed by genuinely nice people!

a potential neighborhood jewel. Good standard Italian, real wood-fired oven, nice portions BUT the waiters are indifferent, clueless, grumpy and their main function seems to be to refill your glass every time you take a sip of wine, a very annoying habit! Also the wine list is a bit pricey for a neighborhood hang. They used to have some more modest choices. Why is the staff so miserable? Makes me hesitate returning....

Unsung spot. Now one of my personal favs for excellent yet low key Italian food.

This is--hands-down--the best restaurant in existence. I studied in Italy for a month and a half living amongst the locals and returned again a year later visiting six cities. I enjoyed a vast variety of authentic Italian food during those visits and found that same authenticity in Chelsea Ristorante. The food, the wine, the atmosphere, the people--all of it--is brought together elegantly in this little piece of Italy in New York City. Every thing from the warm fresh breads with olive oil and vinegar brought to you as you await your meal, to the attention the servers pay to each of their customers (your glass is never empty), to the burst of flavors in their dishes and the guilt-free calories you consume enjoying your dessert is of a distinguishing quality; so much so that friends of mine who have visited Italy with me have unanimously decided Chelsea Ristorante as our reunion place to reminisce of our ventures in Italy and enjoy a bit of those memories over food and wine at home in New York City.

I've been living in Chelsea for 20 years, and this is still one of my favorite restaurants. The service is the key: a professional staff, not actor/waiters -- in fact, the same people have been there for the last decade. The food isn't adventurous or new, but it's solid and well-done. and the ambiance is pleasant. All in all, it's about as good as it gets on 8th Ave.

What a disappointing evening for the French Canadien tourists that we are! The food was ok (avoid the calamars), our table was the worst of the restaurant and the waiters, quite nice, were also very pushy. However, what really surprised us (in a bad way!) was the 20% gratuity that was added to our bill without any warning. Probably because the waiters thought that we were from France and were afraid to not get any tips. This way of doing is not only rude, but also dishonest.