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Dinner for 4 last night seated pleasantly and early for an 8:15 reservation. We were handed a wine list but no menus and after about 10 minutes had to flag down a waitperson to order drinks from the bar. Finally, we were brought menus and one of the staff (whom I later found out is one of the floor managers) turned her attention to us. Dishes were described with enthusiasm, wine discussed with decent authority and advice. Ordered some of the wonderful raw fish appetizers, two pastas and two fish entrees. The whole wheat pasta with sardines, walnuts and fennel (Bigoli) was superb and the fish dishes were perfectly cooked and beautifully presented. Portions are not generous but adequate. We promptly consulted then on deserts, ordered two and coffees and that is where the fun stopped. After a rather long wait for these items, which were ultimately very good, we were completely ignored for the balance of the meal except for incessant visits by the busboy pouring water. After finally flagging down the floor manager for the check twiice, I found her sitting at the bar eating her dinner. When we did get the check it was delivered with an attitude. True, while we were waiting, I was asked by someone if I wanted more coffee but I wasn't expecting to be charged another $3.50 for it! Come on, with a check of $325 for four (before tip) is that necessary? Basically, a really nice dinner ended with a thud because of poor service. There are too many other places to get wonderful food in this town to put up with that.

I dined at Esca for the Restuarant week lunch and it was exceptional! The seafood was amazingly fresh and flavorful. The black fin tuna was amazing and the mackerel was superb., The service was knolwedgeable, attentive and friendly. Respoding to the reviewer below (who claimed discrimination), I saw many tables of women-only diners & they were treated as well as any other patrons. If, in fact, you were "discriminated" against for ordering too little, that is not discrimination based upon gender but based upon a resturant's need to fill its tables with paying customers. Your presumption, Reviewer, that this is a policy against women says more about your perceptions about gender than those of the restaurant.

My colleague and I (both of us are female) had 8pm reservations for a Sunday night. When we ordered, we were told that it wasn't enough - there is an "unwritten" minimum order policy that we didn't meet. The manager couldn't even produce this so-called policy and we were asked to leave even though our bill would have been over $100 for the two of us. Obviously, women diners are not cost-effective to the owners of ESCA.

My lunch guest, a former New Yorker who returns often to the city, was very excited to be going to Esca, which recently received great reviews in New York Magazine's "Eating Out" issue. I still can't figure out where all the raves come from. Our squid appetizer, stuffed with fregola and with a very nice sauce (sun-dried tomatoes, a little hint of chili) was very nice, but one smallish squid seemed a little chintzy at the price. The real problem was the fritto misto: not particularly light, not particularly flavorful, and there was no sign of the advertised crispy skate moroever, and the green aioli sauce that accompanied the dish had no discernible taste at all. The service, however, was excellent: our waiter was welcoming and enthusiastic throughout the meal. The atmosphere is pleasant, although not spectacular.

We had an overall lovely experience at Esca while my mother was in town visiting. Thankfully, all of us are seafood lovers and quite adventurous with raw seafood. I'd suggest it if you love seafood, but don't go if you don't. appreciate it. The ricotta gnocchi was GREAT too!

We had an exquisite meal at Esca last night. The pasta with chili, scallion, and cuttlefish is to die for. The fish was also wonderful -- perfectly fresh and prepared expertly and simply. I would say that the non-crudo appetizers were a weak point -- they lacked the flavor of the other items we had, so I would stick with crudo and pasta to start. And don't miss the desserts, which were first-rate. I had read negative reviews on this site and was a little concerned about going here, but I absolutely disagree with most of the criticism leveled at Esca -- it is a wonderful place.

My wife and I ate here after the theater the other night and had a wonderful meal. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the branzino but the entrees we had were excellent. After the crudo tasting, an entree, and a couple of contornos we forced ourselves to have a couple of desserts. I'm glad we did. They were great. I don't understand how people can complain about the portion sizes or the service. We left stuffed and the waitstaff was incredibly friendly and attentive. There were a lot of young people dining there. Maybe some of Esca's customers have never eaten in anything nicer than an Applebees and are just uncomfortable. Who knows?