I Trulli

I recently had lunch at i Trulli and had a great meal, the service was attentive, and being restaurant week a great value. The wait staff was attentive and courteous. I'm not sure about the garden, it looks nice, it was a hot day so we didn't try it.

Very romantic garden in the back! Great food, perhaps not the best service in the city but still satisfactory. overall a wonderful experience

I was a regular at I Trulli for several months, and in my opinion the Inzimino Pugliese (Calamari, Slow Cooked with Swiss Chard, Aglianico and Black Chick Peas) is the finest appetizer I’ve had in New York. Unfortunately, the quality of service has been falling off consistently. The problem has been coordination between the waitstaff and the kitchen. Plates are delivered out of sequence, orders are incomplete, and there are too many apologies from the waiters. I usually dine in the wine bar (Enoteca Italia) that occupies the east side of the restaurant, and I enjoy the different flights of wine and the way they are regularly changed. The quality of the food remains very good. If the rabbit sausages are available as an appetizer, I’ll choose them instead of an entrée. There’s a very nice cheese menu as a finisher, and my companion, who loves Tiramisu, says that I Trulli’s way with this classic desert is second to none. It’s not cheap. When dining alone I can expect to spend about $80 (including tip) for olives, an appetizer, an entrée, a flight of wine before dinner and a glass or two with dinner. From the standpoint of the food and the ambience of the wine bar, it’s worth the price. It’s a shame that the service spoils it.

I've eaten here a dozen times, and without exception have had a wonderful meal and been very well treated. It's lively (which at times translates to noisy) but fun, with a great backyard patio and a staff that is cheerfully helpful with wine and menu selections. I've recommended it often and the feedback has always been enthusiastic.

I actually had visited this restaurant previously with some one that "knew the family." On my first visit the food and service were great, though this place is quite pricey. On my second visit with my hubby, we couldn't believe how poor the service was. We actually had to get up and grab our own menus after 10 minutes though the place was not that busy. The homemade pastas are nice, but wouldn't go out of my way to come back here. I had to ask for my water to be filled twice, we poured our own wine and 15 minutes after our main courses arrived the waiter finally asked how things were. With a steak, this is ridiculous. The outdoor space is actually quite noisy as well- not a great date spot. I would save your money and head to elsewhere in the West Village or the many other great Italians in the city.

Dinner for the three of us this Jan 20th, 07 was very bizarre, We waited about 15-20 minutes for someone to come to our table once we were seated. Staff was overwhelmed by the crowd and the assistant waiter ( we couldn't determine his exact status) just glared at us when we motioned for more bottled water and some wine after it appeared the service was going to take a while to deliver our food. By the time the food arrived we were past the point of ordering wine for fear it would never arrive before we finished. Food was fairly good. Bufalo cheese in the appetizer was past its prime and Tira Misu dessert was pedestrian (each about $12.00) Veal chop, Rabbit and pasta dish were good and our bill was $200 without any wine or drinks. At the end of the meal the assistant waiter was cleaning crumbs from surrounding tables but conspicuously avoided cleaning our table. Our waiter was working very hard but we didn't get to see him much. Overall a fairly dismal and embarrassing experience considering I was entertaining clients. New York City has some of the best restaurant service in the world, just not here, especially at this price level.

We enjoyed our meal at I Trulli and just write to say it's a fine place to go. We started with the mini calzones (good, fried) and the sausage over polenta (very good). At our table there was octopus (not so tender) and a salad (fine). Entrees-- the homemade cavatelli with broccoli rabe, fabulous. Rabbit, not so great. The polenta served with the rabbit-- delicious. Osso buco, great. Special lasagne, fine. Desserts were very good-- chocolate with Sicilian spices, some sorbet (black current and apple), mango ice cream, and a coconut panna cotta. All very good. Waiter was to the point, happy we asked to him to help with wine and chose a $40 bottle for us. Wasn't interested in chit-chat-- didn't really want me to have two pasta dishes (to be fair, I understand where he is coming from). Atmosphere was nice-- they seemed to squeeze us into one main part of the dining room, but it wasn't loud, somehow. All in all, a fine place to go-- they can accomodate a lot of people, and the back is heated in the winter-- there was a party of about 10 out there, almost their own private dining.