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I went there twice, both times because my first choice restaurant was unavailable and both times because I was with a group that was unwieldy to travel with. First of all, Tuscan and Mexican food make a poor match, at least judging by the food here: offerings are subpar Mexican and Italian and awkward fusion. The pasta is never properly cooked, the meat is overdone and they cannot seem to be able to bring entrees out at the same time. The cocktails are overly sweet and overly priced and it's unclear if the lackadaisical service is due to ineptitude in the kitchen or waitstaff. Both times I went I encountered the owner, who is Italian and her husband is Mexican, I believe, and while it makes for a romantic story, it in no way makes for delicious food. She seemed nice enough but was not at all concerned that drinks (she was ostensibly making) took forever to come as did our food and it came out one entree at a time. An owner at a reputable establishment would have comped an appetizer or drink order. I have no hard feelings towards the place but am very surprised by the positive reviews and that in a neighborhood with such great food that it has survived.

Delicious brunch & great value!

If you think about it, Mexican and Italian cuisines are incredibly similar, yet no one thinks of bringing them together...until now. Both emphasize strong, fresh flavors, both love cheese, tomatoes, corn and flour. This place comes up with inventive, flavorful dishes that all make sense. Throw in reasonable prices, a cool atmosphere and a really friendly staff and it's a true find in Alphabet City.

Similar to Farfallini below, we went here for a "special" dinner based on the Zagat rating. It was way off. My soup was good but the rest was not. My husband had the specialty salad with chicken. It came with a chicken wing in it. Who serves chicken on the bone in a salad? The chicken pieces were very large, so you had to cut them up in order to eat them. Difficult in a salad. The menu is limited. They only serve wine, which we didn't know until we ordered. I had a their "margarita" which tased like sugar (because it's made with wine). It was not inexpensive. The decor and music was fun, but that's it.

My friend and I heard some good reviews about this place so we decided to have dinner there. Cocktails were refreshing even though the waiter got my order wrong. I'm not a big mojito fan but was pleased by the waiters mistake. Waiter also got our appetizer wrong by sending us the bruschetta. Nothing special. I had the gnocchi. Again nothing special even though I'm assuming that the cilantro made the gnocchi fusion. I enjoyed the few bites of my friend's oxtail pasta, wished i ordered that dish instead. Overall, i thought there was nothing special about Matilda's and there are a lot of other places in the East Village that I think is better.

I'll start w/ the food because above all, you are there to eat. We got the guacamole. It was really tasty w/ a bit of mint to it and just a hint of spice, but a very tiny portion for $9. The foccacia that comes w/ it is more of an afterthought and doesn't really have anything to do w/ the guacamole. My husband had the gnocchi and it was supposed to be cilantro and basil but it was bland and tasteless - really disappointing. I had the chicken - the red sauce on top was overwhelmed by rosemary and didn't taste of much else. I moved the sauce off and the chicken was tasteless but was moist. The rice it comes with was lacking in flavor, I didn't eat much of my meal. We didn't have desert because they only have gelato and coffees, but after a disappointing meal, I wouldn't have wanted any anyway. The wine was yummy, and the waiter was very helpful w/ helping us choose. Service was good - got lots of refills on water w/o asking. The space is small, really small. And they haven't thought about how to use it at it's best - if it's packed the waiter has no place to walk to get to you. The music was loud and a weird choice - dance music - it was hard to concentrate on conversation.

This past Saturday night my 2 girl friends and I went to Matildas. Luckily we had a reservation as it was packed! We were greeted at the door with warm smiles and big hellos. Seated quickly, no problems at all. The food was fantastic, seasoned beautifully and the flavors were bright & actually popped! We enjoyed the guacamole, the steak tacos, (YUMMM) and a special shaved fennel pear salad. For the main we all ordered the same thing The Pappardelle Al Ragu' Di Coda homemade pappardelle with oxtail ragout. The portion sizes were perfect. I can't wait to go back with my boyfriend.