Trattoria Dopo Teatro

My boyfriend made reservations for my birthday and asked to be seated in the Secret Garden room. He was told that the room could not be specially reserved, but if no one else was seated there at the time then it would be available for our group. When we arrived for our 9:30 pm dinner reservation we were told that the secret garden room closes off at 8PM and we were seated at the first level which was honestly just OK. We were all definitely disappointed with the atmosphere. It seemed more appropriate for lunch rather than a nice dinner outing. The food was good. One of my friends was charged extra for asking to have tomatoes added to his dish. The service was OK, except for the fact that the bus boys constantly came around to fill up our water glasses every minute it seemed like. The worst of all was when my boyfriend asked if we could all just get a view of the secret garden room (as he was curious to how it looked compared to where we were seated). The bus boy told us that he will ask his manager. Instead, he ran over and told the other bus boys and made it the joke of the day as they all started staring at our table and laughing at all of us. Not only this, but no one even returned to our table to respond to our request. On top of all this, gratuity of 18% was totaled onto our bill.

I went with 3 other people for an early dinner before our show and I expected it to be great based on some reviews I read/heard. It was ok. Just ok. We got there about 10 minutes before our reservation but had to wait until exactly 6 PM to be seated. They brought us to the lower level which was nice but difficult since one person in my group had difficulty getting down the stairs. But, they didn't have any tables upstairs available. Downstairs is completely different that upstairs- it's a chilly (but nice) climate, mosaic tables, wrought iron chairs (not so comfortable) and light and airy, even without windows. When we got downstairs, it was completely empty so I wondered why they made us wait to be seated at all! Our waiter was sort of unattentive- it took a while to place our order. The other guys working there were much more attentive to us. The meal itself was ok. Although there was a pre-theater menu, I did not find it exciting and only one person in my group ordered something from that menu. The rest of us ordered pasta. I ordered a pasta with vegatables and I asked them to add chicken. Unfortunately, the chicken tasted poor and I didn't eat it. They only put a tiny bit of chicken pieces in the dish but they charged me $6.50 for it! Most places charge $3 for adding chicken and it's usually substantial- not tiny bits of poor tasting chicken. So my suggestion is- don't ask to add chicken to a pasta dish! I would say that the price was reasonable ($140 for 4 people) except for the chicken addition. They were quick and the food is decent.

We visited with a party of 6 pre-theater on a Saturday. We had 5pm reservations and were seated within 10 minutes of arriving. Although we made reservations a month in advance, we were seated in a corner by a door which the waiters used to retrieve wine so we had heavy traffic all night which disrupted dinner a little. The service was pleasant, but average. The waiter did not mention any specials so who knows if there were any. The food itself was just so-so. All the pasta arrived al dente, which I happen to like but typically you will not get it that way unless you order it that way, so if that's how they serve it they should advise the 95% of pasta lovers who don't want it al dente. The entrees were average to small portions. The desserts were absolutely delicious, especially the tiramisu and souffle, but a bit pricy, even for NYC. PS- tables were beat up wood (not rustic, just beat up)- with paper place mats not tablecloths - which was very tacky.

Enjoyed everything about this restaurant. Food was good, service was good, and prices were as expected. Overall a solid restaurant.

Had reservations in the Garden Room for my wife's 50th birthday..... or so I thought. When we arrived, they had no record of it, but seated us anyway. Reservations were made a month prior to visit. By then I was nervous about the whole cannoli cake that I ordered when I made the reservations, so I asked the waiter if they had it ready. "No, there was some kind of mix-up with someone else" I was told. I told him I had to have a cake, so they stuck four cannoli's on top of a whipped cream layer cake. The cake was good, but not what I ordered and was $32.00. The food was all very good but overpriced. I had pasta ribbons with lobster bits, which was very tasty but also skimpy. We also had to pay $8.00 each for salads. My wife had fillet mignon, which was out of this world. The waiter was very friendly and attentive throughout our stay. Service was quick and orderly. Between the mix-ups, small portions, and $259.00 bill, (without the tip) I was disappointed. I think I can find better for that price.

My sister and I found Dopo Teatro to be just what we needed after a fabulous matinee. Warm and inviting wait staff and excellent food, not too rich or heavy a meal. It was very much like we found in Rome... comfortable, relaxing.. E' stato molto bello, grazie, gianna.

Poor service, waiter did not offer prix fixe discount as advertised, food less than exciting and cold and dried out. Much better Italian choices in area.