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The food (espically the handmade pasta dishes) is delicious. The service on the other hand....terrible!!!

We decided to give Vespa (a formeraly reliable neighborhood Italian) another try last night. The garden is lovely. The service was not good. Although they were NOT busy, the staff stood around; we had to chase down everything from drinks to dinner. Finally, after 1 1/2 hours waiting for two simple pasta dishes, I spoke to the manager as an fyi....he was initially interested but defensive.....we were quickly served the wrong pasta dishes - undercooked. The manager stopped back at the end of the meal...I mentioned that still no one had taken our drink order and he proceeded to give me a dressing down that I cannot expect service...and I eat out too much. Too bad...such once lovely restaurant but I'll never step foot in it again.

I was shocked by the abhorrent service. Our waiter neglected to fill our wine glasses from our chosen bottle of wine . We also discovered that our bottle was purloined by fellow patrons from a nearby table who thought it coy to imbibe wine not belonging to them. The food was good – not great, just good. While still enjoying our replaced bottle of wine, fellow patrons asked if they could smoke on the back patio and we responded by saying, yes, we’ll leave in 10 minutes, once we are gone, Vespa is yours… the chimney patrons decided that wasn’t a fair answer and proceeded to sneak into the back of the patio and light up. Average food, poor service, lousy patrons. Skip it.

Vespa came highly reccomended by a friend of ours, and we tried it last night. Loved the overall vibe and decor, but that's where it ended for us. The waiter (who we later found out was the owner) was initially friendly and helpful, however it became quickly apparent that he couldn't bother with us. After taking the initial order, he promptly disappeared. From our seats we could see him chatting outside but that's all we saw of him for the next hour. When he did emerge again, we asked him to refill our wine, but he forgot and we had to get a busboy to do it. The food took over an hour to come out and although the restaurant was busy, none of us ordered any complicated dishes (3 pasta dishes and one medium rare steak). It seems he was too preoccupied to let the kitchen know we were finished with our appetizersAfter waiting patiently for 70 minutes or so, we had to get the busboy to check on our food....still no waiter. When it finally did arrive, my steak was cold to the touch. Having worked in a restaurant for many years, I could tell they started the steak too early and let it sit in the window under a warmer light while they cooked the pasta. For $26 this was unacceptable, and I asked them to reheat it. Of course it came out overcooked...but was at least a good cut of meat. When the check came out they charged us for more glasses of wine than we had. At this point the service was really bad, so I asked to speak with the manager and our waiter, identifying himself as the owner, came over to the table. I was surprised that the owner himself was the culprit of such awful service, and I calmly explained our perspective. What happened next is the reason I will never ever return to Vespa. The owner proceeded to argue and make excuses for everything that went wrong thus far. The service was slow because it was busy that night. There was nothing wrong with the steak, he said. They charged us for an extra glass of wine because he rang it up and forgot to bring it out (yes, that was his actual excuse...he really thought it was legit)! He was not understanding at all. Then he insinuated the we actually enjoy complaining, and that was it for me. When it's obvious that the very person who should care the MOST about my experience doesn't at all, they don't deserve my $$.

I have been to Vespa twice now and I will definitely be back to UES just to eat at Vespa again! I have lived in Italy for a few years and have tried quite a few Italian restaurants in NY so far. Vespa is by far my favorite - unpretentious, low key place, excellent home made food, interesting menu, warm welcome, attentive service (yet you get enough privacy) . And it's a great place for a date - romantic but not kitchy. All in all - great value for the money!

There are definitely new faces at vespa. I go to Vespa at least 2 times a month! It is pretty chill and the music seems the same but more relaxed. They have a ton of new specials. i love the apple tart with nuts and raisens! New Management? But same good food.

Hadn't been here in two months. Many staff changes. No DJ last night. The great music and ambiance that it created is what drew us here and kept us coming. Few familiar faces. New owners?Same food and drink quality though.