196 EIGHTH AVENUE
(CORNER OF 20TH ST.)
NEW YORK, NY 10011
212-242-4551
AUGUST 20, 2011
Temperature in the lower 80s and sunny that day made it perfect to go out for lunch in NYC. My sister told me of a spot she had heard of from a friend or two. Getting off at 33rd street from the path, I knew it was going to be quite a walk to get there. Did I mind? Of course not. Good food and great reputation at a reasonable price? Why not!!
Service - This is probably what the restaurant needs most help in. As you walk in, you are seated and not greeted with a friendly "hello" or "how is it going." You are just seated. Waiter is dressed down with Bermuda shorts and canvas shoes, this is not a good look to represent a so called reputable restaurant. When taking the order, we were asked what we wanted to eat but no drink was offered in the entirety of our stay. Our glasses kept getting refilled with water. With my observation, other customers only had water instead. This is OK, I guess if you don't want to spend on drinks, but if a restaurant wants to make money, perhaps start with offering a drink!! You would be surprised what else customers would want besides water. Instead, we actually had to wave him down to ask for a drink.
Atmosphere - The restaurant has french doors all around that open to more seats out in the sidewalk. In the weather it was that day, it was an excellent look for the place and allowed air to flow smoothly through the entire place. The bar was large and clean. Well kept. Romantic atmosphere for the afternoon and evening hours.
Food - (Meat Lasagna and Minestrone soup) (Lunch special $10.95) Minestrone soup was served hot. It was hearty, filled with plenty of carrots, celery, and the usual components you would find in this particular soup. Great beginning dish for a lunch special. The Meat lasagna was excellent. It arrived in a deep oven dish. The look alone on the lasagna told me it was good. It contained those burn marks you would find in the corner of an oven dish. This told me it came straight form the oven to the table. Presentation was spectacular. As I took a corner piece of the lasagna, the fresh ricotta stretched from the pull of my fork to my mouth. Very hot. Nice. A bit of chicken broth did hover my dish. Was it incorporated in the plate? If so, good job!!
Recommendation - Now I would normally give you an answer for a restaurant. But in this case, I will leave it solely to you, the consumer. For this particular spot, you have to choose between service and food quality. It contains one bad aspect and a good one. If you are looking to impress a date with a night at the town of NYC, and not care for service and delivery aspect, then for food purpose alone, this is the spot.
If you care for both VERY important aspects, food and service, then this would NOT be the spot. You would embarrass yourself and your date with the lack of care from the waiters. Unless your date likes to drink water with all his or her meals.
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