Casa Brusco

I got invited the to exclusive Friday power lunch table with some of Westchester’s biggest political raconteurs, and boy did I have fun. As a big D Democrat I’m not used to being in the minority when in Westchester, but that was the case this afternoon.
Started off with my summer drink, Kettel One & Cranberry and then right into a gigantic bowl of an earthy, hearty pasta fagioli topped with with crushed peppers and grated cheese. After the soup which was a meal unto itself I scaled back my entrée order to a Caprese Salad which was fresh, tasty and a wonderful way to crown the meal.
I’ll be back whether I’m invited to join the power table. Nice find

This place is surprisingly quiet around 5pm on a Friday, then again it’s Eastchester. It was pretty nice to eat here and have the whole restaurant to ourselves.
We shared two dishes, Salsiccia alla toscana which is Tuscan sausage and for the main entrée we got pescatrice con vongole e olio di Tartufo which is monkfish with clams and truffle oil. The service isn’t too great here, they’re not that attentive and they seem to always be hiding in the back for some reason.
The food was delicious though, I really liked the sauce that was on the tuscan sausage. The sausage was pretty big and they used a good amount of spices on it for flavor.
There was some issues with the main course. When it first arrived it was a plate of clam linguine. We were so confused because we were sure we ordered monk fish. We took a bite at first because we thought the monkfish was underneath but there wasn’t any and the clams tasted awful. There wasn’t any truffle taste to it either so we were certain it was the wrong dish. It took a while to get the server’s attention since they were hiding in the back room. After we told them, they double checked and swapped our dishes.
The correct dish didn’t take too long to arrive and I suppose it was worth the wait. I’ve never had monkfish before and it really is what the server explained it as, ‘poor man’s lobster’. It really tasted like lobster, texture, flavor and everything! I couldn’t understand why but I embraced its deliciousness. The truffle oil could’ve been a bit stronger to further the flavor of the entrée but it was alright. The spinach and clams complimented the dish and of course the key highlight was the sauce, it really brought the dish together.
Overall I would’ve given four stars but I’m rounding down for the service and the food mix up. How could they mess up an order when I’m the only customer they’re serving at that time?

2 stars is for décor, location and one friendly waiter. I didn’t get his name but he had dark hair, a goatee and glasses. Food was only ok.
–3 stars for Carmela, slow/​no service
We had a 7:45 reservation and arrived at 7:55 (sorry about that Mr. friendly waiter!) we were seated quickly and looked over our menus. We noticed there were a lot of tables sitting and waited for appetizers and that should have been our first sign of bad service. I booked through Open Table and the reviews there had mentioned that the service was slow but «worth the wait». NOT WORTH THE WAIT. Carmela didn’t bring us water until 8:15 and while we had her we ordered our appetizers and asked for more time for entrees.
At 8:30 our appetizers came but no one came back to ask us for our entrée orders. We ordered the fritto misto (pass on this) & the mozzarella and prosciutto. Salty but delicious. We stopped a random waiter and asked if we could order our entrees at 8:45. While waiting for our entrees we contemplated leaving after finishing our appetizers because it felt like it was going to take a while. My fiancé ordered the gnocchi with the mushrooms & truffle oil but they brought out gnocchi with arugula in red sauce. He ate it anyway because he was starving and didn’t want to wait another 40 minutes for another dish. I had the special of clams & shrimp over linguine. It was not good, the seafood was chewy so I just ate linguine but hey if I wanted linguine and red sauce I would have just ordered that. Nobody came to refill our water or ask how we were doing, we couldn’t ask for water because there was no servers to be found!
Finally a bus boy came to clear our table and we asked him to bring us the check — we were ready to go! I mentioned to Mr. Friendly Server that it was the wrong gnocchi dish but not to worry about it. He said he spoke to the owner (Carmela) and he couldn’t take it off but took off a glass of wine and offered us dessert or another dish to go. That was nice but we politely declined the offer of bringing home sub-​par food we might not eat. check please!
The couple at the table behind us sent their food back and left shortly after. There was also another table of 6 in front of us and it looked like they took all of their food to go. Carmela came over and offered them dessert and a man said WE DONT HAVE ANY TIME!
So 2+ hours from start to finish. I will never go here again.

We love going to Casa Brusco! Carmella is so sweet and treats you like family. Can’t wait to go back.

Food was good but loud country music at an Italian restaurant is just a bad idea. Soft background music would be a welcome alternative.

So good! One of my favorite Italian places in Westchester County! Good food, good service!

The food is good, but the service is awful! The food is WAY to slow, and the waiter who helped my family had no clue what she was doing.

Casa Brusco is an authentic italian culinary experience! We come from CT at least once a month to eat at this wonderful restaurant! The chef is amazing, bringing authentic Italian style food from Italy to Eastchester! The staff is also so helpful and friendly, making the experience like eating with your own family!

This place is a gem in a sea of mediocre chicken parmesan and lackluster spaghetti and meatballs. If you are looking for a great Italian dinner you can’t do much better in this area.

if you are looking for typical NY Italian food, don’t go. THIS IS REAL Italian food. Imagine you are in Italy with people who only cook things fresh (takes time) and complements foods that seem to naturally go together. Service is friendly, too.
After going there repeatedly, it has become our latest «find» we take visitors to. All have been genuinely impressed even after offering to take them to a NY Italian restaurant as an alternative.

Tough one here — I’m somewhat between three and four stars. The food is definitely a four — or even a four plus — and the service was a three. Given the food, I’ll go with a four.
Began my meal with the carpaccio, which was just outstanding. The meat was perfect, the Parmesan pungent, and the lemon a great complement. AJ’s mozzarella and tomato was fine, but the cheese had a bit of a funny texture.
For my entrée, got an *amazing* ravioli dish — the pasta was firm, and there was a cheese and sage filling that was just awesome. AJ’s gnocchi were good, but nothing too special. Our friends each got the pizzas — tried one with the ham, and it was quite good.
On the downside, the service was hit or miss. We had a very attentive waiter, who was quite funny working with my friend to find him the right glass of wine. One the other hand, we felt rushed between the apps and the entrees, and I had to shoo them away TWICE when they tried to take away my ravioli before I was finished.
On balance, though, it was good enough to try again.