Florian

I only had the lobster pizza here as we just had lunch, and it was scrumptious!
The pizza is NY style– so thin crust. It was basically a margarita pizza with burrata and a whole lobster– including the head and tail which was so cute! For the legs, they used red peppers so basically everything was edible except the top and bottom. Super generous on the lobster meat– they literally give you everything that’s inside. Delicious pizza overall, and we also had so much fun with it haha.
I need to come back and try their other dishes, but major props for this pizza!

A friend and I discovered this place when we were trying to find a place for lunch in the area. As soon as we walked in, I loved it. It has gorgeous open space full of light (natural from outside), beautiful balls of light decorations from the ceilings in the front and a really laid-​back, yet elegant atmosphere. We were seated in a nice booth and I noticed in the private back room there was the most exquisite looking chandelier I have ever seen. Full of sparkling lights and wires all around it to form a ball. Very intricate, opulent and dazzling!
We ordered from the brunch menu. My friend picked the Cinnamon Raisin french toast with pecans and strawberries. I tried a little bit and it was nice and fluffy, sweet and delicious. I couldn’t taste the cinnamon raisin bread though.
I had the Breakfast Pizza, which consisted of eggs, porchetta bacon, caramelized onions and fennel. It was a huge portion and tasted as good as it looked. The crust was very thin quite crispy. I also enjoyed the thin layer of yummy white cheese. The 2 eggs over easy on top were great and normally I don’t like runny yolk, but on the pizza it added a nice flavor to it. All the ingredients combined together really well, though I would have liked it if the porchetta bacon was more crisp like regular bacon. On the pizza it was more chewy and a bit fatty. But overall, I was happy with my choice.
The waiter was really wonderful and knew the menu well. He was patient and on top of everything.
On the way out, there was a container filled with sweets so I asked what it was and the lady gave me several pieces… It was matzo bread with chocolate and it was so good! Crunchy and delightful! Also, really nice to go treat.

Upscale Italian cuisine with a semi-​casual environment. Unique flavors, good service, and a creative ambiance. Had a mostly casual business lunch here, and it was great for that.
I had a salad and added chicken to it, but the chicken was a little over-​seasoned/​too salty for my taste. It was still good, just a little overkill, in my opinion. Also tried a slice of their flatbread-​style pizza, and though it didn’t blow me away, I enjoyed it. I think it was just a very simple pizza choice on my friends’ part.
Service was great, though, and they brought out freshly-​baked chocolate chip cookies after we finished our meal.
Very pleasant experience overall.

Oh man, I’m sad to be giving this two stars, but I think I have to.
When we walked in, everything seemed like it would go well. We had one thing in mind that we would be coming here to try and that was the Lobster Pizza. After drooling on the pictures for so long and hearing co-​workers rave about this place, we said, Hey, we’re in the area. Let’s do it.
We were seated and very quickly provided a jug of water (no ice, not sure why … maybe that’s a thing here but it was a super hot day so some ice would have been nice). Not a problem. We placed our order and everything still seemed to be going fine.
The food itself was okay. We got the Fried Mozzarella Balls (not what we were expecting) and they were alright. For $ 8, I wouldn’t get them again for sure. The lobster pizza was certainly good, but there were a lot of things lacking. For one, the crust is too thin for me. I could barely pull it off the plate without it wanting to just collapse. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be, but I definitely prefer my pizza without a slightly thicker crust. Or if not thicker, then somehow a little chewier. The lobster also wasn’t super fresh, but it wasn’t awful. I suppose it could have been much worse, but for $ 32, I don’t think it was worth it.
However, all that would have left the review with three stars but it was the service that really got to us. For one, we were never offered bread, though we saw all the tables around us getting it. We asked if we could have some and the waitress seemed a bit peeved about having to bring it out to us. I don’t blame her though. We weren’t her table to be taking care of, but even still, why weren’t we offered any to begin with? Two pieces of bread made their way to our table and shoved at our table as if we had asked for too much.
Next, we saw the manager (I presume?) walking around with a tray of cookies. Never once did he come by to our table to offer it. We eventually had to ask as well and he looked at us and said «Oh, you want more?» For one, we never got any. Two, don’t act like you didn’t know you had walked by us without offering us any. He apologized (in a bit of a fake manner) and came back with the cookies.
This whole time, our waiter was never to be seen. We had to hail someone else down to grab our check and finally, our original waiter showed up with check in hand.
Though there were a lot of other items on the menu that we would have liked to try, I think we will go to another place next time.

Had a nice dinner here with one of my friends last week. We shared the polenta fries which were AMAZING, they come out piping hot though so let those suckers cool down for a minute before you eat them!
For entrees my friend got a spaghetti dish with seafood and I got the osso bucco lasagna. It was a great lasagna dish, dont get me wrong, but I was a little dissapointed in the lack of bone marrow in the middle. For a HUGE bone I only get one small bite of marrow… not good.
We were too full to order a complete dessert, but then a waiter came around the restaurant carrying a tray full of mini chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are about the size of a golf ball, and I love that! I enjoy having just a small treat after dinner since I am training for a race and watching my weight. The cookies were fresh right out of the oven and delicious! Bonus points to Florian for treating their customers well :)

Spaghetti and short rib meatball (2 small) good. Maybe worse service ever.
No bread when I asked came 1 piece on plate no butter or oil then walked off. Had to ask other person. Warm water no ice no offer for ice. Had to ask another waiter for cheese for pasta.
Quick with bill though!
I work in building place is never crowed now I understand…

Is it feasible to choose a place the sometimes calls itself a «café» as my favorite Italian in the city? Really? What have I become!!!
It’s true, I love this place. Once a month we treat ourselves to the beautiful fresh pasta and burrata here. Everything from the antipasto to the Milanese is outstanding. The service is always good and the wine list leaves nothing to be desired. It has a bustling ambience with music at the perfect volume playing from an old record player in the front. It’s casual enough to go on any night, but has an aura about it that makes you feel a little glamorous. It’s somehow high quality and special without being pretentious or prohibitively expensive. And, if you’re lucky, they may just come around with some freshly baked cookies on a tray after your meal!
Just one pet peeve — it has TVs behind the bar. It’s a big spot, so you can be adequately far enough away to not be bothered by it or even see them, but I never like to see a TV playing a sports game in a place like this. If you really must watch the game, go to the Ainsworth around the corner and don’t ruin your meal. Please. It’s for your own good.

The chicken Parmesan isn’t served with anything else. Too pricey for not being served with any salad or pasta. Pastas are too pricey for not an Italian taste. We had to ask for bread and they served it cold without olive oil. We had to ask olive oil and Parmesan cheese!!! The fried polenta saved us for the night. :(
The restroom is really clean and there is listerine with tiny cups. Smart idea! :)

My search for an Easter Brunch restaurant brought me to the Florian initially because of its façade: great Italian artwork, ample natural light, high ceilings, nonchalantly upscale. Superficially its menu sufficed. Though we wouldn’t eat till 1:30pm, my two brunch companions and I wanted breakfast/​brunch food offered, and though «Italian brunch» took for me a stretch of the imagination, their menu offered eggs, pancakes, and a breakfast pizza which I ordered, so we decided to commit.
We noticed as we entered a large basket with broken chocolate and caramel covered matzah bread which we would try upon our exit. Though it was a beautiful Easter Sunday, there were more empty tables than filled ones and we sat immediately. The servers were carrying this fluffy bread to tables seemingly unsolicited which made us hope it was complimentary. Yet when our server inquired if we wanted drinks with no mention of the bread that hadn’t come, we gently implied the absence of the desired carbohydrates. To our relief, our server mentioned it would come with our drinks.
To drink I ordered their risdini, which was sufficiently par but that I would probably not reorder if not coaxed. The bread, on the other hand, was of the type that is itself the topic of later conversation. It was somewhat like dessert bread: thick and fluffy, chewy and doughy, treasured with raisins and strawberries. It begs to be paired with coffee, which induced me to sneer at my risdini as a father secretly wishing the son in his current company was actually the brother.
Our mussel appetizer arrived in an urn. The mussels sat atop a vegetable soup-​sauce and were served with grilled bread desperately begging to be dunked. It was delicious, though I wish the mussels themselves were larger.
For our entrée my friends ordered the quinoa-​avocado salad, the lasagna, and I the breakfast pizza. The quinoa-​avocado salad tasted as predicted; nothing special but tasty in its own way. My breakfast pizza was spectacular. The glazed onions produced a sweet, almost sugary taste, and the herbs were not an afterthought and when consumed, you could almost smell the garden that grew them. The bursted yoke from the two centered eggs beautifully complimented the lightness of the pizza.
Yes the breakfast pizza was delicious and yes the mussels and bread were revolutionary, yet both pale in comparison to my friend’s lasagna. The pasta itself was dense with flavor and singularly hardy. Crispy on the edges and perfectly aaldente, it is as if all other pastas in the world aspire for the level of flavorful complexity that this pasta had long ago mastered. When I soon return, one of their hand crafted pastas I shall most certainly have.
We decided to order dessert given the Easter holiday and decided to split the tiramisu. When our entrees were cleared from the table and during the interim before the ‘misu arrived, we noticed a server walking around with a baking tray blanketed with freshly baked mini chocolate chip cookies. The server would meander between tables offering these cookies, yet did not pass by our table. Once again, as with the bread, we gently implied the absence of the offering to which our server again reassured us cookies will for free be offered to us as well, and soon they were. Our tiramisu soon arrived on a wooden tablet accompanied with chocolate covered coffee beans. Delicious, dense for a tiramisu, yet to me, the seemingly lesser child of the possible desserts the Florian can boast. Though without question I would eat it again, I probably would not myself order it.
As we adjourned, we tried the chocolate and caramel covered matzah bread, which was surprisingly thick not because of the matzah, but because of its coverings. My overall experience at the Florian was superb. Yet as someone who enjoys the electricity of a crowded venue, my only critique would be that I wish it were more populated. With such great ambiance and food and on a Sunday for brunch, I am lost as to why the line was not out the door because even if it were, it would be worth the wait.

Hey, hi. Florian is my favorite place to eat in the entire city. Why, do you ask? Because how many happy hours have you gone to where they also have FREE, incredible Italian food sitting on the bar to snack on while you drink yourself silly? How many other restaurants have someone walk around with a giant tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to hand out, whether you’re at the bar or at a table, and make you feel like you’re the most wonderful person to ever grace their restaurant?
Let me answer for you: NO OTHER PLACES DO THESE THINGS. At least none I’ve been to.
Plus, their pepperoni pizza is amazing, their watermelon and pineapple cocktails are both incredible, both their wine and Prosecco are to die for, and again, kids: THEY HAVE SNACKS DURING HAPPY HOUR. I’m talking mini plates of pasta, tall breadsticks, and a bunch of delicious things I can’t pronounce, but I eat them anyway because Florian is Italian and knows how to do food. If you get an appetizer while you’re at dinner here, I recommend the fried mozzarella balls or the calamari, but honestly, I can almost guarantee you’d love anything you chose. They’re just that great, folks.
And don’t even get me started on the staff. They’re a group of just the most fabulous people. Say hey to Jeff or Antonio or Gabriel (OR IS IT GABRIELE? Sorry if I spelled it wrong), or your fave bartenders Matt and David (again, I hope I didn’t spell anyone’s name wrong!). Or high five Kyle, who was my waiter this past Wednesday night.
Anyway, I love this place, and you should love this place, too. Just go, you won’t regret it, pumpkins. And don’t forget to go during happy hour. THEY HAVE SO MANY SNACKS.
Florian forever!

3.5 stars
Florian is a beautiful Italian restaurant. It’s classy and charming with Italian bronze statues, mosaic tiles, and a chandelier. My friend and I were the first to arrive in our group and we were invited to either wait for our friends at the bar, the small lounge by the door, or at our table. Service was definitely on point throughout the entire experience.
I was disappointed with the pasta portions. They offer individual and shared (2 – 3 people) sizes. I ordered a single serving of their Agnolotti butternut squash ($ 17) and I kid you not, it came with 6 pieces of agnolotti. Agnolotti are 1-​inch squared pasta. I loved the flavors, textures, and the filling but how is this for one person?! I would need to get the $ 30 shared plate for myself next time.
Luckily, we also ordered calamari and I was able to have some of my friends’ pizza. The food was delicious as expected. The best part was the $ 20 (yikes) homemade vanilla ice cream. It came in a huge bowl. They definitely didn’t skimp out on the portion size here! It took all 5 of us to finish the ice cream. The vanilla flavor was very strong and the texture was soft and grainy. We loved it!
TL;DR: Florian is a gorgeous restaurant for a nice dinner but be prepared for the small pasta portions!

Florian is such a gem! We came here for my sister’s birthday and the service was fantastic! We brought in a cake and I casually told them it was a family’s birthday to explain the big box I was carrying. They promptly took the cake from me to put in the kitchen and said they would serve it for us at the end of our meal.
The waitress was very patient with us while we decided between 6 people on what to order. Everything was delicious — especially their lobster pizza! A bit like tarte flambé with the most mouth watering sauce and large chunks of lobster. I would also highly recommend their chicken parm and chicken milanese. They were also very generous in providing us with complimentary champagne for each person to toast the birthday girl.
At the end of our meal, we were offered freshly baked cookies on the pan and cotton candy. What a delightful surprise! We ordered a tiramisu and it was really, really good. The kitchen also placed the cake on a stand and presented it with a sparkler. It was a really nice touch to the celebration!
Florian isn’t cheap but it also won’t break the bank. For the quality in service, food, and ambience, it’s really worth it. I’m hoping to come back soon when I get the chance as the experience here was truly amazing.

Been here a couple of times, once when it 1^st opened and just recently. I also hosted a private party here. I like this place. Service has been very good every time. Food has been consistently good. Also, the private party experience was great here. They were really nice and helpful with setting it up. Prices were reasonable and I felt I got a lot of value for what I paid. We had it in the front section — at the time it was divided with some booths & plants so it was semi private. We had the front area to ourselves, but still got to enjoy the atmosphere and ambience of the full restaurant. It was much better than being secluded in a private room as we were a fairly small party.
Food: Beet & heirloom tomato salad — excellent. Butternut squash agnolotti — this was also excellent. Not too heavy, very tasty. Definitely recommend that one. Margherita pizza — very good. Vanilla ice cream — definitely is to share, you get a substantial amount and it is really creamy and good. You’re probably thinking, really? vanilla ice cream? but yeah, give it a try it’s a nice end to a nice meal.
Service: Excellent. Everyone here has a friendly smile and has been very nice. Even at the end of my meal, the manager came by to check how things were and then came out with fresh baked cookies from the oven, handing them out. It was so sweet and the cookies were so good!

Not crowded at all for wk day lunches!
Classic Italian restaurant with a really cool bar and décor (def going back for a drink)
We enjoyed our pasta and they have this special roll-​ish, crêpe-​ish thing for lunch that wraps pasta in the breading.
Service is great! Enjoy!

i came here with two girlfriends for dinner on saturday. we had an 8pm reso. i arrived a few mins late, table was not ready. i ended up talking to 3 different host who all seemed to be frantically running around, i guess it was dinner rush? they did compensate for the table not being ready by offering us complimentary glasses of prosecco.
once sat it took a few mins for anyone to greet us, fill water glasses etc. the waitress swung by to say she’d be back very shortly… but it was more like 5 minutes. fortunately we leveraged the time to decide on what we were going to order. when we finally placed our order, the food actually came out very quickly with a nice presentation. we had–
burrata with heirloom tomatoes– burrata was smooth and creamy with a nice pesto, tomatoes were a bit mushy
polenta fondue– velvety polenta topped with a crisp layer of cheese and Parmesan crisp, this was a unique way to have polenta. if you arent a huge salt fan stir clear
meatballs– there’s only 2 of these in the serving, very standard
carbonara– tasty, had lemon flavor to it, which wasn’t expected as its not typically in this dish
pappardelle eggplant parm– the pappardelle tasted overcooked and/​or not fresh. it broke easily. the eggplant was tasty
overall the food was decent, service was sub par. would potentially give this place one more try as the atmosphere was very cozy and intimate.

Great Italian food in an awesome location for a reasonable price! Met up with a friend on a weeknight for dinner and shared some yummy food:
Caprese pizza — thinnest pizza I’ve ever eaten. In a good way though! Normally I prefer deep dish to thin crust but this crust was so thin it was like a crispy crêpe which was actually pretty enjoyable. It brought out the flavor of the sauce, tomatoes, and best part… burrata! Loved the generous chunks of creamy burrata scattered on top of the pizza.
Eggplant pappardelle — wide ribbon pasta cooked perfectly al dente with big pieces of eggplant. Didn’t like this dish as much — the eggplant was really mushy and the flavor wasn’t that memorable. Enjoyable dish nonetheless, but not standout.
Service was only okay. They only refilled our water once throughout our dinner even though our glasses were empty for a large part of it. At the end of our meal though, they were passing out freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! They weren’t amazing but still a nice gesture :)

Came here on a week night with reservations. Three of the four people in the reservation showed up on time but we couldn’t be sat until the whole reservation was present. We sat at the bar and had a few drinks until our fourth showed up. By that time, we had to wait close to 30 – 45 minutes because our table was no longer ready. Florian staff handled this wait well by giving us complimentary pizza and prosecco.
To start, we had to try the lobster pizza. Yes it has pieces of lobster on it, but it really wasn’t that much different than the regular marg pizza which had lovely puffs of creamed burrata on top.
I ordered the lasagna osso bucco as my entrée. I really was looking forward to this dish and I was not disappointed. I thought it was amazing with the meat and pasta cooked so tender. This will definitely be ordered again next time I visit.
Our waiter was iffy with knowledge of the menu and the wine list. I would come back because I work near on park avenue and I thought that osso bucco was delicious.

Nice Italian place in union square, décor was super cute with huge chandeliers and great food.
We started with the burrata which was very creamy and served with this pesto sauce which was SO tasty. Haven’t had burrata like this in a while.
Main courses were the spaghetti carbonara which was SO delicious. Not too heavy and the portion was just right, any more would have been overload. Also worth mentioning was the chopped salad. Loved the meats and cheese in it, but the portion was a bit small if you are hungry. I ordered it with the ahi tuna which was seasoned nice but not the best ahi tuna I’ve ever had.
I would definitely go back if I’m in the area and wanting some good Italian.

I’m a fan! Overall, great experience here :)
Pros:
— Getting a reservation was pretty easy and changing our times the day of was no problem either. Opentable is a wonderful thing.
–Lobster pizza and Bone marrow lasagna osso buco. YES, and I would get it again. Portions were good and definitely shareable.
–Price point was reasonable and not over the top, especially for NY and for what we ordered.
–Friendly service! They even offered us fresh baked chocolate chip cookies while we waited for our table.
–Interesting bar decorations haha Liked the interior, nothing too pretentious.

Yummy yummy, lobster pizza in my tummy!
The minute I saw lobster pizza on the menu, I was sold. To add to the appeal, this restaurant is just a few blocks from Union Square, where literally every subway line stops.
We made a reservation so we were immediately seated at 7:30 on a Saturday, but there wasn’t a wait at the door to get a table if you want to just drop in. The restaurant was breathtaking — no really, I was taken aback by the statue of a naked woman uncorking a bottle of wine at the bar. It’s a classy place to take a date or a group of friends, but not somewhere I would go on the regular (if only because $$$).
There’s something for everyone on this expansive Italian menu. If I didn’t immediate decide to get the lobster pizza, I would have gone for one of the delicious salads or one of the fish dishes. Even though I wasn’t ravenous, I ordered the vegetable ribollita soup with a poached egg because I couldn’t resist, and I was right to order it. It was soooo good. With more of a stew texture than a soup, it filled me up and left my taste buds begging for more. The lobster pizza was just as good– it was a thin crust pizza with zucchini and lobster meat. Yum yum yum! The pizza was big enough that I had some leftover for my lunch the following day, although there was no more lobster meat on it :(
This restaurant is more of a treat since it’s pricey, but I want to come back!