Gnocco

Haven’t been here since 2013, but I was working late and in the mood for something other than the usual quick lunch spot. And I’m so glad I came. I don’t remembering it being SO delicious. I ordered the Margherita pizza – chewy, delicate, delicious and drizzled it with the red pepper infused olive oil (gives it a KICK). Party in your mouth.
I haven’t been to Italy (yet) but I imagine this comes really close to the real deal.
Bravo Gnocco, Bravo.

It’s taken 3 months for me to recover from my horrible 10^th anniversary dinner at Gnocco in March, which was purposefully and vindictively ruined by the chef, but it’s time to share the story so others can decide whether they want to risk eating there in the future: Having had one great meal and a great time at Gnocco in February, my husband and I decided to return to celebrate our 10^th anniversary there in March with my parents. That was the disaster. I called ahead to reserve, ask about a corkage fee because we bring our own wine, and tell the hostess about our anniversary night. That night we were seated in the garden and proceeded to order. The problem — unbeknownst to me — was with the steak. I like it well done, and whenever I order it I always ask if the chef will make it that way because some chefs won’t, and I don’t like bloody meat. I reiterated my request to the waiter for well done steak, and he assured me it was not a problem. My mother, however, does like rare steak, so she ordered hers rare. When the steaks came out we both had to send them back they were that under-​cooked. Hers was so raw — not rare — that she couldn’t eat it, and mine was virtually the same. When they came back out hers was just rare, and mine was… virtually the same. I would not have ordered the steak if they had simply been truthful and said they only serve rare steak! But they had reassured me that well done was fine. At this point, half an hour later, I was so upset that I ordered the fish in parchment. When it finally came out — after the others had long-​finished their dinner and we had finished our own wine — I could not even cut the fish with a fork because the chef sent it out raw. Not rare, but literally raw. At that point I got furious and the manager came running over to apologize, but the outrageous and totally preventable damage was done. Amazingly, he did not comp the dinner. He only comped the sodas and begged my parents not to write about this on Unilocal.They didn’t, but I am. I even called them to discuss it when I got home, but never got a return call. It’s not just that the kitchen got it wrong, it’s that the chef «punished» me by twice refusing to serve the steak I ordered and then sent me raw, cold fish.
There are countless cool and interesting little Italian places in NYC to get a great dinner and be treated decently. There’s ZERO reason to go to this one.

The food was excellent but the service was horrible. It took over 10 minutes for a server to come over and take our drink order, at which point we ordered our full meal since we had read through the menu and decided by then. Very disorganized and unprofessional wait staff. They were chatting with eachother why we were trying to call someone over. Frustrating. Good was very good though and they have an adorable outdoor patio in the back. I would try this place again and hope for a better service experience.

Found this place through OpenTable. Good experience. They were busy but everything was great. Would return

Great take out !! Got the parmigiana pizza. Excellent! The thin crust was great and the toppings didn’t fall off! I loved the beef carpaccio salad! Plentiful. Too full for the bread! Enjoyed it immensely.

Beautiful interior. I had my birthday in the back space with a group of 13 people. Luckily despite the reviews about slow service, we immediately got a waitress and were able to order wine and food.
It’s just that the menu here is sort of a hit or miss. I’d definitely go for the pizza or the seafood dishes, but probably not the pasta (especially do not recommend the whole wheat pasta!). The nutella calzone, though, is to die for.

Really great changing in this place, especially in the staff. Finally you find staff who smile and work hard. The pizza here is the number 1 in NYC.

I have not yet been here for dinner (yet) but I have come for lunch four times. Why? Great food, and great service. I feel right at home here and the owner is a lovely, attentive host. To be fair, I come in the late afternoon when there’s a lull between lunch and dinner so I can take my time nibbling on appetizers or pasta, and drinking wonderful wines at my leisure while I write. I love the back patio area, even in the Winter. There are heat lamps and a wonderful selection of high quality teas should you feel like warming up. My husband has been here for dinner and says he also enjoyed this place. I foresee a dinner date for us in the very near future.
Of note: wonderful basket of soft bread with crispy crust and delicious olive oil is served at every meal and the pasta dishes are perfectly portioned and seasoned.

Our server was great. She’s an Italian who had conversations with us about Sicily throughout the night. Great food as well

Guys, all the pizzas here are one of the best in NYC. Dough is tiny and crispy and all ingredients rich taste with amazing cheeses. Also artichokes and Nutella crepes.

Service took forever, brought out the wrong order initially until we said something since it seemed wrong (didnt catch it at first since we ordered new pasta dishes we’ve never had before), portions size small for what you fork over (pun intended) and prices expensive.
But, the olive oil stored in the bottle with pepper flakes made the bread dipping experience amazing. Make sure to ask for that olive oil though (we sat in the back near the shelf where they had it stored and just took some for the bread. They don’t seem to pass it out on the norm).

We visited Gnocco as the first stop of Scott’s East Village Pizza Tour and are psyched we discovered this place! It’s located just across the way from Tompkins Square Park and offers a decent sized indoor dining space, as well as a large back patio space (really cool, wish it wasn’t so cold when we went!). They also have a separate entrance where you can pick up to go pizza orders and check out the cool pizza oven!
As part of our tour, we got to learn a lot about how the pizza is made, the type of oven they have, and the dough they use. They appear to use extraordinarily fresh ingredients and with their oven, the pizzas cook in only 3 minutes… pretty crazy! This pizza (the margherita) was by far the best pizza we had on our tour (and we visited a lot of great places so hopefully that says something!). Super thing with little sauce and delicious cheese! Pairs great with their prosecco too. We’ll definitely be coming back here next time we’re in the neighborhood!

I absolutely loved the food and the service. All their pastas are el dente, perfectly cooked, perfect ingredients. Their prosciutto de parma was even perfect. Finally the service was really remarkable. Both attentive but also not burdening/​totally chill. Lorenzo is seriously both warm and really a kind man. The back area seating is beautiful! My only complaint is the back area seating has flies all over, which unfortunately I know is totally natural and understandable with that kind of seating. I really recommend the macaroni. I’m pretty sure it’s all homemade considering even the texture, shape, and color of the macaroni. Completely delicious. Really, really recommend this place for delicious, and more importantly, authentic food.

If I could give negative stars, I would. I’ve lived in NYC my entire life and work for a major food website, so I eat out a lot — I’ve never been treated with such disrespect.
In summary, not only have I never been treated with such terrible customer service, but I personally felt threatened by the owner — please, avoid this place at all costs.
To get into detail…
After initially taking our order, our waitress was nowhere to be found, even after we repeatedly asked the hostess and two bus boys to get us for her so we could order more wine.
After waiting almost 2 hours for our food, we were served cold pasta. When we brought this to the attention of the manager, he told us it didn’t seemed that cold (the plates weren’t even warm), but regardless, it our fault for waiting for our entire party to be served before eating — call me crazy, but I thought that was common courtesy. Meanwhile, the table behind us arrived 30 mins later than us and received their food 15 minutes before us.
They eventually reheated our food after making it clear how ridiculous they thought we were being. We finish the meal and are trying to leave as soon as possible, but ask that at least something be comped given the terrible service. The waitress actually came over and admitted finally that she had forgotten our food under the lamps in the kitchen… what?!
The owner eventually comes over and tells us were being ridiculous and to never come back — he was incredibly combative and antagonistic in a way that I honestly found threatening as a group of 7 women.
To top it all off, they automatically added 20% tip to our bill, along with extra chargers for specials that weren’t mentioned up front. When we tell them there’s no way we’re paying for that, cue another round of argument with the owner. A few great quotes:
«we reheated your food, what else do you want us to do?!»
«So what happened is that we forgot your food in the kitchen — but it’s not the wait staffs fault, so it’s ridiculous you’re contesting the 20%.»
«Well we’ve been here since 2000, so it doesn’t matter what you think — if you don’t like it, don’t come back. Please, just don’t come back.»
There are a million amazing places in the East Village — this is not one of them. Please, do not give these terrible people your business!

We have been here quite a few times as the food and wine is divine but recently we threw a bridal shower on their back patio and it was gorgeous. The perfect garden spring look we were going for. The owners and staff were incredibly helpful. The food was delicious. They accommodated every need. If you’re looking for a pretty patio to celebrate or just a nice brunch or starry night out may I recommend this hidden gem. We will surely be back.

This restaurant and the service was such a disappointment. I came here with my boyfriend to celebrate some great stuff happening in out lives and I feel like the night was ruined due to the extremely poor service.
We wanted to sit in the patio (which is great), but even though there were 8 tables available they were all reserved. Inside is very average.
Our server was rude right from the start. It was like he could barely be bothered with us. We called ahead to see if there were gluten free options which they said they had gfree pasta. Great! When we asked him about it, he looked at us like we were idiots and said no we don’t have that. We explained that we called and he told us the person we spoke to had no idea what they were talking about. After a few more min, he agreed to go check. Comes back to tell us that they do offer it. The way he handled it was just rude.
We definitely won’t be back here although the food was okay. I can’t explain the service was just terrible.

I came here last night with my family for my birthday celebration. I had read reviews that the pizza was good so I was really excited! We ordered Arancini to start, which was nothing special and seemed like it was pre-​made. Then we got the Al Salame Piccante (spicy salame) and Tartufata (truffle oil, mushrooms & speck) pizzas to share, which were quite good. We also ordered the Gnocchetti al Pomodoro e Mozzarella and Spaghetti alla Chitarra Con Gamberi, which left a lot to be desired. The waiter we had never had a smile on his face the entire time we were there and seemed all over the place. Overall, next time, I would probably just order takeout for the pizza instead of sitting in the actual restaurant.

*** Delicious and Authentic, Homemade, Great Experience ***
I came here with some girlfriends who were craving Italian food. I highly recommend trying the gnocco dishes. The staff is very knowledgeable about all the menu items and was helpful with wine selection too. It was a great experience and I highly recommend for groups or a date night. You cannot go wrong with any of the dishes as everything is homemade, fresh, and/​or authentic.

It is always a pleasant experience every time I go to Gnocco. The staff is knowledgable about everything on the menu and the wine selection is superb. The vibe of the restaurant is good for groups but also intimate enough for a dinner date.
You really cannot go wrong with anything on the menu but the Tartufata pizza is a must try. I also recommend the brunch pizza, pizza and eggs – it’s my favorite combination.
There’s enough here for anyone with a sweet tooth as well — go for the tiramisu or the affogato.

What better place to go to to break my gnocchi virginity?
When people say that gnocchi are like potato pillows in your mouth, they are not lying. They’re so soft and plump! I ordered the Gnocchetti al Pomodoro e Mozzarella. I thought it was a good first gnocchi. Simple with Marinara sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil. I was really enjoying it but then I began to realize how dense the potato pillows were. My stomach began to protest halfway through the meal from how full it was feeling. I packed the rest to go for tomorrow’s lunch. The gnocchi tasted just as good the next day out from the microwave!