Il Giglio

We enjoyed a quiet Tuesday night dinner. The prices are not low, but the complimentary antipasto takes the «edge» off. A nice wine and 2 very nice fresh homemade pastas — a Bolognese and a Carbonara, as good as we’ve had. Pleasant professional service, and they offered to take our coats.

Professional Elegant Upscale Fine Italian Dining Establishment,
Entering this cozy restaurant you’re surrounded by the aromas of wonderful Italian entrees. Once seated the garlic bread & parmigiano-​reggiano cheese with salami arrive and you’re off and running.
The four of us shared the buffalo mozzarella /​tomato appetizer which was perfect. The mozzarella couldn’t have been more fresh. The Dover Sole Special was perfectly filleted — sizable in both quantity and quality. Other pasta and chicken entrees were enjoyed as well.
Also upscale — the prices which belong on expense accounts.
Service was professional and polite at all times.
One small issue — no coat check offered (?)
Otherwise — A fine relaxing lunch…

Very expensive for basic Italian food. A simple Veal stuffed with cheese was $ 57.00??? Really???
Ambience was something of a mall store in the suburbs, plain, acoustic tile ceiling, could have been someone’s basement

If you are Italian and know good food, you will love this place. The food is excellent, the service is superb and the clientele is not pretentious.
The wine list is extensive with very good choices that are affordable. The service is excellent but not intrusive. They give free appetizers and after dinner drinks that make you feel special. It’s worth the price! A classy establishment.

Great seats. I loved the tordalini soup. Service was good. I suggest this place for Italian lovers like myself.

I came here last year during restaurant week and had a good experience. I came back a few months later with my whole family on a Friday night. We were the only table in the entire restaurant at 7 pm, that should have been a sign. Everything we ordered was basically in edible. The staff became rude and irritated when we were unhappy. Being someone that works in the restaurant industry they didn’t handle the situation correctly. We sent almost every dish back and when we got the check they had taken nothing off of the bill. Really not sure how this place has any good reviews I would not waste your money.

This is a wonderful little place that I celebrated my high school graduation at many years ago and recently returned to. I am so pleased that all the charm and good food I enjoyed those many years ago can still be found today at Il Giglio.
The servers are incredibly attentive and the food is plentiful and excellent. I had the Veal Parmigiana and my friend had the rack of lamb, both which were excellent. The cheesecake was SO good and I very much appreciated the after dinner grappa they offered us at the table. Really enhanced the whole Italian experience. Not too many places like this anymore.
The atmosphere was quiet and dim. I imagine very good for a date, but also it was really great for dinner after work catching up with an old friend over some great food and great wine. I would definitely go back… hopefully sooner than it took me the last time!

Some can consider it a bit of a sleeper… but honestly, it should not be missed. If you are looking for hip and trendy this is not the place for you. This is a true old school
NY experience and the complimentary antipasta items when you sit down are a
lovely touch.
Food is top notch and service is professional and knowledgeable. Hostess is always kind and polite. We’ve dined here on a number of occasions and have never been disappointed in our meal. Dover Sole — best I’ve ever had, home made pasta in pomodoro sauce was amazing.
Perhaps they could up the volume on the music a bit to enhance the atmosphere, but worth it it my book.

I find it hard to believe that there are bad reviews. I have been eating here a few times a year for the better part of twenty years, and I’ve never had a bad meal or experience, Truth told, I can’t think of one person I’ve brought here who ever had anything but a rave about it.
The service is outstanding, they don’t hover over you, but as soon as your glass is half full, or you look up to ask for something, they are right there. It’s on the expensive side, but you get what you pay for. I can understand why people take marks off for the décor, it is very plain vanilla, but the food and service more than overcome the décor. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s very clean and all, but there’s nothing right with it either.
It is not a cheap place, so expect that the specials will be expensive. If you are really worried about the price, either ask how much the specials are, or go somewhere that is less expensive. Also, if they have Osso Bucco, it is only ever as a special, try it, if you like Osso Bucco, this is the best I’ve ever had.

It was as good as I remembered it. The Dover sole was delicious. The Decour was warm and comfortable adding to close comfortable relationship with the service. All the additional food was excellent. We went during lunchtime and were treated like kings. We spending two hours sitting down and eating. It feels like this gem fallen off the radar in the past couple years.
It had been years since I moved out of the city, but it was just as good as I remembered.

Poor décor, forgettable food, outrageous prices.
The décor is almost laughable, the set menu is a huge disappointment and the specials are certainly special when it comes to pricing and not much else.
Waiters are pushing the most expensive wines without knowing the particulars and the complimentary grappa, whilst being a nice touch, does not make up for the shortcomings otherwise.
Pricing is absurd and obscure. ask for prices when they rattle off the specials. otherwise you will regret it.
The food is ok but only mediocre.
I would avoid at all costs. there are much better choices to be found in Manhattan.

Really, folks?
Décor was non-​existent, the food was ho-​hum — at best! — and the service was subpar. Go here if you like to pay 4-​star prices for 2-​star experience.
We ordered a number of dishes to share and each was more unremarkable than the last. My lamb was underseasoned, a tad overcooked and cut unevenly, and the nice sear that I expect on my lamb in any fine dining establishment was missing, all reflecting the lack of attention and expertise in the kitchen.
When the waiter came around to pour wine, I asked him «What wine is this?» His dismissive response was «It’s Italian!», accent and all, and began pouring without my consent. When dessert rolled around, the same waiter told us «We gots chocolate cake, tiramisu and ice cream.» The ice cream he mentioned that we passed on — who eats ice cream at a restaurant? — turned out to be tartufo.
Il Giglio, you need to do A LOT better.
Edited to note: most of the raves for this restaurant on Unilocal are either from 4 years ago or from out of towners. There’s a hint.

Food, ambiance and service are top notch. A real special place!

I had the best truffle cream sauce I’ve ever had in life here. It was part of a porcini ravioli dish, and I liked it so much that I taught myself to (sort of) recreate it at home.
We went on Memorial Day Weekend, when all the TriBeCaites and celebrities escape to their houses in the Hamptons, so the restaurant was empty. I’ve heard that it’s difficult to get a seat on most nights, so that was a pleasant surprise.
Like the other reviews note, the coat check is weird, and the service isn’t the greatest. But the authentic Italian ambiance is nice.

Meh. The food was good. It should be. The service a bit distant.

Overall, this restaurant was a disappointment. From the start the hostess was rude. Our waiter was unfriendly, and the food was mediocre. The busboys were the only pleasant experience about the evening, as they were not only attentive but extremely pleasant. The mostly empty tables throughout our dinner should have been a hint. I highly suggest avoiding this place.
Also, who insists on checking coats in such a low-​class establishment, then has the gull to ask for payment for checking coats that we asked to keep with us?
Perhaps they will attract more business if they change their overall rude attitude.

The food is absolutely delicious, so if you seek out the best and price is not a factor this is the place to go. The pasta was heavenly; light and flavorful. The veal chop and langoustine dishes were great (veal could have been a larger portion), and the ladies really enjoyed the chicken.
The part that is somewhat off-​putting is that it seems that they have their hand in your wallet the whole time. I read in an earlier review that you need to be careful (on price) when ordering the specials recited by the waiter. Truer words were never spoken! While the menu-​listed entrees top out in the $ 30-​$ 35 price range, the two specials we ordered came in at $ 52 and $ 55. What was worse was that we all ordered the same pasta appetizer from the specials. Each appetizer consisted of two medium sized flat raviolis containing about ¹⁄₈ inch of beef inside, 8 tiny plain raviolis in a delicate pesto sauce, and about two tablespoons worth of fettuccine in a lovely sauce. The cost of the appetizers for the four of us was $ 80. Not the end of the world, but when an item is that egregiously overpriced the number should be given when the item is initially described.
We ordered a bottle of wine. Before we could stop him, the waiter poured the bottled wine into a glass which already had about a half inch of a different wine in it, ruining the original wine and wasting our bottled wine. He apologized and said they would make it up to us. I figured he would offer a free dessert, even though that would not have been equal to the loss of two glasses of wine. Silly me, his idea of making it up to us was offering us complimentary grappa or limoncello at the end of the meal, which we knew was always complimentary anyway. Then to top it off, the original glass of wine which he had ruined was still on the bill! I quietly had it removed. I did not expect such classless behavior in a restaurant of this caliber and reputation, but since we were with guests I did not make a fuss. Don’t know if there will be a next time.

Il Giglio is a special place. The first time I went, it was amazing. I’ve been probably six times in my life for special occasions. Enjoy the thick Italian accents and service from start to finish.
Why only four stars? Well I have been when I thought it was orgasmic and also been when I thought well that wasn’t as good as before. So that little (very slight) inconsistency gives it minus 0.5 stars.
The dish worth driving for is the trio pasta special — it is porcini mushrooms raviolis with a truffle sauce, tomato basil pasta and gnocchi. Just yummy!!!
Don’t miss out on a special place. Oh well, where is the other minus 0.5 star — well price. You shouldn’t charge this much for Italian food.
Enjoy!
ps. get extra cheese!!!

Giglio provides very good Northern italian cusine. I like the veal and consider it the best in the city. But the differentiator here is the service. This isa throw back to how italian restaurants used to treat their customers. They give you appetizers as you sit down and peruse the menu — little chucks of parmesean, caponata and fried egglant pieces. Then you begiin to order more appetizers, primi, secondi and a very good though limited list of desserts.
And as done in the old style a number of apperitifs grappa (which seemed homemade), anisette which they bring over in huge square jars. Sambuca, port and an endless list. The bar is good, wine list strong though expensive.

We stumbled upon this place because we were extremely hungry and the place we were originally supposed to have dinner, was overly crowded.
This place was one of the first Italian restaurants that popped up on Unilocal close by so we decided to give it a go. When we first walked in, we felt like we were interrupting some kind of Mafia meetings.
We’ve never been to an old school Italian restaurant like this, where they serve appetizers at the beginning of your meal. We weren’t sure if it was free or not?
We really loved that we could create whatever we wanted, and that the waiters totally catered to our needs and wants. Probably one of the best carbonaras I’ve ever had. The chicken special was also quite tasty. It wasn’t on the menu, but you can ask the waiter for it.
It was a pleasant surprise!