Il Palazzo

I’m glad that I got to experience IL Palazzo before it shut its doors. Their pastas were always fresh and homemade. Truly a Little Italy gem that will be missed.

An old friend was coming into town and wanted to know a great place to eat Italian. Immediately, Il Palazzo came to mind. Not only was the food great, the atmosphere romantic and perfect, and the wait staff accommodating and gracious, I shared lots of good memories there. I stumbled across it as a freshman taking two of my Coast Guard friends for a night on the town. Later, it was where my now-​husband met my parents for the first time.
Imagine my surprise to see that it is now closed! I was not expecting to be so sad. The city is a different place than when I was a freshman, even a short nine years ago. How ironic that an institution with a mission to preserve history of a people removes living history right from under its nose.
To the owners, thank you for the memories.

Great food, service and music by someone playing an accordion.
We Had an appetizer, dinner and dessert.
Everything was 1^st rate.

I am very sad to hear that Il Palazzo has permanently closed. The food and service were excellent. Their sister restaurant, Pellegrino’s, is located across the street at 138 Mulberry.

I’m sad to say that Il Palazzo has closed as of April 5, 2015
I’ve eaten here MANY times. The food and service were always very good.
Their pasta was made fresh on premesis daily. Delicious.
Many nice memories.

It brings me great sadness to report that my all time favorite Italian Restaurant in Little Italy has now closed after more than 30 years.
I don’t usually Unilocal much in my home town if I don’t have the time to get together with all my peeps. Especially if it’s just a quick trip for a doctors appointment. However, I’m in utter disbelief of the closing of IL Palazzo one of my all time favorite Italian restaurants in Little Italy.
I have so so many fond memories of the Feast of San Gennaro & always having dinner at IL Palazzo afterwards with my family & friends. I have had so many wonderful, extremely romantic dinners at this place, such a magical place that has always held a special place in my heart.
My girlfriends & I used to rollerblade all the way from uptown & back just to have brunch here so we could work off the calories in the summer. Most times we would usually have to take the subway or cab it back bc we ended up drinking too much vino. Those were the days. Good times.
Later on, when I met my husband, it became our little romantic place in Little Italy.
Now, only a picture in the window remains of celebrities like Jay Leno, Johnny Depp, Brook Shields & others that frequented this historic Italian eatery.
«Thank you Annette Sabatino & Perry Chrisciatelli for all the great food & fond memories I hold in my heart of this wonderful place. I am so very sad to hear of its closing, my heart & soul will forever ache for your Vongole Oreganate.»
However, all is not lost, although we can never change the direction of the wind, we can adjust our sails to reach a better destination, & that destination is Da Nico.
You can still sample some of the same fantastic Italian eats at Da Nico, another restaurant Sabatino owns. All the info & menus are posted on their website.

Buon appetito!
See you soon ;)

Well, we were looking for a cool Italian restaurant while in NYC, and we found it in Little Italy! We are from Southern Cali, so we are used to places like Olive Garden and Carinos. Anything else had to be a step up!
I thought it rather funny that ALL the staff here was Mexican!!! Where are all the Italians??? Anyway, the waiter was really nice (maybe because my husband spoke to him in Spanish). He brought us bread, with a small bowl of homemade pesto. It was delicious! They had lunch specials for $ 10.75, so I ordered the manicotti, which was very good. My husband ordered spaghetti bolognese. It was very chunky and meaty looking. He liked it, but he was definitely all over that bread and pesto.
Great experience! Would definitely return.

I am honestly surprised about this place not having better reviews. I took my cousin here for dinner. It was a recommendation a sales woman next door gave us. For me I hate eating with a lot of noise around me and this place was the opposite. It is a very quiet and relaxed place. The variety of bread they bring you with olive oil and fresh herbs dip is so good. We asked for another one amd they did not hestitate to bring it freenof charge. I ordered Chicken Parmagiana and they added a little bit of spaghetti free charge caise I wanted some pasta. It was delicious! My cousin had the Pollo Cardinale, she loved it too. I had a. taste of it and it was. delicious as.well. I am definitly having that when I go back. The waiter was really good and helpful. Authentic italian high quality food! oh and the servings are really good!

I have never had really good italian food but this plase is hands down the best I’ve taken some of my dates here

The food is good here. The lobster bisque is amazing. Wine selection is decent as well. It is costly but so is every other restaurant in Manhattan. I like this place more than some others I have been to in the same area.

affordable pasta lunch options and a nice cool place to get out of the crowds and the heat (or the rain). Little Italy is very little now, but I still considered myself lucky to have wandered into this restaurant. We were treated well and the food was reasonable and tasted fresh.

Had dinner here twice because we came back for the grilled calamari with the grilled lemon and lime. Great service! Bread was warm, that’s a plus! Dinner specials were $ 10.75 and they were delicious! We went to Umberto’s down the block 2 weeks before and the pasta dish was $ 25 each and it wasn’t even tasty. Il Palazzo was less than half the price, much tastier, and we had better service. I had dropped my napkin. One of the waiters replaced it without me having to ask. They’re all very attentive. Eggplant parmigiana was piping hot. Lasagna was also good. I could taste that they used fresh herbs. Will definitely be back.

Made a reservation for a specific section of the restaurant for a friend’s 21^st birthday (underneath the skylights, loved the ambiance), but was taken to a back section even with plenty of seating available where requested. Not a big deal. The part that bothered me was the lackluster service– bread came out very late, there was no wine list to be seen until AFTER we ordered our actual food, and everything just seemed I take a lot longer than it needed to. We ordered the birthday girl a drink, which ended up tasting awful, yet came to a whopping $ 12 for something in a small juice glass.
I was really excited about coming here, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be going back anytime soon.

What a wonderful service… been sitting here for 10m, no menu no water and the server said one minute without looking at us when I asked… finally someone came to us in next few minutes. What made me really pissed off was our server said ‘you do not hear me’ and pointing at his eat at the same time when I asked again for the beverage list…
The food was just ok be honest, I definitely won’t come again.

Picked this place due to the high Unilocal ratings but I was underwhelmed.
I got the «Pappardella alla Casalinga». The sauce was fine but the overall taste of the pasta was really bland.
My friends got the rigatoni alla vodka that was decent — nothing too special. Can’t go wrong with vodka sauce but nothing to distinguish it from any other Italian place.

Of all the Italian restaurants in Little Italy, this has got to be the cutest and friendliest of the bunch. Their service is impeccable. LOVE their décor, especially during the holiday season. Dull, romantic lights, and an old Italian guy on the accordion. It REALLY made me feel like I was on the streets of Italy. Cute date spot, where you’ll get reasonably priced Italian food.
I came here for Thanksgiving night (yeah, they’re open on THANKSGIVING night; these guys never rest!) and got their Turkey special. Granted, the food is only mediocre, but they make up for it in QUANTITY! I can’t say much for their regular Italian food either. My friends seems to think it’s only okay. So come here for the comfort and the service, but I wouldn’t recommend coming here for the food.

This is my favorite restaurant in Little Italy. The quality of the food is top notch and the service is excellent.
It’s quite easy to get lost among all the different restaurant options and with people standing out side the door trying to lure you in to their various restaurants it is easy to be led astray. However, trust that if you do have a meal at Il Palazzo, it’s going to be a good one.
There are also some great dinner specials. Call me boring but I got the spaghetti and meatballs. The sauce and meatballs were excellent. The noodles could have had a little more texture, but for $ 13.75 it’s tough to beat. The portabella mushroom appetizer was delicious as well, but a little expensive for what it was. I can’t remember what salad we got, but it was excellent. Fresh, generous and with the perfect amount of dressing. (Not drenched, but just enough)
The portions in general at Il Palazzo are quite massive. I love the bread. The ambiance is okay. The interior could have a little more wow factor and the back of the restaurant feels more like a covered patio, but the food and service more than makes up for it.
I highly recommend, especially if you are from out of town and looking for a place to eat in Little Italy. Beware there are a lot of mediocre restaurants in Little Italy, but Ill Palazzo is one of the best I’ve tried.
If you need more of an endorsement, in total I’ve eaten here four times times. Once when we randomly walked in a tried it, another time when we came back on thanksgiving day, valentines day another year and most recently on my birthday. I like it that much.

I came here to New York and of course go to Little Italy to enjoy some fantastic food.
I have a favorite place or two but decided to go on the recommendations from fellow Unilocalers.
Unfortunately this restaurant didn’t live up to its rating. The appetizers were good, the Calimari was cooked well –nice and light. The main courses, which were considered specials, wee nothing to write home about. The Panko chicken was incredibly dry, almost to the point of being in edible. The cannelloni was blech… just tasteless and very small. Very disappointed —by far the worst meal I’ve ever had in Little Italy.
I’ve actually had better food at Olive Garden.

Excellent service, excellent food, EXCELLENT host!
Whatever you do, keep your host/​greeting gentleman who works in the front. He was SO sweet, very soft spoken but very friendly and pleasant to talk to.
My friend and I sat outside in the front patio. We both ordered off their specials, I ordered the Lasagna with meat and my friend the fettucini with cream sauce. Both dishes were excellent! I’m coming back to Il Palazzo, even just to say hi to the host.

I was looking forward to a nice Italian dinner while in NYC and so happy that Friend and Singer/​SongwriteVazquez suggested that we try Il Palazzo Ristorante Italiano. It’s quite obvious that there are many choices of Italian Restaurants to try within the Little Italy area and on Mulberry St. so I’m completely happy with the choice we made.
I arrive 35 minutes early and the Host/​Manager allowed me to enjoy a drink while waiting for Jen. What did I have for a drink? Coffee — best coffee I’ve had in a while! Plan was to walk around and enjoy the sites last night but it was 33 degrees out and the last thing I wanted to do was wander around.
For Dinner, I had my heart and stomach set on the Ravioli Alla Casa. It was perfect. Ravioli had enough cheese filling with the right amount of tomato sauce on and around the plate. We weren’t rushed as Jen and I hadn’t seen one another in almost 7 years.
I would definitely try this restaurant again and next time I will save room for Dessert — There’s nothing like a delicious homemade Cannoli! Cheers***

Wer die traditionelle italienische Küche mag, ist hier genau richtig. Man sitz an kleinen Tischen und hört den Italo-​Amis zu wie sie lauthals durch den Laden schreien. Im Sommer kann man sich nach draussen setzen — entweder nach vorn zur Straße oder etwas ruhiger nach hinten raus.
Die Speisen sind äußerste lecker. Leider sind die Preise ziemlich gesalzen, denn das «Il Palazzo» liegt in Little Italy (
) wo Touristen sich nichts lumpen lassen.
ACHTUNG! Wenn man sich einen Platz vor dem Restaurant sucht — lasst euch nichts von den vielen Straßen-​Sänger vorsingen — das wird richtig teuer.