Lupa

Went to Lupa for my bday. Place is loud and crowded not romantic at all. The host seats us near a mom with two kids and handled the wrong menu. I tell my husband how excited I’m for the burrata with mushrooms when he tells me he doesn’t see it on his menu. We tried to flag the waitress who took forever because she screw up an order of a table next to us. She finally came by and gave us the right menu. The bread was disgusting, yes, for a serious Italian place their focaccia was stale.
The portions were more than generous and food was decent. Nothing that would get me to come back right away. Staff was rude and inattentive. definitely not worth the money or the wait to get a table there. So much for a Mario Batali restaurant.

Not quite a 4 star experience but almost. The food is good (not excellent) and the service is good too. I enjoyed my cocktail, vodka with grapefruit juice, Campari and Moscato (if I’m remembering correctly). It was very refreshing on a warm day. They give you fresh focaccia with olive oil for dipping, plus crostini with some sort of purée on top. The spaghetti pomodoro was a decent portion size and pretty tasty, although it seemed to be missing something. The cacio e pepe asparagus side had good flavor. There were a bit too many thick, woody ends that were difficult to chew though. If you’re wanting some Italian food and you’re not too picky, this place will do in a pinch.

Food: 5, delicious pastas and freshly sliced prosciutto
Service: 5, sat at the communal table but never felt neglected
Price: 4, a little on the pricey side, but we also ordered wine so it stacked the bill pretty quickly
Ambiance: 4, nice dim lighting and open to the street. Good crowd but not too crowded. Giving a 4 because we sat next to a ‘grace and frankie’ duo that brought it down a little bit
What we ordered:
— Prosciutto di Parmi Gran Riserva (18 months)
— Bavette Cacio e Pepe
— Spinach and Warm Pancetta Salad

With so many amazing restaurants in NY, where do you go? How do you choose? If you, like me, are a fan of the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group’s restaurants, then the dilemma is simply deciding which B & B restaurant to visit for dinner.
If you’ve read my reviews, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of Otto in Las Vegas. That said, I definitely wanted to visit Otto in NY, but wanted to try something different. And since we tend to be a casual group, that left out Del Posto & Babbo for this trip (but assuredly we will be back to try them both). After hearing that Lupa has the best Roman-​style dishes we eagerly made reservations.
Upon arriving at Lupa, I was delighted with the quaint, welcoming vestibule and friendly hostesses. We were seated on the patio — a perfect outdoor table hidden behind a privacy screen of foliage, separating diners from strolling pedestrians. The very cordial GM, Ray, greeted us with Prosecco (a wonderful way to start a meal!). A generous prosciutto board soon followed, and the gauntlet was thrown with Ray’s tongue-​in-​cheek «Take that, Vegas!». Man, this place is FUN!
Next up, marinated sardines and multi-​colored beets with pistachio and ricotta salata (one of my favorite cheeses). The men enjoyed the sardines while us ladies shared the beets. Very refreshing and light!
We eagerly anticipated the next course: Primi. As other reviewers mentioned, the Bavette Cacio e Pepe is a-​MAZ-​ing! This is a dish that I will dream about… The pasta was perfectly cooked al dente and the strong pepper flavors were balanced with a slight butteriness that I won’t forget anytime soon. We also had to try the Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage & Fennel, and they were perfectly fluffy, tasty little pillows. Francesca was so lovely and has a wonderful palate for wine! Her recommendation was spot-​on — just wish I could remember
Our easy-​going, friendly waiter with great pronunciation of the Italian dishes (Gavin? Garlin? Sorry… you were great!) recommended the flank steak and I knew the men would want to try the oxtail as soon as they heard «oxtail». Francesca’s 2^nd recommendation was even better! A 2009 Paolo Bea Montefalco Sagrantino from Umbria was complex and stood up nicely to the proteins.
Wrapping up this incredible meal, we tried several desserts (kudos to the pastry chef!) — the olive oil cake was delectable! Moist without being too wet served with the most beautiful, delicate cream and luscious cherries. I wish I could remember the name of the golden ball of goodness that lay atop of berry compote. It was mouthwatering! Ray was incredibly generous (and so much fun!), as he brought out amaro. My favorite, Nonino, and one I hadn’t tried before, D’Arancia Rossa (blood orange) from Sicilia. I love the delicateness of Nonino, but it is sweet. The blood orange amaro was a fun and interesting contrast, and worth seeking out again. And with a flair that only Ray can deliver, we ended a phenomenal meal at Lupa. Thank you for a wonderful experience, and making us feel like family!

Visited this place with a friend last night. The atmosphere is good and we have high expectation because this place was recommended by our friends. However things went wrong when we ordered the good. The waiter seemed impatient and ignorant when my friend tried hard to pronounce the name of the order well (he’s a foreigner). The waiter’s attitude was just off the entire night, and forgot to bring the wine menu to us when we asked for it in the middle of our meal.
The food is good, considering its reasonable price. The service is just bad. Won’t come here again.

I’ve been dying to come here because Italian food is my weakness and because the restaurant décor is stunningly fancy. I finally did and it was like a dream come true.
We ordered two glasses of Nebbiolo red wine to start. it was perfect cause it wasn’t that dry or rich. (I’m not a fan of dry, rich red wine.)
I ordered the Branzino with rosemary and potato slices, which was perfect. The fish wasn’t deboned and the skin was crispy and lemon flavored. The rosemary accents and potato slices perfectly complemented the Branzino. My friend ordered a medium rare steak, which was also delicious.
Great service, great atmosphere, great wine and food. I would highly recommend this restaurant!

I came to Lupa for the hip hop Friday night music playlist but I stayed for the food!!!
I sat at the bar and the amazingly efficient Samantha took care of my every need, it was like I died and went to Italian heaven! She fed me Pope hat Cappellacci pea pasta with a mascarpone filling, a Bullet bourbon and lemon mint Il Palio cocktail and some kind of dessert that was out of this world!
To top it off she dug up a Aggazzottio walnut liqueur after dinner digestif that knocked me into an Italian food coma!!!
Oh man I can’t wait till I can return to this food paradise someday soon!!!

The food was amazing, our waiter was great.
But the 3 stars go for the hostess. My boyfriend saw her roll her eyes at me when I turned my back after asking a question about our table. That was just unprofessional and rude.
You are in a customer service type job. Enough said.

At first I was surprised that there weren’t many pictures on Unilocal of the food at Lupa. And then I went to Lupa and it all made sense — everyone is like 50+. But HEY! No judgements here. They beat me to making reservations like 500 times.
Getting a reservation here is hard. Be prompt. Be alert. Stay on opentable.
Anyways. The food.
Appetizers: We got the truffle and asparagus dish. Honestly, it was off. Like it was decent but I couldn’t figure out how someone possibly said «ya, lets put this on the menu!» The dish was served cold so it was basically just cold asparagus with sauce dripped over. Totally disappointing.
Entrees: I ordered the cacio e pepe with light on the pepper since I’m sensitive to spice. DELICIOUS! It reminded me of an upgraded mac and cheese. Perfection. Get this!!! My boyfriend ordered the casarecce with short rib which was also great. Both could have been a little more al dente but overall good.
The service was great and the atmosphere was very intimate. I’d definitely go back for the pasta, and be more careful with my appetizer selection.

The only minus was the awful male host who insisted on us sitting at a tiny table by the door. We protested, and were seated at the communal table. Host is most certainly not a vase, which one can at least admire, and is instead an aggravated pig.
Food and drinks were spectacular. We ordered: Roasted Hen of the Woods with Burrata & Amaro Vinaigrette ($ 15); Carciofi Alla Giudia (fried artichokes, $ 17); the pasta special, a light chili spaghetti ($ 30); and the fish special, a lovely bass in olive oil ($ 30). For dessert, we ordered the classic Lupa Tartufo ($ 10). The cocktail menu is delightful and you cannot go wrong with any of the fine options (about $ 16, on average).
Service was pleasant, with the exception of the aforementioned male host.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This is real deal awesome Italian cuisine. Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, Mark Ladner and Jason Denton are like a powerhouse of food geniuses.
When I went last summer, we got a ton of dishes for the table so I was fortunate to taste test a lot of the menu items. Here are some of the dishes that we ordered:
Must get the prosciutto di parma and cheese plate. The brie and soft cheese were amazing.
Pork shoulder — perfectly cooked and wonderful
Bass– I am not a huge fish person but this was very nice
Hazelnut Ice Cream — yum!
We also had 4 pastas, of which I left up to my colleague to order and can only say that each one was PERFECT. I could eat their pasta everyday of my life.
I hope I go back to NYC soon just to eat here again

Went to LUPA this past weekend for my birthday dinner with my husband.
I was craving some decent carbonara ever since having it in Rome and was told this was the place to get my fix. We made reservations because we saw the 6 course pasta tasting on their website and that was my plan. My husband isn’t so much into pasta but fortunately they have a 6 course roman tasting that was listed on the menu alongside the pasta tasting that was right up his alley.
Only reason I don’t give this restaurant 5 stars is because we were told when we went to order one of each of the tastings, that all people at the table have to do the same tasting. Disappointing… especially because they are both 6 courses and both «tastings» — seems like an unfortunate rule.
Despite that; everything was fantastic. The carbonara is spectacular and so was every other pasta on the pasta tasting menu. I even tried the sweetbreads which was a first for me! And if you like guanciale, it’s featured in several of the pasta dishes; perfectly fatty and crisp in all it’s gloriousness.
I personally hit a wall at pasta course #5 but brought that course home as leftovers.
Finished off with a creamy lemon sorbet which closed out the meal perfectly.
Love the restaurant — love the romantic lighting but I did question if the romantic lighting in the bathroom is the best choice when sharing restrooms with men who may not have great aim and was confused in general by the music playing during our meal. You would think some low key romantic Italian music would be serenading you while you eat pasta but I was truly stumped with the choice to blast Journey…
Overall still loved the place and would definitely return.

Lupa, I love you!
If every restaurant out there had even a fraction of the good service Lupa so graciously provides, 1 and 2 stars wouldn’t even exist.
My friend and I came here for dinner on Thursday. We had early 6PM reservations. When we walked in, we were immediately greeted by a very friendly Maitre D and were seated right away. Menus were brought over and they asked us whether we wanted sparkling or tap. We chose sparkling.
Within seconds of us being seated, a very nice young gentleman, (I wish I remembered his name) came over and introduced himself as the sommelier. I was quite overwhelmed with the wine list as it’s quite extensive so I described the type of red I like and he offered two great options in the right price range. I chose one and was not disappointed at all. It was the Montefalco Rosso, very dry and medium bodied wine that paired beautifully with the dishes we ordered.
CONSTANTINE! The man of the hour. What a real pleasure. Constantine was our waiter who really made our meal so magical and fun. The menus are all in Italian with the back of the menu having a dictionary but it could definitely be overwhelming. So having a waiter who knows every good dish, and knows translations is exactly what we needed. He explained why we should go with the appetizers and entrée’s we ordered and surely, they were the best decisions!
We ordered as follows:
Roasted Cauliflower with Black Truffle Fonduta —- The combination of flavors in this dish is purely outstanding. The sweet pears combined with the flavors of the truffle and the savory cauliflower was simply top notch.
Marinated Sardines — Sardines have never tasted so good than this right here. They take that unappetizing fishiness out and present a perfect dish.
Casarecce with Short Rib Ragu — I’m salivating just thinking about this. I thought I’d had good pasta dishes but then I tasted this and my mouth dropped. The rigatoni was cooked at a perfect al dente. And those short ribs! AHHH! Tasty, soft, tender, perfection!
Pollo Alla Diavola — It’s called the devils chicken and rightfully so. If you like your mouth on fire, this is the dish you should order. Covered in black pepper and cooked remarkably well, this dish is to die for.
Lamb Scottadito with Gnocco Alla Romana — If only all restaurants knew how to make a lamb taste this good! Maybe that’s why Lupa is so up there on the ranks. Fantastically medium rare, soft and juicy this lamb was so outstanding. What can I say, their food is just 100%.
All of these dishes were recommended by Constantine and I thank him for being so attentive and perfect. Really.
For dessert, the sommelier suggested we order the Tartufo. GUYS! This is paradise. Chocolate — hazelnut — nutella — gelato. What more could you possibly want? This ball of paradise only upped the night by 100 notches. It was the perfect end to a perfect dinner.
I cannot be more thankful to the wonderful team at Lupa for giving us VIP service when we were just coming in for a small time dinner. I cannot wait to come back and try more dishes, and I cannot wait to recommend this place to everyone and their grandma.

Wow, what a fantastic experience. My SO and I are big fans of Batali and he delivers once again, with the help of Joe Bastianich of course.
The atmosphere is great, between the intimate setting, the old world feel, and the super friendly staff, it feels like you could be sitting in a friends dinning room.
We always prefer to go with the tasting menu for our first visit of such restaurants. There were two choices and we went with the pasta tasting because, well… pasta, obviously. We also had the sommelier match a quartino of wine for us separately since our tastes differ greatly.
The pasta was fantastic, every-​single-​one! Also, I should add that we got the cured meats sampler, delizioso.
We will be back again, and again… and again!

Now this is what Italian food is all about! Came here for weeknight dinner with a friend and had a great experience from beginning to end. We were seated right away were immediately brought a «compliments from the chef» dish and bread for the table. While I am sucker for warm bread (love the taste of melted butter on warm bread), the bread was in fact cold but above average taste.
What we Ordered:
Bucatini Al’ Amatriciana — GET THIS! Known as one of their signature dishes. Loved that had a kick to it. Spiciness seemed to have come from black pepper and hint of chiles — that combined with perfect al dente pasta made me wanting more! Will absolutely order this again.
Ricotta Gnocchi — While this was very tasty as well, it did not come close to the amount of flavor as the previously mentioned dish. Probably would not order this again. Instead, I would consider the Bavette Cacio E Pepe, another one of their signature dishes and if you’re sharing — nice to have a variety of sauces.
Lupa Tartufo — A giant forrero rocher is how I would probably describe this dish. A bit big to share only for 2 but perfect to share with 4.

Downgraded my review to 1 star because both me and my husband have been throwing up since we left this restaurant. Emailed restaurant to let them know/​ask about potential causes, and they didn’t reply. Just what I’d expect from the arrogant a-​holes. AVOID.
Food: good but not incredible. Portions are small. Order sides.
Service: acceptable, perfunctory, not amazing.
Price: inflated, predictably.
Mine host: joyless douche, just like on TV.
Ambience: buzzing, crammed in tables. Killer soundtrack.

I can’t stop loving this place. It was my first time trying lupa and I am thinking of when am I going to return. My brother wanted to try some high end restaurant from some famous chef while visiting NYC and Lupa was my choice after doing a bunch of research. They do have a reservation at 6pm on a Monday holiday week. When I arrived, the wait was an hour without reservation. Thank GOD I made one.
I am not a huge italian cuisine fan but reading good reviews and my brother wanted to try so I just find myself once in a while ending up in an Italian restaurant.
Looking at the menu, while I love how they use all the Italian words that I don’t understand but with a description behind. Waiter/​waitress that works here need to have a good memory since the first thing he did was telling us all the special and all the price. They have like at least 5 specials, some of it are on the menu.
The wine by glasses are priced served in 1.5−2 glasses which I find it pretty cheap for $ 15, I am able to enjoy more than 1 glass of red wine.
Before hitting the main entrée, we were served some complimentary bread, which was warm and delicious. I don’t even need olive oil or butter with it. There is also a small complimentary amuse from the chef which was some spread on the bread.
My brother and I started of with grilled octopus. The grilled octopus is so flavorful and cooked to perfection. I think it was my favorite so far out of all places but my brother preferred fried.
I went ahead and order myself porterhouse pork chop topped with honey crisp apple and lentils. I see many table ordered this and I bet this is their signature dish. I am not a huge fan of pork and I decided to be a little adventurous in trying new stuff since the waiter also recommended it. I am so glad I did. The pork was juicy (kinda tasted like steak). It was a little on the salty side I wished is a little less salty but it goes well with my red wine and the apple.
My brother ordered the crispy duck agrodolce which was one of their specialty. The duck was boneless and it was served with risotto. I had a bite of it and I immediately fall in love as well. I am always afraid of boneless duck because some restaurant make it so dry but the duck here was soaked with flavorful sweet spice.
The atmosphere is casual but very romantic, perfect for a date place if you want to impress your date and don’t want to drop a big hole in your wallet (if you like all these fancy dinner thing)

Lupa’s pasta is up there with just about any restaurant in the city, in my opinion, particularly considering their prices, which are pretty reasonable.
I’ve always loved their cacio e pepe, as well as the amatriciana, and my wife is a big fan of the carbonara, all of which have been staples there. However, we’ve been branching out more lately, and every pasta we’ve gotten has been great. Last time we went, I got fettuccine verdi in a veal and prosciutto ragu, which I hadn’t remembered seeing on the menu before (possible I just missed it), and I thought it was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had in the city.
We also love the prosciutto appetizer and the brussels sprouts as a side, but the pasta is what steals the show for me. We tend to be fairly picky about pasta, and this has been a trusted spot for us for a long time.

Honestly, I was expecting more from a Mario Batali restaurant, especially after a friend raved about it.
Their specials sounded amazing, but I decided to go with the gnocchi (their version is made of ricotta cheese, instead of potato) with sausage and fennel. The sauce was tomato based, and I expected there to be chunks of sausage and for it to be separate from the sauce, but it was embedded in the sauce. Also, I didn’t really taste the fennel. The gnocchi was pretty good though and tasted light, with a nice texture.
The entrée portions were quite small. At least the appetizer of slices of potato with lemon and rosemary were a bit more substantial. The potato pieces were thick, crispy, tasty with lots of flavor from the rosemary and lemon.
The prices were a bit on the higher side. I am glad that I picked the gnocchi for my main course, versus the special, which was twice as much. My friend ended up getting a fish dish, which had a decent taste, but was definitely not worth $ 25.
The service was spotty. For example, I think we were supposed to get bread, but the waiter never brought us any and we didn’t think to ask until we saw they had brought bread to another table and by that time, we had already finished eating.
I don’t plan on coming back and I probably won’t trust the person who recommended the place, regarding restaurants, but I am glad I had the chance to try it for myself.

Brought my husband here for his Bday Dinner. We were so excited and had such high expectations, being that this is Mario Batalli owned… but sadly left with some mix feelings…
First of all, coming to a restaurant and being presented with a menu that has a dictionary on the back, the last thing you want to do is read and try figuring out things for your else. Having no idea how to order, we expected to receive guidance from our waiter… bad idea!
Was this guy high? On crack? How the hell is he a waiter for such a well known chef’s restaurant? The guy came to take our order while looking around the world and asking if we’re ready. No explanation, no recommendation and no care.
Somehow, we figured out the menu and started with the beef rib pasta, and for out entrees, I went with the skirt steak, while my husband ordered the lamb chops? Oh and to mention, our «waiter» didn’t ask how we would like the steak or lamb cooked.
Took our order and went on his merry way.
Received our pastas, didn’t get asked if we would like cheese on it. Anyhow, getting to the food… OMG! Bite of heaven in your mouth! One of my fav pastas already and I’m not even a huge pasta fan! Highly recommend this dish to anyone coming here. And the portion is a meal itself, which we wish we would have been informed on!
Then came our entrees which we ended up taking couple bites of and bringing back home because we were so full. The skirt steak was cooked to perfections, soft, juicy and packed with flavor. Lamb chops, delicious and perfect! Only wished that the entrees came with a better side for the price. Nevertheless, Mario Batali definitely delivers with his food! Winner!
We waited for God knows how long. The party next to us began complaining because they had the same waiter us. Apparently, our waiter had disappeared and left for the day and didn’t even inform us! Finally, the manager came due to the next party complaining and we had a chance to pitch in. He apologized and introduced us to a new waiter. Gave us dessert on the house, but then he also disappeared for a while after apologizing about the last guy. Is this place a trend for bad service???
Mario Batali, if you are reading this, I urge you to re check your management team at this restaurant. The only thing that saved this night was the amazing food! Hope this review is read by management and the necessary steps are taken to highly improve their service.

C’est un très bon restaurant de Greenwich village, moins décontracté et jeune que le risotteria, mais les plats sont vraiment très bon et relèvent plus de la gastronomie (faible portion mais merveilleuse qualité). Je recommande ce restaurant pour les amateurs de plats fins italiens pour une clientèle un peu plus élégante.
Le dîner au bar reste toutefois assez différent et sympathique.

Fuimos a Lupa con reserva previa ya que el lugar está bastante de moda porque es muy bueno y es necesario hacerla porque se llena de gente.
Nos acomodaron en una de las mesas del fondo y la verdad que el servicio fue excelente. Siempre atentos a todos. Pedimos platos de pasta que estaban deliciosos y vienen en platos grandes. Un lugar italianísimo que vale mucho mucho la pena!

Terrano ist ein Rotwein aus dem Nordosten Italiens. Er wird in der Karstlandschaft zwischen Trieste und Gorizia angebaut. Ein herrlich schlichter Geschmack wenn er gut gemacht ist: Recht starke aber gut balancierte Säure, mineralisch, ein bisschen Zimt, ein Hauch Kirsche. Nichts für den Liebhaber großer Französischer Rotweine, aber genau das richtige für ein gutes italienisches Abendessen.
Und auf der sehr gut sortierten Weinkarte des Lupa fand sich genau diese Rarität. Und was die Weinkarte versprach hielt auch die Speisekarte, die man online in Augenschein nehmen kann.
Mein Menü bestand aus Coppa Cotta mit Spargel und Oliven, Spaghetti alla Carbonara, Saltimbocca und einem Zitronensorbet. Der Meister in der Küche hat zwar eine Vorliebe für schwarzen Pfeffer, die meine ein wenig übersteigt, sie verleiht aber dem einen oder anderen Gericht (leicht gepfefferte Panna Cotta) eine erfrischend neue Note.
Pasta auf den Punkt gekocht, nicht zu viel und nicht zu wenig Salbei am Saltimbocca, der Espresso mit einer Crema wie sie sein soll. Ich hatte einen kulinarisch rundum erfreulichen Abend.
Die Preise sind angemessen: Vorspeisen gibt es für 6 bis 10 Dollar. Primi liegen zwischen 10 und 20 Dollar, Secondi maximal 25 Dollar. Den größten Posten auf der Rechnung machte der Wein aus.
Fazit: Sehr zu empfehlen. Ohne Reservierung muss man lange warten.