Strada 18

In my book, this spot has never fallen short of cozy and totally delicious. Whether I’m tucked into the corner bar seats with my husband reconnecting over some wine and pizza, slurping spaghetti and meatballs with my 4 year old or indulging in unlimited mimosas (and eggs benedict pizza — yum!) with a bunch of girlfriends on a Sunday, Strada is always a great option in downtown SoNo.
On my last visit, I had the spinach salad with warm shallot vinaigrette (as always!) and the cacio e pepe. Two glasses of wine, a bowl of gelato… just perfect.
I will say that there’s nothing particularly noteworthy or memorable about the staff or service, but it has never really made a difference to me. I enjoy the ambience — the warmth of the open kitchen, the hustle on a busy night, the light pouring in the windows, a table outside if it’s nice, the comfort of classic dishes and a steady stream of regulars seemingly happy to be there.

Over past year heard many good reports… verified tonight pre 6:00 for light meal.
Early hot appetizers Clams and Oysters excellent. Chopped kale salad one of best in area. Megan great behind bar!
We will be back!

Fantastic Italian restaurant! The homemade mozzarella is always a little warm because it is so freshly made which I love. The bolognese here is my favorite. It is a true bolognese, not a meat sauce which so many restaurants have. The pizza always has a nice crispy crust and the calamari is always tender. The homemade gelato is also not to be missed. The food is great and consistent and the staff is pleasant and accommodating.

Please only go here if you want a drink before you go to the next restaurant for much better food. Their liquor and wine selection is wonderful. But the food is just not good. This is the second time I’ve tried this place and I won’t try the food again. I don’t remember what I got the first time but it was not memorable. I think it was baked ziti. This second time I had calamari and meatballs as appetizers and I left after that. The calamari was soggy, greasy and chewy. The meatballs were definitely purchased frozen and heated up. A really nice marinara was put on top of it with cheap parmigiana. I couldn’t believe how bad the meatballs were. My husband said it best when he said it tastes like the grizzle from the steak balled up with the lowest grade ground beef available. It was chewy and tasteless. I was starving but didn’t even finish it. I noticed a few regulars. Older folk. Like 70 or 75 years old. Maybe their tastebuds don’t work anymore? They seemed real nice though and must only come back for the service. The servers were really nice and quick. The bartender was so friendly. I did overhear a bar guest tell the bartender there was a pubic hair in her food. That was gross. They took it and made her a new one. I cannot believe she ate it, I was so grossed out from that. I would go back to see that bartender and have a glass of wine. That’s it though. I cannot believe these people serve such crap Italian food and on the east coast of all places where Italian food is supposed to be the best!!!

Maybe it was just an off night… or maybe Strada 18 has lost it. We’ve been here many times over the years and were always pleased with the food, service and atmosphere. Unfortunately tonight was a disaster.
The meat and cheese plate was adequate, but presentation looked like a college cafeteria. Pork loin presentation was even worse (with pile of cabbage and some home fries), and meat was dry and bland. Calamari fra diavolo sauce was not bad, but the ink fettuccine was so over cooked that it coalesced into a textureless mound. The calamari itself was also over cooked and rubbery.
Overall presentation was poor — menu, table setting, staff attire, etc. Service was frantic and apathetic.
I hope they can get back on track. There are way too many better alternatives in the area.

Strada 18 Is a great place if you Like Italian food then you will love Strada 18

If there were zero stars, that’s how I’d rank this place. The quick story is — we got there after making a reservation and they told us it would be an hour wait. We called from a road trip to make a reservation here for dinner — after tons of searching for a place to eat in unknown territory. I asked the girl who answered if it was packed and she said no. She took our name and made us a reservation. It was out of our way to stop here and then difficult to park in the area. When we arrived and said we had a reservation the manager said they were full and we would have to wait an hour! I asked how that could be and he said he didn’t know. Not a great way to run a restaurant. I don’t recommend going here and expecting any kind of service — or anyone that knows what they’re doing.

We went to Strada 18 on a Saturday night. First hiccup was that they messed up our reservation. We had a reservation for 5 people, which they admitted, but said that, ‘someone had changed it to two.’ Don’t know who that someone is but it was no one in the reservation party. So, we ended up with the worst seating in the house: a table people had to bump by to get to the bathrooms and bump by to get to the rear door. Every time someone would go to the rear door, we’d get hit by a blast of cold air. Also, the table wasn’t meant for 5 people, so the person at the head was being continuously bumped by people going out the back door. Normally, a restaurant might comp something for that mistake, but nothing.
Then the food itself. We ordered a fried calamari appetizer, which was quite good: hot, crispy, not oily with three dipping sauces. A surprisingly good tangy aioli (I normally find them too fatty), a very nice vinegar and jalapeño dip, and a very uninteresting tomato dip (reminiscent of crushed, canned tomatoes).
Main courses, though, were a let down. I had squid fra diavolo on black ink pasta. The fra diavolo, itself, was good. Squid was al dente and the sauce had a nice heat, but the pasta was so over-​cooked and mushy that my partner at first thought it was over-​cooked spinach due to the texture. She had the chopped salad, which was frankly visually unappealing, and was banal and uninspired. It looked like some had put the whole thing through a food processor. The three other people also indicated their dishes were nothing more than ‘meh’.
On the plus side, they had a good beer and wine selection. Reasonably priced.

Nice place good food. Smaller portions. Not a fault but don’t go there if you are starving and expect big family portions. Staff is very friendly. Great modern Italians food

I thought Strada 18 was a perfect little restaurant for date night. The food was delicious, and I loved that they had gluten free! It was quiet enough that I could talk with my date, and the service was great. I would definitely recommend checking it out!

I was feeling a nice Italian meal one night so I searched on groupon for a discount, because my ex husband took all my money. I finally found this establishment and I purchased a groupon for four. I planned on taking my new boyfriend Gabriel, and 3 other men that I cheat on him with. That night I called for a reservation and I was astonished to find that my groupon was invalid! I was very angry to find out that I was scammed by groupon. However I was determined to dine here so I worked a couple extra hours at JC penny so I can have enough to eat here. My meal was quite magical and I savored every bit. Gabriel proposed when I arrived home. Overall a great meal and I shall dine here again

I have eaten at Strada 18 various times. I have had few disappointing dishes but in general the food is pretty decent.
That said, If you are reading reviews to decide if you would give it a try with a Groupon, please think twice. The fine print reads: «reservation required and subject to availability». On the «how to use» you will read: «Reservation required, mention your Groupon»
If you call to make a reservation they will book it but as soon as you mention the Groupon you will be informed that they don’t have availability for Groupon that evening.
If you decide to go there in person and try your luck you will be informed that they can’t your Groupon because you failed to make a reservation. However, you will be welcomed to sit down for dinner and use your Groupon at face value.
If you decide to step aside and call the restaurant while you are right there staring at the empty tables you will be informed that they have no availability to take your Groupon that evening. Believe me, it will be very hard for you to understand how a restaurant serving only 2 tables of 2 has no availability.
In other words, forget about trying to use your Groupon for the promotional value.
Note to Strada 18’s owner: The only thing you are achieving with your little stunt is losing your customers. Is it worth it?

I have been dining at Strada 18 regularly since it opened but they crossed the line with me this weekend, not with food but attitude and service. We had a Groupon and was treated rudely. If Strada 18 was going to participate in Groupon then they should have been prepared to treat people well and honor their commitments. When I called to make a reservation using Groupon on the day it was due to expire, the hostess said it expired and could not be used for full value. This of course is absurd which Groupon customer service confirmed. I then called Strada 18 again and was told this time that they had too many people using Groupons and that they would not be honored. Note: the story changed from «expired» to «to bad».
No wonder business has slacked off at Strada given the prevailing attitude towards patrons.

1 star for customer service. I purchased a groupon but when it came time to book a reservation (6 days) before it expired they told me that they didn’t have any availability. They said that they only allow a certain number of people who have groupons to eat there in one night and it was all booked up. I asked to come around 4:30−5 p.m. on a Tuesday so I know that it didn’t have anything to do with taking up space for other customers. I asked to have the manager call me but never received a call from them. They shouldn’t participate with Groupon if they won’t honor it. They guy was rude and told me that the promotional value never expires. I will never give them business and be sure to spread the word.

I had fantastic Shrimp Fra Diavolo here! Sauce was flavorful, no extra salt needed. Pasta cooked just the way I like, not super al dente. Big portion, I didn’t think I would be able to finish it all, but I did because it was super delicious. Sidewalk seating on a nice day is a must!

Very good. Food was fantastic. I ate (sorta) light, having the 4 cheese selection cheese board as an appetizer, the focaccia veggie sandwich and the baked spinach as a side. All were fresh and creative and delicious. DJ had the baked ziti which was very good– lots of fresh mozzarella. Service was very good and the place is cool looking. Coming back.

Tried the red pizza. Pretty good. Great service. Not mind-​blowing and a little on the pricey side

Came here for a company dinner on a Wednesday night with a group of 15 people. They messed up almost all of our orders and the pizzas took forever to come out!
I had the goat cheese and beet salad and the baked scallops. The baked scallops kind of sucked but everyone seemed semi content with their pizzas.

Maybe living near NYC’s Little Italy has spoiled me, but this wasn’t so great for me.
First, it’s tiny, despite first glances. I’m not a tiny human and I’m also 7 months pregnant. Why did you first seat us at THE BACK of the place, when there is no way to avoid bumping other seated customers, and then suddenly move us to yet another cramped in a corner table? I saw a large party seated in the area we had been at first, so I don’t mind moving that much, but there were seats by the front window when we walked in. Am I to assume you don’t want a fat, pregnant woman seated in plain view of the passing public?
As for the meal, we shared the WAY over priced Parmesan baked scallops; $ 12 for about 8 of the smallest scallops you can find, shoved in a tiny dish. They did taste good, but your size/​cost needs a lot of work.
We also shared a 10″ simply red pizza, to which we added basil and garlic. No where did they offer a Margharita pizza, but the simply red is that, just w/​o basil included. Very, very thin crust. I’m a fan of thin crust, but this was a damn cracker which was also over priced.
Incredibly not worth it.

TL;DR version: No idea why people say this place is so good, do not recommend, will not come back.
Simply put service here is atrocious. We ordered a bottle of wine with our meal, our waiter brought us a bottle and sometime during the absurdly long wait before we got our food we realized our waiter had brought us the wrong wine. Fortunately the prices were comparable, but our waiter said he would charge us for 3 glasses instead of a bottle so it would be cheaper overall for us. We thought «how generous.» and continued to twittle our thumbs and stare at the ceiling until our main course arrived. I ordered the Baked Ziti and my gf ordered the adult mac’n’cheese. The baked ziti was fine, but nothing had much flavor and the serving size was rather small for what you pay. My gf’s mac’n’cheese also didn’t have much flavor and the serving size for $ 18 dollars was just pathetic. The serving size was something I would expect from a side order or an appetizer not a main course (after looking at Unilocal pictures we can tell they just tried to give us an extra small size of mac’n’cheese). We felt compelled to send it back after confirming that we got the «usual» amount of mac’n’cheese. Overall the meal was terrible and for what you got it just isn’t worth going back. On top of that the waiter charged us for the whole bottle of wine.