La Bussola Ristorante

We really like Bussola. Salads and fish entrees are very good. Decent wine selection. Not crazy priced. Will go back.

I’m not really sure how this place has received 3.5 stars. Especially if the «dine-​in» service and quality is remotely as horrible as the take-​out. I don’t see how the respect for patrons, and the respect for food should be much different. I am writing this review based on my take-​out experience. I must start by saying we placed quite a large order for a family of 5. The first thing we noticed was how poorly everything was packaged. They use the cheapest take-​out container in order to save a couple of pennies and then wrap everything in plastic wrap. The result is sauce spilling out inside of the bag and then all over the kitchen as you try to open it up. We wound up handling the food over the kitchen sink in an effort to keep the place clean. So immediately we were disappointed because the food was presented so poorly. I expect to be licking my chops when I open my «quite expensive» take-​out dinner. Instead, I felt like throwing the whole mess in the garbage. If that was the worst of it, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to give the place a bad review but it didn’t get any better. The next thing we noticed was how teeeeny tiny the portions were. As I mentioned earlier, we ordered quite a number of dishes but we were still hungry at the end. And to top it all off… The food did NOT taste good!!! The pasta was crunchy. Not al dente… CRUNCHY!!! My husband said the grilled octopus was ok. Overall, the food lacked flavor (although the sauce on the crunchy pasta was pretty good but it didn’t matter) For what we paid, and what we got, we felt violated and offended… Our local pizza place does a much better job. Don’t waste your money here…

My family went in as a group of nine last night and had a wonderful experience. It had been a while since we had been to La Bussola and I had forgotten just how good the food, service and presentation always is at this restaurant. The owner Carlo and his staff provided the perfect balance of service and attention. Every dish was prepared and presented beautifully and the portions were more than generous. My parents left with food for several additional meals. I will definitely be going back in the near future, this restaurant exceeded our expectations.

Warm & genuine greeting from owner Carlo
Great food from chef/​owner Marco
Awesome staff
Have David make you a negroni; great way to start the evening!
Buon appetito!

Pretty good food, nothing that really blew me away
The restaurant is extremely cold and dimly lit though so bring a sweater

Follow up, over 6 months later…
La Bussola has not lost its charm, even coming on a surprisingly busy night (mid week, none the less!) My husband and I came for our 4 year anniversary last night and I could not have been happier with his choice. We were greeted with smiles and handshakes and made to feel like family and were sat at a beautiful secluded corner table (sweetly enough under what I believe to be the original owner’s wedding photo).
Our waiter, Armando, was extremely knowledgeable about the menu. Even with a full dining room, he made it a point to address that every menu item can be altered to your taste (as everything is made in house). One culinary note is a judicious amount of garlic in many of the tomato based sauces. I happen to love garlic, but just a heads up for those that don’t. The food did not disappoint (again). Good to know that even with a crowd the food doesn’t suffer. Carlos and David, our buddies from what seems like forever ago, both recognized us and apparently pay great attention to their Unilocal reviews, thanking me for my glowing recommendation. I can’t express how nice it is to know the important people (i.e. the ones that produce change if need be) pay attention to their customers’ needs and wants, even after having left the restaurant. Not only did they visit our table, but made it a point to touch every table in the dining room.
The biggest difference this encounter at La Bussola was that we (feebly) saved room for dessert. An old school Ricotta cheesecake and Zabaglione with mixed berries from heaven were the perfect ending to another amazing meal. On our four year anniversary, my husband fell in love… with Zabaglione. It’s so wonderful to walk into a restaurant where you are literally treated like family. Looking around the dining room everyone appeared so happy with their meals and even an unhappy customer was taken care of in a timely and caring fashion.
Thank you, La Bussola for an anniversary dinner to remember!

My wife and I dined recently at this Italian restaurant in Glen Cove, L.I. Only two tables occupied on a Thursday evening. Service good given the paucity of diners. Staff friendly. Food portions very sparse and inconsistent with prices. Food quality ok, not exceptional. Expensive for portions served. If you are inclined to desire to spend on a small portion dinner, be my guest. Otherwise, I would choose more wisely.

After wondering around glen cove my girlfriend and i stumbled upon La Bussola. It was a nice afternoon and the outside seating looked nice so we went in to be seated. I was worried i wasn’t dressed nice enough (t-​shirt and shorts) but the man who seemed like the owner welcomed us very friendly and sat us outside. We ordered the calamari & fried mozzarella and they were both awesome. Calamari wasn’t to breaded or chewy and the mozzarella tasted fresh. I had gotten spaghetti also, the sauce was excellent and my girlfriend loved her pasta dish too. Would definitely come back.

Came here with a gf of mine for lunch and had this spinach soup with peas which was ok. Shrimp cocktail was good tho. We also ordered chicken strips and chicken parm. N a few other things. The chicken strips came out n now its been like 20 min and the chick. parm still has not been out for the other person but y bring anything at all out since there are 2 more dishes that has to come out –_​-​. Our table is packed and the waiter doesnt bother to clean it up until i called him over to empty some of the plates like the soups we were eating. Then my gf asked for more ketchup n he didnt acknowledge her at all, not an ok or anything, he actually just walked off like he was annoyed, but he did bring it. The chicken parm. finally came out but has wayyy too much sauce all over it. I mean it was a whole lot but the shrimp pasta with spinach n garlic was good.
Not sure if id come back here again, esp w/​the service we recieved.
So after my review of this place while at the restaurant it gets better. The bill was $ 102 as i said before service was horrible so his tip was $ 9 to be exact. My friend pulled off in her car n as i was backing up to drive off the waiter comes outside runs to my window and hands me back the tip n states «this is not even 10% of the bill, i dnt want it» so i say to him so what do you want, he says «its ok i dnt want this money n hands it to me». I took it back and said ok.
Really tho you came running after me to give me back a tip… Was it that serious. And even if i had extra cash with his sucky service he wouldnt of recieved anything extra from me PERIOD! You need better training buddy :) So now they get only a star instead of 2!

i can’t say enough great things about La Bussola. Marco has cooked for an Interior design society fund raiser for the second year in a row and everyone was raving about the gnocchi. He helped make for a wonderful night with his food. we love his food and love their other restaurant on Jericho turnpike in mineola.
all I can say is you have to try their gnocchi.

Service and food exceptional! Highly recommend to all! The food came out quickly and was hot and fresh!

We have been going to this restaurant for 12 years now with my neighbor and his family.
Always good, always consistent.
Not sure what happened last night?
The bread has changed, before it was such a treat, now it tastes like precut baguettes from Costco or BJs! Normally the bread is indicative of the meal. I always order the scallops but instead of being over the risotto I ask that they replace it with spinach. My scallops were very small and whatever the greens were they were not spinach. I was not pleased. The waiters instead of being full bloodied Italians who speak Italian, our waiter was Spanish… not that that really matters… my meal was disappointing. The chicken scarperelli was not up to par either.
We are assuming the ownership has now changed and not for the good.
Not sure if we will be back. Prices have also been raised.

I came here with my husband for our anniversary recently. I had never given it a try, since I felt a little perturbed at the menu — almost all dishes have prosciutto, pancetta or other meats (one of us is vegetarian — making Italian our #1 fine dining choice). However, I read in someone’s review that they are quite flexible with the menu. Well, that just fixes everything, doesn’t it!
It’s true, the kitchen is flexible, and it’s not a secret — in fact, you are informed as you are handed the menus. We didn’t test them too much, just some mushroom gnocchi without meat, which was good (standard, no complaints). I had the Chicken Spiedini with raisins and cheese, it was quite good too. As the side we chose fried zucchini — man, was that bowl HUGE. Fried just like calamari, very crispy, delicious, but wow, too much! (I guess that’s a good thing?)
The service was very good too, proper. But, the absolute highlight of our dinner was the bruschetta with eggplant caponata. BEST CAPONATA EVER, hands down. The flavors were perfectly balanced, tangy, sweet, salty — oh so mouth watering to remember. And the cold caponata served with fresh, steaming hot toasts was a nice contrast too. (I remember trying Batali’s and having a mini foodgasm — and Bussola’s blows it his clear out of the water!) Maybe that’s why we felt the perfectly fine entrees paled in comparison to the appetizer. I think next time we are walking by we will just sit at the bar with our $ 100 bottle of wine and a couple plates of the caponata. Maybe I’ll go right now… I can’t wait…

La Bussola in Glen Cove had always been one of my favorite restaurants when we first moved to nassau county. The old world charm, the fine italian food, and the elegant service always made for a great night out. Over the years, as our family grew, our dining habits changed and we rarely dined in Glen Cove. Last week we decided to revisit our old favorite La Bussola. We were thrilled to find that the restaurant was still serving the exquisite italian food we always remembered. Carlo a son of the original owner, Pasquale Lubrano was now in charge and was a complete delight. We found La Bussola warm, welcoming with the same excellent service it had always offered. We began our meal with a crisp, fresh caesar salad with anchovies, and croutons. We next tried two of my favoirte dishes: A large and flavorful stuffed artichoke in a wonderful broth, and a plate of homemade meatballs that literally melted in our mouthes.
For our main course we came up with a customized Surf and Turf. A large and meaty veal chop made with onions, garlic, mushrooms broccolini, cippolini onions, and fingerling potatos. Perfectly served and prepared it was a true taste delight. Our other dish was a sauteed, pan seared organic salmon with grain mustard, fennel and asparagus. Perfection!
La Bussola is part of the Bussola group of three unique and wonderful long island restaurants run by the four sons of the original founder. It is also the only one of the three that serves individual meals. The other restaurants are family style and offer large portions on platters. John, Carlo and Tony run the restaurants while Executive Chef and owner Marco runs all three of the kitchens.
After a delightful conversation with Carlo, we tried a fabulous Napolieon which was beautiful to look at and a fabulous sweet taste treat.
Kudos to Carlo and his wonderful kitchen and staff!
La Bussola, 40 Street, Glen Cove, New York tel 516−671−2100

Wow! I’m impressed. My boyfriend took me here, and we love it. (He used to come a decade ago and was happy they have the same great food and service). The waitstaff was very friendly and spent their time talking to the patrons.
We ordered the zucchini flowers, which neither of us ever knew existed, and it was so delicately delicious! The arugula salad w/​shaved Parmesan/​pear was light and flavorful. The veal rollatini and scarpariello was rich and aromatic. And the Napoleon was to die for… Light yet rich cream and a great delicate puff pastry.
We will definitely be going back!

Very disappointed that it takes almost 2 hours to get our meal. Waiter didn’t even tell us or apologize until after we decided to take our orders home after waiting so long. As for the food… I had better.

Due to special promo tonight, we waited about 45 mins pass our reservation time. It was packed elbow to elbow in the tiny bar area inside the entrance. After seated, it took another 10 minutes for our menus. This pace set the tone for the evening. We waited ½ hour after our appetizers for our entrees. From our reservation of 7:15, we got out at 10:25. Why did we endure this? Because they rolled back prices to like 1984 or 1980, I think. Baked clams were about $ 5, chicken bussola, $ 9. The apps were better than the entrees. Clearly the staff was overwhelmed, food came out Luke warm, chicken was overlooked, shrimp rubbery. Dessert was delicious. We had chocolate mousse, tiramisu and tartufo. For this promo, portions were small like 3 shrimps in the shrimp cocktail. The tartufo was only half a portion. They actually cut it in half and we were served half a portion. A small bottle of prosecco was $ 15. I’m not sure if I would come back when they’re running promos again because the wait was so long. In addition, we had bread plates dropped, our prosecco tipped over by server and a fork dropped on a guests arm. Not sure what that all means but definitely overworked or clumsy.

This place has been here for a very long time and I have lived in this area for 17 years and I have no clue what took me so long to go there. I tried it the first time a few months ago and it has now became my favorite Italian restaurant in the neighborhood.
The staff is very friendly and accommodating. The restaurant has a European classic feel. Wine selection is great. The have a bar up front so they do happy hour and make some great cocktails. As for food some of our favorites are the stuffed artichoke, polenta with mascarpone, and the Linguine e Gamberi Areganato which is shrimp and spinach with pasta in a bread crumb garlic sauce. When its time for dessert you must try the tiramisu which is the BEST I ever had.
I am glad we finally tried this place and now we make it a routine to go more often.

Wonderful home cooked Italian food.
My parents discovered this gem a few months ago after seeing a movie across the street and had a nice, quiet dinner with the whole place basically to themselves. A few weeks later they returned for take-​out and the food again did not disappoint. Upon that visit my mom noticed they were going to be celebrating 33 years in the business, and so the restaurant decided to bring back the prices from 1980. How great?! My family went last week (without me) and had a fantastic time. 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, a bottle of wine and desserts/​coffees came to a little over 100. What a joke! They loved it here so much that they returned last night and thankfully decided to bring me along. WELL! The food was UHH MAZE ZZZING, just as they had said. The sauce is… ugh… no words… *pinch forefinger and thumb — place on lips — extend hand * mmmm perfecto! My eggplant parm was huge and delicious, cooked soooo perfectly, with ample sauce for me to eat with bread alone and to accompany my delicious entrée. I love how it didn’t come with a pasta– instead, I ordered a side of escarole sautéed in garlic and oil. Yummmo. My sister’s pasta fagioli looked, smelled and tasted so out of this world, it gives my grandmother’s a run for her money. (Thank goodness she is old and doesn’t own a computer/​is not on Unilocal and will never get a chance to see this post, otherwise I’d be in serious trouble right now!)
Treat yo self and get the cannoli– definitely shareable between two people. Nice wine, very hospitable staff, and plenty of space in the dining room. Would be a great venue for a dinner party. Can’t wait to return here for dinner again!

By far one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve ever been to.
We’ve been coming to this place for over 15 years as a family, and my parents come here regularly for their «dates» (gotta keep it fresh, ya know what I’m sayin)
The staff here is phenomenal. They’re courteous, accommodating and charming. They do a great job of making suggestions based on what you like; for example, they know that my father has a food allergy, and last night prepared him octopus in a manner that wasn’t listed on the menu or the specials (he demanded artichoke but they didn’t have it).
Their regular menu has a lot of selections — I’m not always thrilled when a menu has a bunch of different things because I want to eat everything, all the time, and sometimes the meals can be lacking if they try to make too many different things, but here every single thing that we’ve ever ordered off this menu has been cooked perfectly. And they always have a good selection of specials — which, if you hear something you’re interested in, my suggestion is to take them up on the special, because you can always come back for the menu items, but they might not always have crusted rack of lamb over a bed of broccoli rabe and potatoes. Sounds generic? Try tasting it… but not off my plate or I’ll bite your finger off.
I always try to not gorge myself, so I can eat dessert, but my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. Their dessert menu — aside from the cappuccino, espresso, etc., has Tartuffe, crème brûlée, chocolate cakes, souffles… oh my.
Men, if you want to impress a chic, and you’re on the North Shore, come here. Tell them you’re on a date, and I bet they’ll help you seal the deal. Its small and cozy, and there really aren’t any «bad» tables. When its warm out, there’s outside seating, valet parking, and huge parking lot directly behind it from City of Glen Cove. Good wine and booze selection… and they know how to make a martini (hint)