Artepasta

I am very sad to report that Arte Pasta has shut its doors. So much for the best champagne brunch in the city… sigh!

How often do you go somewhere (for the first time) that has been in existence ~30 years but is closing forever within 24 hours?
How often do you go somewhere and have the best table in the house — in the corner of the restaurant, on the corner of the street, half of the table inside and half outside?
How often can you walk away from your experience and say that’s the best Italian food I have ever had?
How often can you walk away from your experience and say that’s one of the best dinners I have ever had in my life?
How often is an entire establishment at least one step ahead of you?
Now I did have some fabulous company that added to my experience. And of course watching all the Lips patrons come and go with their «treasures» was really fun, too. But damn was our waiter friendly, helpful, and spot on. It was like he knew everything about us, what we wanted and how we wanted it, and if he happened to have any questions he asked. Add to all that a casually cheerful environment overflowing with Arte comfort.
You can only arrive at I love you Arte. And I hate goodbyes.

The food is a hit-​or-​miss I guess from the reviews I’m reading. I went there for dinner and I would say that service is mediocre at best. the fried calamari should be avoided because it’s all breading and it’s very thin slices and very salty. The same goes for the unfresh mussels which smell of piss. I wouldn’t be surprised if the chef in the back is drunk and taking a leak where he prepares the food.
However, the ravioli and pasta were edible. The Chicken parm was did not seem fresh — the breaded chicken covered in mozzarella was dry and it was either left left out too long or did was over-​fried/​baked.

The guests at my table did not enjoy the «$ 17 prix fixed» menu which had an «eh» free dessert. Pricess rangd around 10 – 12 for appetizers which were not worth it, and $ 16-​$ 20 for the entrees.
Worst of all, we were a party of 4 and were assessed an automatic 20% service charge on the bill. I also noted that the bill stated we were a party of 5. I’ve heard of some parties automatically being assessed 18% service charge. Not that the 2% makes a difference, but it conveys shadiness and especially when service is not worth the 20% charged.
The conduct of the staff is a representation of the patrons they expect to serve in the future, so I’m sure this establishment will be getting theirs soon enough. In addition, I would not trust how they handle your meal. You should check out their hygiene score at the NYC Dept of Health.
Ever watch the movie «Waiting» with Ryan Reynolds??? Pick urself up a copy.

This place had been on my places to try list forever, and I had also heard good things, so a few of us finally went last night.
The overall experience was .EH.
The food & service were just mediocre. We ordered Butternut squash ravioli, Tomato/​Mozz salad and Eggplant rollatini. all were pretty bland, not bad, but just very little flavor.
Prices were good tho– totally reasonable, and apparently on Wednesdays they have half priced bottles of wine, which made everything better :)

It had been a while since I’d been to Artepasta. The ambiance, food and portions are still pretty good (including the pre-​fixe). The busboys were GREAT! However, I deducted one star because… the server. wait. did we have a server assigned to our table? We kept having to bug the busboys for something that she should’ve been taking care of. Weird, the place isn’t that big. Also, the other servers would see us and one would think they’d call it to her attention or pay attention themselves but no…
Note to manager: If your server is that clueless then upgrade one of the busboys cause those guys are doing a much better job and that means a better satisfied customer!
Thank you!
PS: The hostess was pretty good though :)

We met this very popular west village brunch spot at the end of a line. The hostess told us it was about a 15 minute wait, which seemed far less severe than the line would have indicated. Alas, 35 minutes later after standing in a very tight and much trafficked space, we were seated.
The financial terms of the brunch menu are most agreeable: $ 9.95 for a choice of any brunch entrée and $ 5 supplement if you wish to partake in all-​you-​can-​drink champagne or mimosas. Some of the choices had supplements though; for example, my choice of steak and eggs fetched a $ 3 supplement.
I found the champagne to not be very good. It had qualities of cider and tasted decidedly cheap. But I did find for the most part, the waiter did a fairly good job of refilling the glass without any prompting. The steak and eggs were not the best. I enjoyed the marinade, but the cut was a flank steak and not a sirloin which made it especially chewy even though it was prepared medium (I requested medium rare). The potatoes were decent, but only a small portion was served. The two eggs any style, I took to be scrambled. These were clearly overcooked exhibiting nugget like qualities and showing a fair amount of brown. I only pecked at these.
The servers were almost all men, and they wear their shirts with a few buttons undone so as to expose their chests, and they punctuate this look with red chokers. It’s different. The lone female server, by comparison, inexplicably does not do this.
The décor is attractive with abundant art work lining most of the free space on the walls. But any sense of ambience is completely lost, because the space is small, the people are very loud, and music is played strongly in the background. This is a serious problem because instead of having a lovely, relaxing, lazy Sunday brunch, you instead feel the pressure and din of the work week that you are ultimately trying to escape. It is very difficult to feel comfortable here.
So between mediocre food and a regrettable atmosphere, I can only give this place 2.5 stars at best.

I had a couple of problems with this West Village brunch joint. First off, being told the wait would be 15 minutes when it was actually close to 40 minutes. Second, the space was way too cramped and there was no room for us to wait inside. Most people were forced to brave the rain and cold outside while they waited.
The actual deal on brunch was quite reasonable though. It’s $ 9.95 and the menu is quite extensively sprinkled with various breakfast and lunch items. I opted for the grilled chicken BLT sandwich. I also opted for the bottomless champagne which was an additional $ 5. You could either get the champagne or mimosas for this price.
Service was somewhat prompt and our glasses were kept full most of the time. I didn’t feel rushed even though they had a 90 minute time limit on tables if people are waiting. My actual meal was quite plentiful and the chicken was quite flavorful too. It was so large, I had to take half of it home. I also really enjoyed the pesto spread they put on my sandwich. I was a little bitter that our waiter failed to bring us our basket of mini blueberry muffins or offer us water like all the other tables around us. Also, I noticed some tables had a bottle of champagne on their tables while others did not.
Although I did enjoy what I ordered, I would not go back here again, only because, I’ve experienced way better brunch spots and even with the bottomless champagne places, the champagne wasn’t bad. This place, the champagne was kind of gross. I didn’t care for it and I also didn’t care for the ambiance of being in a night club while I’m trying to eat. The music was extremely loud and I could barely here Jim who was sitting maybe 3 feet away from me across the table. Be prepared to yell and wait and wait… if you chose to go here for Sunday brunch.

With my friend Kristen back in town from Atlanta, a few of my girlfriends and I gathered for brunch to catch up. Being sorority sisters, clearly we needed to find a place that was all you can drink.
Arte Pasta down in the West Village serves brunch from noon to 4 p.m. on the weekends. On Saturdays, patrons are offered all you can drink Mimosas, Bloody Mary’s or Screwdrivers with a variety of breakfast options. Sunday on the other hand, you can get more brunch type options and all you can drink champagne or Mimosas. Cost of all you can drink — 5 dollars. The only stipulation with all you can drink is that its for 90 minutes from the moment you sit down and you can’t sit and drink if there are other groups waiting for your tables. Sadly, some of the younger girls were excited about the time limit because it brought them back to their days of chugging at drink ups.
Service was great. While I would have loved it if Arte Pasta could have put the pitcher of mimosas on our table, I was impressed that someone was at our table every few minutes refilling our glasses to the top. At one point though, our mimosas all of a sudden tasted like they had Jäger in it. When we mentioned it to our waiter, he trusted us, even sipped a couple of glasses and encouraged other staff members to taste it to make sure we all weren’t losing our minds. He went as far to personally mix our mimosas himself in order for them to taste better, and even handed over to us a bottle of champagne. The fact that he wore an angel costume through a portion of the meal (a halo) made my afternoon as well. It was not Halloween.
As far as the food went, there were no complaints from any of us. Every entrée was $ 9.95, with certain dishes costing a few bucks extra (like steak and eggs). Our table also came with some mini blueberry muffins, which were certainly delicious. I went with a burger and fries for my brunch, and the burger was huge. It came on foccacia bread, which was good — I ended up eating most of the bread and not as much burger only because it was a little difficult to pick up. Fries were good though and the meal was just what I needed to get over my rough Saturday night.
Arte Pasta is the perfect place for catching up with a group of friends. We ended up staying at the restaurant til 4, even though refills on drinks had ended almost an hour and a half earlier. No one rushed us out and I left feeling full of good food and great company.

I came here on Halloween 2010 to celebrate a birthday dinner for a friend and the location is great because you can also see the Halloween Parade!
Large group of friends, inexpensive menu, good food, warm and pleasant atmosphere equals a great time for everyone! Though I normally don’t venture into the west village, this place was a great find. It’s good for large groups or just two people; its cozy and unpretentious.
They advertise a prix fixe from 4pm-​7pm, though the regular menu has great selections too. Everything was well made and the portions are filling. Recommended: calimari appetizer or any pasta dish. Attention: might take you a second to realize which is actually their real entrance, cuz there are other ‘doors’ but they dont open.

I really wanted to love Arte Pasta, but my overall experience was pretty much a let down.
The ambiance in the restaurant is really nice, romantic, and dimly lit. We were sat against the wall, which was a nice spot. Being that the place is pretty small, our table was nearly touching the table next to ours, and it was somewhat uncomfortable.
We waited for a few minutes before the waiter came over and then he took our orders. We ordered a delicious wild mushroom ravioli as an appetizer. It was very flavorful and I thought the mushroom cream sauce was a really good addition. For my main course I ordered the Chicken Parmesan which was just okay and totally uninspiring. It was a large portion, but the chicken really didn’t have any flavor nor did the sauce on the pasta. My boyfriend had a pasta with eggplant, which he said he enjoyed, but again was somewhat bland and he wouldn’t go out of his way to have again.
The service was just plain terrible. Once the waiter took our order we never saw him again. I had to ask several time, and numerous people to have my water refilled. I didn’t get a refill until I was nearly done with my food which is unacceptable in my opinion (this place has waiters and people running around to refill water and remove plates). I asked to have the rest of my food wrapped to go, and this took about 6 minutes. Once I Had the bag of food back, we asked for the check, but our waiter was no where to be found. Finally he came over and was sure to point out how much the total of the meal was (before our discount), so we would know how much to tip (so rude). I understand some people don’t leave a fair tip if they have a discount, but I think it is ridiculous for a waiter to point that out. If I did that when I was a server I would have been fired on the spot.
Anyway, I won’t be going back to Arte Pasta anytime soon. I would consider giving it another try, maybe for the brunch… but with all the other restaurants in the city I’m not sure if I will make it back.

Awesome place to eat in the Village.
Food is simple, delicious, and reasonably priced. The prix fixe special for $ 16.95 is a bargain in the city. Try the mussels in tomato sauce! It’s great!
Service is awesome… never a long wait for anything that you might need. The host and waiters are very attentive.
Located in a good spot in the Village that is great for people watching. I try to get a table outside whenever I eat here.
Oh, and who doesn’t love $ 3 sangria’s on Sundays?

The one thing that really got my attention about this place was the fact that when you are dining outside they have heat lamps above each of the tables outside! How awesome is that. And when we went, it was one of those nights where it was just a lil too cold to be eating outside, but still nice enough to be outside and when I discovered that the table was under a heat lamp I was so sold on the place and eating outside. It was great.
The food was delicious. We had stuffed mushrooms, the chicken rolletini and chicken penne castelano. All were delicious. I personally had the chicken penne castelano and the sauce was just scrumptious! I would definitely go back!
It was Sangria Sundays, only $ 3 sangria, but I’ll be honest, it wasn’t that great, so if you’re heading over there they have happy hour with martinis, bellinis and house cocktails as well and I’d opt for those because the sangria wasn’t authentic tasting at all. It was more like wine flavored juice. Not impressed.
Otherwise, the food, service and ambiance were all great and I’ll def come back again.

We ate lunch there on a weekday in ¹²⁄₀₆. The interior is charming (an exposed brick wall, brights colors on the other walls, and colorful paintings of Village scenes. There are also big windows, and the entire atmosphere is very pleasant). The food was excellent, the prices were quite reasonable and our server was terrific. I went there again for lunch on a weekday in 10/​08, with two friends. The food was again delicious, the prices were still very reasonable and our server was also terrific.
I’m very surprised about the negative comments of some people, as my experiences were quite different than theirs.

I went here for a girls brunch back in December. You CANNOT BEAT the $ 9.95 for your food, and $ 5 all you can drink mimosas. And they were GOOD mimosas. We stumbled out two hours later full of delicious food and fairly toasted. Our service was great, as was the ambiance.
I will ABSOLUTELY go back to this place, and will hopefully try the ½ bottle Wine Lovers Wednesday specials, and others.

Woke up late, and after walking around for half-​an-​hour in the rain like a bloody moron I stumbled across this place for Sunday brunch. They have a small selection of items ranging in diversity from pancakes, eggs benedict to a few pasta options and steak-​eggs from what i remember. I went with the chicken penne a-​la-​vodka (or something like that) while my mate got the pancakes. Neither of us was disappointed. Each of the brunch items range from $ 10-​$ 15. I was thrilled that there was no wait when we went — at around 3:00pm — apparently the brunch ends at 4pm.
Unlimited mimosas for $ 5 was a good deal. The service was quite good, they came and refilled our not-​so-​strong mimosas almost immediately.
All up, including cappuccinos at the end, the damage came to around $ 38 which wasn’t half bad. I would definitely go back!

$ 14.95 for brunch and unlimited mimosas or champagne… I’m in!
I’ve been here for brunch a couple times with friends and we’ve all enjoyed. The staff is attractive, which can brighten up a cloudy Sunday hangover and they have a good brunch menu.
I’ve read others reviews and can see how the menu seems like a chain. A ½ burger at a restaurant with pasta in the title? Well, that burger was good, served on foccacia with chipotle mayo. I love chipotle mayo. The fries were dried up, but just pour a little champagne on em and they’re grreat… or not.
The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and the service sometimes takes a little while. Though I haven’t been for dinner and could turn into a culinary critic on here, brunch is what attracts me. Plus it’s in a convenient location.

2 for food/​prices, 4 for service
My friend and I did a joint bday party at this place. We were able to make a reservationf or 15 at 6:30pm. The service was quick and prompt. The waiter took all our orders, was on top of water refills, and food came out in a timely manner.
The food was so-​so. My lasagna wasn’t bad, but was not tightly packed and fell apart. The portion was also only average sized. I was also able to sample the chicken verde, which was served with spinach (?) pasta. the sauce was bland, and the chicken on the dry side. One of our friends came later and I ate some of cold calamari appetizer. While I did sample it cold, i would venture to say it was previously frozen, not fresh.
They did have a happy hour before 7pm, so our table ordered a round of magaritas/​mojitos. The drinks were both fairly strong, and the sizes were decent.
I guess my only real complaint was the bathroom didn’t have toilet paper… something you might want to check on before you take a poo. not that i would know or anything…
in the end, it was just a very average italian restaurant.

Slightly above average pastas that are priced more than slightly too high for what you are eating, but that comes with this hood. While the food was not bad, if it wasn’t for its cute & cozy village locale, you might see pastas of this nature at a TGI Friday’s or something (that sounds disparaging but be honest you don’t hate TGIs) — really heavy on the butter & cream, but all the same, tasty. The penne carciofi — artichoke hearts and a tomato cream sauce — was very satisfying in that I’m starving and want to fill my guts with pasta kind of way. Hardly refined cuisine, though, or the kind of thing you’d dream about eating again.
Our server was pretty cool, but got a little impatient with us, as out party arrived in about 4 different waves, so I can’t really fault him for that. They didn’t put enough water in the glasses, which was annoying because it was sweltering and we kept having to ask for refills. It’ll do in a pinch if you are in the hood and need something reasonably casual, heavily caloric, and priced for it’s location.

T-​t-​t-​t-​t-​errible. I had the Grilled Chicken Panini with Basil and Tomato w/​side of fries. Not only was the chicken ultra dry, the bread itself wasn’t quality either and it was blah. As for the fries, they were ultra short as though these were the bottom bits of an empty frozen bag or something. Since dryness was a common trait, then yeah, the fries were pretty dry and crunchy. I can’t decide if that’s supposed to be a good thing or what?!?
I wasn’t planning to complain about the service, but hey, I’m giving this place only one star anyway so might as well add insult to the injury. I asked for water refill THRICE, and each time at an interval of about ten minutes. Finally it came, and thank goodness for that, because my food was, you know, dry and I needed to wash it down my throat. I went there for brunch and it wasn’t even busy at the time, so I don’t know what’s up with the food and service at this place.

This was the place that my date and I went to for dinner on Monday night. It kinda had a touristy-​NY feel to it, and the menu seemed to echo a chain almost.
Anyway, after my performance at the wine bar, I was ready to have some dinner.
They sat us down, and I looked over the menu and was excited that they had a beet and spring greens salad. I happily ordered that, as well as the pasta with tomato sauce.
I instantly dove into the focaccia, and noticed at the very end that there was a paper straw wrapper in the bottom of the basket (sounds like bread recycling to me). I didn’t care, as I was really hungry and just needed to get something in my system.
The beet salad was disappointing, as there were 3 lonely slices of beets on my plate. Come on guys, beets are cheap! Give me some more freaking beets for a beet salad!
The pasta with tomato sauce was overly acidic and needed some sugar to balance out its acidity.
As for my date, he was looking at his cell phone the entire time.