Barbetta

Barbetta was a unique experience. There were many employees working when we had dinner which to be honest was a bit overwhelming and stressful. The maitre d (I think) took our order and was a little pushy about the prix fixe menu but he was friendly and helpful explaining the menu to us. The sommelier (I think) was very sweet and kept filling up our wine glasses without being distracting or in the way. Then there was an older gentleman (the manager?) who gave off a pretty negative vibe as he walked around grumpy and yelling at his staff.
We were sat in the beautiful patio out back which makes you forget you’re in the middle of Manhattan. The service circus was certainly fun to watch but I wouldn’t recommend to someone who is looking for an intimate, quiet setting.
That all being said, the food was absolutely excellent.

My boyfriend and I went to the city to celebrate my graduation and we winged it and picked this restaurant. First the restaurant is beautiful. It wasn’t a long wait to be seated and we picked the outdoor section since it was a nice night. Our waiter knew alot and recommended us pasta and a choice of wine. Their crème brûlée was amazing too. We both had a good time and would definitely come back

Oh dear. This is what happens when a restaurant that in a previous era may have been amazing does nothing to update itself. This place is a relic, and not in a good way. The restaurant is a very stuffy old townhouse gaudily decorated with chandeliers and ancient furniture. Everything about it looks wrong. The ambience was non existent pre-​theater, as the pianist declined to turn up and there was not a jot of music to be heard. Very uncomfortable in a half empty restaurant.
The food was ordered from a menu written in ancient roman calligraphy type and almost entirely in Italian. Because that’s useful. The food arrived quickly (obviously all pre-​prepared) and was unexpectedly bland. Really little more to say than beige and bland. Utterly unsatisfying.
It’s gets another star for service — attentive in a overzealous type of way. Cloying and trying far too hard to be Italian. But at least attentive.
In an attempt to keep itself historically significant, this place ends up stuck in a time warp. One that I was happy to escape from.

My best friend and his girlfriend brought me here for a birthday dinner just a couple of weeks ago and we had a great experience!
First, they were extremely flexible with our reservation on a Friday night. Do to some plans changing we had to keep pushing it back and they were able to accommodate us.
It was a beautiful night and we got to sit in their awesome patio. The team of servers was excellent and our main server was an older Italian man who made great recommendations and was extremely fun to chat with.
We all enjoyed the theatre prix fix menu and thought the prices were pretty good for a 3 course meal. I enjoyed a pan seared bass with jicama and asparagus! The desserts were also great, I had some sort of dark chocolate mousse with a fruit sauce. I was also a fan of the after dinner coffee, whatever brew it was… was delicious!
Also, since our reservation was pushed back, that meant our dinner service was pushed through in time for us to make it to our show on time. Next time I plan to arrive a little earlier so that I can enjoy the atmosphere a little bit longer.

I have been dining at wonderful restaurants in NYC for decades. Right under my nose was Barbetta Restaurant in the Theater District. I went there for my birthday this year to find a wonderfully historic property «oldest restaurant in NYC still run by its founding family». The food is terrific, service outstanding «I was asked no fewer than 5 times if I was going to see a show» they wanted to make sure I would make the show and enjoy my meal. The outdoor garden patio is a true New York treasure, make your reservation today!

This restaurant is beautiful — an old– fashioned setting with heavy drapery, elaborate chandeliers, tapestries, etc.
Service is formal with waitstaff in black suits. The menu is formulaic and the offerings banal and bland. The much hyped appetizer of peppers in anchovy sauce had only the slightest hint of anchovy that set the stage for the main courses that followed.
So, an over the top setting for an underwhelming meal.

Barbetta is an established theater district Italian restaurant serving the pre-​theater crowd in a consistent, albiet formulaic, fashion. The cuisine is good but simply too expensive for the quality. There is something odd about the main dining room — it may be that there are too many small tables next to each other. It’s also a little strange that diners are seated next to each other, like your driving in a car.

If you want bland Italian food in an environment reminiscent of Dickens’ Mrs. Havisham, then this is your place. The food was billed as «low-​sodium» proudly on the menu. The pasta was low-​sodium, as well as low-​flavour. Terrible, bland tomato sauce. The rabbit tasted like a salt lick. The décor was fascinatingly garish, as if designed by my 90-​year-​old grandmother back when she was 13. I had no idea there were so many artificial plants in all of New York City. This being said, the staff were all polite and attentive, if a bit stiff and formal. Would highly recommend to people looking for a an unusual dining experience.

Great service– beautiful setting– friendly host and employees– Piano ambience after 6 PM– and a choice of a pre theatre meal plan for a great price! Or just choose a la cart.
Very pleased — will go again!

Went here on ²⁄₂₀ before a show. Chose form the theater menu. Entrees were yummy and plentiful for the price. However, the deserts tasted like they had been sitting in a refrigerator for days. They did not taste fresh. Disappointed about the deserts, for sure.
Was recommended to this restaurant by a colleague and was super excited to check it out. I will return, but not before going to the theater. I’d like to check out the regular menu.
On a separate but not unrelated note, this restaurant is located in an old brownstone in midtown. How beautiful! Loved the ambiance and the staff was super friendly!

Came here for a private event and was seated upstairs in a private room that was beautiful and narrow. The original wooden doors and molding were exposed and amazing to see. The owner stopped by to visit us and told us about her family and the acquisition/​restoring of the many houses that make up the restaurant as it is today.
The service was formal and well trained. Lots of people come here for dinner before a show.
Food was good. It was very traditional and rich with flavor. Visiting here was just as much a destination as it was a great meal.

Came here for restaurant week because I was intrigued by the history of the place — being owned and operated by the same family for over a century is no small feat! I was definitely not disappointed by the history and décor; the space is two converted townhouses, and the décor has a beautiful romantic, old-​timey elegance. Tables for two are seated at a proper angle for romance (which was wasted on me because I came with my roommate, but we enjoyed the vantage point for people-​watching). Great ambiance for a romantic occasion like an anniversary.
The wine list is incredibly extensive to the point of being overwhelming, but the waitstaff helped me select a chardonnay that I enjoyed and was reasonably priced. Service was excellent and highly attentive. The food itself was good but not incredible — the dishes were yummy but not particularly creative. If it hadn’t been restaurant week I’m not sure it would have been worth the price for me. By far the best course was dessert, which was a dark chocolate mousse with orange sauce. I’m a huge fan of chocolate mousse and this was one of my all-​time favorites. Five stars for the mousse, three and a half for the rest.
Overall, it’s worth a visit for the experience of something truly «old New York» and lovely

My wife and I went here for their pre-​show menu on a Wednesday night. I will say, there was no mention that this prix fix menu was the only thing available. But that was fine, as there were several choices.
The building is neat looking, you enter at the bottom and get greeted, check your coat, etc. we were led upstairs to a cozy dining area. Now, everyone up there was kind of «dressed down». I had on a nice sweater and a pair of jeans, several people were dressed similarly. I went to the restroom downstairs and noticed that the people seated there were in suits and ties. So, I don’t know if we were seated based on what we were wearing? It was very hopping and boisterous downstairs, so it was nice to sit upstairs where it was much more intimate.
Our waitstaff was completely professional and helpful, couldn’t ask for nicer people to wait on you. Five stars for those guys.
The prix fix menu was $ 58 and you got bread (probably my favorite part of the meal!) and a few of those little thin breadsticks, an app, entrée, salad, dessert and coffee (although we never got any). I’ll get into what we ordered in a bit.
From other reviews, we heard they have a wine list like a phone book, but we didn’t see it (which is for the best, probably). They had a small, two page list of wines on the table. Both our main waiter and another guy were well versed in the list and were very helpful with picking out a wine. My wife got a glass of white, but switched to red for her entrée. They have a decent amount of «by the glass» selections, but our waiter suggested (after quizzing her about preferences) that she try one that was listed by the bottle only. We said we didn’t want a whole bottle, but he assured us it was fine and would open a bottle just for her. Cool! Wine WAS really good, too!
Okay, ordered a pasta bolognese for an app, beef for an entrée. My wife got the beet salad and she just didn’t care for it. We usually don’t say anything when we order wrong and let it be a learning experience. The waiter could see she hadn’t really touched it and insisted on bringing her something else. Again, very cool.
The hard part: food was just kind of average. And I guess I mean for the price. I’d probably go to four stars if it was $ 40. Sorry, I really don’t have much more to say about the actual food other than it was «fine». I doubt we would ever go there again because of the price. Lots of similar places (quality of food wise) out there for much less.

Brought a group of 12 to Barbetta for a family dinner after seeing a show at the Hirschfeld theatre. It was lovely to see the owner there and to experience dining in the beautiful and historic dining area. The meal was lovely and the wine list EXTENSIVE. You have a lot of options here and the staff was very accommodating to our large, somewhat loud group… and yes, there was picture taking at this dinner, and the staff was very helpful.

Eccentric, aging restaurant with high end service, mediocre food (most pasta was from a box, per our waiter) and great outdoor patio. Both food and décor need a serious upgrade.
Overall, however, an enjoyable experience of old New York, and our waiter, who’d been there over 40 years, was wonderful. Also, very close to major theaters.

Beautiful, beautiful place. I came here for resturant week with my friends and I really enjoyed this calm relaxing place. The seating outside is really something to look at. Once you’re in there you forget you’re in the city. The food was also very good, and surprisingly I was full from the salmon and entrée.
Ladies, this is the place you want your mans to take you to. Fine dining at it’s best.

Excellent for a summer dinner outdoors because they have a lovely garden to go along with the great dining décor inside the restaurant. Located on restaurant row and between townhouse stairs, lies Barbette neatly tucked inside. An old school and rustic feeling exude from their wooden walls to the high hanging chandeliers. The setting of a bygone vintage era where gents wore suits and fedoras and ladies in their A line shaped dresses, opera evening gloves and ruby red lipstick. Sadly, the vintage era has been long past, and as much as I would like to get a taste of that life, Barbette will just have substitute for the real thing.
Don’t let my imagination make you think this place is old or anything, but their menu does have dishes dating back to the early 1900s. Some sense of nostalgia will exist when you have dishes that was prepared and served exactly as they did back in the time when there were no world wars.
My blast from the past fiancé joined me on a romantic dinner out. We both started with pasta, their linguine pesto and tajarin. Made simple, with strong flavors of olive oils and basil. Steaming hot and excellent texture. The tajarin (tagliarini) is cooked in a tomato sauce with oven-​roasted tomatoes. They said it’s made exactly the same as they did back in 1906. There’s no way I would ever be able to say first hand of it was made the same, but I can say it was made deliciously well. Sweet and slightly subtle tangy tomato flavor cooked into every strand of thin ribbon tagliarini.
For the main course we had the lamb and braised beef. The lamb and braised beef were both yummy. The lamb wasn’t fatty or too lean. It was a good size piece and not a small lamb chop. The braised beef was tender and full of flavor. The purée that came along with it was creamy and actually filling.
Go for the food, go for memories, or go for picturesque moments you can have with a lovely date.

No wonder this restaurant was used filming Mad Men. It feels like walking through a time warp.
The dining rooms are beautiful, and the outdoor garden is an oasis.
We dined in the garden, and you would never imagine that on the other side of the wall was 46^th street, packed with leisurewear clad tourists, herding through the streets to the theater, like cattle into pens, waiting to go to the abattoir.
The wine list is a novel. A thick binder full of pages of wine. It is overwhelming, but the list offers quality at every price point.
The service is impeccable. Barbetta has spent 109 years refining their service and, they have done it well. The white jackets worn by the servers add to the nostalgic theme.
The food is delicious. We had farfalle with peas, and pachiette pomodoro. A grilled NY strip steak, and braised beef. For dessert orange chocolate mousse and barolo braised pears. The presentation was beautiful, and execution perfect.
They gave us no issue about sitting for over an hour after our meal in the garden sipping grappa and drinking espresso.
It was an incredible experience.

Barbetta, having celebrated its 100^th Anniversary in 2006, is the oldest restaurant in New York that is still owned by the family that founded it. I went here recently with Harmeet mainly because of the fact that they list their menu items with the year that they were first introduced at the restaurant. Is it just me or is that neat as hell?
I mean… that’s fucking cool.
Not only was the food fantastic, but our waiter was the best. We couldn’t decide on what to get for dessert, so he literally brought us two different desserts each (the panna cotta was the very best, in my opinion).
Also? There’s no music in the restaurant. I looked into why this is and it’s because they didn’t have a sound system when they first opened (obviously) and they decided they didn’t need one as the years went on. There’s something so strange and nice about only hearing people speak inside a restaurant, it was definitely foreign — but a welcome kind of foreign.
Go!

Theater district Italian by the textbook here. Pasta dishes are great and if you have room, the steak coming out of the kitchen doesn’t disappoint. The selling point is the outdoor garden. No better way to spend a spring or summer dining experience.