Bruschetteria

No! Come back!!! I love bruschetteria!!!

Sadly, it has closed.

It was a few days before Christmas and like many around me — I had some last minute shopping to do. Despite my intentions to buckle down and focus on shopping so I could get in and get out, I was really hungry.
It was time to try Bruschetteria — a spot I’ve walked by several times in the past couple of years and always thought «oooh, I should go here!» and then never was able to remember to come back.
Bruschetta + Salad + Glass o’ house wine. $ 12. That’s their lunch prix fixe (and I found out later from the manager there, their brunch prix fixe too). The portions were generous, the food was delicious and who doesn’t need alcohol when going shopping?
It was a perfect late afternoon meal to bolster my determination and let me get on with the shopping. Check it out if you haven’t yet!

If you’ve had a rough day at work and are needing some comfort food, Bruschetteria is your place. Plus with their great happy hour special before 8pm ($ 12 for a carafe of wine and your choice of a bruschetta) how can you go wrong?
My friend and I shared the truffle ricotta bruschetta, the artichoke bruschetta, and the meatballs over polenta, and this was more than enough for 2 people (perhaps a little bit too much). The truffle ricotta sounded delicious but came out oddly bland, which was disappointing. There was indeed a strong truffle flavor, but it could have used a bit more saltiness. The artichoke on the other hand was amazing, definitely recommend this one!
The meatballs over polenta was also deliciously tasty, and we couldn’t get enough of that sauce! Lip-​smacking good.
Be fore-​warned however that the place is tiny (it can fit maybe 20 people max) so you might not want to come here with a group larger than 4!

soup of the day — italian wedding
tomato bruchetta
hot artichoke dip bruchetta
turkey panini
grilled sweet potato panini
grilled pork belly panini
small, quaint, calm, welcoming
warm sunlight enters through the store front
i can imagine this place
to be romantic and cozy at night.
very friendly, attentive service.
crunchy and chewy bread
fresh vegetables, warm meats.
great neighborhood gem.

I’m always guaranteed a good meal at bruschetteria.
The store is a little hard to spot, the only reason I came here is that my friend works here as waitress.
The bruschetta is so awesomely crispy and chewy, that it can be enjoyed on its own. They have great dips and their panini’s are made of the same bread as the bruschetta. Everything is cute and pint sized and it makes for a great experience.

We had reservations for 7:30pm on a Friday night, but you would have been totally fine walking in despite being a super small place that can only comfortably fit like 6 couples. They had to push tables together to accommodate a group of 4 and it was getting unwieldy inside! They have a great happy hour special until 8pm which is $ 12 for a carafe (3 glasses worth) of house white or red wine and a bruschetta. Well worth it!
Had the ricotta and truffle oil bruschetta which was okay. The truffle oil very much overwhelmed the tasteless ricotta. Also ordered the artichoke with cheeses bruschetta and that was delicious! You can ask for more bread if you need it and I really liked that the bread was crispy on the crust but chewy in the middle… so no fear of breaking your teeth or cutting your mouth on too-​crunchy bread! Also had the deviled eggs and meatballs with polenta (excellent tomato sauce!).

Still my favorite neighborhood spot. Summer goal: become a regular. Came here for «brunch part two» with a friend since our buzz was wearing off and we were craving wine. I know, day drinkers out of college. We’re soooo classy. (Please tell me you can see the sarcasm dripping off those words).
Anyway, the waitress was awesome! She was super sweet and funny — the service here is great. The bruschette was delicious as usual — I honestly cannot say one bad thing about this place.

This intimate and cozy place was great. Not so great for a large party but if there are two… or three it might be better. The white tiles and green chairs totally threw me off but it was nice. It reminded me of spring.
I ordered the rare tune entrée but I had to try the other’s entrees. We also shared an appetizer and everything turned into a party in my mouth! My friend’s entrée had capers which added to the saltiness of her sauce. Overall, though, the dinner was wonderful and the service was pleasant too.

Saturday night around 8pm: wait is 45 minutes for a table of 4
I want to like this place. It is very cozy and cute (very small, fits like 15). It is affordable ($ 19 for 3 course dinner). but somehow i don’t always have a good experience.
first of all, i hate places that don’t give you bread. this is one of those places.
appetizers: tried the devil eggs w/​prosciutto crisp as well as the smoked salmon w/​goat cheese. these appetizers were REALLY good! i strongly recommend them.
unfortunately, it all went downhill from there because i can’t read apparently.
i ordered the seared rare tuna. i was really upset that the olive and caper taste overpowered the dish. it was a bad decision on my part because i hate olives and capers. so not their fault. but i will say it was very salty — possibly from the olives and capers.
dessert: chocolate mousse was literally just the mousse. i felt like i was eating air. also my fault again, i somehow read chocolate mousse cake.
i also tried my friends’ pulled pork panini and the spicy chorizo entrée — those were pretty good!
so, if you can read, come here!

Now on my takeout schedule once a week on average. This is a wonderful lower-​priced cash-​only option in the LES that does not compromise quality for expense. Ironically, my favorite things here are not the bruschetta with toppings, but several other items on the menu:
— the deviled eggs with prosciutto crisps (melt in your mouth)
— the pork meatballs on polenta (sop up the cheesy red sauce with your bread)
— the spinach/​goat cheese/​beet/​pumpkin seed salad (balance out those carbs with some bright veggies)
— the chicken panini with roasted red pepper sauce and avocado (mouth wateringly good)
Portions are not skimpy and a food tab for two (not including tip or wine) can probably run you $ 25-​$ 30 dollars total. Plus, the service is always pleasant and with a smile, even when they are packed!

$ 12.50 for a delicious panini, bruscetta AND wine? Great lunch concept, quick service and friendly server.
Only downside is cash only.

Such a cute little spot in the LES — not pretentious at all.
I loved their 3 course for $ 18 dinner prix fixe, such a good deal!
I had the smoked salmon wrapped in zucchini ribbon (a little bit much on the goat cheese) and the grilled veggie platter.
My only one complaint was that the ventilation isn’t so great in the dining area… so when there are a lot of people dining/​ordering, it can get a little smokey

*PLEASE NOTE —- CASH ONLY* — I wanted to put that there, because unless you notice it on the menu you probably will think they take credit cards and I personally think an establishment should make it very viable they only take cash. Now a days, I am also speaking from just my point of view, but I think mostly everyone pays with CC.
This place is a real gem of a find, I recommend getting to this place a little early just in case it is crowded because it is a veryyyyy small restaurant. I would say only about 6 – 7 tables.
I have a serious love for deviled eggs and I would have to say one of my favorite places to try them is at Hill Country or Dinosaur BBQ, but now I am putting Brushetteria on the list! It was a pesto Deviled Egg and had a chip of prosciutto and the waitress barely left the table and they were devoured. Next was the Smoked Salmon And Goat Cheese mini bites
with a pesto dipping sauce. These delectable, delicious little bites were wrapped up with zucchini and the taste of the salty salmon and cheese with the crunch of the zucchini was a match made in heaven, add a dip of the pesto sauce and you will not want to finish chewing.
For main course I had the seared tuna over a warm relish of tomatoes, olives and capers. The tuna had a nice spice mixture on it and give it that perfect flavor needed for tuna. The relish was really good but the only thing was there was wayyyy to much, the dish would have been just as good with half the amount of relish, but who’s one to complain about too much food???
The grilled vegetable platter was so good! If you are looking for a light dinner this is perfect. The vegetables are grilled perfectly, and are served with warm cannelloni beans and tomatoes and my favorite garlic. Sweet potatoes, zucchini, portobella mushrooms and warm roasted red peppers fill you up and give you room for dessert!
This place is cozy, and perfect for a date spot if you don’t mind the «cozneyness»

Everything started off so well. The place is super cute and inviting… kinda has a quaint cottage feel to it. It would be a great place to go on a date, or just when you want some place where you can get good food without the wait of a trendy restaurant. The entire menu is very affordable, but keep in mind that it is cash only here.
The deviled eggs were amazing! You get 4 egg halves with each order, and it’s super flavorful. The more bruschetta you order, the cheaper each one gets, and with unlimited bread… we got 3 different bruschettas: ricotta with truffle oil, artichoke dip with italian cheeses, and avocado/​tomato/​onion. The artichoke one is on the heavy side, while the avocado/​tomato one is fresh and light… both were delicious. I didn’t care for the ricotta with truffle oil… a bit on the bland side.
Up until this point, I was thinking in my head that this place was on its way to earn itself 5 stars. Then our ahi tuna salad and lasagna came out. Both of those dishes fell flat. I could have made a better salad at home, and that’s saying a lot since I hardly cook. The tuna wasn’t fresh, and the entire salad had a layer of carrots… proportions just weren’t right. The lasagna wasn’t necessarily bad, but it wasn’t memorable at all. The tomato sauce could have been meatier, and probably would have tasted better if they had added some more butter.
The service wasn’t very good either… one waitress to service the entire place (but it’s a small place with at most 20 people). When we asked for recommendations, we didn’t get very confident answers, drinks took forever to get, when we asked for another cup of ice, she came back with a bottle of coke instead.
I’d definitely come back for the bruschettas and deviled eggs, and probably would opt for the paninis next time.

I love this place!
Me and my girlfriend was wondering around the Lower East Side on a abnormally warm 70 °F degree weather in the middle of March. What attracted us to go inside this place was because it looked very cozy and simple. The place is not big at all which maybe fits around 20 people in the whole place. They had an small open kitchen which you can see them cooking away. The thing that I really like about this place is their simple menu.
Food — We ordered:
happy hour Sangria — not strong enough but still good
Artichoke Bruschetta — amazing Bruschetta I’ve had! I def. can just eat that alone w/​o any dip. The artichoke dip was perfect!
Smoked Salmon And Goat Cheese — it was okay, not a big fan of the goat cheese.
Portobello Mushroom & Steamed Spinach Panini — It was good but too much mushrooms.
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Grilled Chicken Panini — Yummy!
Our waiter was very attentive and funny. Our candle kept blowing out because we were laughing too much but our waiter had no problem re-​lighting (3x’s) it for us. He said «if you do laugh, please laugh away or cover your mouths.» hahahha! too funny!

What a great little place! We were planning to go to inoteca, but they hadn’t opened yet, so we went here instead… and boy did we get lucky! It is a tiny place. They had a big menu. We went for the panini sampler — 3 paninis for $ 15. They are supposed to be samples, but they are (by my LA standards) WHOLE paninis! We could have easily shared one order. But, this way we tried 6 different ones — all excellent. They turkey & pancetta and the chicken pesto were my favorite, but they were all good.
Don’t forget to bring cash.

The word to describe my lunch at Bruschetteria is «pleasant.» (Except for the complimentary glass of wine, which I would generously describe as «inoffensive.»)
The $ 12 lunch special (if you make the same choices as me) included an artichoke bruschetta, a BBQ pork panini, and the aforementioned glass of white wine. That’s a damn good deal.
As I waited for my food, I listened to a foursome of French tourists chatter away. They could’ve been discussing explosive diarrhea, nuclear holocaust, and genocide, but it still sounded beautiful. They don’t call it a romance language for nothing.
Good food. Good value. Delightful atmosphere.

There are many insufferable puritan types in the food world. A novice food snob may abnegate the use of dried herbs, scorn table salt (vs kosher or fancy-​pants fleur de sel), or exhibit irrational enthusiasm for bacon and other cured meats.
Upon graduation from food snobbery 101, we get into incessant behavior such as shunning all but the most seasonal and local of ingredients (which must be grown on a hippie commune in the Hudson Valley region) or the insistent solicitation of proper pronunciation of food words, such as «bruschetta».
This latter type of snobbery gives me particular trouble, given my boorish bringing-​up, where «Ya’ll» is an acceptable method of addressing others.
In contrast to Bruschetteria’s charming décor and pleasant staff, it would appear that malevolence may manifest itself it you were to even *consider* mis-​pronouncing «broo-​shet-​ah» (bruschetta) — perhaps accompanied by a «cah-​fay oh-​late» (café au lait) or an «eeh-​vee-​ahn» (Évian) :smirk:. The restaurant has even gone to the lengths of spelling this out phonetically for the Philistine masses.
To avoid humiliation from an accidental mis-​pronunciation, I opted for a chicken and avocado «pah-​née-​née» — well portioned and tasty, accompanied by a refreshing cucumber salad.
Despite all my best efforts, I couldn’t escape from my unsophisticated upbringing — I knocked over a dainty display of business cards as I fumbled with my coat upon exiting. Note to future dates: avoid taking me to nice places, such as «broo-​sket-​ah-​ria».

This place was woooonderful and it was so nice to come here for late lunch when it was empty.
The $ 12.50 lunch deal can’t be beat! Of course the catch is: cash only, but that is to be expected.
They offer an antipasti, a main course, plus a glass of wine or soda for $ 12.50 during lunch.
Their hot artichoke bruschetta was top notch! Their 3 cheese bruschetta (goat, gorgonzola…) was good, but not spectacular. All the sandwiches were delicious and use yummy bread!
Overall, cute little place. Would definitely come here again soon: o)