Cafe Sorrento

This place was by far my favorite place to eat at. The servings were huge and tasty by far. Its a shame that they closed this location. Not sure of the new name or the service but if it’s still the same cook then I don’t see a problem. I do know that the same door man is still working the door so maybe it is

I know that Little Italy is a tourist trap but I went with my wife and a friend from Brazil who had heard of Little Italy and wanted to go. First place we saw this very good looking woman was outside trying to lure people in. I came to realize she was Russian not Italian so I laughed and walked away. Second place did not have a baby seat so we left. Caffe Sorrento was kind of empty so we went there because nobody was trying to lure us in either. The owners were actually from Italy with the wife looking like my grandmother from Sicily. Very good food and great service to.

Good food, amazing crab ravioli, terrible wait, terrible seating, and terrible service. If only the food was so good that the service didn’t matter I would be writing a better review– sadly it was not. My ravioli was definitely great, but I’ve had ravioli just as good at Olive Garden sadly. The bruschetta was not all that great. The service was TERRIBLE. I was with two other people and we had to wait 20 minutes for a table even though one was open. We finally got a table and it took forever for us to get any water, bread, or a waiter to take our order. We were seated right next to the door which was terribly cold (middle of winter) and we were pretty much squished having three people sitting at this small table. When we finally tried to get our check it took 15 minutes just to get someone to come over. Finally we got someone and they put all of us on one bill when we said we wanted separate checks. It then took another 15 minutes to get someone to come and split our checks for us. Ridiculous evening– not worth it at all. You can find much better Italian food elsewhere, this place is not worth the trouble.
(They also don’t accept credit cards unless you spend more than $ 25 and have no ATM machine)

During a recent trip to NYC with some girlfriends, we decided to spend our last evening in Little Italy… couldn’t be more pleased with the food and service we received at Café Sorrento.
The restaurant had a very simple elegance to it… like being at Grandma’s house. There were quite a few customers enjoying dinner, one table had a party of 12 or so.
We were welcomed like long lost family… Their wine list was pretty decent, except they didn’t have a Reisling in the house, which is my favorite. The red we tried was delicious, however.
We were seated at a table near the front of the restaurant, and being it was 30 degrees outside at the time, we were very chilly… the staff wasted no time in finding us a table elsewhere.
My friends had the lobster ravioli and the house special… chicken sorrentino. They were in love with their dishes. I, being allergic to tomatoes, had the veal marsala. It was superb!
The service was excellent and extremely friendly! The owner hailed a cab for us while we were leaving…
I will be sure to put this on my list of places to recommend to those visiting New York and wanting to experience an ‘old neighborhood’ type of feel…

Looking for a place to eat in Little Italy, my family decided on this one, $ 18 for a seafood combo pasta «Linguine pescatore» i decided to give it a try. The bread they served us was cold which is a downside.
The seafood pasta was great. Came with PLENTY of seafood for $ 18. Usually a seafood pasta dish is a plate of pasta with some seafood put on. This place puts it as a plate of seafood with some pasta on the side. There was about 6 clams and 6 mussels, 6 pieces of shrimp, at least 15 pieces of calamari, 10 pieces of squid, and some abalone pieces. The egg noodle with white clam sauce was rich and you could taste the real milk in the cream in the sauce.
I don’t know why all the two star reviews? Maybe it’s not consistent.

Went here for a «girl’s night,» in Little Italy because it was my friend’s last night in the city. While I wish their special sangria was cheaper ($ 32/​pitcher, $ 9/​glass — no thanks!), the rigatoni alla vodka was great, and they added garlic for no extra charge. Will definitely return, if for other reason than the waiter calling my friend and me «mi amore.»

I’ve been going there for more than ten years and the food/​service are exceptional. I generally order the Penne Vodka or the Veal Osso Bucco, both are worth the hour and a ½ drive. Never have to wait long. They seat you ASAP. Always request Ruben, for your waiter. He’s outstanding!!!

Went here on my first trip to Little Italy. Definitely left a little disappointed. The bread that was served to us was fairly burnt and tasted old. The pasta just seemed mediocre. Our salad was overly drenched in salad. And worst of all we felt that the service was very very poor. When we first arrived they never brought us water. When we asked for water the server got upset. I was in a group of 7 and every order the man brought out he brought to the wrong person then acted mad when we tried telling him that it was for the other person in our party.
Overall I just felt a bit underwhelmed with the food (not horrid, just not good or even great) and very frustrated with the overly rude service.
As a whole though I really enjoyed the Little Italy area and would love to return and would try another one of the 100 some restaurants.

Best Frutti de mare EVER, EVER EVER. Ev. Er. So fresh and beyond perfectly seasoned. Frutti de mare can be hard to pull off, but thiers is exceptional. Dude, my three year old ate it. I have had the great luck to have the little old Italian g’ma and aunts and just people in my life growing up who did this kind of cooking. You either get it, or you don’t. I get it. I got this place. Will be a staple in my life. And you seriously cannot beat their prices. Not a swanky joint. More like hanging out at your friend Carmella’s nona’s kitchen and just as welcoming.

We were drawn in by the pasta specials, and were not disappointed. The food was good and the place was quaint. I would definitely eat here again!

Eh… as the two stars indicate, I’ve definitely experienced better Italian food… I hate to say it, but maybe I’ve even had better at the «Italian fast food giant, Olive Garden.»
The thing that got my group of friends and I to walk into the restaurant was their pasta dinner specials where they have about 10 different kinds of pasta, fairly priced all for under $ 10 around $ 8 or so. Not a bad deal, right?
The family atmosphere was pretty good, but the wait staff wasn’t very kind. My group of friend’s weren’t familiar with the pasta special dinner menu and when asked questions about it, the waiter was unhelpful and gave bitter remarks making it seem like, «You don’t know what Gnochhi Primavera is? Why are you here?»
I guess it was only one semi-​bad experience, but I guess it might be helpful to get a second opinion.
If you visit their website before you go out to their restaurant, they offer a FREE GLASS of WINE coupon if you feel like printing it out, which is pretty neat.

We walked over here to redeem our evening after having a bull@#%! meal at Papatzul. Nice family atmosphere, actual Italian customers, douche-​free.
I had the ziti a la Siciliana, that is with eggplant and mozzarella, and it was just the right size, tasty and so satisfying. One friend had the tiramisu, which she said was good, and the other had the tortone, almond-​flavored ice cream, which he said was REAL good.

My group was lured by their $ 8 pasta lunch special. We seated, received water and bread. The service seemed great, or so we thought. after we received our meals, our waters were not refilled and the server did not return at all. The restaurant was more than half empty too! I had to hunt him down and ask for the receipt. On the receipt, they charged an 18% gratuity for a party of THREE. The entrée was good though (fettuccine al pesto) but I would not come back here.

I am surprised there are not more reviews for Café Sorrento. This is the quintessential little Italian gem, the kind of place you could envision Sinatra and his buddies having dinner at for hours, back in the day. It has that old world Italian charm about it.
I have to say, they have the best spaghetti puttanesca I have tried anywhere, EVER. The food is great, and the service is friendly. Definitely a great taste of Italy!

Went to Sorrento tonight and I’m very glad I did. A great deal for solid, homely Italian food.
On Canal and craving something Italian, I walked up Mulberry only to be hounded by the usual Guiseppe. I chose Sorrento over the other spots because a waiter standing outside didnt shoot me any sales pitch. I was bewildered because this place didnt look as «refined» (local pizzeria-​type flouro sign) or popular (I didnt see any patrons inside) as other Lil I restaurants. Intrigued by the nonchalant dude I met outside (and the recession-​friendly prices) we stepped right in. The cozy décor is comforting and the layout allows you to sit with a window view or secluded into the restaurant, so you can afford some level of intimacy (or to stay well away from a cold breeze.)
My date and I ordered Penne a la Vodka and Fettuchini Alfredo respectively. The homemade al dente pasta was fresh, the sauce, creamy and robust. The bread was crusty, but absorbent enough that I could mop up extra sauce off my plate.
I will definately be returning to Sorrento to affordably fill my stomach and spirit with fine homely Italian cuisine provided with pleasant service in an unpretentious, cozy environment. Don’t fuggetaboutit!

I venture to Caffe Sorrento when Mom is in town.
Being all Irish lassie’s in the most Italian neighborhood of NYC, there’s a lot of «bella, ladies, beauties etc» as we’re trying to chose a restaurant. I don’t mind a bit but Mom, now living in the burbs, has to chat with everyone!!! Keep on moving Momma!!!
After getting steamed with all the harassment we snuck in to this little alcove of a Italian villa. Food on display… touristy at heart, but this family is on their toes. We’ve been coming here for 4 years now… Like we’re reenacting” Married to the Mob” or something!
All round good spot in Lil Italy.

I really wanted some penne vodka and this place had it on the menu. As I stood outside reading the menu, one of there waiters comes out and is like «hey, come in, we’ve got a great lunch special.» Kind of annoying, but the menu seemed to work, so I went for it.
First off, there bread isn’t very crusty and the olive oil (which you have to ask for) is pretty bottom of the line and not flavorful. One of their servers told me that the salad was included in the lunch special, but it turns out it was extra… $ 4 extra.
I got my penne vodka, but it was rather disappointing. You can get better vodka sauce in a jar at the store. Also, way too much cream. All I can say is at least they didn’t overcook the pasta.

Have you ever left a $ 1.25 tip on a $ 30 tab?
I have!
Having eaten here more than a few times, I’ll let the sonuvabitch waiter with the stink eye I had last night slide. If I was rating this one experience, it would get a two – but their food is always good (as it was last night), and the place has the fastest seating and service of any other restaurant I’ve witnessed in Little Italy. The eggplant, tomatoes, and broccoli rabe are fresh, the pasta is dead-​on al dente, and nothing is ever overcooked or over-​salted. It’s filling, good food. Nothing fancy, nothing too pricey, just like a good grandmother would make. If only they didn’t employ lurching, impatient, creepy ass bastards to take my order.

Right smack in the middle of Little Italy with all the other Italian restaurants, it’s hard to choose which one of these tourist traps you want to succumb yourself to.
In all honesty, I don’t remember how we decided on this place. It wasn’t overly busy where we would have to wait a long while for a table, and it was busy enough to think that it was a safe choice.
Sitting outside so we could people watch, the lovely night evening turned into a sprinkle and a downpour. Thank goodness the staff was quick enough to move us under the awning before our food got soaked.
We started with the prosciutto ham and melon, a typical starter. I had the fusili with marinara and sausage, which was tasty for me. My dining companion had the orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage. He commented that it was fine during our meal. But after we left, he said it was pretty bad. «Definitely not like the food from Italy,» he had to point out. I asked why he didn’t bother saying anything while we were there and he was scared of the mafia-​looking owner standing nearby!
While trying to enjoy our dinner, I didn’t particularly enjoy a staff member/​friend lighting up a cigarette right next to us. It’s New York, so what can you really say?
Overall, it’s a standard Italian restaurant right in the mix with all the other Italian restaurants out there. Nothing special really, and nothing horrendous either. It exists…

So another Unilocal!er had mentioned to me that I was on the cusp of 300 so I figured I’d make it a place that I always go to when I’m in the area, no matter how far the gap between visits has been. This is a slice of home away from home for me. A restaurant where everybody treats you like family & friends, happy like they haven’t seen you in a while.
Little Italy has a huge tourist crush, lots of hype and most everyone who has a restaurant is standing outside trying to get you eat there. Sorrento doesn’t buy into all that, yet they’ve been around 20+ years. They let the simplicity and taste of the food do the talking. If you’ve looked passed all the others and discovered it, you will be rewarded. Even with such a wide selection of Italian in the area, this is amongst the best.
They have a small entryway squashed in between the multitude of other restaurants, which you’d definitely miss if you weren’t paying attention. Once you’ve squeezed yourself in there, the room opens up into a charming, cozy and bustling Neapolitan café. As busy as some nights have been in the area, they always greet me with a cherful smile and somehow always quickly get me seated.
I cannot go here without having the Linguine a Vongole. This is generally my bar for Italian cooking and if a chef can deliver this simple, yet challenging dish, it’s a good bet he/​she will probably make everything else well to. Plain and simple this is the best I’ve ever had. I’ve never found anything that has been close in CA and I’m really doubting I ever will unless Sorrento moves there. The problem with not being able to go to a place frequently is that you remember how much you like one particular thing and when you return, it’s a good bet you’ll get it again. So the only hope in trying other things is to bring lots of other people, so that you can sample their entrees too. Another must have here is the Spedino alla Romana. Mozzarella is dipped in egg, friend, then topped with a white wine, caper, and anchovy sauce. It is absolutely out of this world and I’ve never seen it anywhere else. Other favorites are the Rigatoni alla Vodka, Trenette al Pesto, and Spaghetti alla Carbona. Their pastas are definitely a specialty here but for those of you watching your carbs or aren’t in a pasta mood, there’s veal, steak, chicken, seafood, the works. I’m always amazed how big the menu is here for such a small place. Somebody actually scanned it so you can check it out here:
I just ate lunch and looking at this menu is making me drool.
I love this place and I think because of the locale, it gets lost amongst all the madness which is Little Italy. It’s been my secret little place for years now and I’m almost hesitant to unleash it on Unilocal.However food like this should be shared with those who can appreciate it and I hope some of you will enjoy this little gem.