Da’ Giulio

CLOSED? Oh Lord, thank you for puting this place out of its misery!
I am not the least bit surprised, and wonder how it held on for so long! RIP…

Very small Italian restaurant. The meal was very inexpensive; however, they were small portions and only so-​so quality. The menu is limited and they did not have 2 of the options I wanted to order. The bread they served was stale. The restaurant was clean and had decent service. A side note… I couldn’t get salt out of the salt shakers! I had to take the bottom off and pour it in my hand.

We had a terrible experience with their delivery service and WILL NOT be going there or ordering delivery from them again. My husband called and asked to please have 2 orders of eggplant parm (we were told that we could make the appetizer version a full portion) with sides of pasta and garlic bread. When our order arrived 40 minutes later, we opened it up to discover that they sent chicken parm instead. I called and spoke to the person who took our order. He stated that my husband said chicken. I informed him that I was sitting with my husband when he called and heard him say EGGPLANT. Sam then admitted that he made a mistake and said «well, what do you want me to do?» I said that we had already waited 40 minutes for the food and that we were hungry. Would he be able to send over what we ordered ASAP. He said NO– that they were busy and that it would take at least another 30 – 40 minutes to send over a new order. I walk by this place often and I have never seen more than 3 – 4 tables in there at a time, plus it sounded like complete silence in the background. He insisted that they were «slammed.»
I asked to speak to a manager and was told that no one was there until 11pm. I then asked what he was going to do to correct the problem and he said «Listen, everybody makes mistakes and I made a mistake, okay?» I then asked, «what are you going to do to fix the mistake?» He said, «what do you want?» I said, «either you send over the correct order ASAP or do not charge me for the incorrect order.» He would not agree to send over the correct order quickly, only that we would need to wait, but he did say he would send someone over ASAP to pick up the incorrect order or that he would charge my card. He made references to the fact that he thought I was trying to get a free meal. I informed him that my intention all along by even ordering was to get a good meal as we enjoy their eggplant parms.
I told the man that I didn’t trust him to send over the correct version without spitting in my food (as I did not like his attitude and would not trust him to send us over a quality meal) and he didn’t even say that would not happen, he just said «OK.»
I do not think that this place understands how to deal with customers. They were not willing to accomodate on any level– even though they admitted that the mistakes were their own. I grew up in an Italian restaurant, I know that customers can be frustrating, However, as the establishment, when you make the mistake, it is your job to correct the mistake at whatever cost– last night that would have meant getting a new order to me ASAP or comping the order either this time or for next time. Da Giulio seemed more concerned in getting back the incorrect order as they kept offering to send someone over ASAP to pick up the wrong food, but he wasnt offering for them to bring over the correct order. What I find even more odd about all of this is that had you come over to pick up the food– you would have had to throw it away anyways as you cannot serve that to another customer. Thus, why he wasn’t willing to comp the order due to it being his error (as he admitted) is beyond me. Their desire to get the food back coupled with the fact that the man on the phone didn’t even try to reassure me that they wouldn’t do anything nasty to my new order made me really uneasy about their practices.
Needless to say, we will no longer be ordering in from or dining at Da Giulio as they clearly do not value their customers.

i ordered lunch for my whole office online through the restaurant’s website. half an hour later i got a call from the restaurant saying that they don’t deliver for lunch because they didn’t have enough staff. i told him that they’d have to make an exception because i had ordered half an hour ago and it was too late to order from somewhere else. then he told me that i must have used an outdated menu because they don’t even have over half of the items that i ordered anymore. hello?!? i ordered through the RESTAURANT’S website. i told him i wanted a call back from the manager, which hasn’t happened. now my whole office is waiting for lunch, which is late because i had to order it in the last minute from somewhere else. needless to say, i am never giving this place my business again

Fabulous food and strong drinks. We will be back.

Terrific ‘neighborhood Italian restaurant’. Attentive service & very accommodating!
It’s my favorite Italian place in the city, and perfect for business, friends, or family.
Beware the blue martini!

We stumbled upon this place as tourists after a long day of walking around the city and it was a wonderful experience. The food was great and reasonably priced, the staff was friendly and accommodating, and we each received one glass of complimentary wine with our meal. We had the linguine with clams, pasta with meat balls and calamari. The décor is very much outdated, but I always prefer these hole-​in-​the wall authentic places over the hip-​scene restaurants.

If you find yourself the only people there, it’s not AMAZING. There is a reason. And If the best dining experience you could get was here, then you should really move out of your bubbles.
This place was terrible. But I didn’t go by choice — it was a group decision and in this case, I’d prefre going with the flow. This is one of scenarios where one should have spoken up and didn’t and regreted the rest of the life.
The bread basket was horrible — fried polenta balls? friend cheese? dry bread? Really, I am not sure what else of the left-​overs they could pile up on one bread basket, but they did.
Fried calamari was an oder of someone and he was sweet enough to share with the table. The frieds calamari tasted like McDonald’s fries (I mean the breaded fried part). The person who ordered the grilled calamari didnt finish, regardless how Italian this portion was, whcih means it wasn’t good.
Risotto was NOT the arbor rice. It was not even close. Needless to say, the texture was bad.
I got a linguine alle vongole (linguine with clams sauce). On the menu, it said it’s Fresh Linguine. And I wonder, does it mean other pasta was not fresh? And it was served, good lord, it was fresh alright — fresh off the store-​bought box. Canned clams and juice to make the sauce and they dumped sh*t load of olive oil hoping to create that texture and flavor.
There is a fundamental conceptual flaw in the Unilocal rating system. It should allow zero star on the scale. If so, this places deserved no star!

Literally one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had in New York. Their menu is very limited, but has a lot of variety in the few things they do offer. It’s also not priced crazy, but is a little more high end than your average eatery.
I wandered in here when I had an hour to kill before meeting up with someone for a movie (at the ol’ Kips Bay). Instead of going to La Bella, which can sometimes be disappointing, I decided to go with something new. It helped that it was raining and I wanted to duck in some place not that far from the subway. Italian is always a safe bet. This place was kind of weird in that the pizza place next door was packed, but this place was completely empty. I got there around 8:00 PM. It wasn’t until I finished my appetizer that someone else came into the restaurant. When I left, there were only about 5 other people there.
The service was very good. The food? Exquisite. I will totally take out of towners here and act like I eat at places like this every night. I got some sort of mozzerella started that looked like something created for ‘Top Chef’

The food at Da’Giulio was amazing, though this place was so quiet for lunch on a Thursday afternoon… it was kind of bizarre as we were the only people there until around 2pm when two older gentlemen came in to sit at the bar and have a glass of wine. Given the midtown location, I was more than surprised, but it just meant more attention for our table.
The appetizers we shared were fantastic… my favorite was the Clams Casino. And for my appetizer I had the Ravioli (I know, kind of boring), but everyone else seemed to devour their entrees, as well. The portions were a nice size and the service was decent. Plus, the prices won’t break the bank.

In a neighborhood overrun with curry, a comfortable and relatively cheap Italian restaurant is always welcomed. We came here around 8pm on a Sunday night, and were the only ones there initially, but it was practically full by 9pm. Odd.
The best part of the meal might have been the bread basket, in which they also include some sort of fried corn fritter. Unfortunately, when we asked for the refill, they only provided normal bread. Blast! Most of the actual dishes we ordered were filling (obviously — its Italian food) but uninspired. The scallops in particular left much to be desired — I think we must have gotten the deformed batch that mysteriously didn’t have any flavor.
Service here was friendly, but they just took so freaking long. It probably took 30-​ish minutes after we ordered for our salad to arrive, and another hour plus for our pasta and entrée to arrive. Especially given that we were the only ones there for a solid 30 – 45 minutes, it made no sense to us.
Trattoria Belevedere is about a block away, only slight more expensive, and a lot better food.

Wasn’t that impressed. Atmosphere seemed welcoming but there was no background music so the silence (only 2 tables of people) made things a little awkward at times. Seemed like a place with some regulars so maybe I didn’t order the right thing or just have a different taste in Italian food.
Eggplant parmegan appetizer was fair, though tasted like something you buy in the frozen food isle. My gnocchi with veal ragu was so overcooked and mushy — I didn’t bother taking the leftovers home. Our crème brûlée dessert (why even offer this in an Italian restaurant?) was sub par. It came out 2 minutes after we ordered it, so we figure they had it sitting there and warmed it up in the microwave for us. We didn’t even finish it.
Granted, it was an affordable meal ($ 60 for 2 people) but not worth it to me. Next time, I’ll be checking out one of the various other Italian restaurants in the neighborhood.

After taking over an hour to get to my apartment on 34^th street from 125^th, my family was hungry, cranky and tired. We headed to Vezzo, in hopes to get some delicious pizza, but with a half hour wait, we decided to head next door to Da’ Giulio. If you are tight on time and don’t want to read this entry, I can sum it up with this — we should have waited at Vezzo.
I really thought Da’ Giulio was going to be a hidden gem. Several tables were filled, and crisp white table linens awaited us. To our surprise, some free appetizers of polenta fries, focaccia and what I think were rice balls were placed on our table. They were okay, nothing outstanding, but something to take the edge off our hunger.
We ordered fried calamari and insalata caprese to start. The fried calamari tasted like it came just out of the freezer, but the sauce was delicious. I started second guessing that I should have ordered something with marinara sauce for my entrée. As far as the insalata caprese went, my dad was very disappointed that the mozzarella had a weird creamy substance too it. I have an affinity for cheese so I didn’t think it was too bad, but I would have liked it better if it was more of a solid.
As I waited for dinner, I saw a grown man at another table get the ravioli, a dish I was going to order earlier. There were only four raviolis on the entire plate. Call me chubs, but that would not fill me up. I was thankful I went for the scallops and asparagus dish, until it came out on the table. There were only five scallops and three pieces of asparagus. Unfortunately, the scallops were a little overcooked, and they had no flavor at all. I sadly think I’ve made better scallops when I made a package of frozen Trader Joe’s scallops and squirted them with lemon. As far as the marinara sauce went, I tried my brother’s spaghetti and sauce — much thinner than what was presented with the calamari.
I left Da’ Giulio feeling disappointed, and a belly full of a mediocre meal. While the food wasn’t inedible, it’s not worth going back for.

I noticed Da’ Giulio because of a sign outside its window — $ 11 for a pasta dish and a glass of wine. I certainly liked the sound of that, so I mentally checked Da’ Giulio as a place to try, and when I finally made it there I was quite pleased.
The atmosphere isn’t anything to write home about. There are about 10 tables in the restaurant, and the décor is a bit outdated, but it was cute enough. They start every table off with a small plate of free h’ourderves — this always wins BIG points with me, so I was already enjoying myself within the first five minutes. They served a small polenta rhombus shaped thing, arancini and a piece of bruschetta. It was good and I was very appreciative.
I ordered a glass of the merlot as my wine of choice and my friend had the pinot grigio. The wines were good, but really, unless it’s sour or too sweet, I don’t complain and drink it happily.
I went with my favorite, gnocchi, and it came with a veal ragout. I don’t eat veal, so I was a little hesitant about this sauce but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. I wish I didn’t.
The gnocchi were delicious and they felt like soft, little pillows of dough, just as they should. And the portion size was big enough for some leftovers, but unfortunately I didn’t want to take any home. The veal ragout sauce was just weird to me. I couldn’t get any flavor from the veal, but I did notice the difference it made in the texture. It was mealy, almost like a piece of bread was soaked in the sauce for 24 hours and it started to decompose and break apart in small little pieces. I was not a fan. However, I would go back and get the gnocchi again, but in a different sauce.
My friend had the Riggatoni Da’ Giulio with prosciutto, shitake mushrooms and artichokes in a mascarpone sauce, and it was quite good. I’m not a big fan of riggatoni (to me the different pasta shapes actually do taste differently), but the sauce was great — very flavorful and the mascarpone cheese gave it a creamy texture without being too heavy. I would definitely recommend this dish for those who enjoy cream-​based sauces.
All in all we enjoyed some free appetizers, a glass of wine and a pasta dish for only $ 11 each, plus tax and tip. Despite my disappointment with the veal ragout sauce, I highly recommend Da’ Giulio for a cheap and delicious Italian dinner. It may not be the best Italian around, but it’s hard to beat the value.

Da Giulio deserves 3.5. Family restaurant with the classics. Generous in portions but when we were here they totally forgot our apps? All three of them? It was an interesting situation but we we’re good sports about it. Fagetaboutit!
Nice friendly neighborhood classic. When I’m craving gnocchi this is the place.

so actually the pasta at this place was pretty solid (among three of us we had the veal gnocchi, the spinach gnocchi, and rigatoni), but the service was kind of.. .leisurely. like i can multitask. i can drink a glass of water, and eat those delicious but very weird-​looking risotto balls /​polenta appetizer things and peruse a menu.. . all at the same time. i know it seems kind of tricky at first, but after years of dining i think i can manage. i don’t need 20 mins for each task.
good, but it doesn’t really stand out i guess to me. maybe i’d give it 2 stars, but it scares me when the stars are yellow. it’s too sad.
—-edit — –
ok fine, i give it two stars.

While the décor at this place is outdated (everything is a weird pinky-​purple shade, and the carpet is straight out of the 1980s), the food makes up for the decorating flashback. Incongruous with the setting, oddly enough, was the plates, serving dishes and flatware. They are super modern, and all pure white in really funky and beautiful shapes. I kind of want to find out where they got them so I can stock my kitchen…
Service is great — attentive but unintrusive; granted the place never really seems to get packed, but the waiters still seem to genuinely care about each table and don’t try to hurry you.
On a recent evening a girlfriend and I met up here to eat a light snack and get some of their tasty desserts. When you first sit down they bring a plate of bread, foccaccia, olives, polenta and risotto balls, served with a side of olive oil for dipping. This is a great start to the meal and everything is very fresh and tastes very authentic.
We chose the calamari as an appetizer to split and it was wonderful — some of the best I have had in a while. The squid had a great flavor and the battering was just in the right proportion so as not to overwhelm the squid. The marinara sauce that comes with it was homemade and tasted so fresh I swear the grow the tomatoes in the kitchen!
For desserts, my favorite is the Amaretto mousse, which is unbelievably rich and yet has such a light taste. Tiramisu here is decent but not the best I’ve ever had.
Good place to take the girls, or go on a date. Pricing is really reasonable, with pastas in the $ 12-​$ 15 range, apps around $ 7 – 12 and desserts for $ 6.
****
Update: Minus One Star
Ordered take out from here to taste test the pasta. I was especially excited about the Gnocchi that Alicia D. raved about. I got the Spinach gnocchi in a four cheese reduction. The sauce was amazing — tasted really complex and you could taste the different flavors distinctly, especially the delicious bleu cheese. However, the gnocchi were a different story. As my friend said, they «tasted like balls of creamed spinach». Instead of melting on your tongue like good gnocchi, they just kind of disintegrate into a mush. The spinach taste was overwhelming and it was just weird. It is not even that it tasted bad so much as it did not taste like authentic gnocchi.
My friend had the Pollo Da Giulio, which was really moist and tender, but the flavors didn’t sing and the pasta that came with totally run of the mill. I do like that they include bread and focaccia with your take out, but the fact that the vast majority of my meal consisted of dipping the bread in my cheese sauce was disappointing. So I think that I will just stick with apps and desserts from here!

this place is really a 3.5, but i’ll round up since they gave us risotto balls and corn fritters along with our bread. i came here a little bit before 8 on friday night. the place was pretty much empty when we got there, but it filled up quickly. the space is also quite small and consists of mostly small tables. i would say the overall atmosphere verges more on the romantic side, but not overly so.
having heard good things about the pasta, my friend & i decided to split the scialiatelli (homemade ribbon pasta w/​shrimp in a lobster sauce) & the four cheese spinach gnocchi. we also had the beef carpaccio as an appetizer. prices are reasonable, running about $ 12-​$ 15 per pasta dish, and about $ 8 for an appetizer.
the carpaccio was very normal but i enjoyed it. the scialiatelli was good, but i kept wondering if the pasta was actually homemade given the uniformity of the noodles. i’ve had better pasta elsewhere but there was nothing wrong about this dish either. the gnocchi came artfully arranged in fan like shape on my place. they were much bigger than i was accustomed to (almost ravioli size), very cheesy, and covered in creamy cheese sauce. they were cooked just to the right tender consistency too. if you have strong feelings (of LOVE) towards cheese/​spinach, then this is the dish for you! i thought the gnocchi was really good, but i’m glad that i didn’t have to eat the whole dish by myself. both of the pasta dishes were a tad too salty.
we decided to skip dessert since we were already carb-​ladden from the meal, but the offerings were uninspiring (tiramisu, cheesecake, chocolate stuff, etc).
service was really good without being intrusive. overall, i would come here again because it’s convenient, relatively easy to get a table, the prices are reasonable, and the food is satisfying.

Breaking News: Da’ Giulio serves up the BEST four cheese gnocchi in the whole darn city!
The downside is that I can no longer enjoy gnocchi the way I used to at other Italian restaurants. It’s just no good in comparison.
For all fans of gnocchi and/​or cheese, you gatta check this place out.

Excellent Italian food from this unexpected mid-​town gem. You’d hardly notice it from the street because of it’s darkened mirrors and less than noticeable sign (their loss unfortunately) — we went one day in our neverending quest for good pasta. and even though the place was completely empty on a Friday afternoon at 3pm, we decided to give it a shot.
Although it was kind of awkward being the only customers in the restaurant, the waiters were friendly, unintrusive, and the food was one of the best I’ve had for a reasonable price of between $ 11-​$ 15 per pasta dish. The Gnocchi Vitello was fresh and tasty even after I ate it as leftovers.
We’ll definitely be going back. I’m happy to announce that I might just have found my neighborhood Italian joint.