De Santos

Went for a boozy brunch on a sunday. Despite having been a bit hungover, we opted for the unlimited ($ 39/​person for unlimited mimosa and bloody marys + an entrée)
They walked us through a very cute space before taking us downstairs to the dungeon. Definitely a very different feel downstairs. The waitress refilled our water several times before we just asked her to take our order. Several burgers, steak and eggs and a bacon mac and cheese were ordered a long with bloody marys and mimosas.
They brought glasses and pitchers of drinks for the table which i appreciated since it made for quick refills. The bm was ok. but i have definitely had better. I asked for more ice and because its in a pitcher there was no celery or garnish. Coyld have used some olives, lemon, etc. Mimosa was good.
Food came out fairly quickly. Steak and eggs. while cooked correctly there was VERY little steak. My bacon mac and cheese was the winner. Burger was a little dry, but the fries were good.
Overall i would give 3.5. Seemed over priced but i appreciate that they were happy refilling our drinks sever times over and my mac and cheese was tasty but i wish it had come with a little something else. I might go back if i can sit upstairs in the garden area.

Are you still open!!! I went tonight and there’s no sign, and lights were off.

De Santos is an A+ location with an A+ garden patio to eat outside. Everyone else falls from average to below-​average. Slow wait times, both for a table (where there is no room to wait if you’re not a big drinker) and for the food to come from the kitchen. Food is smaller portions with a «good» taste with prices that are pricey, but not offensive.
Lets put it this way. If you have a Groupon-​type deal: 3.5-stars. If you come out off the street for a dinner on the town: 2.5 stars.
Dont go with a party more than 4.

De Santos is a hidden gem! The brunch is spectacular. This restaurant does not have a fault: the food is great, décor is wonderful, and service is even better (Ignacio was our waiter, and he is the absolute best!). Highly recommend this place to those looking for a great bottomless brunch!

We visited De Santos yesterday evening for a birthday. My friend was guaranteed a table of six outside on the garden patio when she phoned for the reservation. When we arrived, they could not accommodate us due to a private party. After little fuss from the owner/​manager, we sat down and ordered beverages. With mostly Italian food, they offered one beer, an IPA. Very little variety in the drink menu and food menu. After drinks arrived, a friend at the table asked to use their guest wifi. We were told the wifi was for employees only which was strange given they had a dedicated login for guests. Then, we spotted a cockroach on the ceiling, presumably entering from a large hole that could easily be patched or filled. After pointing this out to our waitress, she said «well, this is Manhattan.» We were not told this would be addressed with management which would have been an appropriate response. Our food arrived. The pastas were mediocre at best, definitely not worth $ 21 per plate. We finished with dessert, chocolate cake and cheesecake. The cheesecake was extremely disappointing, tasting like it was made from a 3D printer. The only redeeming experience was the band that performed live. Unfortunately cannot recommend to anyone on Unilocal and would definitely advise you to steer clear for special events.
Cons: Roach on ceiling, little attention from management around issues, disappointing menu and food, poor front of restaurant management, poor service.
Pro: Live music

We had a great brunch here on Sunday! We had made reservations ahead of time for 12 of us girls to celebrate during our bachelorette party weekend for a friend. They had our table ready when we arrived at 11:30am. There were only a couple other tables with people at them. Apparently 11:30am is early for brunch in nyc?
Our server promptly got our drink orders, which they recently changed. The options are bloody marys, screwdrivers, or margaritas. The bloody marys and screwdrivers seemed to have very little alcohol compared to the margaritas, but this was probably a good thing since we were there for a couple hours. They used pitchers so that we were never running out of drinks, which was great!
We had a variety of food ordered, but my favorites were the bacon mac n cheese and the banana pancakes. Everyone loved their meals!
Even as the place started to get busier, the staff was very friendly in letting us take our time and continuing to serve us.
My only complaint would be the bathrooms. As you go downstairs (into the dungeon as others have described), you find their tini-​tiny bathrooms. The women’s room had two ‘tiny stalls’ in which you can barely squat. Then there is a tiny sink in the corner. However, the sink was clogged and about to overflow while I was there. When we informed that staff, they didn’t care enough to fix it within the 2.5 hours we were there.
Overall, it was a great experience and the food/​drinks were worth the $ 39 charge!

I write this review with bitter sweet emotions. The ‘sweet’ comes from the fact that I just had a dinner here with a good friend of mine who I haven’t seen in a few years with our girlfriends. The appetizers, the main courses (I had the salmon), and the wine were delicious. The service was so good. The atmosphere was exactly what I was hoping to show off to my out-​of-​town friend of the New York village restaurant vibe. It was great.
The «bitter» part of the review comes because by giving this place a 5 star review, more people are going to know about it and it won’t be my secret any more. No no, I’m not actaully serious. The main takeaway from my review can be summed up in the following sentence: «I enjoyed putting the food they put on the table in front of me, inside myself… and then giving them money for it.» It is so ordered.

I recently ate at De Santos after I purchased a Gilt City deal. I was aware of the mixed reviews so I wasn’t particularly surprised when it was empty for dinner. After an hour or so, the dinning room picked up a bit but not what you expect in the west village. It’s really quite rustic inside and the garden area looked wonderful. Unfortunately, there was a horrible vibration in the main dining area that absolutely killed any ambiance. After the dining room filled some, the vibration seemed to drown out, but it was terrible. I had to move tables because of the vibration (due to some construction?). The server was not very knowledgeable regarding the menu and kept having to ask the manager questions. I appreciate that they pace their courses and they do not rush you. For starters, the mac and cheese is really excellent — that much I agree with. The steak lacked flavor; I had to add salt to get it to where I like it. The pork chop was seasoned well but somewhat over cooked. Nothing was spectacular. Portion sizes were good. The lava cake was very good (as it should be). Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed.

This is a return visit and it’s even better than the 1^st time! We order the arugula salad and truffle Mac and cheese which were both delicious! Next the chicken and it also very good. The staff was very attentive and the drinks were bozzie! The outside is really nice and quiet!

This place was once referred to as the panty dropper of restaurants by a former colleague. While, I wasn’t overly impressed at this restaurant it was still good.
It definitely gets loud and turns more into a bar on the evenings.
We were sat right in the middle of things so our table and chair kept getting bumped into. Had we been sitting in a comfortable spot I would definitely have been happier.
We had the tuna tartare and the shrimp salad for apps. They were both really flavorful and delicious. Unfortunately, someone who was standing next to us sneezed as we were midway through the apps and didn’t cover their mouth. So we weren’t able to finish.
For our mains we had the NY Strip and the Lobster gnocchi. The Lobster gnocchi was amazing. My friend thought the strip was tasty, not steakhouse tasty but good for what it was.
Cocktails here are the way to go, forget the wine ! The Ms. Rose and the Moscow Mule, they were awesome.
I would give this place a 4 but I couldn’t really enjoy my food or drink because we kept being bumped into. I’ve recommended this place for dates, it’s definitely a good date spot.

We had a horrible dining experience at De Santos last night. When we walked in, the atmosphere was very quaint and I was excited for a good meal with my boyfriend. However, we got anything BUT that. Everything was a disappointment from the food to the service.
First, we sat at our table and waited too long for the waitress to take our drink orders. Then, when she came over she asked us what we wanted to eat before even telling us about the menu or asking what we would like to drink. We ordered two drinks and said we would start off with a salad. We were never told what the specials were, if there were any.
Our drinks took so long that our salad arrived before our two vodka sodas (very simple drink order). The only vodka they had was Tito’s, which was even worse. The salad was mediocre and bland, nothing to rave about. We saw multiple tables receiving bread but no one brought us a bread basket.
Our waitress never checked in on us and someone else came over to take our food order. We still had not received bread so I asked this person to please bring us bread. Still nothing… then we saw our waitress and asked her for bread and still nothing. Then she came back and said there was no more bread! This was after we saw FIVE tables get bread after the second time we asked.
Then, the meals came and they undercooked my steak and overcooked by boyfriend’s lamb. Again, the food was nothing to rave about — similar to an Applebee’s, the only difference being that salt is apparently a Faberge egg and far too valuable to spare any for our food. We would’ve loved another Tito’s at this point, but the waitress was far too occupied to ask.
Finally, when the bill came, we had to laugh because there were two orders of bread on the receipt when we received none!
We will never return but were still nice enough to leave a 10% tip — it should have been zero! Diners beware!

I ate at De Santos a year ago and still salivate over the memory of the truffle mac and cheese with lobster. I don’t understand why this restaurant is not listed under the various «Best Mac and Cheese» lists littering the interwebs, but it should be!
It seems like some reviewers have faced terrible service. I cannot speak to that… Memories of the staff’s amicability are eclipsed by yumminess of the food.

At first when you walk up, this looks like someone’s apartment, so imagine you go to your friends apartment who has really impeccable taste in decorating, but thinks that truffle makes everything high class…
.the way that person thinks of themselves, is kinda how this restaurant does. Came for brunch and was shocked/​delighted that it was practically empty at noon on a Sunday. $ 39 for all you can drink and an entrée for brunch – not bad I guess, but it certainly isn’t a deal. I ordered their burger, which I asked for without cheese (somehow they also omitted the bacon *crying face*) and when ordered medium rare it was CHARRED on the outside – tasted burnt too – and basically rare inside. I honestly couldn’t finish it because of how badly blackened the outside was. Luckily the fries were delicious.
I could see myself coming here again to try something different, but only if other preferable brunch places were already all booked up.

I really wanted to like this place where I came for my friends 30^th birthday but WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! Very careless service and the food was consistently brought out wrong. They also ran out of everything by the time we got there. I understand that can happen but at least offer something else in return or go out and buy the stuff… I’m talking about Orange Juice and Proseco.
Even when they messed up on one or two things, you’d think they would start to pay attention to the service yet they just didn’t seem to care. Even when they comped the bill. very odd. Sorry but there are SO many places to brunch at :-(

I can only guess that this was one of those situations where half of the staff just quit the night before because this was the absolute worst experience I’ve had eating out in New York City in a very long time.
Here’s the rundown:
Grade Pending — Should’ve been the first sign this was not going to go well.
We had an 8pm Reservation a month in advance for a party of 10. We all arrived on time. The cocktails we ordered from the bar were too sweet and hardly contained alcohol.
We specifically reserved a table in the back but they set us up for the table in the front of the restaurant between the host’s stand and the bar near the door. They adjusted this for us.
We were not given enough menus and our server asked us for our orders 1 minute after we sat down. He didn’t come back for about 30 minutes to start taking any orders.
Wine:
By the time we did get one of the wines, it wasn’t even what we ordered (ordered Pino Grigio and got Sauvignon Blanc). They shorted us a glass and it took 10 minutes to get a glass.
More than half an hour after placing our order, a server came out with two burgers. We did have two burgers at our table but these burgers were for the nearby table that was seated long after us. After some of us munched on a few fries the servers grabbed the plates from our table and served them directly to the table next to us. What!!!
9:30pm
We finally get our apps. The only positive thing I can say about this night is that the Brussels Sprouts appetizer was really good, but at that point we had been there for an hour and a half.
10pm
We still have no food. At this point there has been little mention to our table about what was going on. The head of our table spoke with the server and a manager who both promised to comp the whole dinner. When we received the $ 500+ bill there was a $ 90 reduction. They eventually shaved off some more.
Awful, awful, awful. How can a place like this even exist? Where was the owner? Was he or she there? We were all VERY patient. Unless this place undergoes a drastic change don’t ever go here.
Other notes:
The bathrooms were tiny (even by New York standards) and the floors were wet and slippery, I guess because it was raining out?
Apparently there were specials for the night but nobody told us until we asked.
And finally not one person asked me how my meal was.

I like the décor very much, very relaxing, like you’re in somebody’s house almost. It has a lovely garden area in the back too.
They have a new chef and menu, the food was very-​very good. I would go back again.

I was so disappointed at first when our waiter brought a totally different menu from a new chef. I was so skeptic, I always loved the food at De Santos, keeping my sure perfect meal for special occasions. Well, I was so so so pleased! We had the Brussels sprouts for appetizer: delicious! Hubby had the salmon with something confit on top and I had the steak super duper charred cooked (as my preference) and both dishes were delectable. We shared a crème brûlée for dessert: perfect. Compliments to the new chef, the food was excellent.
Also I would like to thank our waiter for his stellar service. It was my birthday tonight and Arnold took the best care of us. He was so attentive, so delicate when it came to my concerns for the new menu and so professional. He definitely made our dinner an excellent experience :)

I had a lovely dinner here last night in the back garden with my friends. The ambiance out back is incredible. It is beautiful and serene! To start, I had the Ms. Rose cocktail, which was good, but should have been colder. My friends very much enjoyed the Santos and Cucumber Martini cocktails.
For my entrée, I had the shrimp salad (trying to get rid of the birthday poundage ;)) and it was surprisingly delicious and filling. I also tried my friends’ zucchini linguine and roasted chicken and both were very good.
For dessert, we split the dulce de leche crepes. Yum!

We literally stumbled across this restaurant. We were walking around looking for a place to eat. Some places had too long of a wait. Others didn’t have food that we could all agree upon, so we finally after searching forever ended up here.
It has an upscale vibe. There is a full bar.
We were there for dinner. Apparently, they also have a brunch. This is a «fancy» restaurant with high prices. This is a place to go for good food, but don’t go on a budget.
G had the basil crusted swordfish on a bed of corn and kale. It was delicious. It costs $ 25.
The restaurant also gives you some bread while you await your meal.
I went with the De Santo’s burger. It was delicious, even though it was $ 17. It was topped with bacon and mozzarella cheese. The bun was also really good.
It also comes with spicy fries. One of the sauces was a basil aioli. It was so good. I ate every bite of it. I ate everything (burger, fries, and aioli.) I was so stuffed, but it was worth it. :)
If I went for brunch, I would seriously consider getting the burger again or the steak and eggs.
Hopefully, I’ll return to New York sometime and get to sample it.

UGH!!!
Went for my sister’s birthday, we bought the Gilt voucher for 4 apps, 4 entrees, 2 deserts and 8 drinks.
We got there and were seated and given the regular menu… even after I mentioned that I had a Gilt voucher… I asked if we had a particular menu and was told no, then come to find out we did.
The service was the WORST!!! The waiter just started and it was clear he never waited a table in ANY restaurant. They take your order on iPads which are HIGHLY IMPERSONAL (get rid of these)…the waiter never made eye contact with us, didn’t remember our orders when we told him AS HE WAS TYPING IT IN!!! He was completely out of it and that is the NICEST THING I could say.
He kept pushing us to order or get our next course. He told us that we needed to hurry with dinner because desert will take 40 minutes to make and they needed the time… so we hurried to order desert and sure enough we got COLD CREME BRULE. Seriously!!! I wanted to die, it was the worst!!!
At the end of the meal he gave us the bill and hovered over us, circling the table like a freekin hawk so he could pick up the bill. I gave him a 10% tip, I was so po’d. WHO DOES THAT???
The food was okay, not worth the hype… I had the salmon with salad and the other two at dinner had the chicken. The presentation is great but that’s really it. It’s not so amazing.
I spoke to the manager, he was really sweet about my complaints… but this experience was totally terrible it was beyond repair. :(Good luck at this place.