Felidia

Wow, this is my favorite Italian place in the city. Not cheap, but definitely worth it. The home made pasta is always fresh, desserts are yummy and love that Felidia herself is usually around making sure all is well. The pear pasta, ragout and tagliatelle are all winners. Save a few bucks on the $ 32 lunch. 2 courses and a dessert.

We visited the restaurant last Saturday evening, for a very special event, our parent’s 70^th birthday. We were in from out of town, and made reservations well in advance. It was a rainy evening, we arrived and were greeted, and promptly taken to our table. The room is stunning, quiet, serene, and classic, and not very large. It was quiet enough that you could actually talk, which can sometimes be rare these days. A wonderful setting to celebrate such an event.
From the beginning to the end, everything exceeded our expectations. The sommelier (Jeff?) was a highlight of the evening, offering interesting selections for us that were within our budget, and even brought us some delicious after dinner drinks for our parents’ birthday. His presence was a highlight in our visit, and we absolutely loved his selections and his knowledge. It’s a joy to be around people who love what they do, and it shows.
The handmade pastas are hands-​down the best pastas I’ve ever had. We had chicken liver starters, all of the small plates, fried olives, burrata, and many more courses. We all had different pastas, my mom has a pear ravioli at the suggestion of our waiter which was a highlight. Our waited was charming, I think it was the first night of being a captain as he told us, and his service was perfect.
The desserts blew us away! All of them incredibly complex, but also not very sweet, more rustic and delicious textures. We had also had the burrata cheesecake, not to be missed. They wrote a wonderful Happy Birthday note to our parents on a plate with cookies and brought it out to the table. We ordered after dinner Champagne, again the sommelier led us in the perfect direction, and we very much loved what he selected.
It was the perfect dinner, and the highlight of our trip to NYC for our parents’ birthday. The other highlight was for brunch at MOMA, but Felidia’s has a special place in our memories. If only we could live the night over! Thank you for the wonderful service, the warmth of hospitality, and all of the extra touches!
Sure this restaurant is not inexpensive, but it is worth every penny. To have a restaurant of this quality for 35 years is quite an achievement!

Felidia offers one of the best quality prix fixe lunches you can find in the city. 3 courses for $ 32.50. If you’re lucky, the price also includes the opportunity to meet Lidia Bastianich and gush over her culinary prowess. Not speaking from personal experience or anything! (She was super nice, too).
I ordered the roasted main diver scallops, the veal skirt steak, and the burrata cheesecake with gooseberries. All were delicious and generously portioned to the point where I was legitimately guilt-​ridden after the meal. My favorite was the veal skirt steak, which was tender and well-​seasoned. The course was presented as a salad with mushrooms, grana, and a vegetable and pistachio vinaigrette.
All in all, the food here is reliable and well-​balanced. Don’t expect Gabriel Kreuther-​levels of innovation here, but you can definitely count on the food to be interesting, fresh, consistent, and comforting.

Honestly, I was expecting much more given the reputation of Felidia, but me and my family were incredibly disappointed by this fairly mediocre and insanely expensive meal. I have no problem spending a lot on a meal, but only if it is worth it and in my opinion this just simply was not.
My husband and I each ordered a manhattan which was really not that great. We did not specify a type of whisky, so that was our mistake, but at $ 18 a pop you assume that a quality whisky will be used. It was clear that it was not. By the end of the dinner, it had given me a headache.
The bread was brought out with a white bean and pea pesto, which was very lovely and tasty. My husband and I shared a pasta appetizer with spicy red sauce and ricotta cheese. This was pretty ok The paste was homemade, the sauce had pretty good flavor, the ricotta was fresh. For an entrée, I ordered the risotto special with morel mushrooms and zucchini blossoms. They were kind enough to make it with vegetable broth because I am a vegetarian. The risotto, however, was severely lacking flavor and was just really boring. I ate about half of it and asked for salt to give it something and even then only took a few more bites. My husband wasn’t impressed with his entrée either. He ordered the pork chop and just found it lacking flavor. My parents were equally not that impressed with their entrees as well.
I am typically a dessert person, but after that meal I just wasn’t that enthused to order any. This is weird for me. It was my mother’s birthday in addition to it being mother’s day, and the staff brought out a complimentary plate of cookies with the dessert my mom ordered. That was very thoughtful. Overall, the service was impeccable. I felt very taken care of and attended to and everyone did it with a smile on their face. I just wasn’t super impressed with the food. I was very surprised by this. I’m not sure I would come back here.

Incredible food. Love to sit and dine at the bar and watch the action. Bartender Josh is the Best!

5 stars is an understatement for this establishment which has been around for years.
I came in for dinner on Thursday evening and was blown away. The professionalism of the staff is close to perfect. The wait staff and bartenders are amazing, attentive and fast.
The food was delicious, rich in flavor and fresh. The menu looked so appetizing that I couldn’t chose so we went with the 5-​course meal.
I started off with a fresh raw seafood plate– delicious! Then we had pear and cheese ravioli, which at first I was a bit thrown off by, but once I tasted it, I was blown away. Beyond delicious, and different. Then we had a pappardelle with pork (I think). Which was fantastic. And the 4^th course was a grilled Branzino with veggies. The waiter brought it over, showed us, and then began to skin the fish with a knife and spoon, right next to our table. He did a wonderful job. I only had a few bones left in mine which was expected. The taste of the fish was indescribable. So moist, definitely cooked to perfection. There was so much fish that I barely had room for the vegetables.
For the 5^th course, they brought over several types of desserts. I barely had any room for dessert but I’m sure they were all very tasty.
The drinks kept flowing all night, the waitstaff made sure of that.
Amazing ambiance, food, service and drinks. I can not wait to be back!

Perfect service. Amazing food. Definitely try the bean, burrata and quinoa salad. The beet salad is amazing. I am gluten free and the restaurant accommodated me with gluten free bread, gf squid ink crackers and gluten free ravioli with pear and pecorino which was delicious. The burrata cheesecake was gluten free and superb, and that’s from someone who doesn’t have a sweet tooth!

4 instead of 5 stars simply because of the hostess. Reservations for 2 at 8pm on a Saturday. We arrived as a party of 3 hoping they could accommodate. They said it wasn’t a problem but it would take 20 minutes before a larger table opened. It took 50 minutes. I understand a 5 – 10 minute difference given uncertainty but we would have gone elsewhere if they had told us it would be an hour wait. And the hostess wasn’t pleasant when we, understandably asked for an update every 10 minutes after the 20 minute estimate.
Aside from the hostess, the experience was fantastic. The food — ravioli, bolognese and fish were all outstanding. The service was professional, courteous and simply on point. The tuna and salmon crudités was good as an app. The bread and olive oil were delicious. Solid Italian, albeit on the pricey side.

It’s my birthday and my wife made reservation here for dinner on a Saturday night at 5:30 pm. My first time here so didn’t know what to expect other than the fact I know it is going to be pricey. Anyway, we were promptly seated by the lovely hostess and given water & menu by the captain (our server). The menu is a little confusing in the beginning so we had to ask the captain for clarification. He was professional and patient with us. We inquired about a possible wine pairing and the sommelier (Jeff) came up with fantastic wines to go with each dish (even dessert).
The captains tasting menu (5 courses). You basically can pick 2 apps/​2 different pastas /​and a main course from the menu to share. We picked the octopus app and beef tripe app. Both were tasty and excellent. The wine pairing made them taste even better. The two pastas were freshly made and delicious. We selected the lamb chops as our main course and they were perfect. The service was friendly, attentive, and outstanding. We were seated on the 1^st floor and the dining room ambiance is cozy. The dessert is a fruit crêpe with ice cream.
On a Saturday night, this place is full but at no point did they rush us. Overall, Lydia is the perfect place to come for a special occasion if you enjoy creative and delicious Italian food (this is not a pizza place).

Fabulous food and a great atmosphere for lunch. The dish combinations are tantalizing and very reasonable prices. Highly recommend
#ScarcelliRealEstateGroup

I’m almost upset that I’ve ever given any other restaurant a 5 star rating because compared to Felidia, they didn’t deserve it. For dinner, I had one of the specials of the night. The seafood pasta was AMAZING — almost as good as the truffle risoto that my mom had (and I taste-​tested). Both are highly recommended by me. The best dish was the tartufo that they serve for desert– there are no words…
Above all, the service was beyond. The surprised us with a few complimentary items, all of which crushed any expectations you could possibly have, and made me want to make my next reservation here on the spot!

Since I watch Lidia’s cooking show, I’ve decided to take advantage of the restaurant week lunch offer and visited Felidia for the first time today
The chicken soup was amazingly delicious, her staff here is very friendly and I’ve also tried their espresso and maybe that’s what is keeping me still up OR maybe it’s the excitement of seeing Lidia is person there today
Either way

Just really delicious italian food! A very old-​school restaurant, no frills, just a focus on service and food. We were under-​dressed for what is really a nice place, and they didn’t seem to look down on us so I appreciated that. Everything we had was amazing. I believe we started with burrata with fresh black truffle shaved on top, and both got pasta dishes… all perfectly executed. Felidia was a meal we really enjoyed and is worthy of Lidia’s excellent reputation.

Simple, delicious, flawlessly executed food. Definitely get the carpaccio/​tartar and the pear-​pecorino ravioli. I love when a restaurant uses only a few ingredients to make something unique and tasty, and that was everything we ate. The fresh pasta, for the ravioli, was excellent; next time, I’ll order another pasta dish for sure.
Also, waitstaff was very conscientious about my husband’s nut allergy, and also gave him lamb chops (not on the regular menu), when the pork chop sold out, without any hesitation. Will the waiters vamp and schmooze you? No, but the service was impeccable, with no poor attitude, as other reviewers have criticized. They are just very professional.
Yes, it’s very pricey, but they certainly don’t skimp on portions.
Lovely for a special occasion, with a comfy but upscale old-​Manhattan vibe.

Excellent service and food. Had the special, venison which was cooked to perfection. The octopus appetizer, the liver were just very nicely prepared. Overall it was a great experience and would definitely go back.

Good food but a little pretentious.
I’ve eaten at some amazing places and while the food at Felidia was tasty the service was a little cold. We were seated next to a group of about 8 and then a table of what seemed to be Wall Street spenders came in so our little two top ordering wine by the glass apparently didn’t warrant the attentiveness of other tables.
With that being said the food was very tasty and they have a dedicated staff working tirelessly on their extensive wine list and pairings for their meals. The menu took a minute to figure out and once we did figure it out noticed it wasn’t as extensive as I would have guessed. It is broken up by sections of surf, turf, pasta, and sides with each section having a couple of starter options and then entrees. Then the tasting menu options at the back. If I were to come back I’d try the tasting menu since it’s likely the best way to experience what they have to offer.
We had a few starters and then pasta as our main dishes since we weren’t overly hungry. The bread and bean/​pesto they give you for the table was a nice touch and quite tasty. I had the Vitello Tonnato which was just so so and my wife had the quail half portion which was also just ok. The waiter kept trying to upsell us which was a little off-​putting since it was so relentless.
For our mains she tried the Cacio e Pere which while tasty ate a little sweet for my liking. She did enjoy it so if that’s your thing it’s definitely worth a try. I had the spinach pappardelle with the braised duck and it was delicious. The duck was incredibly flavorful and paired well with spinach pasta. All in all a very satisfying dish and one that I would gladly order again.
Felidia definitely has some good food and an extensive wine list. I just didn’t care so much for the atmosphere/​service so not sure I’d go back nor if I’d recommend it to a friend.
Give it a look but be prepared to drop some big bucks or prepare to get cold service.

I have always been a fan of Lydia Bastianich, for many years. Her family style restaurant is a landmark in the city, and always still very relevant after more than three decades.
The Italian cooking there is at its best with each ingredients and products of the highest quality, their homemade pastas are off the charts, with the perfect balance of flavors and light al dente.
Their menu is divided in different sections, which include fish, meat, poultry, pastas and garden items, offering small and large portions, giving you multiple opportunities to sample them., with as well daily specials, resulting in quite a pretty extensive tasty choices.
The service is gracious and unpretentious and right on point,
Sommeliers are also present to assist for any recommendations or questions due to a significant sizeable wine list.
Décor is very cozy, and the proximity of the tables give a charming hustle bustle feel to the place, which needless to say is jam packed but in a good way.
Overall a top notch restaurant with great food, service, wines and definitely on my favorite list…

Wow.
It’s rare that an Italian restaurant blows my mind (I think the last was Bestia in LA, back in 2013). It’s rarer still that my experience there is so good, I have to write about it less than 24 hours later (usually, it takes much longer).
This wasn’t even a perfect dining experience. But the few hiccups were eclipsed by the many, many highlights. Here’s the breakdown:
Starter: Housemade Burrata with Vegetables and Crisp Kale
— We opted for this special because it sounded too good to resist. I love burrata, and I love housemade cheeses, so housemade burrata is a no-​brainer. Its texture was perfect and the tart, flavorful vegetables housed beneath it were the perfect companions
Entrée: Three shared dishes of the Cacio E Pere, the Chocolate Ravioli and the Pappardelle
— Cacio E Pere: A pear and fresh pecorino-​filled ravioli dish served with aged pecorino and crushed pepper. I normally detest sweet things in savory entrees, but the pears here were so fresh and so well complemented by the cheese and sauce, that the entire dish worked
— Chocolate Ravioli: Cocoa-​infused ravioli stuffed with winter squash, served in a brown butter sage sauce. Just phenomenal and surprisingly not the least bit sweet
— Pappardelle: The best of the bunch. Perfectly al dente strings of fat spinach pappardelle, served with braised and shredded moulard duck and mushrooms. So many of my favorite things in one dish, it was enough to make my head spin
Dessert: Tortino di Zucca All’olio
— Pumpkin olive oil cake flavored with Venetian spices, and served with amaretto ice-​cream. Words cannot express the depth of my love for olive oil cake, and this was no exception. Soft, moist, warm, and all the almond flavor one could want
Drinks: Donna Brigante, Marsala Coppler
— Both delicious in their own way, but the Donna Brigante seemed more fittingly Italian with its generous pours of Campari
Hiccups: Just a few
— Not having Lambrusco when I really, really wanted that to accompany my meal. The sommelier was very nice and suggested a reasonable alternative, but I love my pure Emilian Lambrusco and will accept no substitutes
— Giving us the bill when we hadn’t asked for it yet – and weren’t even done dessert + post-​dinner drinks yet. They tried to make up for it by saying we could take our time, but this is one of my greatest pet peeves at a restaurant. I don’t care how busy you are: unless you have a stated time limit for meals, you do not rush your diners
— Trying to take away the bill when we clearly hadn’t paid yet – because we were still finishing our drinks. See above for why this annoys me
Despite the few kinks, I will most definitely be coming back here and splurging on one of their truffle tasting menus. Can’t. Wait.

Best new restaurant I tried on this NY trip. The restaurant itself has a very laid back and cozy atmosphere with dim lighting; I can see why many reviewers said they have to wait if they have a later reservation. It is very easy to lose track of time while sitting in the restaurant.
We opted for the 5 course tasting menu which consists of an antipasto, 2 pasta dishes, a secondi, and dessert. Unlike many other restaurants, it was not a separate menu for the tasting or a set menu, so we got to pick dishes from the actual menu. My relative and I decided to try different dishes so we could taste more dishes!
Antipasto–
–Polipo– omg… it was absolutely delicious. The octopus was so tender yet had a charing on the outside that created a textural component to the dish. It was perfectly plated with tomatoes, cucumbers, and a vinegrette.
— Fagiolini e Ricotta — very interesting dish. The ricotta added a creaminess to the dish and everything went surprisingly well.
— They also gave us a complimentary tasting of another dish which had asparagus and thin slices of prosciutto on top.
Pasta–
— Minestra Di Pesce — who knew that a seafood broth could be so flavorful?! I truly tasted the ocean in each spoonful of this soup. It is more of a seafood soup with pieces of pasta
— Cacio E Pere — The description says «pear and fresh pecorino — filled ravioli». I will have to admit, I was a bit hesitant when we ordered this and I was not sure if I would like it or what to expect. However, I was very surprised at how delectable this dish was. The pear was tender and added just a slight hint of the pear taste and also a textural component. I will definitely be ordering this dish in the future.
Secondi–
— branzino — I will have to say that this was the least impressive dish of the night. Yes, the fish was cooked to perfection but it just seemed like a dish I could get somewhere else.
— Manzo — this is a steak dish and it was so scrumptious. The steak was tender and juicy. For the secondi, I would order this dish again
Dessert–
I got the burrata cheesecake which was pretty small… I wanted a larger piece! That is my only complaint.
They also have 2 levels of wine pairing that they offer with the tasting menu, the first option is an additional $ 50, and the second is a $ 90+ wine pairing menu. We opted for the $ 90+ wine pairing and ³⁄₆ wines ended up on my to buy list… however, sadly, ²⁄₃ that I enjoyed are not available in the US.

Felidia is OMG fabulous… !
One of the best and most memorable meals of our entire lives. Phenomenal and sophisticated food, fabulous wine, very gracious service.
This is one of Lydia Bastianich’s first restaurants, and Felidia is still one of the best Italian restaurants anywhere.
Marvelous, wonderful, fantastic, tremendous — I lack sufficient superlatives to describe how much we love this restaurant.
6 stars.