Gaetana’s

My friends and I hosted a small gathering here earlier this week and were blown away by the awesome food, customer service, and great atmosphere in one of NYC’s best nabes. If you’re in the Village and looking for yummy Italian in a relaxed atmosphere with no bad attitude and a great wine selection, check out Gaetana’s! It’s a great place to feel like a local in the middle of the concrete jungle!

Excellent food I have to tell you I had the linguine and seafood is was amazing my wife had tomatoe vodka pasta and my sister had fried calamari I can’t remember the bartender name but he did great job on suggesting food there prices are decent to compare to little Italy that’s a rip off next time I visit NY I will definitely go back to this restaurant

One of my favorite Italian restaurants in NYC. Always treated like family and have never had a bad meal. My favorites are the chicken marsala, penne vodka and stuffed artichoke. You will not be disappointed!

What a great place! Awesome sauce — they understand the importance of garlic :-) — and great Italian sausage.
Owner and staff are very nice and the pleasant music sets a nice atmosphere. Definitely will come back when I’m nearby again!

What a shame… Not sure what happened to this place use to have good food. Ordered penne ala vodka absolutely awful. Nice atmosphere, everyone working there is nice but the food is god awful. Don’t waste your time going here so many better places in the city.

The perfect place to bring your great love or your deepest secret. Delicious food, fantastically friendly bartender, cold beer and all of the classic music you could ever ask for. Let Frankie Blue eyes serenade you over a few cocktails and I promise you will leave happy, full and satisfied!!!

Came in at 9 pm on a Saturday, readily seated us (party of 6). After 30 minutes, our waitress finally asked for our drinks. Another 45 minutes needed to pass for her to return and ask our decisions, despite the house being relatively empty. At 11 pm we finally received our food after insisting on getting food as soon as possible. Food was cold/​overcooked/​chewy/​clearly reheated. Nothing is fresh. No one refilled water or drinks until asked, and service had no general idea of table manners or etiquette when approaching us. Music fluctuates in volume in the middle of the songs, as if the bar tender turns it up for parts he enjoys. Despite positive atmosphere and initial interactions with front of house staff – I would give 0 stars if possible.

Wonderful wine. Great ambiance. Frankie is amazing. Waiters treated us like royalty. Will definitely go back!

Bad, mediocre overpriced food. We only came here after trying to go to another restaurant but it was unfortunately closed on New Year’s Day, and took a chance on this place but was very disappointed. The gnocchi was cold in the middle and wasn’t even gnocchi– more like cold mashed potatoes that were frozen and not heated all the way through.
The penne bologenese was also not good– what I wanted was authentic hand made pasta but this tasted like pasta that came out of the box. I can make this much better at home. For $ 18 a dish it was bad, and no one had a good experience.
There are so many Italian restaurants in NYC, I suggest people to stay away from this place.

The food is consistently great, but what makes this restaurant outstanding is the service — particularly how great and at home Frankie (the owner) makes everyone feel.
You cannot go wrong with the pesto or vodka sauce, they are both perfect. Also have gotten the pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sage sauce and that was fantastic. Pre-​dinner bread is sooo amazing yet simple. Lasagna and chicken marsala are solid options. I honestly do not like the consistency of the gnocchi here, although typically love gnocchi. Wine is reasonably priced and always good :)
I just love this place.

I cannot properly explain how much I adore this place. Delicious food, fantastic drinks (including homemade Limocello!), hosts which are involved & delightful but not overbearing. I could go on and on here.
I had the Gnocchi with Gorgonzolo Cream Sauce and I soaked up every bit of the sauce with the delicious basket of bread.
My mom had the Chicken Milanese and it was fried to perfection.
For desert we had a cheesecake in a cone… it’s traditional Italian cheesecake baked into a cone made of lace cookies– gluten free and dangerously delicious.
This spot is a classic NYC Italian spot and frankly it restores my faith in the city.

Great atmosphere, it was my first time here but there was a woman and a man that were very attentive and friendly so I’m assuming they’re the owners. That was nice. Felt very welcoming. I had a chocolate martini which was on the strong side but ok anyway and I had the Lasagna. Enjoyed my meal and the vibe of the place. Would definitely go again to try the fettuccini Alfredo.

WOW! This is my favorite restaurant in all of New York. My friends and I stumbled upon this over the summer and we cannot stop coming up! The owner, Frank, and one of the waitresses, Jessica, are our favorites. They are incredibly kind and sweet. From the moment you walk in, Gaetana’s is an unforgettable experience. Wonderful service, amazing food, great wine selection, beautiful ambience… what more can you want?! I would recommend this restaurant to anyone, for any occasion. Best Italian spot in Manhattan!
Favorite dish: rigatoni all’arrabbiata. I spent a few months living in Bologna, Italy where they made the best arrabbiata sauce, and Gaetana is surely up to par with authentic Italian food!

Gaetana’s is one of my fav authentic Italian restaurants. Family run, reasonable priced, great ambiance & Frankie, Michelle & Ravi make you feel totally at home. Try the vinegar pepper pork chops (spicy) & rigatoni arrabiata (sp) OMG! So delicious & a nice local mix of clientele. Check it out…

My husband and I came here to celebrate our anniversary with some pre dinner cocktails. He ordered the old fashioned and I a dirty martini. My martini was the best I have EVER had. Prepared perfectly. The Sinatra atmosphere is very NY. The bartender was so sweet and personable (wish I could recall his name but I do remember him saying he was from New Orleans). The cheese and olive plate was an unexpected pleasant surprise that paired perfectly with our cocktails and was just light enough to guiltlessly nibble on before dinner.

my goodness. Came here with a party of 4. Upon walking into the restaurant it smelled as if it had just been mopped, but you get used to the smell. There were christmas lights strung in the windos and on a ledge with hess trucks — is it christmas?
There were a few other diners at tables and some patrons at the bar, but it was not as crowded as some of the other restaurants in the area.
Service was prompt for drink and food orders. We were given a plate of lives and cheese, then bread, then they delightully brought over a salad with fresh mutz too. Score!
It took a little bit for the food to arrive, but holy the portions were massive. The food was good, (2 orders of linguine fruitta di mare, 1 order rigatoni arrabiata, 1 order of the lamb special) but it wasn’t the best ever.
What took the cake, however, was the server, Michelle. She was entertaining all night.
And they brought out an extra dessert for us too.

Moved across the street form the restaurant, have been there three times, do not plan on coming back.
First time came with a friend who has been coming to this restaurant for many years. Got good service, wine was great, ordered pizza and shrimp salad — food was OK, but nothing to get too excited about.
Second time brought a guest, who was visiting from out of state, hoping the place will grow on me. Sat at the bar, the bartender (different from the one I’ve met before) did not bother to tell us what the specials were. Ordered two pasta dishes — again not bad, but just OK. Meanwhile the bartender acted like he was making us a big favor when we were calling him over, we could have spent a lot more than $ 50 per person if he bothered to check in on us more often. In my opinion, when you work in a restaurant a little faking that you are excited to see your customers goes a long way.
Third time came with a friend, saw the same «smiley» guy at the bar and walked right out. After all feeling welcome when you are buzzed is important.
Not an awful place, but failed to become my go-​to local spot.

I wanted to like this place, because it reminded me of a small-​town Italian spot where the locals become regulars. There were maybe two empty tables in the whole place, but on a Friday night, there was only one waitress, who did her absolute best to take care of us. That said, it took twenty minutes for her to make it to our table to ask for our order, and another ten to get us water and bread. This, in no way, reflects upon her; whoever thought an entire restaurant could be run with only one waitress on a Friday night needs a reality check.
I watched manager ask the surrounding tables how their evening and service were. When he got to our table, he simply asked if he could reach around my chair to check a plug in the wall before he went back to his seat at the bar, which was equally packed. It was so absurd, my girlfriend actually wondered whether our experience was subpar was because we’re gay.
Once we got our food, the Alfredo sauce was soupy and smelled like whole milk. The chicken parmigiana was essentially a small chicken cutlet with cheese and sauce on it (no pasta). All in all, we spent 90 minutes in the restaurant, but only ten or fifteen of that we’re spent eating. What a waste of time and money.

5 star service with 3.5 star food.
When you come here you feel like part of the family, which is wonderful and unique here in NYC. This is the second time a big group of coworkers came here for a night out. So we were loud and had a great time. We ordered shared appetizers, everyone drank plenty and ordered their own entrees, and the bill was only $ 65 per person.
The mussels in white wine broth were meaty and delicious, and were my favorite dish of the night.

Italian rating Italian:
Truly cant enough good things about Gaetana’s! High quality, sinfully delicious Italian food; friendly, down to earth prompt service; fantastic décor and ambiance make this restaurant one of my favorite in the city. I stumbled upon the corner one night after meeting friends and family for drinks in the Village and let me tell you, it was the greatest tipsy stumble ive ever had.
I planned on sitting at the bar to have a glass of wine and when i saw the menu i was ruined. Literally, spend 20 minutes trying to decide between the gnocchi gorgonzola and pumpkin ravioli. I went with the gnocchi and MY GOD it was incredible. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauce was rich, thick and creamy. Frankie, the owner of Gaetana’s later on told me he had this dish in Europe on his travels and had to replicate it. The gnocchi is made with egg whites to counter the heaviness of the gorgonzola.
Even the complementary extra virgin olive oil with bread is out of this world. Its aromatic and has little pieces of rosemary and basil in it. The bread is made in house and served warm and when dipped in the oil — per l’amore di dio!
The partition between the bar and tables is topped with Hess trucks and white lights. It reminded me of Christmas morning, growing up in the 90’s and is such a wonderful accent to the restaurant. Above the bar hangs framed pictures of Frank Sinatra, an Italian flag (REPRESENT!) and Frankie’s family. The bartenders are awesome — just down to earth, funny, easy to talk to and help make this place what it is.
Gaetana’s is just that warm, Italian restaurant that i would bring family, friends, a date, coworkers — everybody & anybody to.