Gina La Fornarina

Yeah, it is three star review time. I really hate to give it, and I guess I would go 3.5.
The food was ok. Nothing special. Pizza with onions and sausage was good but not great. The service was fine. Not remarkable.
If someone tells you they want you to go here I think you can go without fear that it will be bad. However, if they are open for suggestions, San Matteo, half a block a way, is miles ahead of them on the food score.

Food is very good, but the prices are very high for what you actually get. While the quality of the food is very good, you can feel cheated when you see how small the portions are.

Avocado salad for $ 17, gnocchi for $ 21. Didn’t have the full drink menu like the 2^nd ave location, but the Belinis were super good, tasted kind of like a blood orange Italian soda. Excellent service, complimentary bread that was hot out of the oven. Really fresh ingredients and all around a pretty great joint for lunch with Cooper Hewitt right around the corner.

We stopped here for a late lunch after visiting a museum. The atmosphere was cozy and it wasn’t terribly full. We got wine which was good, pizza which was decent and a great beet salad. It’s a little pricey but I think normal for this area. Not the best pizza I’ve had but still tasty. We were looking for a rest and were in no hurry to leave and the wait staff let us sit for a while without rushing us at all.

After a great visit to the Cooper Hewitt Museum, we had a lovely, light lunch here.
Our waitress was friendly and attentive. This is a tiny, but cozy venue.
We were given warm, fresh bread, with butter, while we waited for our lunches to arrive.
I split a roasted beet and toasted hazelnut salad, with another guest. It was delicious. It had both red and golden roasted beets, atop a bed of fresh mesculin greens, and had a flavorful balsamic dressing. Huge, thin slices of parmesan cheese, topped this salad.
Both of us enjoyed the flavor combinations in this salad.
I had the lentil soup, which was flavored well and was a generous serving for lunchtime. The other guest who’d split the salad with me, chose the minestrone. She said it, too, was flavored just right, and wasn’t too salty, which is something that she frequently finds when she orders minestrone, so she was very happy with this choice.
Two younger guests split the spaghetti and meatballs, and both enjoyed it very much. The meatballs were good, and the pasta was cooked perfectly. The sauce was seasoned well, and had nice, small chunks of tomato. The portion size was perfect for lunch time.
The other adult with us had a panini, which was cheesy, and crispy, along with a side salad of fresh greens. She, too, said that her meal was tasty and a perfect size for lunch.

Looking for bland overpriced food in a charming — ish setting served to you by the most emotionless unhappy servers? If so, this is the place!

You can skip this place.
We had the Mediterranean omelet it was basically cheese and tomato.
My corn beef hash and potatoes had no flavor and the coffee was bitter. There are so many great places in New York. The servers banged the silver ware and are miserable. Don’t waste your tome.

I always get the pasta with chicken and peas, needs salt but solid dinner option. Lasagna is also solid. A little pricey relative to the portion size.

Came here after a day at the Guggenheim with my girlfriend. Ordered the Prosciutto and Fig pizza that we shared which was one of the best pizzas I’ve had.
Ordered dessert and a cappuccino. I ordered the tiramisu and my girlfriend order the torta de ricotta (cheesecake) which were both great.
Nice spot, not really busy inside or out which is nice because you can sit down (we sat outside because it was nice) and have a conversation without traffic or crowds of people.
I recommend this place. Staff was nice as well.

I think the pizza is pretty awesome and it delivers well. The in restaurant experience is just as good. Reasonably priced wine, pasta, and pizza — all pretty good. It is also a cute little quiet spot on 91^st really close to the park. As it is relatively casual, my recommendation is a nice stroll on the reservoir to build your hunger, followed by a nice dinner at Gina’s.

Loud place filled with teenagers every time we visit Gina’s. I am not sure why their main customers seem to be girls between the ages of 12 – 15, but I can tell you that it will make you miserable when you eat there. Kids are always extremely loud and running around in this small place. In regards to the food: HAIR WAS IN MY PIZZA! Agree with the previous review; not sure how clean this place is.

Yummy food, fast service. I got into NY late, and was able to get take out from Gina La Fornarina around 9pm. I got chicken in mushroom sauce (totally spacing on the name). The dish was nicely sized, and came with bread and veggies. Super tasty, and was able to pick it up within about 10−15min.

Food is solid 4 stars, love the ambience. Bottom line — Go!
As for pricing, they are priced like most uws Italian restaurants. The difference is the superior service — smiling wait staff, glasses refilled and quick service.
Their pink and white décor is fresh and whimsical.
We’ve enjoyed everything we have tried so far.
They also offer fresh pasta which I always make a point to ask about.
Also, they used to have a party room downstairs (not available anymore) — we reserved it for a large family meal. It was wonderful, private and everyone was very happy with the food (back in 2013) I hope they reopen it soon!

Service is nice but the tab is WAY overpriced for what it is. $ 94 (tip included) for a lunch with two salads, one desert, one coffee and a pitcher of sangria full of ice (ie little wine)… NOT a good deal at all.

Food ok but we found a gum inside a napkin we were using!! not sure about how clean this place is

Nice little restaurant but, in my opinion, not a good value. Not that it’s expensive, but it would be fair if the portion were at least 50% bigger. For a Italian restaurant, the plates look more like from a French restaurant.

The food was average, at best. The servers were quite annoying, topping off our water glasses every time we took a small sip. If it were my wine they were topping off, I would be okay with it. But they tended to interrupt our meal/​conversations every couple of minutes, and asking if we needed anything. One plus is the outdoor seating, but there are about 340 289 349 238 better places to go to sit outdoors with better food.

Gina La Fornarina is one of the better Italian places that I’ve been to.
Food-​wise, I have tried the beef carpaccio bruschetta (appetizer) calzone (pizza section), the chicken piccata (entrée), fettucinia a la bolognese (pasta), and spaghetti aglio olio peperoncino (pasta). Many of the dishes were 5 stars. The beef carpaccio bruschetta features raw beef layers on toasted bread, is DOUSED with truffle oil, and also has a slice of parmesan cheese on top. The bread was perfectly toasted, the truffle oil was generous, and the slight stinkiness of the cheese was an excellent compliment to the iron-​y beef. The calzone was also delicious. There’s not too much bread, it’s stuffed with a creamy, light cheese, fresh mushrooms, and sprinkled with arugula and yes, truffle oil again. For a calzone, I felt full but not stuffed/​greasy afterwards. The spaghetti aglio olio peperoncino is one of the best pastas I’ve had. It is very simple but flavorful dish — just spaghetti, olive oil, red pepper, and garlic. Amazing combination of flavors, but you’ll probably want to get something else (meat or veggie) to go with it since those won’t be in the pasta.
The two less stellar dishes were the fettucinia a la bolognese and the chicken picatta. The bologneese was probably a 4-​star dish. Good, but not great — it’s pretty much your standard pasta with bolognese sauce. The chicken picatta is probably closer to a 3– star dish. The chicken is cut thin, which I like, as this makes it easy for it to soak up all of the sauce around it. It was a bit dry/​chewy, and they overdid it just a tad with the capers. The green beans came as a side, and they were fine, but the other side of potatos was very dry, chewy, and stale. I suspect that these were cooked first and left to languish on the dish for a bit.
Ambiance — adorable. I love the pink and white motif. I think it adds some fun to an otherwise austere/​modern setting. The only thing to note is that there are a lot of families with young kids here, which is something that you don’t see too much in the city. Most of them are well-​behaved, but some of them are loud/​obnoxious, as kids can be, so I would not come here for a quiet, serious, meal.
Service was generally good. Attentive and prompt waiters and food. They can be a little pushy on drinks at the beginning, but are otherwise just fine.

I eat at Gina’s probably about once a week for dinner. The quality is consistently excellent.
The cherry tomato and arugula pizza is great. I also like the salad with the hearts of palm in it — it’s an unusual menu item and a welcome way to consume vegetables. The minestrone is fantastic as are all the pasta dishes I’ve had.
My only concerns are that the prices are a little high and they close at 10 PM. To be fair, the prices are average for the Upper East Side, but high compared to every other neighborhood and I should probably learn to eat dinner before 10 PM. Even if they could extend pick-​up/​delivery hours to 10:30 it would be an improvement.

I enjoyed my calzone and liked that it was topped with fresh prosciutto. The ingredients were fresh and the wine was satisfying. However, the place was loud for a Sunday evening.