Il Mulino New York

Il Mulino is the epitome of quality Italian food. I started my meal with Vongole Casino (better yet, baked clams) which were fantastic. My entrée was rather elementary, but for my second time here, I had to try Capellini Il Mulino considering it’s one of their signature dishes. I did not expect it to be a darker color, considering it is a cream sauce, although it was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had. The service was as great as expected, along with the ambiance and the quick service. The appearance with the wheels of cheese, the bruschetta being freshly made in front of you, and the friendly staff are make this place great.

I like the ambiance. The appetizers will come as soon as you get seated. Parm cheese, garlic Zuchinni, pepperoni and bruschetta. You can definitely have a quiet dinner in this place. Not too noisy and we can hear each other well. The waiters are very attentive. The food was good, I wouldn’t say it’s the best I’ve ever had but it’s also delicious. Fish here are pricey but the pasta and the rest are just the same price as the other good restaurants.

this place smelled fantastic when we walked in.
There were good and bad to this place:
bad first:
we had reservations a week in advance. when we arrive, they have to set up a table to accomodate us, and it’s directly outside the stairway to the bathrooms. We ask for a different table, but the maitre’d says there are not any other tables and won’t be for at least 30 minutes. Hmmmm, within 5 minutes he seats two other tables, where they could have placed us. We ask again about 15 minutes in, as others have just left and tables are open. He grudgingly moves our group to another table. THANKS, but we’d have appreciated a good table to begin with, especially with a long-​booked reservation.
Also, the restaurant is SO NOISY you have to YELL to your own table mates. We could not hear the waiter when he described the specials that were not on the menu.
But, overall the food was good to very good (pricey to us who don’t live in New York, but good) and the assistants who flew around serving and clearing were very, very nice.
Would we eat here again? Yes, if we are uptown in NYC again.

My business associates described this as the best Italian in town. And maybe the most expensive too.
Service is impeccable. Our host seated us immediately, the wine came, and the parm wheel was cut at our table. You know you’re going to have a good meal.
More house appetizers come out; spicy cheese toast, bruschetta, olive oil/​garlic zucchini, and sliced salami. Perfect.
The next round of appetizers were on us: luscious meatballs, and sweet succulent Langostinos — the star of the evening.
After such delightful appetizers, the main courses could not compete. Veal parm — meh. Filet of sole — good. Pork chops in mushroom sauce — good. But nothing I would describe as outstanding.
Cannoli’s for dessert along with ricotta cheesecake and a wonderful mango mousse.
So yes, it was a good meal. But not the best Italian I’ve had. Meatballs were nothing special. Veal parm — meh. Sorry I can’t give out five stars on this one. But for the high price I paid the meal needs to be much much better.

Came here back in Sept of 2015 on a weekday. We had previously only been to the branch in Las Vegas, so thought it would be nice to go to one of the New York ones. When we got there, the place was completely empty. That didn’t bother us as it was afternoon on a weekday so we weren’t really expecting a full house anyways.
My nephew who is 2, needed a high chair, one of the bus boys went to get the high chair and it took them a while. I think they stored it in the attic because it came back completely dusty.
Of course they provided us with their standard small variety of complimentary tapas/​appetizers to enjoy while we reviewed the menu. This to me is one of the best part of Il Mulino, the free food doesn’t deter us from ordering a full course, but it is a nice touch to the place and makes the customer feel taken care of.
The staff was so nice to my nephew and everyone that walked past our table would stop and interact with him. But at this point it was clear that the restaurant doesn’t receive alot of small children. First it was the high chair issue, than they provided us utensils, but everything was made for adults, the nice heavy forks, knives, spoons, plates, etc. We asked for water in the smallest cup they have or preferably a plastic to go cup. They were only able to put the water in those nice stemless wine glasses. :) They meant well, but definitely need to work on their Children’s game. When they came around to offer us seconds on the complimentary tapas, some it was a little spicy, but they automatically put it on my nephew’s plate. We had to put a stop to that.
The last thing that made the visit extra special was that as we were leaving, I asked if we can take some of the leftover bread on a just vacant table so that we can feed the ducks at Central Park. Instead of giving us the leftover bread, they came out with 2 loaves of bread from the kitchen. The ducks were very well fed that day thanks to Il Mulino!
Overall it was great experience and I can’t wait to go back to either the New York branches or the Las Vegas branch.

Food was great! Service was great!

Just prior to our wedding weekend, we took a day to entertain ourselves. Where did we land for lunch that day? Il Mulino Uptown and it was just the place to be. We celebrated our pre-​weekend festivities with a toast of prosecco at the bar and a taste of Il Mulino’s fresh, wonderful homemade potato chips.
At our table we were greeted with complimentary appetizers that included charcuteries and cheeses. We then enjoyed the famous Il Mulino meatball, salmon, chicken and pasta. The space is quite charming, not overly touristy and seems to have a host of regulars that have been coming for years. The staff is friendly and well dressed adding to the appeal.

I come to Il Mulino at least a few times a month and they never disappoint. If it’s your first time visiting, they might seem a little pushy, but that’s just the way old school Italians are — don’t take it personal. The chicken parmesan is my favorite but EVERYTHING else on the menu is golden… one of the BEST places in NYC for authentic Italian food.

The thing I liked about Il Mulino is that as soon as you are seated at your table, they bring out a small variety of complimentary bites to whet the appetite. A chunk of hard cheese off a quarter of a cheese wheel, some salami, spicy or regular focaccia bread, a piece of bread with chopped tomatoes on top, and a small mussel.
The food was rather ordinary, not terrible and not terribly delicious. I liked the caprese salad with it’s fresh, wet, spongy mozzarella, and tomatoes (there was one leaf of basil.) The ricotta meatball tasted plain, not much flavor there. The veal parmigiana was a lot like the chicken parmigiana pizza at Quality Italian — a large, flattened round of veal topped with lots of cheese and some tomato sauce.
For dessert, I enjoyed the poached pear with a few pieces of fruit around it. The flourless chocolate cake was chocolatey but just decent.
The waiters give the impression of being a little snobby here.
This is a small restaurant with a clean look of white tablecloths, white napkins, large wine glasses, and random black and white photos on the walls. (It’s like generic fine dining.)

This place used to be amazing but was completely underwhelmed by my meal. The cheese, salami, and fried eggplant were very tasty. My main course however was not at all, the chicken was extremely dry and I’ve never saw a cornished hen as chicken piccata? Nonetheless it wasn’t anything special. With Scallinatella down the block it’s honestly not even a fair comparison but I will be sticking to them for high end Italian

Went here for my birthday. Food was so damn good I almost teared while eating it. The wait staff was awsome they charged my phoje for me and brought it over when I had a call to answer. On a side note I’m going to try to come here once a month to get my monthly fixin of thay veal parm. They also have this bomb drink called something with a cucumber and a few of those had me feeling nice after dinner.

The reason I am giving 2 stars is because of the management and staff. The food is excellent. The appetizers (which are complimentary but you’re paying for them on the back end) they have this «we are Il Mulino» attitude which might have meant something 20 years ago but today it means «you’re close to Barneys and Philipe is racist» they do a horrible job at seating, reservations and making people feel welcome. They know who to treat right and who to put at the center tables. They rush you out and keep you waiting to get in. I do suggest going once, I really only go early or if I’m in the area. The weekends can be ridiculous.
The spinach salad is excellent. The gnocchi, spaghetti w meat sauce and meatballs are all excellent.
I didn’t really enjoy any of the desserts.

The best Italian food I have ever enjoyed in NYC — I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. Bravo xo

This was hands down the worst experience at a restaurant I’ve had in NYC. I went here for my birthday and was deeply disappointed. Would not recommend it to anyone!
First of all, we had to wait at least 25 minutes despite having a reservation. We were then asked to sit at a terrible table that was behind the front door. We politely asked to be seated inside the restaurant instead given that it was a special occasion. We were rudely told we would have to wait another 10 mins.
Instead it took another 30 mins (for a total waiting time of ~1 hour) for them to seat us at a table. When we asked them how much longer it would take, the arrogant response was «this is Il Mulino. The average waiting time is 30 mins.»
Even after getting seated, the food was nothing amazing. The 4 free appetizers was a cool experience but that was about it. The lamb and the pasta were good but nothing spectacular. As a separate issue, the food was also not good value given how expensive it was. Would definitely not recommend this place!

«Sorry, I’ve been waiting for 45 minutes and I had a reservation»
«You are at Il Mulino. Average wait time is 30 minutes.»
As you can see:
Management: ⁰⁄₅
The person seating us was extremely extremely rude. It is completely unacceptable for a restaurant to seat a party of two that has a reservation on a Monday night, 45 minutes late. This is a problem with the management not being able to estimate supply and demand of tables, so they constantly overbook everything, hence the 45 minute wait. We even told them it was my boyfriend’s birthday and they didn’t make any effort to help us get seated. I saw an empty table and asked if we could sit there, and was seated at that table 20 minutes later. There was no reason for that wait besides incompetent management.
Service: ⁴⁄₅. Waiters were generally good but I noticed they keep running into each other and are constantly getting barked at to hurry up.
Food: ³⁄₅. Food was solid, but could have gotten this level of quality at any other Italian restaurant (I recommend Annabel and Da Andrea). The reason why this is only 3 stars is because it was heavily overpriced. Heavily. However the best part of the experience was the free appetizers (cheese, bread, salami, bruschetta, fried zucchini dripping in oil).
Overall would not recommend. I came here looking to celebrate a special occasion and it was ruined by the long wait and rude staff and terrible management. Plenty of other Italian restaurants with equal or better quality food that are better value and way less pretentious. Still shivering at the fact that the manager responded to me: «this is il Mulino» when I told him our reservation was 45 minutes ago.

WOW! That’s the first thing that comes to mind when describing the food here. Simply, «WOW!» Everything we ate was rich and decadent. Probably one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. A very attentive and helpful wait staff to boot. I can’t wait to go back!

I popped into Il Mulino for a quick Bloody Mary on a Sunday morning. I was extremely elated with the wait staff. They were incredibly polite and attentive to all my needs. I noticed this to be a spot for a lot of locals (Italians, more so). This confirmed the fact that Il Mulino is a go-​to for Italian fare. I ended up with the Zucchini frites which were good, but I am trying to steer away from fried foods. The accompaniments were also appetizing (Focaccia, Bruschetta, Salami?)
I would come back here for a proper dinner.

If you’re of Italian decent, then you know how hard it is to find authentic, non-​Americanized, Italian cuisine. I usually hesitate before going to Italian restaurants.
This is authentic Italian.
Don’t take my word for it; from the moment you sit down you will soon realize exactly what I mean.
You’re served fresh parmigiana, cut right off the block, sliced supasada, fresh bruschetta, and other Antipastos that are true Italian favorites.
I’ve never been to Italy, but I assume this is what it would be like.

Nunca decepciona! Melhor courvert de NY! Salame, bruschetta, pão com alho, abobrinha frita e queijo grana padano! De prato principal meu favorito é o carbonara! Um dos melhores q já provei! Também o viel a parmeggiana é enorne! Divida! A coteleta a milanesa com rúcula também estava ótima E o parpadelle com salsicha tava show! Adoro esse lugar! É caro! Mas é um italiano divino!

I am doing something I did not think I would. However a dinner experience does include how one and one’s party is treated, so I believe this is appropriate. The spot was phenomenally exciting. The food was over the top good and the entrees were prepared to perfection. I am never coming back. Ever! And I will do my best to relay my disgust and make certain none of my friends and colleagues ever will
Quite a juxtaposition. The reason is that the most overriding thing they focused on throughout the evening was not the food wine or service BUT… getting us out of the restaurant. The manager, Ruby never asked how we were how dinner was but asked that we hurry! I told him we needed more time to finish our dinner. He relayed messages thru his people, and despite asking them to have him come speak to me he never did. It was a despicable and disgusting act — and to make it worse, there was nobody waiting for our table!!! Talk about people who are not in tune with their customers.
This was a beautiful and frustrating evening but never again. EVER!
Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Horrific

There’s up and downs to this restaurant. The good thing is that the food is amazing. We had the bacon wrapped clams which were to die for, the mushroom pasta which is hands down one of my favorite pastas ever, the red snapper with seafood (from the specials list) which was great and a couple more appetizers and items which were good but mostly I recommend the things mentioned above. Everyone should try those at least once.
Cons:
1) The tables are so close to each other you feel as if you’re having dinner with strangers. There’s nothing fun about being bumped or touched by strangers.
2) Even with a reservation we had to wait 20minutes for our table to get ready. The bar is too small and it was really uncomfortable waiting. Also, if I make a reservation and I’m on time, why should I wait? So annoying!
3) Some of the food is extremely overpriced. We ordered the jumbo shrimp appetizer which is $ 30 and received 3 shrimps. Yes, THREE. So you’re telling me each shrimp is $ 10? That’s ridiculous!
4) The fake Italian accents really annoy me. I took Italian in college and I’ve been to Italy many times. The bad pronunciation kills me. Not one person there was actually Italian. Stop the show!
5) The place is extremely loud, you can’t have a decent conversation with the person you’re with. Not unless you’re yelling.
All in all, I would come back but I’ll definitely ask for a better table and I will definitely stay away from the jumbo shrimp. Ha!