Il Violino

This place is always great. Never too crowded and the service is great. Love the penne vodka.

It’s been here for a very long time. The staff are friendly and the food is dependable. Sit at the bar and have a meal with the lovely bartender. Nice cozy atmosphere.

Went here with a party of nine over Christmas holidays. Without going into details about the food I’ll say this. Everything on the table was delicious. We had a number of appetizers… meatballs, calamari… all excellent. I had a filet mignon that was cooked perfectly and couldn’t have been better.
Service? Outstanding ! I never once had to look for our waiter. As soon as I emptied my glass of beer he was there asking if I would like another. The food arrived in a timely manner and appetizer plates were quickly whisked away as another plate arrived. Perfect timing on every item we ordered. I’m definitely going back here with another group for my birthday next week.
Been craving their meatballs since last visit.
Nice ambiance. Excellent food and totally outstanding service. Bravo Il Violino !

i always find something I’ll enjoy on the menu. Service is professional. The place is always clean. This little place has been a neighborhood staple for many years. They know what they do well and stick to it!
Great for lunch or a romantic evening for two. You can sit by a window and people watch. It has an upscale appeal and atmosphere with out the price. No complaints about the price, service, pasta, bread, and quiet atmosphere.

Ah! I’m honestly shocked to read terrible reviews about this place. My mom and I go here every few months because she always craves the fried calamari from here. They’re perfectly fried — golden brown, light in your mouth, and so darn soft. Plus the marinara sauce you get to dip the calamari in just brings you over the edge.
We usually share a salad and a seafood pasta. The salad is decent (pretty plain) but the seafood pasta is decadent. The noodles are cooked al dente. They have this wonderful chew in them that you don’t get from store bought noodles. And they’re generous with the seafood mix!
The most recent time I came here we brought my sister along and shared the meatballs and a white fish special. I’d probably not order either of those again as the meatballs were dry and the white fish was smelly (smelly like the way that fresh water fish smells like dirt if they’re not exactly the freshest catch).
Stick with the fried calamari and the seafood pasta and you’ll love this place.
Oh, also, don’t expect the service to be exactly warm and fluffy. The guy gets the job done! He reads you the specials, he takes your order, he brings out your order, and from time to time he may forget to bring you the extra side of marinara sauce until it’s too late and you’ve already finished the calamari.

Food: The chicken Marsala and chicken piccata were alright. The Marsala sauce was somewhat bland. The piccata had good flavor. Disappointed in the mashed potatoes. They were so puréed they resemble instant mashed potatoes. The assorted vegetables were also a disappointment. Bland broccoli and sliced carrots were served. I will admit when the meals came out the presentation resembled a TV dinner or hospital cafeteria food. We also tried the pasta Fagioli soup. Only contained beans. No veggies. The pasta was homemade but just clumped up in the soup. It was not flavorful.
Service: awful! Deserves negative 2 stars. The server was rude. He aggressively insisted that we could not share a meal although it is not stated anywhere on the menu and also insisted that we get drinks. He also dropped a butter knife with mashed potatoes on my head as he was clearing the table. Worst of all, at the end of our meal a lady sitting at a table next to ours jumped out of her chair and ran to the hostess because she found a live cockroach crawling on the floor. Needless to say we won’t be going back. Save your money. Less than average food and horrible service.

Stopped in for dinner one night because it was in the neighborhood. Food was very mediocre, and sauce was bland. Chicken parm was awful, we had to send it back. Pasta was overcooked.

Great spot in the neighborhood! Nice selection of wines and a balance of traditional Italian with more modern dishes. The waiters were courteous and friendly and we enjoyed our spot by the window.
I had the gluten free penne with clams and mussels and we shared the caprese appetizer as well as the flourless chocolate torte. A solid Friday night dinner.

My boyfriend and I were craving some hearty Italian food and we happened to walk by this place. $ 20 prix fix menu included:
A glass of wine
Salad or soup
An entrée
I got the bolognese, he got the carbonara. Both were excellent! The noodles were perfectly cooked al dente, just chewy enough to be absolutely bomb.
The carbonara was rich and creamy, absolutely decadent. The bolognese was heavy on the meat, without being overly saucy– just the way I like it.
All in all, definitely a nice spot in the area for some solid Italian food.

Food was amazing. We were a party of 15 after black Friday shopping. They Quickly put tables together and we were sitting in no time. Try the broccoli ravioli. It was so good.

Randomly picked it after a movie — so glad we did! Great menu, with fresh delicious options. The pasta was so fresh and good, especially the bucatini and gnocchi. We had the calamari, caprese, and Caesar salad for starters, all delicious. My husband had a steak and it was a little over cooked, but all the pastas were amazing. A bit expensive, but good food we all loved.

This was supposed to be a pre-​race dinner. The spaghetti was a flavorless Ragu and I found what appeared to be a lump of cheese with small, short black hairs lodged in it. I will not be returning to this restaurant. It had looked promising.

Food was good. Menu is small. Ridiculously small portion of pasta with my meal. The smallest portion I’ve ever received with a meal. Probably a one time stop.

This is a great little spot on the upper west side. We will be returning. Service was impeccable. All staff were friendly and knowledgeable. In-​house made pasta was delicious. I had Fettuccine con scampi all’arrabbiata. It was delicious! We were a company of four, everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals. Including dessert. For dessert I had the lemon ricotta cheesecake.

Very disappointed. Cute ambiance, but all of the food was mediocre. We had carpaccio. Incredibly small. The Cesar was blah. The penne al vodka was on par with Olive Garden. Overpriced tourist trap for sure. Why didn’t I consult Unilocal first!

Convenient to Central Park and Lincoln Center, we went to Il Violino for Sunday Brunch. With a full glass wall overlooking Columbus Circle, the ambiance was perfect on this beautiful early afternoon. Well priced for a brunch which included a drink (mimosa/​bloody mary), and coffee/​tea, no wait for a table, a variety of food options including breakfast (omlettes), burgers or Italian fare. I had an open faced spinach omlette, which was just «OK.» No one in our group commented at all about the food so it was nothing memorable. But if you are looking for a spot to eat before a show at LC or while walking around the lower west portion of Central Park, this spot is fine.

Their glass sitting arrangement is amazing but I wasn’t impressed with the ceaser salad. Although Pasta in red tomato sauce was good. An average dining experience!

Went there around 9:30 after an evening at Lincoln Center. Only one other group was there. We sat in the corner to the right of the door. It was mostly closed off from the rest of the restaurant so we were nice and cozy.
We ordered the Tricolore (salad with endive, arugula, radicchio, pecorino flakes and vinaigrette), Bucatini All’amatriciana (pasta with Italian bacon, onions, tomato and pecorino cheese) and Orecchiette Broccoli E Salsiccia (gnocchi with broccoli rabe, Italian sausage ragu in a garlic and olive oil sauce).
The pastas were delicious. The bucatini had that tomato-​y kick wit lots of bacon yumminess. The gnocchi was creamy and smooth with a slightly bitter bite from the broccoli rabe and all the garlic. I heard the salad was good (I don’t eat salad). The waiters were polite and attentive but there was only 1 other group there so take that as you will. I’d definitely go back if I was in the area.

The Lincoln Center area is an absolute mess on Saturday evenings right around 6:30pm when everyone’s trying to eat before seeing the Phil/​Opera/​Ballet. After poking our head into several places that were completely packed and had a wait list that was going to take over an hour, Il Violino offered us a table right away. The restaurant is tiny and cramped and so we had a wonderful time eavesdropping on everyone else’s conversation around us. It wasn’t really our fault — if you’re a real New Yorker who must speak at minimum volume 8 all the time, you’re going to have your conversation eavesdropped upon.
Anyway, back to the restaurant. The service was absolutely exceptional. We advised the waiter that we only had a short period of time in which to eat in order to make a show, and he made sure that we got everything in a timely manner.
The food itself is OKAY. The wine list is great and the bread is average. The pastas are homemade which is nice but I wasn’t terribly impressed by the sauces which seemed a little bland. My poor husband must eat gluten-​free so he was happy that there was a nice GF selection. I myself enjoyed the homemade Bolognese which was somewhat disappointingly bland.
The dessert menu was extensive and I ordered just the traditional biscotti which was very tasty. We both enjoyed a perfectly made cappuccino after our meal.
Overall, the service was great but the cramped conditions and bland food makes this a definite «back-​up» for us if we ever need to eat somewhere in a pinch before a show.

After another exhausting day moving my daughter into her dorm, we came upon Il Violino while shopping for last minute items. The atmosphere with the large windows facing the Ave. was great. Being hungry, the prix fixe dinner menu was a great value. With the exception of the salad, all the items were delicious and satisfying. The service was just so-​so, but they did appear to be doing a lot of business. As a visitor to NYC, I felt like I had found the kind of genuine Italian neighborhood restaurant that I’d expect. When we visit in the future, we will definitely dine there again.