Lamarca Cheese Shop

This place is amazing. It’s seriously one of my favorite spots in New York City.
I love the café where you can get home made pastas (I’ve tried the home made spinach and feta ravioli and the seriously to die for gnocchi). They have four house made pastas and an assortment of other choices. They have eight or so sauces, all home made. You order a pasta and up to two sauces (side by side, not mixed) and you pay like $ 0 (seriously we got two pastas a soup and a baguette for $ 20!)
The pastas are great. The soups are also phenomenal. You can try samples of the soups before you buy so that makes it safe. Try them all (you may be so full you don’t want one anymore… But I doubt it because they are so good). I’ve had the split pea pumpkin and one of the corn soups and all are amazing.
The bread is really good and really cheap. I come here to buy baguettes because they are half the price of any of the nearby grocery stores! Sad for New York but awesome for me since I live near here anyways.
The guy that works behind the counter (owner?) is super awesome and super friendly. He will take time and explain the ordering process (it’s not that hard) explicitly to any customer with questions, no matter how small the order. he will also give out samples. He’s also just very friendly and will brighten your day.
yes it’s cash only. So bring cash.
You can eat here. Or you can actually go sit in the main restaurant and they’ll bring t over FAST with no extra charge. Or you can get it to go, pick up a cheap bottle of wine, and make an awesome budget date night at home (my favorite option!)

Delicious AND affordable pasta. $ 7.50 for a tray of pasta with your choice of sauce and noodle. They use good ingredients and the taste is excellent. Also they have the pasta ready to go for you within ~2 minutes.

This is a great lunch place. I haven’t tried the restaurant connected to the cheese shop yet, but the cheese shop has become one of my favorite places for a quick and delicious lunch for the same price you’d buy a burrito bowl from Chipotle (~$ 8 for a lot of pasta and sauce). And having existed since 1974 and still running strong, you can bet you’ll taste all of the years of experience go into each sauce.
The café:
When you walk into the place you’ll think it’s unassuming. The first thing you see is a deli-​esque counter where the nicest people will walk you through the ordering process. First you’ll choose from an array of different styles of pasta ranging from gemelli to rigatoni to cavatappi. Then you’ll choose the sauce you want. They have 8 different sauces mostly of the tomato persuasion and one of the pesto persuasion. You’ll also have the option of choosing half and half. I often choose a combination of Arrabbiata (spicy tomato sauce with prosciutto, onions, and chili peppers) and Creamy Pesto (self explanatory), which is pictured below. After ordering, they’ll make your pasta to order which normally takes no more than 5 minutes. You can watch them do it as they have an open concept kitchen. They also have a changing soup menu, which you can sample any soups before deciding. I usually go for the pasta, but I’ve had their beef barley soup and tortellini in broth and they’re both divine.
The food:
The Arrabiata sauce is so delicious. The tomato sauce they use is sweet and tomato-​y. That combined with the saltiness and umami of the prosciutto. Lastly, getting a slowly creeping heat from the chili pepper. Your tongue becomes coated with the flavors, but feels balanced. The creamy pesto is amazing as well. The flavor is very subtle unlike your grocery store salty pesto. The creamy helps stick to the pasta pieces and helps coat your tongue with the flavor of it. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend getting only creamy pesto, but I would require anyone to have it combined with the tomato because it counters the acidity of the tomato and just hits all the flavor notes and satisfies all tastebuds.
The first time I came here was over a year ago and quickly made it a lunchtime staple. I highly recommend you do the same.
**And don’t forget to get a bread roll of your choice for only $ 0.60 extra. The sauce can’t clean itself off the bowl when you’re finished destroying the pasta.

Great pasta and sauces. Best pesto sauce i ever had. A friendly atmosphere. Try the restaurant next door too.

In the mood for comfort food? I recommend this cute and cozy place. The food is definitely comforting. Pasta is al dente, sauce is tasteful and the portion is great, actually had some left over! Employees are friendly.

could have a little more flavor.
Satisfied with the size of the order.
Chicken leg a little too sour.

Such a cute home-​y café. People are friendly and food is great.
Definitely will be coming here again!

Obsessed with this place — fresh and delicious and affordable! Great customer service as well. Just had lunch here and already want to go back for dinner.

I give Lamarca Cheese Shop five stars — this place is simply as good as it gets! While definitely not your fancy $$$$ Italian restaurant in downtown New York, what really pleased me about this place was that you were offered so much value! I paid less than eight dollars (including tip, I believe) for a very hearty and scrumptious pasta, which I could not even finish because I was so full! It is extremely hard to find a place in New York City, where you are offered good food at such a low price. Even at such a good price, you are offered quality pasta and Italian food that is far better than other more well-​known and fancy options.
I don’t exactly remember what I got, but I chose to get a mix (half and half) of the spicy pasta sauce and the pesto sauce. They also let you choose which noodle style you want. The chef gave me his recommendation, which I ordered and did not regret! They also sprinkle plenty of Parmesan cheese on the top of your pasta. Overall, it was a very hearty meal.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is very cozy and clean. It is suitable for a quick lunch or dinner, but also perfectly appropriate for a dinner date with your significant other or friend. I really wish there were more restaurants that offered such great bang for your buck!

I went into the wrong Lamarca until the lady told me that the one on the corner is the restaurant and that I was probably looking for the one next door.
As for the food it was Ehhh. My wholewheat fettuccine with aurora and pesto sauce was ehh… Sauce was fine and all but I felt like it was lacking something.
I thought the pasta was going to be 7 something or so as the reviewers had mentioned.
I found out the pasta was $ 9.80 (including tax). I asked the guy behind the counter and he said it was because this was fresh pasta and it’s an extra 50cents for a 2^nd sauce. So BE WARNED.
CONS:
— CASH ONLY
— PRICEY — I can get better pasta at like Flavors for around the same price with toppings (e.g. meat, shrimp, peas, etc)

Great place to go for some tasty pasta. Got the aurora and pesto mix. It was SOOo good and at such a great price! the sauces were light and semi– creamy. The pasta was cooked perfectly, al dente, just the way I like it. I usually don’t get dishes that don’t have any meat in it, but i didn’t mind so much in this case. Good sized portion of food too!
Price: pretty cheap for nyc! Around $ 7 for the pasta dish alone.
Customer service: great! Very helpful, attentive, and quick service!
Ambiance: refreshing. I really like their set up with huge windows so ppl can be jelly of the awesome food you’re eating: p

I have always liked Lamarca. While i was going to Baruch this was a must go to lunch spot. For $ 8 you can get a decent size pasta that will defintetely fill you up. I went in the other day after many years and it still tastes the same. I always get the Farfalle Aurora, its my favorite. We ordered in the cheese shop and sat down in the dinning room next door.
My only complain from this recent experience was the service. Immediately we got bread and butter, but after the waitress came over to take our order we told her we had paid already, so another waitress came over. She was an asian lady. She was actually a bit rude and said that the bread was not free. We agreed to pay for the one that we had started eating and gave the other bread back. Later on she came and gave me a bill of $ 1 for the bread we had eaten already. I didn’t mind paying for it, just her attitude was a turn off. I think they get upset when people pay and order next door and come to the dinning room to eat, if thats such an inconvenience the restaurant should not let that happen instead of making the customer feel bad about it.
Anyway, food is good, service could be better and it is worth the try.

Living in the gramercy neighborhood for 4 years, one can’t help but end up in this place on cold days. The soups, and pastas hit the spot every time and don’t break the bank as the portions usually span two meals.
Now that I have moved away Lamarca is a must visit on my walks down memory lane. No chef yet has touched the pumpkin soup made here, and the fact that they allow you to mix and match in the same bowl is an indecisive girls dream.
Be prepared though they are CASH ONLY!

Such good soups. I tend towards the veal one with broccoli rabe, or the chicken and rice. The small slices of cheese are super good. And the most personable staff. Always up to offer ya a taste. The guy behind the counter is a mensch.

I’m fairly picky about pasta and I can say that hands down this neighborhood spot is one of the best moderately priced pasta joints in the city. It’s not the kind of place to impress your date with seductive ambiance but everything is authentically delicious. The cheese shop is separated into the café part and the sit-​down restaurant, where the prices are just a few bucks higher. Try the lasagna or arrabiata … Grab a bottle of wine to go with it. Love love love.
Pro-​tips: taking to go from the café side, get a large order ($ 9) with two different sauces. Eat half for dinner and the other half for lunch the next day. :)

At Lamarca, they whip out fresh, yummy pasta coupled with wonderful homemade sauces in under a minute. Popular sauces are Aurora (vodka sauce), Bolognese, Arrabiata, and Pesto. You pick your pasta and up to two sauces topped with parmesan cheese (request mozzarella too if you’d like) for $ 7. AND they serve deliciously cold tap water. Always a plus.
I was never too big on pasta until I found this place. It’s now one of my go-​tos for a quick lunch or dinner. The owner is super friendly and sweet. Just note that it is CASH ONLY.

Okay definitely did not expect this place to be this good. It doesn’t look too fancy and the menu is slightly pricey, but when it comes down to it its good food!
The pasta is fresh like Will Smith up in Bel Air. The ingredients are really fresh but especially the carbs themselves. All the sauces are right on point and not too heavy. The carbonara was legit and I also had one with marinara but with a vodka kick. All pasta comes with an interesting bread roll and a salad. Pretty worth the money in my opinion.
Nice seating area and the staff was decent.

This place is awesome. Food is extremely affordable, comes in large portions, and is fresh. For dinner, I spent ~$ 20 for a huge meal consisting of a ginormous bread roll with butter, a fresh salad, and a huge bowl of pasta. The setting is also quite nice, and the service is good. This is the place to go if you want a hearty, filling meal for a great price.
I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 because the pasta is not among the best pastas I’ve ever had, but do note that there are a lot of options on the menu and you’ll certainly find something that floats your boat. One slightly annoying thing is they only accept cash tips, which is fine so long as you know beforehand

So I am in the area and looked for places to eat on Unilocal.The name is misleading since I thought it was a cheese place rather a pasta place. One way or the other I went and was kinda surprised how much I loved this place. It’s essentially a pasta shop with mostly veg and herbs but they are prepared so well. The place is perfect for a nice inexpensive sit down lunch.
The food:
Bucati Alla Toscana– curly pasta with cream & tomato sauce and fresh zucchini, celery, onion, peas and prosciutto. I love eating pastas with fun shapes (don’t judge me lol) But the pastas are made in house, they are more soft than I am used to but what can you ask for when you get fresh pasta. The sauce was really tasty, in a vodka sauce kinda way and the veg really complemented the dish well. It was a good portion, I took the other half home and it was still good. The lunch I had also came with a really nice salad and a nice hearty well made roll.

This is IT. Perfect for lunch and dinner. The different choices in pasta and sauces are awesome! Plus, Everyone is so nice. It’s definitely a hidden gem in the Gramercy area.
Yum!