Polpette

Neighborhood gem. The meatballs are second to none. The food is delicious. The staff was very nice and courteous. It is very child friendly and the staff is very attentive to my children. Their deals on Mondays are the best in the area.

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE Unilocal RESERVATION TOOL! After placing a reservation on Unilocal a few days in advance, and getting more than one confirmation notice from the restaurant (1 even came within an hour of the reservation) I was told upon arriving that they had «no clue reservations could be made on Unilocal». The best they could do was try to get us a table in the next hour to hour and a half. The reason I am rating Polpette with 1-​star, rather than 2 is because I was told that night they had changed their settings on Unilocal to no longer accept reservations. Well, as I sit here and update my previous review it is well over a week since my reservation wasn’t honored. I told myself I’d give them time to keep to their word but at this point I feel as though they think it is optional to honor reservations made on Unilocal (the option is still available as I post this).
Food was OK, service was very, very lackluster. Bartender was very friendly but the manager that night did not handle the situation very well.

Have been back again and again and again… LOVE this place! Monday night meatballs (half-​priced — and delicious!) and Wed. night half-​bottle wines, along with great food, an extremely professional and nice staff, make Polpette a great destination on the UWS. «Stolen meatballs», the special salad, eggplant parm and the pastas are some of the faves. Francis is AWESOME! Christina is the BEST! The ENTIRE staff is awesome –the service is the best.

Quiet for a Thursday evening, decided to try as the place wasn’t busy and had an interesting décor. Cozy place. Service was attentive. Food is a 3 – 4 star. Meatball has good consistency, not too dense, sauce was a little dry and salty. Pasta was cooked perfectly. Good home style Italian, not over the top. Definitely recommended if in the neighborhood.

The waitress we had was super friendly. The food is amazing. A pasta dish is around $ 20 and other entrees are around $ 25-​$ 30. My BF and I order delivery sometimes and it’s delicious even when you eat at home.

The meatballs and eggplant parm really are very good, but the overall experience was a solid 3.5 stars.
It was a bit off-​putting that Christmas decorations were still up as it is nearly February. I don’t mean just the lights, which can be cute and cozy, but like dusty Santa Claus statues on the mantle. The waiters were initially very attentive, but disappeared for long periods of time — it took us nearly 20 minutes to flag them down for the check. One waitress was seemed a bit grumpy when my companions and I inquired as to the size of the different entrée options, as if that was a ridiculous question to ask. It also took ~35 minutes for the food to come out.
I would go back for the happy hour and half-​price meatballs on Friday, but probably not for anything else.

I would’ve given this place 4 ½ stars but there are no half stars on Unilocal and it is worthy of 4+. Everything was excellent from my wife’s Salmon to my Classic spaghetti and meatballs. Meatballs were good (not quite as good as my Moms but I have never found any that are) but the sauce they came in was excellent. Paste cooked perfectly and overall an excellent choice on the Upper Westside. We will return.

A great neighborhood spot, where the staff here will remember your name after just a few visits. They do take reservations but only for parties greater than 2. The meatballs are great here as is the eggplant Parmesan. The service is always attentive and friendly and they have a great happy hour, $ 5 glasses of wine and $ 5 plates. I would also highly recommend the pesto here with spaghetti. You really cannot go wrong with the great food at great prices.

Everything about this place is amazing. The service is great, the food is to die for. Really authentic Italian, I recommend the meatballs. The general manager Jacob greets you and makes you feel like you are apart of the family and the bartender Jared is the best. Will definitely be coming back again

Great food, family owned, and everyone there is extremely friendly. Come a few times and they’ll all know you on a first name basis. My father’s been coming here since the first day it opened.
Half off meatballs every Monday! And they are good!

Quite disappointed with a recent dinner here — the reviews on Unilocal seemed favorable, but I found the meal to be as bland as any American-​Italian food I’ve had. We ordered the meatballs (classic) and the carbonara. For their self-​proclaimed «best meatballs in the five boroughs,» I was expecting extraordinary. I found the texture to be spongy and the marinara to be sub-​par. This, however, was acceptable compared to the carbonara. The «carbonara» they served, wasn’t actually carbonara — they used a cream-​based sauce and lathered the pasta and some pieces of bacon in it. There was no relation to the Roman dish in the least; the sauce in traditional carbonara sticks to the pasta and is rich, not creamy (in fact, there is no cream!). Very disappointed.
I will say, the service and the ambiance were great … attentive staff!

Came here for dinner after hearing about the meatballs! I am a huge meatball lover and couldn’t wait to try the «best meatballs in the 5 boroughs». Well these did not disappoint. We got them sauced, The marinara was great and the balls themselves were juicy, delish and a bit peppery. Not sure if they were the best ever but pretty damn tasty.
For entrees we ordered fettuccine carbonara (homemade pasta) and linguine di mare. Everything came out piping hot with generous portions. I got through half my carbonara and was so full but just could not stop eating. The carbonara was prepared more like an Alfredo, as there was no presence of egg or cracked black pepper.
Our waitress was Italian and really allowed us to enjoy the dining experience (encouraging us to take our time!) would def come back here and recommend.

The food did not come close to a four star rating. I usually trust Unilocal but this was a letdown. We stuck to spaghetti and meatballs, which is supposed to be their specialty because the restaurant is named after it. The sauce was over salted and one dimensional, the pasta was cooked al dente but was definitely not fresh made, and the meatballs were precooked or frozen and was a little grainy. We got our food in 5 minutes, meaning that it was not even cooked to order. The Meatball Shop a few blocks down, has better meatballs at a cheaper price, even though it is a chain. The food did not taste authentic or fresh, and definitely on the side of subpar Italian American.
Service was good, therefore they get one star. Patio is like many in the area but nice if you want to eat outside. Recommend many of the other restaurants in the area instead. I would not return.

So yes, the meatballs are great. As is the tomato sauce. It was very flavorful, which doesn’t always happen. The pasta is cooked al dente and was good, but nothing fantastic. I got the pesto sauce and that was too oily for me. Though, the leftovers the next day were great cold. They had a lobster mac and cheese, and I found that more exciting on paper than it actually tasted. There were just no explosions of flavor and that’s what I was expecting. They brought out bread to start but it was very little and they did not offer to refill.
The ambiance was very nice. It’s a super small venue but they decorated well. A nice Italian interior decoration. Because of the size, though, it’s the type of place where you would be able to hear the conversation at the adjacent tables.
The waitstaff was really nice and made me feel very comfortable. Also the AC wasn’t working so it was quite uncomfortable but hopefully that was a one-​time thing.
Overall, I’d say it was fine but it definitely did not blow me away.

Visited Polpette with my fiancé for dinner and was pleasantly surprised by the meal. Great ambiance with candles and chandeliers, plus the music was pretty good. With a proper dining environment, the food tasted evermore delectable.
Started the meal with the Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Sliders. Well seasoned sauteed broccoli rabe and juicy sausages on a decently thick mini bun. It does get a bit messy with the oils expelling from the sausage. We also tried their Straccietella, spinach and egg drop soup. Very reminiscent of the Asian style egg drop soup, but with a twist. I also enjoy trying something that’s a bit familiar yet not exactly the same. The soup came in a fairly large bowl, much bigger than I had expected since you normally get small portions for soups in other places.
For the main we had ordered their Classic, spaghetti and meatballs in pomodoro sauce, and Black Linguini with seafood. The spaghetti and meatballs were fantastic, and one of the best meatballs I’ve had in the city. The meatballs are nice and big, while tender and cooked with steamy moisture inside. A well balanced herb like flavor infused to the meat that is cooked perfectly. Certainly a must try for those who enjoy the classics. The Black Linguini was mixed with salmon, mussels, shrimp, leeks, tomatoes, garlic & olive oil. The linguini was a bit softer than I expected from a pasta and the sauce was a bit on the buttery side, I can’t say it’s the best rendition of the pasta I’ve had in the city, but nonetheless a good dish. Maybe it could’ve been better with squid ink pasta, but that’s a personal preference.

After relying on Unilocal for our choice of Italian restaurants, we (3 of us) unanimously agreed it is not worth its’ 4 stars for the following reasons:
1. When asking that our entrée come with one of their homemade pastas, the ‘Queen’/ manager said, absolutely not! It wasn’t offered that way. We would have been very happy to pay an up charge for fresh pasta as a side! What sort of Italian dish (I ordered one of the Chicken entrees) is served without a side of pasta?! Not only was there no pasta, the flavor was very average at best! And, she was very condescending in her manner, as well.
2. My husband’s dish of penne (again, not fresh) pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe was served in a pool of chicken broth soup!
In this city, most restaurants focus on customer satisfaction. As customers, we were not satisfied at all! You would have thought it was a privilege to dine here!

My friends know me for being the queen of hyberbole. But I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that I ate theee best pesto sauce I’ve ever eaten here tonight! I ordered gluten free penne pasta with pesto sauce and proscuitto ($ 14). Dee –licious!
The hostess was very nice and helpful. Our server was ok… not good not bad, but ok. Our water glasses were always refilled quickly, which means we weren’t being ignored. The ambience is lovely: bistro chairs, chandeliers, large wall mirrors.
My hubba bubba was not happy with the size of his Polette Parmigiana Brooklyn Hero ($ 14). It wasn’t as large as he expected but he liked the flavor. Our son liked the sliders ($ 11) but they definitely should have been an appetizer, not an entrée. I wish the portions were larger, but the food is definitely tasty.

I was hungry and Polpette was calling my name. In I went into this enchanting little restaurant. Everything on the menu was looking delizioso, but I guess I can’t have it all. Below is what you need to know:
–Complimentary bread: Don’t try it. It was a bit on the stale side.
–Sliders: meatball and pomodoro on brioche rolls for $ 10 — The meatballs were nice and piquant BUT it was served somewhere between room temperature and warm.
–Truffle parmesan french fries for $ 8 — These were bangin’; they were zesty, served at the right temperate and oh so good. After all, they have truffle!
–Mozzarella fritti for $ 10 (a.k.a. mozzarella sticks) — Well, these may have been much better had they come out hot rather than barely warm.
Overall: not a winner.

I’ve never sat in but I love taking out from Polpette!
The polpette and eggplant sliders are delish. It’s always fresh and piping hot PLUS.
I realize it’s tough to choose between the meatball shop and polpette but I say if you’re looking for a more intimate experience. Choose polpette. Super cute interior :)

After recently having good meals at Bustan and Tessa nearby, I was happy to see yet another great new restaurant pop up in an area that is otherwise dominated mostly by subpar family-​friendly places and froyo shops.
I quickly saw why there are so few of these types of restaurants around here though: literally every table in the full restaurant had a few babies/​children in tow (present company included). As a parent that still likes to eat out, I didn’t mind this, but I could imagine the younger set and bitter old people would have run in the other direction once they saw the row of strollers parked out front.
Hopefully for the owners here this was just a function of the early dining time, and they will get plenty of customers as the service was nice and friendly and the food happened to be quite good:
— Tiniest piece of bread known to man
It’s one of those where the guy comes over with a basket and asks if you would prefer Focaccia or just the other plain kind. For either response, he then deposits a bite worth of semi-​stale bread on your plate. It’s actually better that it’s small, as it’s not really worth eating anyway.
— «Stolen» Meatballs ($ 10 for 3)
As the name of the restaurant implies, you must get meatballs here, which are offered in 5 different forms to enjoy: sliders, with marinara sauce, in a hero, with spaghetti, or the way I tried them, «stolen», as in «snatched fresh from the frying pan». This allowed us to really taste how delicious the plain meatballs were, with no sauce or bread in the equation. They were really excellent, with a nice, crispy outside and a fluffy, deliciously seasoned interior. I want to come back for the hero next time.
— Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Sliders ($ 10 for 3)
These were really delicious too. The sliders were nice and oily from the large pieces of sausage and sautéed broccoli rabe.
— Truffle Parmesan French Fries ($ 8)
These were great — super addictive, crispy and well-​seasoned, a solid, non-​traditional side to go with the meatballs.
— Chicken Parmigiana ($ 19)
— Spaghetti Marinara ($ 11 for half order)
This was decent chicken parm, but writing this out makes me realize I paid $ 30 for chicken parm & spaghetti (since there’s no pasta included with it, and everybody knows you can’t possibly eat parm without spaghetti), which stings quite a bit at a place like this. As the waitress warned every table, the marinara sauce is made spicy here, and indeed it had quite a kick. It was quite tasty, but a little unexpected even with the warning, so you might be better off ordering the pomodoro sauce instead for a more traditional tomato sauce.
— Ricotta Cheesecake ($ 8)
The desserts came out almost immediately, which was a definite sign that they were pre-​made and sure enough, quite underwhelming. Perhaps ricotta cheesecake is supposed to be grainy like this, but either way, I thought it had a very undesirable texture. Pass.
— Tartufo ($ 8)
This was ok, but it just tasted like store bought ice cream. With tons of great ice cream places in the neighborhood, I would skip this and get dessert elsewhere.
In hindsight, I probably made some poor choices in ordering. I would have been better off OD’ing on the meatballs instead of trying the chicken parm and skipping the standard dessert options, which would have made for a much more satisfying meal.
They better take advantage and try as hard as they can to bring in the business now before the massive new location of The Meatball Shop opens down the block. Until then at least, they’ve definitely cornered the market on delicious meatballs around here.