Sant Ambroeus

I love finding good restaurants in the west village. It’s my favorite section of the city to dine in. Now about Sant Ambroeus. This is a great find. Service is great, the restaurant has a nice quiet ambience and the food is very good. Having done a hard training ride in the morning i was quite hungry. Ambroeus was more than willing to oblige my hunger. Being summer they had a Gazpacho special which i followed up with Cerviche and a Mahi Mahi main course. I paired my dinner with Cortese di Gavi which pairs beautifully with seafood and is so much better than Pinot Grigio and is way more Italian than Sauvignon Blanc (kudos to stocking quality white wine by the glass). Everything was delicious and well presented. I’ll probably go back at least once and try out some of the items I almost had tonite.

Came here for Sunday night dessert. The chocolate mousse was delicious and went well with my cup of coffee. I appreciated the intimate vibe of the restaurant, which lent to a calm and romantic evening. Will definitely be back for dinner another night.

I thought Unilocalers would like to see how management responds to a negative review… by opening up a phony Unilocal account and private messaging me. How ignorant of them to try and hide behind the curtain of anonymity but its obvious it’s management by the response… and By the way San Ambroeus, even the low end people that you say are in Staten Island deserve not to be refused the public restroom as your staff did to me, a paying customer. Very despicable and unclassy of you to reach out to me this way. May the bad karma go right back to you as I see is in your other negative reviews. What you write is totally ignorant and of an uneducated small minded person.
This is exactly what I copied and pasted that they wrote to me in private message:
As I went to write a review about one of my favorite local spots I noticed the bizarre reviews you wrote. Then, I noticed, you were from Staten Island; so it all made sense. Manhattan restaurants are primarily for Manhattan residents and on weekends, those less fortunate from the «other» boroughs can come by. So please do us a favor and instead of writing unnecessary and untrue reviews, stay in Staten Island where you belong. There’s plenty of eateries there that service lower end clientele. We do not want or need your business. Cheers.

Usually at the one in the UES so I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon this in West Village. Ordered the lunch prix fixe which was alot to eat but all so healthy except for the gelato. Nice glass of Vermontino on the side. Jonah Hill was at the table next to mine.

Very very overpriced italian food. I came with my family and expect to spend about 30 – 40 per person if you plan on filling up. The pastas were just normal pastas you can find in any restaurant. The side of brussel sprouts was $ 9 and every pasta was about $ 20, so add a glass of wine to that and you are already at around $ 30 per person.
We were greeted while walking down the street outside and the waiter convinced us to walk in. I must say that sometimes the staff was too friendly to the point of making us feel uncomfortable and treating us like we were best friends. They made a couple of jokes and commented on how and why we were not ordering enough food. I know they were probably trying to be nice but it made us feel uneasy.

Hummm… overpriced pasta, salad and sides.
It’s on a cute corner… the only thing I would recommend here is a quick cup of coffee, a drink and just a drink… I think perhaps because it’s on a pretty nice corner the owners feel they can overcharge you for a meal like a very small plate of bland pasta… don’t come here unless you want to get ripped off. Avoid… avoid…

I really enjoyed my breakfast but wasn’t all that enthralled. The pancakes were good but tasted pretty batter-​y and they could definitely give you a little more food for what you pay. Our service was good and I appreciated the ambience. One thing you have to try are the cookies that they sell at the counter, they taste like pie crust and is amazing!

I came in for a break from mad ave shopping and museums. Their coffee is really good and definitely worth a try. They make the cookies every day and my fave were the chocolate meringues with hazelnuts, they are a dollar each. The décor is lovely too, looks European and while small, doesn’t have a traffic flow problem

If all you are concerned with is (borderline too dark) atmosphere and are bent on dining in the West Village, then you might like this place.
But if you’re interested in good service and great food, look elsewhere.
*Hint* Eataly is a far better place to get your Italian on. The food and service is consistently fantastic. Every single time (dozens) we’ve been, we’re grateful Eataly exists. Sant Ambroeus couldn’t hit the mark on one visit.
As mentioned, the place is too dark, and quite cramped. Mood is good. Everyone pulling out their phones to see the menus is a blackout.
Service was generally unimpressive, spotty, and amateurish. Throughout the evening, we felt we were being waited on by a staff who had all literally started training that night. No one seemed to truly own the service experience.
The food was ok. Nothing fabulous. The bread was notably delicious, but the olive oil was rather bland.
The avocado salad was tasty enough and the beef carpaccio competent.
After a lengthy wait, the mains arrived. The veal tagliatelle was ok. A bit one note, and far too much meat. The lobster risotto was downright poorly cooked… watery and thin. The flavors were there, but the texture was off putting. Improperly cooked risotto is texturally a little too closely related to vomit for comfort.
After another lengthy wait, the main course plates were cleared, and we had to flag down our server to ask about dessert. She seemed perplexed as to what we might possibly want after 10 minutes of sitting at an empty table.
Desserts were fine but forgettable. The signature mousse thing, which we had seen lovingly reviewed on the Food Network, was just ok. The ball of ganache was less boring by some margin. But again, any of Eataly’s dozens of pastry and parfait offerings are infinitely more interesting, delicious, and less expensive.
All told, Sant Ambroeus is a chain. An upscale chain, but a chain nonetheless. The food and experience we had reflects this. Everything was a bit too formulaic and predictable for our taste (buds).

This review is specifically for their breakfast and it was really good i tried their i cornetti it’s like croissant but since I got the almond flavor it also has almond paste in the middle. The bread is light and topping is chewy lightly sweet which I love my over easy eggs are done right my kids got the tegamino americano and was also very good.

Expected to like this place more, food was just okay. I had the squid ink spaghetti with uni. Definitely a good place for a date, or a place to sit outside and people watch in west village.

Just had lunch here today, loved it.
— awesome quaint décor and environment with great outdoor seating
— wonderful, prompt and friendly service
— the linguini with pepper and pecorino was perfect

Came by for ice cream and was hoping they would have the vanilla (no yolk) ice cream that the Southampton location has. I asked for it and was told that this was the specific flavor but it wasn’t. Anyhow it was still good and would come back to try out their brunch menu.

Located on a nice, quiet corner, this is a great spot for an outdoor meal or cup of coffee.
We came for a late breakfast on a slow morning. The eggs were excellent. The service was quick and pleasant — they even brought us honey in little glass jars when we asked for extra.
If you’re looking for a quintessential West Village outdoor café, this is it.

Kitsch factor was in full force at Sant Ambroeus, but I have to say it’s one of the most photogenic restaurants I’ve been to in recent memory. Attention to detail with the decoration is out of control, and I really felt transported back a few decades to a romanticized vision of a Milanese café. Just missing the aroma of years of cigarette smoke and strong Italian colognes, but probably for the better. Aside from the looks, the food was pretty good. You don’t necessarily get bang for your buck, but they caught me in a mood where I was totally fine with that and thus I enjoyed myself. We went for brunch. My tegamino mediterraneo (sunny side eggs over a shallow tomato sauce with capers was simple and tasty — if you want a flavorful yet light dish, I’d go with that. Espresso and juices were excellent too.

Got the $ 28 three course menu for lunch. Sat outside on the verandah on a beautiful spring day. Service was friendly. Had the quinoa salad dish for entrée and the spicy pasta for main. Pasta was cooked to perfection — al dente! Dessert was two scoops of gelato/​sorbet. Complimentary assortment of bread was provided with very good extra virgin olive oil. Definitely recommend.

Consistently amazing food, drinks, service, and ambience.
The food is incredible, and the servers don’t rush you but are always there when you need something.

So the very first time I came to Sant Ambroeus was for a matchmaker arranged date… yes, you read that right. And, as you can probably guess, it wasn’t good! Haha
I wanted to come back here afterward to have a positive connotation since the food stuck out in mind as being delicious and the establishment cute. I am so glad that I did!
Came for winter restaurant week in 2014 and everything was so good. My friend and I decided to go with the wine pairings for the meal as it was only $ 15! How great is that? And let me tell you, these were full glasses of wine… I might have gotten tipsy. Whoops.
For my appetizer I had:
VITELLO TONNATO
(chilled, thinly-​sliced veal, tuna sauce, capers)
Friend had:
CALAMARI ALLA GRIGLIA
(grilled calamari with corn salad)
Wine pairing: chardonnay Felice Bianco, Sant Ambroeus — 2012
If I am honest, I enjoyed hers a lot more… the tuna sauce tasted like a tuna salad purée which to me was an odd pairing with the veal…
For my main, I had the:
TAGLIATELLE SALTATE ALLA BOLOGNESE
(tagliatelle pasta with traditional light veal ragù)
Yummmmm! I still don’t see the big deal about veal but this was pretty good. Plus, the woman gave me my cheese the way I like it… A MOUNTAIN OF IT.
My friend had:
GNOCCHI AL PESTO E POMODORO
(gnocchi with pesto and tomato sauce)
I’m not a huge gnocchi fan unless truffle oil is involved but these were actually quite tasty… soft little pillows and the perfect consistency.
Wine pairing: some red wine Felice Rosso, Sant Ambroeus — 2010… It ’twas good
Dolci:
SANT AMBROEUS
(chocolate mousse cake with a chocolate custard center)
GELATO & SORBETTO
(three scoops of housemade gelato and sorbet)
Wine pairing was a Moscato D’Asti, Ca De’ Mandorli something or other.
Overall, fantastic service and yummy food is to be found at Sant Ambroeus. Love the location and the interior! It is a good spot for dates and I am anxious to come back during the warmer months to enjoy their outdoor seating area. It would be perfect for people watching in the West Village.

Northern Italian food in the heart of soho
Perfect for ppl watching and spotting a celebrity
Good food, pretty cakes and real espresso
Bellissimo Bella!

Great breakfast spot in Greenwich. Get there early as it fills up quick!
I had the sweet cream brioche to start and the Crostini Milanese for breakfast. My wife had the almond brioche and the omelette with mushrooms and fontina. All were great!
The coffee is perfect here and distinctly Italian. It’s all about comfort here.