Scaletta Ristorante

Just got back from an enjoyable New Year’s Eve dinner. The staff was great and the food was very good. Very good wine selection many of which is reasonably priced.
Looks like we found a new favorite Italian. We look forward to returning for dinner again.

My agency had their holiday Christmas party here. It is a lovely restaurant with incredibly helpful and lovely staff. Our party was in a back room where we had passed hors devours, which were just OK. The staff came around frequently to pass hors devours, get drink orders, take our trash. They were very accommodating. For dinner, the choice of three entrees were given. They were all meat entrees and I am a vegetarian. Without any hesitation, they offered me several meatless choices. I settled on eggplant parm. It was quite tasty! Not the best I’ve ever had, but pretty good. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal as well. We were given 3 little pastries for dessert, which again, not the bets I’ve ever had but quite tasty. The service was on point. Our drinks were constantly being refilled and we were frequently asked if we needed anything. The restaurant itself is very quiet so I would imagine it would be good for catching up with friends or getting to know a date. I glanced at the menu when we left and the prices are very reasonable for the quality of food and portions being served. It is very close to the American History Museum subway stop. I would recommend this place and go here again!

Good food. Good service. Warm atmosphere. We especially enjoyed the decadent desserts. Perfect place for a quiet intimate dinner.

I had been to this restaurant many times as part of a group for professional meetings. The wait staff is always attentive, knowledgeable and kind. For this dining experience the waitstaff were very helpful when explaining the menu, including the extensive list of specials, and delivering our food. The food is always great and the ambiance is classy and comfortable. The dining are is quiet, which makes for actually being able to talk at the table with my dinner guests. This seems like a novel thing these days in the city. Most restaurants play loud music making it difficult to converse and get annoyed when you you ask them to lover the music. This was not the case at Scaletta’s, it was truly a well worth it, fine dining experience! Thank you!

This is a place to take your older friends/​family when you’re looking for a quiet restaurant where you can hear each other talk.
Food was pretty good – nothing extraordinary. It’s all solid. They’re a fan of veal here. Place is pricey! Single salad about ~14 $ and spaghetti bolognese with veal ~24 $. Everyone enjoyed their dishes which included capellini pomodoro, scallops, trip colored salad, arugula salad, chicken breast, and chop. Can’t say the food disappointed and the entrée portions won’t leave you hungry. Also tried the passion fruit and mango cake – very good. Everyone else enjoyed the coffee chocolate cake and the rice pudding cake.
The décor of this place is like a large banquet hall with round tables and carpeting. They play no music here so your mom, dad, grandpa or grandma will enjoy that they won’t have to strain to listen to
Your conversation. Demographic in there I would say is 60+. Staff is attentive. Recommend if you want to impress older folk who prefer a quiet ambience when dining out.

This is a review of Scaletta as an event or private dinner space.
I chose Scaletta to host the rehearsal dinner for my wedding. At first glance, I was a bit skeptical of its suitability because as other reviews have noted, the restaurant is cosmetically slightly dated looking (although I do like the lighting). But for the size of my event — initially 40 people — Scaletta’s private room in the back of the restaurant seemed like a good fit. Plus the food was good when my fiancée and I dined there, the management seemed very nice, the location was convenient, they were responsive to my emails, etc.
The process of arranging the details of the event was pretty painless and they are VERY up front in terms of their pricing, much more so than other restaurants I queried. I spoke with them in-​person and via email and they were very flexible and helpful.
Despite the fact that the dinner ballooned from the initial 40 people to 60 people two weeks prior to the event, Scaletta was completely accommodating. The private room *easily* could handle 70+ without feeling cramped at all and obviously there’s much more capacity if you rented the entire restaurant.
When I arrived the day of, Scaletta was completely prepared and the room was already configured perfectly. The manager did take me aside to express his opinion that my plan for how to handle the drinks probably wasn’t the best idea, but he emphasized that, «we will do whatever you want to do.» Essentially, he told me in the nicest possible way that my plan for how to pay for the drinks was stupid given the number of people in attendance… and he was totally right. I took his advice and am so glad he not only brought the issue up and resolved it before it became an issue, but handled the situation in the most professional and kind way possible.
The dinner was a huge success. Everyone had a great time, the food was wonderful (I’d highly recommend going with the Pasta Tre Colore; it was a big hit), the service was solid and not intrusive… and they were attentive when it came to little details, like shutting the doors while people gave some impromptu speeches, even though the staff were not specifically requested to do so. I will say though that if you’re going to have speeches at your event to plan ahead and get a sound system as some noise from the restaurant will leak into the room on a busy night (our event was on a Friday).
Scaletta exceeded my expectations and did a fantastic job. I feel that it was a fair value and the staff is definitely experienced and capable of hosting private events. But most of all the management is professional, trustworthy, honest, charming, and an absolute pleasure to deal with. I thank them for their great work and highly recommend them as a venue.

So amazing. They accommodated a perfect vegetarian pasta. One of the best I’ve had with a tasty cab wine. Excellent service. Nice work

I’ve been eating here for nearly 22 years. This is a neighborhood gem. The food is consistently delicious. Dessert cart is brought to the table for your selection. Complimentary tasty mini biscotti served with coffee. Family owned and operated. Freddie is the matre d, his brother is the chef. Dinner is presented as a process, not rushed. You have your table for the duration of your dining experience, not like many other Manhattan restaurants that are crowded, noisy and rushed. Enjoy the quiet ambiance. Attire is business casual week days and some patrons dress casual elegant on Saturday night. I would say that the population is majority mature in age, however, many multi-​generational families dine here.

The food was amazing!!! All the waiters that waited on us were very attentive and sweet. There was dim lighting for the setting since it was Valentine’s Day and set the mood. Best surprise and choice by my boyfriend for this day. Definitely recommend to anyone who asks!

5 stars for one of the best veal parms I’ve ever had. Service was good and desserts were devastating. Not a good place to be while on a diet.
I will come back.

Possibly best veal parm I’ve ever had. Amazingly tender and flavorful. Service was first rate. Not exactly a romantic romantic restaurant, but if you’re in the mood for genuine Italian, away from tourists, come here.

Went to Scalettas last night for the first time. Walking in any diner could tell it was a top notch old school italian restaurant. Most of the tables were large groups of family and friends while I just sat a table for two. My girlfriend and I shared the ravioli and linguini primavera. Delicious pasta and fantastic service. Will definitely be back again.

I have been going to this restaurant for years and it never gets old. Relaxed environment and great food.

We ate here for dinner on Nov. 26, 2014 — the night before Thanksgiving. Our party of four stumbled upon this restaurant while we were observing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons being inflated just outside the restaurant (all around the American Museum of Natural History). We were lucky: we had no reservations, and the restaurant was VERY busy. Despite the hectic atmosphere, the owner accommodated us without any wait, and we even got a decent table. The food was delicious — three of had the veal dishes — the Scaloppine di Vitello Sorrentino and the Scaloppine di Vitello Scaletta. My son had the cheese ravioli (he raved about it). The service was really quite good, especially since they were so slammed. We never felt rushed, and our water glasses were always promptly refilled. I recommend this restaurant — whether you’ve left yourself without reservations in NYC, or can plan ahead.

Good food, poor service.
Spacious restaurant with many tables — but the ambiance is dull with lighting that is too bright. What can I say about the décor? There is none.
Our waiter forgot about the wine we ordered. After we reminded him, we were given a wine from 2012, but had ordered one from 2008. I had to get up multiple times to ask for water. There is no excuse since this was a weeknight and the restaurant was empty. I was surprised when they got our orders right…
My family ordered the swordfish special, red snapper, and veal scallopini and the food was delicious (which is the only reason this place is getting 3 stars). However, I am vegetarian and ordered the cheese ravioli with porcini mushrooms in a light cream sauce — I would not recommend it. The sauce was too watery and the ravioli lacked flavor. I also expected more than 5 tiny pieces of mushrooms.

Décor needs an upgrade, but the food was solid. Veal Scallopine, ravioli, gnocchi and creamy mushroom sauce sampler were fantastic. This is for civilized, fine diners and business lunch and dinners, which could explain the somewhat stuffy atmosphere. Waiting service was good also.

Went here the night before new years eve and it was super quiet. That being said, the food was delicious. I highly recommend the lasagna bolognese. One thing to keep in mind — their wine selection is almost completely by the full or half bottle.

We thought the service was good/​attentive. We enjoyed all 3 courses (Restaurant Week Menu) 2 different Salads and Penne Pasta, Red Sauce and basil were all good. Veal Scaloppine was good but not as good as the Spaghetti Bolognese, it was excellent. tiramisu, Pineapple, Coconut Chocolate Cake and the Apple Crisp were excellent.
Fairly quiet and comfortable dinning room

Mistake
I was very disappointed in the food and the service. I will never go back and will recommend it to nobody. If by any chance you don’t listen to me and want to go anyway definitely get the red snapper. It was actually delicious and is the reason Scaletta isnt getting 1 star

We decided on Scaletta for a pre-​opera dinner since reservations were available at short notice, whereas other places closer to Lincoln Center were fully booked.
The décor seems to have improved from about 10 years ago during our last visit. But the service is perfunctory at best. The place is full of waiters, but only one was noticeably trained to serve properly. We had to ask for the menu several times. Our unsmiling waiter did NOT tell us the day’s specials, unlike his well-​trained colleague serving the next table.
The food was alright. The so-​called Red Snapper turned out to be Tilapia, which my seafood-​expert companion could tell from just one bite. Snapper comes from the sea and has a totally different taste and texture from Tilapia, a much cheaper freshwater fish. I remembered a recent study on «mislabeled fish» and googled it right away —
. Sure enough, the study (
) found that 87% of «snapper» sold in the U.S. is actually tilapia!
We told the waiter, who responded that it IS snapper. We then told the manager, who said we should have been told if the kitchen was serving tilapia instead of snapper. Who knows, the restaurant could have been cheated by the wholesaler, but you’d think a chef would know the difference. In any case, the manager could have offered us something, like a glass of wine or dessert, to make up for serving us the wrong fish.
The fried calamari, insalata caprese and mango mousse were OK, but why should we bother to go again?