Mercato Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The food was delicious. We ordered the calamari, octopus, caprese salad for apps. All 10/10."
• "Cozy place...good drinks...homemade pasta."
• "Totally perfect food, cozy atmosphere, and charming hospitality."
• "The NY strip steak was also delicious."
• "The gnocci was wonderful! I recommend."
• "The homemade pasta was cooked to perfection."
• "Everything was fresh and tasty."

Cons:

• "Food was super salty - from the porchetta to the pasta."
• "The food was mediocre."
• "Needless to say this place is far from authentic Italian food. A total rip off."
• "The food was average and a bit bland."
• "Everything was extremely salty and overseasoned."
• "We had calamari (called something else in menu, with fish and shrimp) appetizer which was very bland and very fried, almost KFC style I thought."
• "Some of the very worst, blandest food I have ever had. Lasagna was mushy, with no flavor."

Service

Pros:

• "Service was very professional and attentive."
• "The staff was super friendly and accommodating to my group."
• "The service was wonderful and very welcoming."
• "The waiter was acutely aware of everything on the menu including the special."
• "The staff is AMAZING, helpful and friendly."
• "Great service too and reasonable prices for Manhattan."
• "Our server was knowledgeable and was helpful in guiding our table in ordering starters and wine for our larger group."

Cons:

• "Waitress barely attended us and felt as if my family and I were given dirty looks."
• "The server seem annoyed with our table."
• "Terrible service."
• "RATS! The place was full or Rats."
• "This restaurant had some of the poorest service I’ve ever experienced."
• "Service was extremely poor, felt very rushed."
• "The service was very bad, the waiters made us hurry all the time."

Ambiance

Pros:

• "The place has some cool character to it, with brick walls."
• "Very cozy, non-glitzy atmosphere, friendly/helpful staff."
• "Nice ambiance - small place but not pokey."
• "The interior has a very old European vibe."
• "Surprisingly it has very good atmosphere and the best customer service we have had experienced in that whole trip."
• "It's real proper Italian coffee!"
• "The place has a very country Italian vibe with waiters talking in Italian accent as well."

Cons:

• "The restaurant is also really dark and has an odor/poor ventilation."
• "Quite cozy, so maybe not well suited for private conversations or big groups."
• "However it was pricey and the portions were small."
• "eating in the darkness, almost sharing the table with the people you have next."
• "At some point it was very annoying to be so near to others - you can literally hear all the conversations of the people sitting next to your table."
• "It's a pretty tight space so unfortunately I can't say I would wanna host a big dinner here."
• "The restaurant was a little crowded and cramped."

Value

Pros:

• "Prices are really fair too."
• "Great value for money."
• "The price is fair."
• "Considering the proximity to Times Square the price was also good."
• "A plate of pasta is about $13 to $18, depending on what you choose."
• "Pasta with wild boar was tasty and reasonably priced."
• "Typical 'big city' prices, but the serving sizes were great."

Cons:

• "Good wine choices, but NYC overpriced (inescapable)."
• "US$46 for 2 meatballs is a bit more than I would pay."
• "However it was pricey and the portions were small."
• "Don’t regard $200 as good value for ordinary pasta, 2 cocktails and 2 drinks."
• "The butternuts squash at US$23 for a fairly large bowl is also too much when the rest of the menu is reasonable priced."
• "paying a fortune for a plate of 3 ravioli, is not justified at all."
• "US$50,00 for a glass of wine!"