Il Buco and Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria Reviews

Nice ambiance, small portions, food a bit on the salty side.

Excellent Italian restaurant with a very characteristic atmosphere.
Typical and genuine dishes. Excellent quality of raw materials. Impeccable service for cordiality and speed. The atmosphere is pleasant and relaxing.
A restaurant recommended for a quick lunch while visiting the surroundings or for a relaxing dinner with friends.

First and foremost, the service was excellent. Thank you Hector. Yes we're on a pandemic, but dining outside on a warm September evening was relaxing and delightful. Having a leisurely meal, over 3 hours, with wonderful company, never feeling rushed ... that's how adults have a meal.

Appetizers, crisp, nicely dressed salad. Try the roasted beets. If you thought you'd never like beets, you will now.

If you like food with some spice, try a pasta prepared Al Tonno. Maybe a touch heavy on the chili spice, but a nice entree.

They didn't have gluten free pasta. There were no familiar Italian dishes, none. The bread selection was very good as were the meats. Our server was excellent. The chicken was delicious.

Great food and service. Not like any other Manhattan restaurant

Great place with a lot of food options. Had very good service and the orange ginger scone was very good. Coffee to me since I drink it black was a bit on the bitter, astringent side but still a decent cup. Will definitely go back when I am in the neighborhood.

Fantastic service, food, and ambiance. Hosted clients and had a really nice time.

A truly extraordinary place. Will transport you back to Italy.

Very nice atmosphere and really good food! I had the roasted chicken, which was probably the best I've ever had. The salad was also great with a really tangy but light dressing. Noisy but fun. I would definitely recommend it for a group.

GREAT PASTA! with pietro nolita and via carota, il buco alimentari make the best pasta in NYC gotta check i sodi soon!

The food is generally very good. The short ribs are delicious. However, make sure to request a table in the back room. Otherwise, you might get sat in the front, which is just a strange area.

Intensely authentic Italian fare. They also sell cheese by the pound, bread loaves, and meat.

Good attention, good food and a super nice and relaxed atmosphere

Loved the olive oil tasting! Limited seating, so we dined at the bar, which ended up being enjoyable.. Food was good but not amazing

A fairly crowded, lively, and very charming restaurant-in-market setting

Seller service is thoughtful. Later with colleagues together.

Delicious food and great service throughout the night. Loved the branzino and pork belly, our wine recommendation was also a hit!

Great place! Great food! Great service! The best in NYC!

Food so good that it touches your soul. Amazingly friendly staff. We really loved this restaurant!

Came with a group of 5 and had a fantastic dinner. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable and the atmosphere was great.

Everything was delicious but the short rib was a particular favorite.

Italian food... so great. filled me up. next time i'll be back with my relatives.

Probably my favorite restaurant at the moment. Incredible fried artichokes to start. Excellent pastas (especially the bucatini with parmesan reggiano, cracked pepper, and meyer lemon). Arguably the best dish is the short ribs - not something I'd usually order, but this thing is ridiculous. Get it and never look back. The waitstaff is polite and knows their stuff, and the setting is great because you can choose from various types of tables in three different areas.

The ribs are great! You should really have it if you've enough people on your table. The pasta is properly al dent and caccio and pepe was very solid.
Cold cuts are also a great option.
Service is good, they have a good wine selection and a great bartender.
Environment is more on the casual side, with normal noise levels for NY standard and space between tables.

Short ribs for 2 was phenomenal, but the pasta could've been made in my kitchen. Atmosphere had a good vibe

Best steak I have *ever* had! Perfect for a romantic date night.

Excellent food, friendly staff and unique menu that changes often to incorporate what's fresh and in season. Consistently good food and service. Child friendly as well.

I felt like I was at home as soon as I stepped in the door. The entire staff was extremely friendly and welcoming like being at Grandmas house for dinner. Chef Garrison Price puts his heart and soul into the food and you can feel it in every bite. You owe it to yourself to eat at this restaurant!!

This a truly unusual venue: a market with every imaginable cheese, meat and bread product, all from Italy, none from else where unless house-made from Italian goods.

Then there is a large dining area serviced by efficient, competent and friendly staff.

Then the food: all absolutely delicious, huge varieties of perfectly prepared dishes spectacularly garnished with rare but appropriate goodies.

All for under $250 for three including a great bottle of "natural" Barbera - from Italy of course - and a generous tip.

Excellent Italian restaurant with fresh dishes prepared in house. The lamb ribs and squid risotto from the restaurant week menu was delicious and reasonably priced.

Food wise this place is top notch! I can't give them five stars, though, because seating wise it's a mess. You'll wait 15-20 minutes past time of the reservation, in an area where there is NO space-- forget about getting a drink at the bar while you wait, it's too crowded. They seem to be biting off way more then they can chew. I'd come here all the time in a heart beat if the organization was better, as the cocktails are amazing, the wine list is fantastic, and the food is superb! It's also a very loud space, fyi.

Great decor and really good food prices are med to med high

Always loved this restaurant but really disappointed when I went back recently.

Food is no longer as good as before. We order the octopus and black rice to start. The rice was fine but the octopus was very rubbery.

Then I had the chicken and it was over cooked and dry. Service was also sloppy compared to before. There is a lack of love and care in the restaurant overall.

It's quite disheartening to see the fall of quality.

Old time Italian meeting place for meals or drinks. Food and prices were good. Very comfortable atmosphere.

whoa, short ribs, good service, a really helpful sommelier. What's Italian for sommelier? Sommelier. Who knew? A festive night, good food, a lively vibe and fun staff.

Yummy Italian cuisine, in the heart of SoHo. Prices are a bit high but the portions are pretty generous. Service was a bit aloof, but not unpleasant. Seating was a bit awkward as we were seated right next to the stairs.

I want to like this place but they do not live up to the hype. There are plenty of offers in the menu but they consistently lack on delivery of flavours. Cocktails, on the other hand, are fantastic.

Great place. Very good food, nice wine list. A bit pricey, but just about worth it.

The food was good and the service too but we expected more from a higher end Italian restaurant.

Was there for dinner with my family and it was great. Indoor dining was cozy and ambience was awesome. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Whole family enjoyed the meal. This place was a great find.

Nice location for tasty Italian food. food was so appetizing. quick and friendly service. kinda of like a restaurant in los angeles i loved to visit.

The staff and food are fantastic...absolutely loved it!

Great lunch spot for when I m in the area. This place is an oldie but goodie. Also saw a bunch of companies using this place to host their events- brilliant! Got great recommendations for wine from the bartender to pair with my food.

Very nicely prepared food, excellent wait staff. Definitely a return restaurant.

Feels like being in Italy.
Broad range of fresh and quality salumi. Pasta is cooked properly and sauce too. Staff is extremely kind and welcoming. I definitely found a new spot in NY.

Cool space but had limited options for lunch which may make it hard for those with dietary restrictions.

Everything was simple but absolutely excellent. Recommend the housemade prosciutto (note: it's huge!). And the olive oil is crazy good - don't skip it!

The best pasta I have ever had. The pesto pasta (I cant recall its name) was an absolute delight - perfect in salt, flavour - only the Maa Ki Dal served by Zaranj (in Kolkata) which is my favorite, is its competitor in perfection according to me. A must have if you are in new york!

Took my mother here for Mother's Day brunch; it was packed! Warning: the seats may not be doable for folks with disabilities or pain issues as a lot of them are elevated stools. Highly recommend the carbonara and the olive oil cake for dessert - fantastic my mom said it was the best meal she'd had since coming to the city, so I count that a huge win.

Good food. Low energy and uninterested service. Worst of all the hostess sat me next to foul mouthed diner when just about every other seat in the restaurant was emptying. Would not go back.

Always a great spot for dinner! Short Ribs are exceptional.

1 ham 1 ricotta 2 first courses cacio e pepe 1 bott. montepulciano 2 caffe + tip 175 .00 $ (4 stars for food) I want to be honest

Great food ...great ambiance....lady hostess not so friendly

I've been here more than twice. It's excellent most nights. Fresh Pasta order was left out too long by the server to bring it to us, was gluey and killed it. But should be a safe place to visit most nights. Charcuterie is great.

Friendly staff, very tasty food. Wine list is fun and selection of amari and aperitifs is great. House made bread is especially wonderful! Focaccia with thinly shaved purple potato, olive oil, and sea salt? Yes!

It's an interesting mish-mosh of new and old design elements in this restaurant. It's interesting and they kept the spacy open and airy at least although the seating is quite close, especially if there is a loud-talker next to you. Food is pretty good but not mind-blowing. I had the bacala (very salty) and the porchetta (could have been saltier). Service was attentive, but did mess up an order.

Great food and great service. The carbonara was phenomenal phenomenal phenomenal! I've had both the bread and pastry baskets. I enjoyed both, but the bread stood out more to me. Such delicious olive bread!

Superb food, warm atmosphere, best Italian I've had in NYC

First off, this is probably the most spacious restaurant I ve been to in NYC lol. Loved the (daily special) citrus salad and crab salad with cucumbers, black rice with pork, and short ribs. Their chocolate mousse pudding was among the best I ve ever had. However, their spaghetti neri was a failure-the spaghetti was super stiff and dry. We waited a bit longer for the primi and secondi so the waiter gave us a basket of bread that normally would be charged for $2. It was also very good. Overall satisfying experience!

I'd strongly advise to all who rated this place 5 stars to take a trip to Italy and train their palate. The place isn't terrible, it's decent at best. Most definitely no stunner. The plates lack creativity as well as tradition. The bread basket is good and the olive oil is also of good quality, but that's where everything stopped to be ok/above average.

Fried artichokes: not impressing. A traditional Sicilian dish calls for batter. These were simply artichoke hearts dumped in a deep frier. While flavor was acceptable, it was a shame having to taste the fried oil in the external leaves.

Octopus appetizer: with 3 small tentacles, 3 "marble-sized" potatoes, 1 olive. it makes for a quite overpriced dish. The tasteless squid ink was an unnecessary addition.

The Insalata was very inconvenient to eat since to please the eye and emphasize on presentation, someone thought it'd be OK to serve full, uncut radicchio and endive leaves on a plate rather than chopping and serving them in a bowl, a formula sure to yield high annoyance and low satisfaction. Thankfully the taste wasn't bad, although just about what expected from a decent restaurant worth its salt (no pun). The seasoning was simple but tasteful: lemon juice, goat cheese, pomegranate, and pistachios (though it wasn't there you wouldn't even notice). The addition of 2 "read two", peeled orange slices was no sensation. Labour that could be safely avoided as it didn't add to the plate. If anything dried figs would likely have been a better option to contrast the goat cheese.

The beet gnocchi were dry. Nothing in the dish stood out. Can't taste the beets nor the leeks. The ricotta salata and a mild buttery taste was all that came to the palate via the insufficient amount of sauce at the bottom of thIs small sized dish. The gnocchi themselves are a bit on the hard side, they didn't "melt in your mouth" as good gnocchi should. A rather disappointing first course.

I had the chance to taste a "special addition to the dinner menu", introduced (by our good waiter whose name escapes me) as a filet of cod with skin. Regrettably that second course didn't redeem the disappointment from the first. The downwards trend continued.



Back to il Buco's dining experience: the Cod wasn't cooked through as the inner flesh of the small chunk of filet was distinctively undercooked as was evident by both texture and flavor. At over 30-something bucks (can't tell exact cost as I was treated) the dish wasn't worth the price tag in any way shape of form. The flavor was nothing to write home about and the squid ink used for "garnish" was like it wasn't even there. Perhaps a good mistake since it had no place in the dish to begin with. Would have been so much more enjoyable if it was cooked thoroughly and seasoned in simple salt, pepper, lemon and a drizzle of fresh extra virgin olive oil. A sad waste of a potentially good small chunk of cod filet.

We also tried a side dish, the fried polenta served with Parmesan cheese. While it's crispy and tastes like polenta (albeit on the "grainy" side), it lacked in flavor. You'd be better off ordering more bread for a couple bucks than this unwarrantedly overpriced contorno dish. If I had to suggest a change I'd add salted butter and crushed toasted almonds to the polenta mix just to avoid making this contorno taste so overwhelmingly all about corn. It would also be a good idea to add parmesan to the polenta mix rather than sprinkle it over it.

Generally overpriced, decor is OK, service is a tad overzealous.
Common table seats are awful. Patrons are far too loud, but what's worse is that owners enforce no etiquette. Won't return.

Chef's table! Great apps, cocktails. Excellent pasta!

Great food, amazing bread. One of the better Italian wine lists in the city.

Nice restaurant and lovely food, but not well portioned for one. All the antipasti seemed designed with 2+ in mind, which limits what a single dinner can enjoy from the very tempting menu. I'd recommend going here with a group.

Top location with the extra cozy open kitchen at the back, very friendly service and a very nice kitchen. Portions are so lavish that the starter even turned out to be too much.
Due to the success a lot of noise as the only downside.

Delicious food in the heart of NY.
Prices are somewhat high but worth it. They also sell sausages and ready to go. It is a restaurant and delicatessen.
Fully recommended. It is very well decorated.

Great food great prices and great atmosphere and special to be specialty dishes that really fit my palate.

Italian food, yeah, so great. Very filling. Quick, helpful, and friendly service.

Expecting a better experience. The decor of the place is great. Cozy and with a home made feel. Service was OK. By no means up to the price of the menu. In general The food was below expectation. The dessert was awesome. I liked it a lot. Not coming again. Service vs food vs price not a good balance in my books.

We booked lunch for our daughter's birthday and it made for a special day for her. The food was excellent and very interesting. The staff and service was second to none. We found one of local waiter particularly amusing in the way he explained the dishes to guests at the other tables. You could tell he loved his job.

A truly Italian lunch!
Great food!