Il Buco and Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria Reviews

Fantastic place with very good food and wine. Ask for Giada, she is fantastic

Cool and hip Italian place with authentic food. The homemade pasta has the best texture and flavor. Appetizers are great. Nothing is too heavy but they are tasty. The ice cream and sorbet are home made with such intense flavor. This is great place with authentic Italian food, casual chic flair.

Pastas are decent and have a good bite. Octopus appetizer was good. Chocolate torte was a delicious dessert (the fruit currant offset the rich chocolate very nicely). The pistachio shortcake was good, but it was more of a general fruit shortcake rather than a pistachio shortcake.

Not happy with the hostess..service was great....great food

Italian food... delicious. Fell in love with this place from the 1st taste. The service was friendly and sociable. The place has a good atmosphere.

I think I am more on the 3.5 side of 4. It's a beautiful place to dine and the waiters are not too bad for NY city. Food is a very good standard of Italian but not amazing. Tried the selection of meats -- was super fresh and the salami was rich in flavours.. I recommend if you are craving Italian but it is not a new taste experience

Excellent food. Seats are a bit close to one another

Awesome italian restaurant. Nicely priced also as we had a large group we ate family style

Setting and service great. Awesome job of indoor dining during covid - screens up but truly felt like a truly "normal" dining experience (in the nicest possible way!).

Food was a bit disappointing from previous experiences pre covid.

Stopped in for gelato for the kids and a cocktail with my wife. Quite nice. Wish it was next door. Both are great choices. Feels very Italy.

omg. go here right now and get the salted caramel donut. seriously. go right now. are you still reading this? GO

Very similar to a regular (European) Italian restaurant. Very good quality, $$$

Interesting the point of view of Tim Tsai, I had the same feeling about the seating options of Il Buco Alimentari. The place is pretty, but it was more casual than I expected. However, the price of the restaurant doesnt match the ambience, even though it was cool. The dishes were good but I had higher expectations like another reviewer. Perhaps if I went expecting less I would be more impressed. Just a tip - the cheese in the restaurant is extremely fresh and delicious

This is one of my favorite all around restaurants. Great food and great layout. This place should be your go to, if you just want a coffee and a small bite, or want to go all out on an epic multi course meal.

A lovely lovely locale to just sit and chat and dine.

Delicious food and wine in a modern, beautiful venue.

One of our absolute favorite establishments. The food and wine are always wonderful. I stop in for the alimentari as well (mainly prosciutto) from time to time.

Nice and rusty place, service is pretty fast it's a pretty busy restaurant. The food is simple Italian food with great flavor and season to perfection. I recommend getting the porcetta and squid ink pasta with crabs. Overall love this rusty place with amazing food.

An amazing dining experience, the short rob is one of the best dishes I've ever had.

The place has a unique decor which was brought in from Italy, and overall solid pastas and food.

Highly recommend the cocktails, as well as brunch!

Charming, Italian market, cafe and restaurant.

A nice I selection of Italian and European foodstuffs, including caviar.

Restaurant offers variety of Italian dishes, principal pasta, including a daily, prefix Market lunch, salad, entree, and dessert - cheese course, gelato, or sorbeto - for $29, with recommended wine pairing at additional cost.

B

Authentic modern food and ambiance, a hard combo to find for Italian food in NYC today. Portions are great to share or enjoy individually. Wine list is noteworthy.

What a great place! ambiance is fantastic, like you walked off the street somewhere in southern Italy. Great for a date, but make sure yo request the wine cellar. bellissimo!

Terrible Management. Great concept and aesthetic but be prepared to wait for nothing special.

Amazing. A truly authentic Italian gem in the middle of Manhattan. Octopus and short rib knock it out of the park. The pasta was perfect. Great Italian wines. Want to come here again and again.

This is one of my favourite places to eat anywhere I've been in the entire world. I recently came here for the second time (the first was in 2013, when I was living in London, where I had my fair share of fine dining experiences) and it was just as sublime and indulgent as the first.

My wife and I were there to celebrate our anniversary. We booked an early table and I think the combination of the early seating with the event we were celebrating was why the chef sent us two complimentary dishes. One of which was the Whitefish Crudo, which was the freshest, most wonderfully flavourful thing. I may have sipped some of the sauce from the bowl afterwards.

The fried artichokes are amazing as tasty and fun as I remember from my first visit.

The salumi selection we had was divine, the cheese served along with it a delightful little bonus. As was the small dish of honey which went so well with both cheeses.

The special that night was scallops with grapefruit winning combination. The scallops were richly sweet and creamy, perfectly prepared.

We also had the greens with buttermilk dressing. This simple salad was so well presented and prepared. The selection of greens and quality of them was fantastic. As were the tomatoes in the heirloom tomato salad. My wife's comment on these was that is was as if she had never truly tasted tomatoes before then. As someone who regularly makes tomato salads of which I am known, I do feel I have to step up my game.

This is an amazing place to dine, and absolutely worth visiting to share a variety of dishes with fellow foodies. A special treat worth saving up for if such dining experiences are not usually in your budget.

the food is good but nothing to be crazy about. If you know what excellent Italian food is you will be a little bit disappointed. I would have give them a 4 stars review if it was not so pricy... this restaurant is way too expensive for what it sells you. it seems to work well for them though as it was really crowded. Good for them but if you are looking for a place that is not trying to ballshit you, try another one.

The wife and I went here for date night and were not disappointed. We ordered the artichoke appetizer and cacio de pepe and risotto for diner. It tasted like the ingredients were cut off the vine that morning. The wait staff was great but they do aggressively refill the water. Overall a great experience.

The layout, lighting, and interior are well done. Staff is very attentive and have zones so they are never too far away. Be aware sitting at the bar can become very crowded when the restaurant starts to fill up. Okay if you're an early bird.

Strongly recommend Bucatini Cacio e Pepe. Amazing. Heirloom tomatoes with olive tapnade is very good.

Service was great for dinner on Saturday but spotty on Sunday. Not sure why.

I found a hair inside of desert! My Waitress didn t even say sorry. Too bad that I didn t take a picture.

We showed up without a reservation on a very busy evening but they were able to seat us right away at the tortilla bar. Margaritas were tasty, and the food was delicious. Service was very good.

Amazing Italian food. We sat near the kitchen in the back it was quiet and intimate

Cool atmosphere with a lot to offer. They have lots of seating (indoor, loft, and sidewalk) for dining, and there is an amazing market with delicious Italian wares. We came for the gelato and it was well worth it! The salted caramel is the BEST salted caramel flavor I've tasted anywhere. Would recommend the black currant basil sorbet and the coconut gelato.
We'll be back for dinner!

Went again in March 2016:
I have always had outstanding meals here. This time the server was wonderful. He was almost poetic in his descriptions of the specials and he seemed very passionate about the food and wines.

We started with the housemade salumi = SO GOOD! The short ribs were stunning. Then we had the figs with lardo which I wasn't sure was going to work, but totally did. The artichokes were good but a couple of my friends don't know how to eat them, so I schooled them.

I have recommended this restaurant numerous times. One friend from DC told me she dreams about the Busiate pasta. We had that and the Cacio Pepe which our server told us was there most popular pasta.

We shared the panna cotta before heading to Lafayette for more desserts.

You cannot go wrong here. One of the best places in NYC and I don't say that lightly.

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My old review:
Always well done, but never overdone food. The quality of the ingredients always shines through in the food here. We enjoyed the salumi, pasta dishes, artichokes, the large played, etc. I've never had a questionable dish.

The first dish I ever had from Il Buco was the panna cotta with balsamic reduction at the Hester Street Fair several years ago. It is always the perfect ending to a meal there.

The appetizers were great olive oil tasting and charcuterie board. But after that it went down hill the cacio de Pepe was under cooked not enough cheese and extremely peppery. My pasta was raw and when asked to cook more it was clearly just left under a heat lamp. Service was lackluster for a place this over priced as well.

Loved the ambiance and delicious food! Will definitely go back with friends.

Pastry(bimbilone 4 lyfe), pastas, fish sandswich are great!

Excellent coffee (I'm a Melbournian who has spent time in Italy...good coffee is important!!) delicious brunch fare, great service.

It deserves a sixth star really. Wonderful food doesn't begin to describe the experience we've had. Really one of the best Italian Restaurants we've came across this side of the Atlantic.

Run. Don't walk here. This place will transport you to Italy. Top notch staff and service. A gem.

Wonderful place, food, atmosphere amazing, people, everything!!!

The staff are wonderful, and the food is beautiful, creative, and delicious.

Came here for breakfast. Coffee and avo toast were excellent.

Awesome service with a patient staff. I had the spicy octopus with homemade pasta - really good but I always get food envy. The porchetta looked awesome and the short rib panini. Nice place to relax for brunch and lounge for 2-3 hours. Highly recommend.

Terrific casual delicious lunch. I had the shaved brussel sprout salad and it tasted better than I could have ever imagined. I thought I was being healthy but I didn't suffer for that decision. The white beans, grilled shrimp, and spaghetti we're all delicious as well. A great bottle of wine for $35 too. The finale was the panna cotta, which is just too incredible to describe. The whole experience left me feeling like I'd been pampered by my grandmother and had a spa treatment combined.

Nice ambience and yummy pastas. The short rib for two is a go-to dish. The house cured meats are great. Second floor is more airy and spacious but can get a bit raucous.

This restaurant was great, the service was on par. Had a great dinner with friends. The fish was amazing the food was fresh. Felt like they were just taking care of us tonight even though the restaurant was packed. Must say hidden gem in nyc. You must give it a try. Will be back and will tell my friends. The bread has organic ingredients. The pasta was also great and fresh. Overall good ingredients and a fantastic restaurant very clean and managed well.

Unbelievably delicious - antipasti plate through to dessert. Service was also on point, loved my dinner here

Incredible, don't let this gem of an Italian pass you by. I travel alot and I genuinely think this is the best Italian food I have ever eaten

I've never eaten here, but I regularly am tasked with buying their bread for my boss and her family, but
A) Their bread is soooo tasty - multiple options
B)I always felt weird being given the receipt from them with an option to tip, because often their staff was sour faced to learn I just wanted to purchase a $6 small loaf of bread, but recently they've employed a lady who sells their bread items - she wears her hat backwards and beams when she greets you - and I get it. I want to tip her because she is so pleasant, doesn't judge you for what you're ordering, and is aware that her pleasantness is magnetic.

Food was spectacular! Service exemplary. Definitely will return.

This is one of our favorite restaurants. The salumi is terrific & the pasta dishes are excellent An ever changing menu keeps our choices varied for each visit. The dishes are well proportioned which enables us to have 2-3 courses with ease. The panacotta with aged balsamic dessert is a must try & the homemade gelato is seriously addictive as well.

Excellent. The food is great, amazing products, very well cooked. The service is also very pleasant, in a warm cozy atmosphere and not too noisy! I ll definitely go back.

I have not finished eating yet but the opinion of the 7 we are eating is excellent. Exquisite entrees, excellent food and even better attention. Definitely a 10.

OK to good experience. Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and accommodating. I expected a very different ambiance/atmosphere for the price point. Super, super loud. Lots of big groups. We were a 4 top and shared most plates. Crudo and octopus were really great. Whole branzino, agnolotti and gnocchi were also solid. Porchetta was tough. Didn't like the burnt honey cheesecake. Sorbets were good, though. I doubt I'll go back but it wasn't a bad experience, just not a great one.

Two words: order Everything! I'm kidding lol but anything you order will be amazing. The owner Diane has made an excellent job and her staff as well. Take recommendations for the wine and how to pair it with the food. The atmosphere is like being back in an italian market with all the colors and the aroma :)

Simple the best. Once you sit down you will be impressed by the quality of the staff and service. But when you'll start getting your food on the table you'll be over the moon. The quality of the ingredients is simply the best from Olive oil they put on the table to the coffee at the end of the meal. You will not be disappointed

Good food, not so Italian (do not have burrata? Tiramisu? X ej) and the waiters more or less ...

I'd highly recommend this for lunch or a quick bite in the city. Everything on their menu is amazing, and their staff is pretty courteous. Would recommend their "Porchetta" Panino. You can't go wrong ordering it!

Excellent food, the ricotta was fresca, the hamachi with yuzu was amazing. The porchetta panino was delicious, I think this the best pork sandwich I had in NYC. And we had the 3 scoop ice cream very tasty. I have been here about 6 times in the past two years.