(212) 253-1960

68 Clinton St (nr. Rivington St.)
New York, NY 10002 40.7193 -73.9848

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Neighborhoods: Lower East Side, Downtown

falainyc.com

Hours:

Daily 2pm-11pm

Price:

$$

Last updated 10.17.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Romantic Dining, Notable Wine List, Notable Chef

Cuisine:

Mexican, Italian

Dress Code:

Dressy Casual

Editor's Tips

What People Are Saying About Falai

Featured Review

Kathleen Squires

Contributor

Clever design touches, like glittering crystals, hang over the bread-splayed bar. Despite the doily place mats and frilly eyelet wall pattern, the crowd is decidedly more leather than lace. Chef Iacopo Falai's light and inventive menu stands out for its pure, nimble flavor combinations. Astonishingly fresh Buffalo ricotta forms a flan-like mold and harmonizes perfectly with a drizzle of hazelnut oil and the crunch of crisp snowpeas; ethereal rounds of spinach and ricotta gnudi gracefully embrace a butter and sage sauce; and large, firm langoustines swim in a dainty shell fish consomme.

Editor's Tips

What to Drink:
The wine list is heavy on well-chosen reds, featuring some great values like an Ermete Medici Lambrusco '03 for $35.
ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. “The food is excellent, the ambiance is nice (there is an outdoor garden in the back), and the service is good.”
  2. “There is no intimacy or even a hint of romantic ambience--unless you get the table outside perhaps--it was empty the whole night?”
  3. “Fine dining, warm casual atmosphere.”
  4. “Best pasta,nice ambience,lovely staff”
  5. “Relaxing Italian minimalist decor with marble and tile and a friendly staff who re-arranged the schedule to accomodate us.”
  6. “The atmosphere is nice for about 5 seconds and then you want to be out--enough white already.”
  7. “The white decor was great, like being in some mod Italian film.”
dessert
100.0% positive
  1. “We loved every appetizer and entree and the desserts were divine.”
  2. “Everything we ate was wonderful, from the different types of homemade bread, to the papparadelle we started with, the entrees, and the amazing dessert.”
  3. “For an app, I like the gameroni, but make sure to save room for dessert.”
  4. “Save room -best italian desserts, (if you like rum), the baba napoletana, a cake w/ raisins doused in rum w/ a side of homemade cream was irresistible + the fresh pannacotta, w/ delicate strawberry slices.”
  5. “'s, entrees and desserts were equally wonderful.”
drinks
87.5% positive
  1. “We also got an excellent wine recommendation to go with our meal.”
  2. “The service was attentive,all the staff was nice,the wine person suggested us a good wine.”
  3. “The food, admittedly, was tasty (we came prepared for high prices and small portions) but I could not believe that with entrees, appetizers, and wine that the servers would rush us through each course.”
  4. “from the excellent wine, the great food, the friendly service.”
  5. “enjoyed the whole experience very much and highly recommend it - only drawback, they have only italian wines available.”
  6. “love Italian food I heard about this place as people recommended its terrific wine list.”
  7. “Good authentic Italian food and portions and good choice of wine.”
  8. “The staff is not very attentive; our waitress did even not know basic Italian drinks nor did she know how to pronounce it.”
food quality
89.42000389099121% positive
  1. “The food is absolutely amazing.”
  2. “Good authentic Italian food and portions and good choice of wine.”
  3. “Unfortunately, the food is the only outstanding quality of this place.”
  4. “tasty food but horrible service”
  5. “The food is excellent, the ambiance is nice (there is an outdoor garden in the back), and the service is good.”
  6. “love the service, and I love the food.”
  7. “No waiting during the week and the flavors of the food was pretty tasty.”
  8. “For primi, we loved the fresh pappardelle w/ wild boar ragu, (licked our plates) + Polipetti, (octopus), meaty + grilled to perfection.”
  9. “My Short Rib was actually very good as were the presentations of all dishes, but after a few bites, we were over Falai.”
  10. “Special favorites were the black ink pasta, served perfectly al dente in the shape of fish and filled with an incredible puree of roasted scallops, ricotta and asparagus.”
  11. “Out of the several entrees I have tried, I would recommend the pork.”
  12. “Dinner is delightfully punctuated with a plentiful breadbasket of multiple excellent breads that keeps coming as long as you want, and an amuse bouche, in our case carrot soup laced with ginger, that was delicious.”
  13. “Every item I was served as an appitizer and as a main dish was the best ___ I had ever had.”
  14. “All the pastas are made fresh daily, and everything I had was fantastic.”
  15. “love Italian food I heard about this place as people recommended its terrific wine list.”
  16. “The food is always full of flavor, artfully presented and just generally outstanding!”
  17. “The food is good, but definitely NOT worth the wait.”
  18. “Immediately fell in love with the little place with unique food, and excellent service.”
  19. “Wifey had the squid ink pasta which was also excellent.”
  20. “Although the food was absolutely incredible, we were disappointed with the sommelier.”
  21. “from the excellent wine, the great food, the friendly service.”
  22. “Our waiter was exceptionally attentive and the food was very good - inventive and different from your "standard" italian restaurant.”
  23. “Save room -best italian desserts, (if you like rum), the baba napoletana, a cake w/ raisins doused in rum w/ a side of homemade cream was irresistible + the fresh pannacotta, w/ delicate strawberry slices.”
  24. “Try the juicy prawns presented atop potato slices + sliced zucchini with capers to pour a tasty consomme on top.”
  25. “The owner's passion about food is so obvious, not only in immaculate presentation of his dishes, but the amazing, fresh flavors in every dish.”
  26. “(W/ the chef's compliments), fresh ricotta + sundried tomato parfait + ricotta and spinach creation, a temptation for a cheese lover like me!”
  27. “have been a frequent diner at Falai since it opened and the food and service has always been wonderful in the past.”
  28. “had a heavenly dish of risotto with green pea and sea urchin roe.”
  29. “The polenta with chicken livers was the best of either item that we have ever had.”
  30. “the portions are on the smaller side, but thats to be expected from a nice restaurant, I dont just want a ginormous bowl of pasta.”
  31. “Warning, you are supposed to order multiple dishes, so if you order just an entree per person you probably won't have enough.”
  32. “The food had some unexpected flavors which was unique.”
  33. “delicious beautiful dishes.”
  34. “The place is too small to accommodate the few waitstaff they can squeeze in and without enough a/c to cool a full house--especially with the open kitchen right in the middle; the hostess was pulling double duty and not doing well at that--dirty dishes lef”
  35. “My friends enjoyed their dishes a lot too.”
  36. “Best pasta,nice ambience,lovely staff”
  37. “Some very unique dishes.”
  38. “If I had any negative comments, it would have to be that the food portions are relatively small and they didn't serve warm bread.”
  39. “The food was unique; the details in each dish were a bit extreme.”
  40. “Don't mean to be picky, but when the wood oven faces the VERY small dining room, and when a six person check runs $650.00, it would be nice to cool off and enjoy the food.”
  41. “We started with a delicious amuse, then an octopus appetizer (forgive me -- I can't recall the specific names of the dishes since a few weeks have passed already) which was DELICIOUS!”
  42. “Terrible experience, expensive cold food!”
  43. “We ususally eat at Falai and in the past the service was good and the food had small portions but tasty.”
  44. “Overall, a very hip restaurant with great food and friendly servers.”
  45. “We also got an excellent wine recommendation to go with our meal.”
  46. “Everything we ate was wonderful, from the different types of homemade bread, to the papparadelle we started with, the entrees, and the amazing dessert.”
  47. “Although the food was decent, it took ages to arrive.”
  48. “liked the dish.”
  49. “had the black pasta calamari dish and I wiped the plate clean.”
  50. “The food, admittedly, was tasty (we came prepared for high prices and small portions) but I could not believe that with entrees, appetizers, and wine that the servers would rush us through each course.”
  51. “The lovely pasta was obviously homemade as well as the assortment of heavenly breads.”
  52. “the food was cold - we returned it and it still came back cold”
menu variety
25.0% positive
  1. “Now for the bad story, because I promised my table of 6 I would tell it here: For parties of 6 or more there is a limited menu, check, no problem.”
  2. “They laughed when we asked for the Sommalier who recommended the first bottle on the menu which was absolutely mediocre, Try Again.”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “it is a great place to meet up with a couple of friends for an enchanting dinner.”
  2. “the portions are on the smaller side, but thats to be expected from a nice restaurant, I dont just want a ginormous bowl of pasta.”
  3. “Too bad it was a great place, I will certainly not be back”
return potential
100.0% positive
  1. “Too bad it was a great place, I will certainly not be back”
service
81.25% positive
  1. “The service was fantastic with constant attention.”
  2. “It did take a while to get seated, but it's a small restaurant and the staff were all extremely friendly.”
  3. “The place is too small to accommodate the few waitstaff they can squeeze in and without enough a/c to cool a full house--especially with the open kitchen right in the middle; the hostess was pulling double duty and not doing well at that--dirty dishes lef”
  4. “On top of all of this, our service was absolutely wonderful.”
  5. “I've worked in restaurants for years and definitely appreciate good service.”
  6. “What a good service!”
  7. “have been a frequent diner at Falai since it opened and the food and service has always been wonderful in the past.”
  8. “Relaxing Italian minimalist decor with marble and tile and a friendly staff who re-arranged the schedule to accomodate us.”
  9. “The service was attentive,all the staff was nice,the wine person suggested us a good wine.”
  10. “love the service, and I love the food.”
  11. “Immediately fell in love with the little place with unique food, and excellent service.”
  12. “The staff was very knowledgeable and again, our waiter delivered excellent service.”
  13. “when I spoke to our waiter he said the chef had not been there in awhile and that he knew that the cheese was not good.”
  14. “Falai: great service.”
  15. “Overall, a very hip restaurant with great food and friendly servers.”
  16. “Our waiter was exceptionally attentive and the food was very good - inventive and different from your "standard" italian restaurant.”
  17. “tasty food but horrible service”
  18. “from the excellent wine, the great food, the friendly service.”
  19. “The service is wonderfully attentive without ever being overbearing.”
  20. “love Italian food I heard about this place as people recommended its terrific wine list.”
  21. “The servers were all very friendly, and i highly doubt they would say something like "you people.”
  22. “Everyone who came to our table was friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.”
  23. “The food, admittedly, was tasty (we came prepared for high prices and small portions) but I could not believe that with entrees, appetizers, and wine that the servers would rush us through each course.”
  24. “The food is excellent, the ambiance is nice (there is an outdoor garden in the back), and the service is good.”
  25. “Our waitress was rude, obnoxious and seemed bored to cater to us.”
  26. “The staff can get overwhelmed, but they manage to make up for it with friendly attitudes and helpful suggestions.”
  27. “Our poor waitress was shocked and I almost got up an left.”
  28. “We ususally eat at Falai and in the past the service was good and the food had small portions but tasty.”
  29. “Best pasta,nice ambience,lovely staff”
  30. “The service, however, was excellent, and managed to salvage the evening.”
  31. “The staff is not very attentive; our waitress did even not know basic Italian drinks nor did she know how to pronounce it.”
  32. “Great if you love poor service and hate money”
value
78.21000099182129% positive
  1. “the portions are on the smaller side, but thats to be expected from a nice restaurant, I dont just want a ginormous bowl of pasta.”
  2. “All in all, not worth the hype, until this restaurant proves its serious about pleasing its customers.”
  3. “The portions were not huge, but actually human-sized and quite satisfying - no need to stuff yourselves unecessarily folks.”
  4. “The food, admittedly, was tasty (we came prepared for high prices and small portions) but I could not believe that with entrees, appetizers, and wine that the servers would rush us through each course.”
  5. “We ususally eat at Falai and in the past the service was good and the food had small portions but tasty.”
  6. “Terrible experience, expensive cold food!”
  7. “The prices are reasonable as well.”
  8. “The food is good, but definitely NOT worth the wait.”
  9. “If I had any negative comments, it would have to be that the food portions are relatively small and they didn't serve warm bread.”
  10. “great price.”
  11. “Good authentic Italian food and portions and good choice of wine.”
  12. “Great if you love poor service and hate money”
  13. “Also, the prices were extremely reasonable.”
wait time
100.0% positive
  1. “Dinner is delightfully punctuated with a plentiful breadbasket of multiple excellent breads that keeps coming as long as you want, and an amuse bouche, in our case carrot soup laced with ginger, that was delicious.”
4 Star Rating: Recommended

10/12/10

Brooklyn Boy meets Top Chef

by dshapusa

Brooklyn Boy meets Top Chef

If you have every watched “Top Chef” on TV and wondered how the dishes the chefs prepare would actually taste, go to Falai. We should have known this was no ordinary place when we saw the expensive menu online and we had trouble getting a reservation on a Tuesday night.

Falai is a narrow storefront almost entirely decorated in white (white, unusual platters and white tables, as well) with clear plastic chairs. There is seating for about twenty, with an open kitchen and bar.

After being treated to baked rolls with unusual flavorings i.e. kale, fennel etc., we were emotionally prepared for our antipasti, POLENTA BIANCA, chicken liver, dried dates, wild mushroom “Vellutata”. A very small dish with plenty of flavor, this is not your grandma’s chopped liver!

A gratis intermezzo of about an ounce of yellow watermelon soup with ginger, and we were on our way. Our next dish was PICI, hand-rolled egg-less pasta, marsala braised wild board ragu, aged herb pecorino, black truffles. Where do they get these ingredients?

Main courses COTOLETTA DI MAIALE, rack of Hampshire pork, lardo-peach-hazlenut financier, artichoke; A pork chop like no other! Probably the best dish was ANATRA, smoked duck breast, leg confit, foie gras bon-bon, broccoli rabe, with fingerling potatoes. The duck was at once greaseless, but still medium rare, a real stand out. How did they do that?

While the portions are small, dessert was, a not so simple. A single scoop of chocolate gelato, while ice cold, it was not icy and tasted like a very intense Mississippi Mud Pie.

Dinner is not cheap at $ 100 for two, without drinks, but the experience and food was worth every penny.

For more see www.ditmasestates

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

07/10/10

The BEST

by PaulNYC

My favourite restaurant in the city.

  • Pros: None
  • Cons: best food + great service + good price
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

07/25/09

incredibile!!!!!

by andremex

iacopo falai e' un genio!!!!

tutti i piatti scelti erano di altissimo livello, curati in ogni piccolo particolare e serviti con una professionalita unita ad una simpatia unica da parte del personale molto attento.

su tutto vorrei segnalare la bufala ricotta flan, i pici e l'anatra.

i dolci tutti.dico tutti!!!!!!!!

tornero' sicuramente

  • Pros: pane, pasta, dessert, cortesia e professionalita
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

07/22/09

Architectural Dining

by louisgiradi

Iacapo Falai's main restaurant is truly a unique dining experience. We were seated in the outdoor area and proceeded to have a simply fantastic dinner. From the design of the restaurant to the subtle and delightful way the food is built up, you'll really have to see for yourself. Thanks Falai for keeping the dream alive!

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

04/20/08

Love this place

by racheloves2eatout

Been here about 6-7 times now, the first time was when they just opened. Immediately fell in love with the little place with unique food, and excellent service. The latest visit was last week when I had dinner there with my husband: we both loved everything. Yes, as people say below, it is a bit expensive but you get what you pay for. The quality, and presentation, atmosphere, service, TASTE - everything is exactly what a doctor ordered: definitely coming back.

  • Pros: service, food, pairing of wine

The Details on Falai

Place Categories:

  • unique italian food
  • good poor service
  • delicious multiple dishes
  • nice lovely staff
  • cold food
  • extremely reasonable price
  • highly recommend falai
  • great whole experience
  • equally wonderful entree
  • great fresh flavors
  • equally wonderful desserts
  • rude poor waitress
  • excellent squid ink pasta
  • favorite wild boar ragu
  • favorite restaurant
  • human-sized portions
  • heavenly breads
  • great place
  • all very friendly servers
  • loved octopus appetizer
  • like w
  • delicious amuse bouche
  • excellent wine
  • fantastic everything
  • helpful everyone

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