Falai Panetteria (CLOSED)

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oogabooga7

Joined 3 years ago

Authentic Italian Cafe. When my boyfriend and I wanted Sunday brunch, I suggested Clinton Street Baking Company. At 2 in the afternoon though, we were told to wait for an hour, so we walked on and eventually found Falai. It had eggs, it was cheap, and it was FOOD (we were starving).

We sat down and there were Italian-speaking men in loafers and nice pants drinking illy espresso - we knew we were in someplace good. It delivered.

I ordered baked eggs in tomato sauce with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and goat cheese. He ordered home-made fettucini with beef bolognese. It arrived piping hot (much hotter than we're used to as Americans) and it was AMAZING. Even the boyfriend, who *never* expresses emotion over food, let go a "wow. This is really good."

Cheap, delicious, and NO wait! Just anticipate using that spare time to wait for service - it's typically European-style and slow.

Bonus: stop by Donut Plant on the way home and get a creme brulee donut. Mmmmm!

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n_max03

Joined 6 years ago

Great dinner spot. Love coming here on the weekends for dinner when the place gets bopping... friendly staff, good wine, delicious food and amazing desserts... what more could you want?? Fun atmosphere without ridiculous prices.

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rcavvy

Joined 6 years ago

Spotty Service... sometimes great, sometimes way off!. Pretty good food... We visited on Thursday for lunch and had a great panini, but couldnt help but be turned off by the server's bizarre behavior. He did not seem to know much about the food when we asked some basic questions and we constantly had to search for him. He was MIA most of our meal, and when he was around he spent most of his time fiddling with his phone. Other times service has been great... what's up with this new guy?

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jdunneny

Joined 6 years ago

hotties. my friends and i go to falai paneterria just to visit all the hot girls.. and get cheap coffee that actually tastes good

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mperez56

Joined 6 years ago

great bruch, long wait. I went for brunch on a recent sunny Sunday afternoon only to find the place packed. Although the waitress seemed overwhelmed, she was as friendly as I would have expected and cheerfully pointed me to the one free table in the cafe. Although the table was dirty (the previous customers' check was still on the table) the waitress assured me I could grab it so no one else could take it. A friendly busser immediately cleared and cleaned the table and gave us menus and water (good to see someone helping the flusterd waitress!) The waitress managed to take and deliver our drink orders very quickly, although I could see she was just keeping up with the demanding crowd. Never lost her smile though. She even found time to give me a bit of a history lesson about the neighborhood (Im new to Manhattan)

Anyway, the baked eggs were surprisingly good, I liked the mozzerella best. Although the wait for the food was as longer than I would have hoped. We never wanted for bread, water or more coffee though, so the overall experience was very pleasant, despite hte noisy crowd.

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trugo516

Joined 6 years ago

very affordable, still byob!. great neighborhood hang out, very inexpensive. Friendly staff who seems familiar with half of the customers. good food, but takes a little too long to arrive. even with generous tipping (it is byob after all) you can get a great dinner for 2 for under $50... highly recommended.

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sz77

Joined 6 years ago

A Sweet Spot!!. just moved to the lower east side, been hearing about this corner spot (clinton&rivington) from a good friend of mine, and had to give it a try.

the place is small (about 12 tabls) the girl that greeted me was beautiful and friendly, i orderd the special ( Farro salad with orange pesto ) it was super tasty!! then had a latte, wich was strong and perfect, also tried couple of their pastries( huge variety to choose from) and had over all a great experiance!! it's low cost, very friendly and lay back spot. the glass walls help you feel comfy and connected to the outside. service was fast and friendly. the waitress told me to come and try the brunch wich is served daily from 9am till 5pm!!

good job! i'll defenitily come again, and good to know that finally my friend gave me a good tip .. lol :)

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newgirl153

Joined 6 years ago

great addition to the neighborhood, but what is up with the service???. Falai has great coffee, great desserts, the food varies from excellent to just okay, but the biggest issue by far with this place is the service. How in the world do they consistently hire the slowest moving people around? It doesn't seem to matter who is working, or how many people are waiting..its e-x-c-r-u-t-i-a-t-i-n-g!

I have gone in the when there has been not another soul in the place besides myself and three (!!!) of their staff, and I still had to wait. They always manage to find something more important to do than to actually take care of their customers.

Now, I know when I go there that this is going to be the case, and also, if there are more one or two people in line (and others I've spoken to in the hood do the same thing) i will bypass falai altogether, It's a shame, because for the most part they have a good product, and I really really want to like this place.

Bottom line, it's pretty good, but if you are in a time crunch, skip it.

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Kathleen Squires

Joined 10 years ago

Chef Iacopo Falai shows off his pastry skills.. In Short
Chef Falai opened this annex to his stylish eponymous neighbor to showcase his first love--pastry. But the menu isn't limited to just breads and confections. In addition to cream-filled cannolo, fruit turnovers and foccacia, the cafe proffers salads, soups, sandwiches and cichetti, which are "Italian tapas" like leeks with fresh cream and white polenta with wild boar ragu. Mains such as veal meatballs help the restaurant satisfy cravings, day and night.