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- Neighborhoods:
- SoHo, Downtown
At a Glance
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91% drinks
“Amazing wines, even better food.”
90% food quality
“Great wine list, amazing food, and a celebrity siting!”
100% menu variety
“The service was attentive but not overbearing (which I've found is common in nice restaurants), the wines by the glass choices were incredible and we were very excited to be able to sample some wines that we had never had before.”
100% overall
“It is the best place in the city!”
50% return potential
“We have only one thing to say, if you want to make amazing food, offer expensive wine and you want customers to return and send their friends; then you must have a better handle on your staff and their attitudes.”
75% service
“The service was attentive but not overbearing (which I've found is common in nice restaurants), the wines by the glass choices were incredible and we were very excited to be able to sample some wines that we had never had before.”
58% value
“We did not have bad service but for a more expensive restaurant it wasn't up to par.”
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Tips for Centovini Bar
July 07, 2009
Great Food, Great Atmosphere, Great Time!. Last night I went to Centovini for the second time. It is the best place in the city! The staff is incredibly helpful and friendly, the food is delicious, and even if you're on a budget you feel like you're out for an expensive night on the town (you can get a 3 course dinner for only $38). I will always go back here!
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June 20, 2008
Not very good. I had dinner at Centovini and while the service and wine were nice the food was boring. The quality of the ingredients was nice, but there was no element of creativity nor did it seem like thoughtful attempts for "classic" italian dishes. The chicken was served with a mushy ragout of flavorless vegetables, though the chicken itself was nice. My friend had the seafood pasta, the mussels in it were awful and the whole dish didn't seem to make any sense from a flavor perspective. I would stick with the meats and cheeses, you can't go wrong there.
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May 29, 2008
TERRIBLE SERVICE. the food in this trendy restaurant is fantastic but i do not recomend the service at all!!!!!! just to get our drinks order we wait for 15 minutes and i think he for got the food cause we got the food really late
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March 04, 2008
Lovely Evening. My husband and I had dinner here last night and truly enjoyed our evening, this is a lovely and charming restaurant. The service was attentive but not overbearing (which I've found is common in nice restaurants), the wines by the glass choices were incredible and we were very excited to be able to sample some wines that we had never had before. The menu itself had a diverse range of choices, my favorite was the bucatini , it was to die for. I also thought that it was very affordable considering the decor, service, food and overall atmosphere. I look forward to eating here again very soon.
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December 24, 2007
There is much better service out there.
The food at Centovini is very good but the service leaves little to be desired. Our server "Jason" was obviously miserable working on Christmas Eve, though I don't believe it is something a guest paying the prices Centrovini charges needs to know; we somehow were told how awful this fate was for him. He seemed more interested in the five girls at the table next to us drinking cokes then working with us to pick a bottle of wine. His exact words were, "Um, well I think it's cool but I don't really know!" He never offered a more experienced person to talk to us, he was practically walking away and we had to pull him back to order... This I know for a fact does not happen elsewhere! We ordered it and it was delicious but his lack-luster style and inability to look us in the eye; speaking to us with such an attitude made it challenging to even enjoy the food. With this city full of amazing staff happy to serve, and our experiences at other restaurants even less pricey where the staff takes the time, shares their knowledge and gives the utmost to the job at hand, why bother returning to a place where the waiter makes the experience so challenging. Our second course dishes sat on the table empty for 30 minutes prior to the main course coming. We had to ask for the plates to be removed when someone finally came in our direction.
We have only one thing to say, if you want to make amazing food, offer expensive wine and you want customers to return and send their friends; then you must have a better handle on your staff and their attitudes. ESPECIALLY ON A HOLIDAY! Customer service and kindness are essential to the return customer. People may have more to spend these days but it is still our choice where to spend it.
Sorry Centrovini I wouldn't recommend you to anyone.
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December 14, 2007
not worth the money. This place is beautifully designed and the food was good. The prices for what it is are to expensive though. Even in the editorial review of this restaurant it calls it Euro-style cafe. If they want to keep the prices up then the staff needs to be trained better. We did not have bad service but for a more expensive restaurant it wasn't up to par.
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July 18, 2007
Amazing. Hands down the best italian in the city!! Amazing wines, even better food. Chef Patti Jacksons menu utilizes the best seasonal produce the local greenmarkets have to offer. You can taste the "tlc" the kitchen prepares each dish..
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June 15, 2007
Patti knows where it's at. There's a lot of Italian food in the city these days, and not much of it really rises above the rest, but Patti Jackson has seriously impressed me both times I've been there. Her sourcing is impeccable (does she clean out the Greenmarket when she goes or what?), and it shows in all the dishes. Clearly, a great deal of thought goes into the menu here, and you can tell she knows her traditional Italian combinations and is also willing to play a little with her ingredients. It's the kind of menu where I'd just like one of everything, please (and maybe two of that grano arso tagliatelle). The wine here is SERIOUS and seriously interesting. (I mean, where else are you gonna find erbaluce in this town?) Service is fine. Nothing remarkable, just laid-back. This is a good place to go hang out with a plate of pasta and a glass of anything on the list -- if you've got the dough, that is. It's definitely on the pricey side, but worth the occasional splurge.
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June 08, 2007
Great wine list, amazing food, and a celebrity siting!. Last night found me with my mother at Centovini. Not only were we blown away by the food and the wine list, but we sat just a few tables down from Murray Moss himself (got me a lot of brownie points with mom!). My mother had the burrata (a type of mozzarella with a creamy center that I've rarely found outside of Italy) and tagliatelle made with "grano arso" or burnt flour as the chef told us when she stopped by our table. I had the vitello tonnato, a classic Italian dish, not easy to prepare, and it was great and then herbed stracci, which were not entirely traditional, but tasty nonetheless. We drank a really unusual wine from Piedmont, a bottling of Viognier, a grape that is traditionally grown in the Rhone. I had never seen a Viognier from Piedmont and so I had to have it. It was buttery and fruity and we both loved it. The only drawback to the restaurant, as far as I could gather, is that the tables are really small and get really crowded with plates and glasses. The waitress didn't really know how to explain what a burrata was but the chef soon happened upon our table and was very helpful in explaining the dishes. The bill was steep (the wine prices are not cheap) but we were seated promptly and the staff was attentive. But then again I guess anything tastes good when Murray Moss is sitting a few chairs down from you!
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October 21, 2006
Good.
The space itself is large, modern and interesting. There is a wine cellar or room encased in glass adjacent to the front seating area attractively displaying what seems to be at least a hundred different wines. When I was given a menu and a towering glass of breadsticks and delicious looking (and presumably homemade) foccacia drenched in olive oil, I could tell that quality was a prime ingredient here. What struck me next were the menu prices. All pastas are homemade and sell for $18.00. I mean, that is a lot of money for a bowl of pasta, made by machine or by hand. Centovinis menu is small and inviting. Cheese selections (3 for $16.00), a platter of salumi (5 different meats for $20) and a simple array of salads and appetizers. I looked on the right side of the menu, which in this case was the wrong side if youre considering costs. Their entrees, although good-looking on paper, were around $28.00 each. That was a deterrent, so I re-focused my attention to the appetizers and pasta. I tried several of both. The beef carpaccio was well presented with lightly dressed mache and fine slices of parmesan cheese. I also tried a red-romaine salad with a creamy garlic and croutons. It was so tasty, I did what my mother-in-law abhors, wiping the plate clean with my oil-drenched bread. For my entree, I thoroughly enjoyed a homemade macaronicini with bolognese and fresh peas. It was outstanding. Rich, hearty and downright tasty. Again, the sauce in the plate was wiped clean with more bread (truth be told, the bartender replenished my bread twice). I washed it all down with a sparkling red wine and a glass of sweet, melony Orvieto.
food and wine quality here is incredibly high and you pay for it. However, in the sprawling landscape of Batali-land, I wonder if Centovini will grow legs and stay awhile.
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