10/24/09

Plan your next event here

by G123

I arranged a bachelor party dinner for ten and couldn't have been more pleased. From the manager who booked the party, to the staff that served us, 'inoteca was on point. We went for the Classic Party Menu for a mere $39 - this is a family style dinner, and sometimes that means the portions can be meager. Not in this case. We actually had food leftover, and we're talking about 10 hungry male adults. A big shout out to our waitress who realized she'd given us the wrong bill, which we paid, and came running out of the restaurant to reimburse us the $160 we got overcharged. The wine was great, the ambiance in the wine cellar where we ate was festive, they accommodated 3 guests with serious food allergies, and generally just took care of us. Thanks 'inoteca.

• Pros: Food, service, price
• Cons: None at this point

09/02/09

Great place to grab some vino...

by stan2009

Late night expeditions for some vino and a charcuterie and/or cheese plate is my favorite activity. The servers are super friendly, and it is always bustling in here.

• Pros: Cheese selection is awesome
• Cons: Lines are long sometimes

03/11/09

My Favorite New York City Restaurant!

by Giro

It doesn't get better than the best cheese selection, wine selection and friendly staff. On the small side but so cozy- I have loved everything I have eaten here. Among the must haves are the truffle toast, cheese selections, panna cotta, and afogado- Really the best food in town.... and not a bad spot to just get some wine!

12/05/08

Good price, fun atmosphere, average food

by whateveruwant

Went here a few weeks ago for a friend's party, and we sat downstairs. The downstairs area is nice for large parties, and the atmosphere seemed fun upstairs too. The food was well priced, although below-average and nothing that really wow'ed me. Service was generally attentive and fine, EXCEPT: when I tried to order a bottle of sauvignon blanc, a very obnoxious waiter first said that he only had one bottle left and he wanted to keep it so that he didn't have to tell guests he ran out. He then tried to sell me on other (more expensive) bottles. When I asked again for my original selection, he called my wine selection "cat urine" (he actually used a different word that citysearch won't let me publish!) and, again, tried to sell me on others. After me insisting again, he finally brought me what I wanted. I have never had anything like that happen to me before! Not very professional. I wouldn't recommend this place -- there are much better places in the LES and E.Village in the same price range, and just as fun.

• Pros: Fun atmosphere, good location
• Cons: Bizzarely rude waiter, below-average food

11/23/08

Great for Brunch/Lunch in Lower East Side

by jay2002

This is a great 'brasserie' like place, though its italian themed, in lower east side right around THOR and the rest of the hotspots here. Living and working in Chelsea i get lazy to travel down here but this was worth it. Atmosphere is cozy, feels a bit Pastis, with wood tables close together etc. Never had dinner there but lunch was great, i am told paninis are specialty and we tried a couple. Butternut squash was great too, arugula salad a bit dry to be honest needed more dressing. The breakfast panini with eggs and ham was very boring, i would not recommend picking from the Brunch menu, go to the regular panini list. And it was quite annoying to have so much italian in the menu. I was with two friends - one is French the other is a Spaniard, and we had to ask the waiter so many times 'what does this mean'? My friend, who is vegetarian, ordred something with ham as a result. All in all a great experience and i would go back. Mimosa by the way was giant, and it looked quite busy. Come at 2pm on weekends lots of tables open up at that time.

• Pros: Amazingly delicious paninis
• Cons: too much italian in the menu causes confusion

11/17/08

Friendly and Wonderful

by guitardara

I had such a pleasant experience at Inoteca that I had to write a review, and I never write reviews. I went on a Monday night around 6:30pm. My friend had not shown up yet and there was little room at the bar, so the hostess nicely sat me at a table in the corner. I didn't exactly like the table, it was a little on the claustrophobic side for me, so I told her I would wait until a better table became available. The sommelier approached me right away and helped clear a bar stool at the bar and then helped me pick out a glass of wine. He came to check on me a couple times after that...making me feel very comfortable. My friend showed up and they found us a table to our liking within minutes. The service and the food were outstanding. This restaurant is a cozy and yummy place for a chill night. Thumbs up!

09/22/08

Feels like vacation

by vhutton

'inoteca is simply awesome. They happily seated us without all of our party, did not rush us even when last person showed 1/2 hr late, let us taste wines, and then recommended the cheapest one, which by the way was yummy. The food was amazing, everything we had, esecially the truffle egg toast, was delicious, and the service was perfect. The decor is casual yet chic - there really is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

• Pros: service, food, atmosphere
• Cons: a tad pricey, but par for the course in NYC

08/19/08

Worst Panini I've ever had

by mabcbravo

I've heard that this place is great, that they pair your food with your wine... but i ordered a pork shoulder panini and I asked the waiter for a wine suggestion. He just recommended the most expensive one from the menu. (without even realizing what I got for lunch). The panini was not even good, the bread was like eating a rock and -would you agree that when a dish is going to be super spicy, it should be written somewhere on the menu-? the panini had 2 different spicy pepers... i couldn't even eat it, it was so spicy...

NOT a good place for lunch!!!

• Pros: Outdoor seating
• Cons: they dont have air conditioning inside... if it is a hot summer day, you will sweat...

08/14/08

How is this place popular?

by Chj2008

After reading great reviews I took my husband out for dinner - we ordered and sampled majority of the dishes - oh my - we both hated it. Even the table next to us we overhead complaining about the bland food.

How could everything be so tasteless???? The only thing that was half way decent were the meatballs - but then again, how can you mess up a meatball in tomato sauce?

Perhaps I went on an off night? Or my jaded 10 year NYC palate has become overly hard to please???

Service was fine though . . . from the host to the waiter . .

• Pros: Good service, cute decor
• Cons: bland food

07/02/08

Its Packed For A Reason

by chiway

The best of the Lower East Side wine bars, this perpetually packed wine and food bar is built for those who can endure tight seating, eternal wait times, and a noisy, chaotic atmosphere for the sake of great tasting, perfectly portioned food that pairs nicely with an extensive and well composed wine list. I wait here because I just can't seem to force myself to eat elsewhere.