La Focaccia

08/11/09

La Focaccia is Al Pacino Italian Ristorante destination in W

by Delfine at Citysearch

The Ristorante La Focaccia location at a prime people watching corner, the roar of the wood burning brick oven open flame, its modest prices for the quality and amount of food on the plate, this is an excellent value. Delicious Italian food with a wonderful atmosphere.

I eated a flavorful grilled Italian sausages from the brick oven not overcook just right. These well seasoned and juicy, large salsiccie were split down the middle and spread wide across a shallow puddle of tomato sauce and several lego sized blocks of polenta.

Northern Italian menu highlighted by substantial portions of pasta and oven fired meats and fish. A mixed grill for two, with baby lamb chops, Italian sweet sausages and a daily fish. The homemade fresh Focaccia bread. A generous, vegetable-heavy antipasto includes zucchini, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, cauliflower, fennel, smoked mozzarella and proscioutto, or rosy, tender beef carpaccio, piled with peppery arugula and misted with lemon.

Beautiful dessert tiramisu and wines Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese Chianti and Barolo. Magnifico! My best place to eat and drink.

We have brought friends there and they have also loved it. We even saw Al Pacino there one night.

The best part of the experience, however, goes back to those windows, with their advantageous people watching and the delicious satisfaction of finally being on the inside looking out.

La Focaccia is really the best Italian Ristorante destination. Highly recommended!

— Delfine

Ristorante La Foccacia

(212) 675-3754

51 Bank St W 4th, West Village, manhattan, New York City, 10014-2144

• Pros: Ristorante wood burning brick oven
• Cons: .

03/29/09

Fantastic staff, awesome food!

by Kristina10 at Citysearch

I have been to la focaccia several times now and absolutely love it! The staff are friendly and attentive and the food is awesome. I particularly love the penne vodka....it is the best in the city!

• Pros: Best penne vodka
• Cons: What are the drawbacks?

08/27/08

Bad Food, Bad Service - Not Recommended

by henry01 at Citysearch

At a recent brunch here, we had our second bad experience at La Focaccia. The arugula salad was old and had too much oil. Actually, everything had too much olive oil including the bruschetta and the toasts with goat cheese and roasted red peppers. We ordered a soup with the bruschetta, but the latter came 15 minutes after the soup. Chasing down the wait staff to request a fresh bowl of hot soup, they brought back a bowl half the size. The portobello ciabatta was suppose to come with Parmesan cheese, but was slathered with melted fontina. And the bread that came with the meal was stale. The wait staff, as alluded to above was inattentive and aloof. The ultimate insult was the 20% service charge that they automatically added to the check. Neither the menu nor any postings at the restaurant noted this charge. Our prior dinner visit a few months ago was similarly poor, which we had hoped was a aberration. Now it's a trend. Go elsewhere.

• Pros: Nice corner of the West Village
• Cons: Bad food, poor service, automatic 20% gratuity charge

07/31/08

What a great find!!

by Jenna1070899 at Citysearch

After scouring Greenwich Village - which is absolutely gorgeous - we found this litle place on the cnr of Bank West 4th. It has a real style to it: a small place, with couch seats along the wall and the decor on the walls, it had a really nice feel to it.

This is some of the best Italian food I've had in a long time! They have homemade pastas, and real Italian crusty bread. The others in the party were also delighted with their dishes, and we all had pasta, so I would definitely recommend coming through here! Plus, it was extremely reasonably priced, especially for Greenwich!

The service was also prompt and friendly, and our waiter suggested an excellent complimentary wine! We received the bill promptly, the meals took barely 20 minutes to come out, and they cleaned the table before we had to ask.

Excellent!!! Two thumbs up! If you like good Italian, I would certainly recommend this little gem!

• Pros: Food was excellent, especially the homemade pasta; decor was nice; prompt and friendly service; waiter suggested an excellent wine.

05/28/08

Charges foreigners extra

by Carlade at Citysearch

I've been here multiple times with foreign friends, and, while it isn't mentioned on the menu, or anywhere else. Automatically 'European" tables get a 20% tip added to the bill.

I find this very rude, I am perfectly capable of determining a tip, and if the service was as bad as 3 days ago, it is not worth the 20%.

• Cons: Service

04/11/08

Nice neighborhood location, so-so grilled food

by sumptiousny at Citysearch

Focaccia's storefront windows open up and when the weather's pleasant there are several outdoor tables, this works well as the restaurant's set on a pretty West Village corner - perfect for dreamy street watching. The interior itself is simple and quaint with round, large, shiny, oven trays adorning the wall and wafts of flavors emitting from the open brick oven. I sat outside on a coolish evening. And how about the food? Maybe I'd ordered the wrong dish which was Salmon with grilled vegetables, don't get me wrong, it was perfectly fine but I could probably have cooked this meal at home myself. Maybe it's the pasta one goes for. My friend had the mixed seafood grill and the sauce was just ok, the grilled ingredients a little soggy and could've been better. I may return to try the pasta but skip the seafood and try down the street.

• Pros: location, outdoor seating
• Cons: average seafood

07/17/07

Bad Service, No A/C, Mediocre Food.

by godsgift_nyc at Citysearch

I'm not sure if it was the fact that I had to ask for water 4 times or the fact that they forgot our order and made us wait over an hour for a plate of pasta (or the fact that they kept telling us it was on the way out) that annoyed me the most. But, either way, I felt no remorse when leaving the waitress of tip of $0. Call me a self-loathing j*w in that I only tip 20 or 0% so as to reinforce the tip as reflective of the service received and not easily dismissed as my being cheap.

In any case, this place has had it's day and is done. Service is slipping. Food is just ok. And, it's not air-conditioned.

Go elsewhere.

• Pros: Memories of when it was once good.
• Cons: Food, Staff, No A/C, No Liquor License

Editorial Review by Marcella Veneziale

by Contributor at Citysearch

This Italian restaurant is known as much for the people watching it offers through its large windows as for its food.

06/07/06

great value, nice place

by schmitty06 at Citysearch

good food, in a nice spot on a beautiful block in the west village.

the eggplant lasagna appetizer is great, and their pasta dishes are too.

the prices are very reasonable, and although there can be a wait, its worth it.

• Pros: price, beautiful corner, food
• Cons: a little small

07/06/05

User review by lauren1976

by lauren1976 at Citysearch

Casual and cute atmosphere. Make sure you're up for dining next to strangers because the tables are pretty tight. Food was great, service was okay.