Aperitivo

I’m not quite sure if a lot of people know about this place because every time my wife and I come here there’s no wait and it’s never packed. That’s a good thing lol. The food is amazing and the service is top notch. Like I said in my tip, the cheesesteak is bangin. If it’s your first time here I highly recommend that you order that first before anything else. It’s soooo good!!! Buon Appetite :)

Being the Uptown girl that I am I usually tend to stick to brunch spots in Manhattan. However, about 2 weekends ago I decided to be adventurous and head out to Brooklyn for a change.
Aperitivo is a small Italian restaurant tucked away in Park Slope. Want to know a random fact? It is actually one of the establishments featured on Buzzfeed’s list of 17 affordable AYCD brunches in New York City, which is why I decided to check it out.
What’s the deal with Aperitivo?
— Might be one of the more affordable brunches available in NYC.
— It’s not located right by a subway so you might have a 5 minute walk.
— The atmosphere is great for groups or if you’re on a date. When I went it happened to be one of the hottest days this Fall so there were a couple of groups outside enjoying brunch as opposed to more couples inside due to the intimacy of the place.
— Staff is super friendly, but not extremely attentive. It might be that the place wasn’t packed and that does tend to happen when things are slow at a restaurant.
— Yes, you can have unlimited drinks with your meal (alcoholic & non-​alcoholic) for $ 3.95, I believe, but there is a catch. Drinks only last the duration of your meal. Hence why I made sure to savor every single bite of my meal.
— Food: I ordered the apertivo burger, which has bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and Gorgonzola cheese. Did it blow my mind? Not really. It was okay, but nothing memorable.
— They have pretty good hot sauce.
That pretty much sums my experience at Aperitivo.

Food: Didn’t really taste like anything very bland. Ref to burger at brunch.
Service: Was ok
Overall this place is ok but def better brunch places in the neighborhood.

STAY FAR AWAY!!! Horrible food + pitiful service + weird atmosphere = Café Aperitivo. And just to add insult to injury they are stingy… yes, I still believe that an 8oz soft drink should have free refills… sue me! I gave them one star because I HAVE to. Maybe I will count the one star as my appreciation for Aperitivo being the only spot on 5^th Avenue with available seating during the World Cup championship game.
Food: I had vegetarian lasagna and it was horrible… bland and over cooked. My friends ordered the burger and Chicken Scappato. They were sadly underwhelmed as well.
Service: blah
Atmosphere: If you prefer silence during the World Cups finals then this place is for you. The owner and the waitstaff just kinda lingers around and stares at you… yet they can’t seem to be proactive when it comes to their customers’ needs. Hmmph!
Conclusion: They don’t add up to the level of their immediate competitors in the surrounding area.

Since they have a new guy running the show on Saturdays this is my favorite place. He also makes the best bloody Mary you will ever taste in your life.

Stopped by this place for dinner before heading out to Lincoln Center for the ballet. The space is really nice, good outdoor seating and great location on 5^th ave. The food was a bit below average though. When I’m in an italian place I always try their bolognese. I great Italian joint always makes perfect bolognese. Theirs was really bland. The sauce was kind of diluted and didn’t really have much meat. My bf’s ravioli was good though. Sauce was creamy and flavorful. Good sized ravioli.
We also tried the veggie lasagna and regular meat lasagna. My bf’s parents loved them and thought they were delicious.
This place is really reasonable especially for a pretty nice italian place. I would comeback again to give the food a second shot. It’s a good place too have an average meal considering the good prices or maybe to spend brunch on a beautiful day.

Although the addition of unlimited mimosas, bellinis, etc. has a low attractive price of $ 3.95… They all are EXTREMELY watered down and NOT tasty at all!!! Randomly picked this spot to eat with my dad and we both were so disappointed with the taste of the food (although my French toast w/​fruit wasn’t as bad tasting as my dad’s undone pancakes w/​fruit) and the lacking brunch cocktails (what else is brunch for? If not for the cocktails, duh!)
Definitely wouldn’t return…

Mediocre food, service ok. One of most unauthentic Italian restaurants out there.
When even a coke taste disgusting that is really BAD sign.

Came here for brunch with a large group…
They won’t seat you until your entire group arrives, and it’s a small place. The table was ready and we were only wait for two more people, but they still wouldn’t seat is. It was very strange.
Make reservations a few days in advance for brunch.
All you can drink is very cheap. Only $ 4 added when you buy a meal. They will keep filling your glass as long as you have food on your plate. Easy enough as the food isn’t too great, so you won’t be eating that quickly.
It’s okay. Not great. Last time I went, they had a B rating for their health inspection :/

This place was not as great as I hoped. Our waitress was not very nice or welcoming at all. My whole experience there was ruined by her attitude and the food was not as good to overlook it. The mimosas were kind of bland.
Honestly, I hate giving bad reviews, but this place did not do it for me preference wise. It does not mean you shouldn’t give it a try. To each his own, right?

This review is for the brunch at Apertivo, which has got to be one of the worst brunch experiences I’ve had in NYC (and that’s counting the time that I got food poisoning from some sketchy crab cake benedict).
A friend and I went to Apertivo this past Sunday for brunch, having been given a positive review from a friend (who we will now never trust again.) Upon entering, we waited at the bar for about five minutes while the staff rushed around us. There were two empty tables for two available, but we were told to wait until the overworked staff finally had a minute to acknowledge us. Once we were seated, our waitress handed us menus and walked off without a word. When she came back, we ordered one coffee and one tea and two bellinis. The tea never arrived, and when the bellinis came they were filled with ice and tasted like they’d been watered down. A previous reviewer said it best– don’t expect an «unlimited» drink experience unless you’re willing to bribe your waitress to pay attention to you– we made friends with the bus boy to ensure that we’d get our fair share of booze.
Their brunch menu is pretty limited, so unless you’re good with bare bones or some variety of eggs benedict, you’re kind of out of luck. I ordered the artichoke and parmigiano «frittate,» and my friend ordered eggs benedict over smoked salmon. The food did come out quickly, which I guess was a plus, since we never got the bread that was delivered to other tables so we were pretty hungry. My «frittate» was an omelet filled with canned artichoke hearts (ew). If there was cheese in there, I didn’t taste any, but to be fair I did give up after about three bites. It was disgusting. My friend’s meal was fine, but as she put it, eggs benedict is kind of hard to mess up. The best part about both meals was the potato latke– which wasn’t particularly interesting or tasty, but provided a welcome break from the rest of the food.
As soon as our plates were clear and we’d paid the check, another waitress came by and literally grabbed our drink glasses from us, explaining that they needed the table (there were plenty of empty tables, and no wait.) If it hadn’t been for our bus boy friend jumping in and filling us up one more time, we would have been kicked out. I mean, I get it, if the table is actually needed, but in our case it definitely was not.
The only thing keeping me from giving this place one star is the fact that my friend’s meal was okay. Really though, there’s no shortage of good unlimited brunches in NYC. Don’t waste your time or money on this one.

Worst management ever. We were sat for brunch (without a specified time limit to eat and drink). After one hour we were forced to leave. Take your time eating here, because apparently you are only allowed «unlimited drinks» for the length of your meal. I had eaten here before and had a wonderful experience, but this time was awful. Beware! «Unlimited» beverages is a lie and apparently up to management discretion.
Also, the food is mediocre.

Had a reservation here for 4 on Saturday at 1pm, with one of our friends who ended up showing late.
I understand the concept of waiting for everyone in the party to arrive before we get seated, but when you seat people that come in after us, it can get pretty annoying. Couldn’t the 3 of us just sit beforehand and order? Would that have been too difficult a concept to understand?
Anyways, when my friend arrived, we were eventually seated at around 2pm.
We all got bottomless drinks, and I got an order of the prosciutto, basil and mozzarella omelet.
The omelet itself was delicious, with a good, balanced ratio of each component.
However, most of our drinks were extremely flat, and just tasted terrible. They also added waaay too much horseradish sauce to their Bloody Marys, making it overwhelmingly spicy.
While I didn’t expect world class quality drinks, I didn’t expect ones as bad as this.
It also didn’t help that the service was unresponsive and laggard, and there was no explanation given to the lack of attention we received. I understand it was busy, but checking in once in a while would be entirely do-​able.
Anyways, a good meal marred by the poor drinks and service.

I really can’t even believe the experience we just had at this spot. We (4 of us) walk in and they tried to seat us at a table directly in front of the open door on a cold, rainy day. Why they even HAVE a table in this area is beyond me.
We decided to wait for another table. One opened up 10 – 15 minutes later and we sit down. The waitress comes over and one member of our party asked for the fork that was missing off her setting. Waitress comes back with the fork and the menus and says incredulously, «oh there’s 4 of you??» It was apparent this girl couldn’t even be bothered enough to open her eyes when approaching our table for the first time, and ultimately couldn’t care less who she was actually waiting on.
She had brought 3 of the wrong menus. She gets the new ones and sets them down and didn’t even bother taking our drink order she just walks away and proceeds to cater to a table of 5 right next to us that had walked in after us. She took their drink order, returned with those drinks, took their brunch order, all while we are just sitting there.
We flagged down another waiter, which was ridiculous in and of itself because these people do not even bother looking around the restaurant. They walk around with their eyes to the floor and ignore everything.
We notice at this point that the waiter’s/waitress are arguing with each other b/​c no one seems to know who is supposed to be working our table. Complete chaos, and it’s clear this place needs a new floor manager, and a more competent staff.
We finally order drinks, put in our food order. The food came out very fast and it was good, and this is the only saving grace of this place. Kudos to the chef.
We had to call the waiter every time we wanted anything. One waiter offered a special «house hot sauce» when we were virtually done eating.
Waitress comes over to ask if we wanted to see a dessert menu, we say no, and my friend says, «we do want another round of…» and the waitress COMPLETELY TURNS HER BACK ON HER MID SENTENCE– AND WALKS AWAY. Are you KIDDING me??? We all sat there for probably 3 minutes with our mouths wide open.
How utterly rude, tacky, and appalling. This individual is not even remotely fit to be working as a waitress with the general public. No hospitality, no clue what the hell she was doing. It was actually amusing how bad it was.
We flagged another waiter and asked for one more round of Bellini’s and he nodded but then completely disregarded our request, ignored us and went to go tend to other patrons.
Because of the lack of service, the fact that they virtually ignored us, the «All You Can Drink» was really 2 drinks. I mean, if you don’t want to give your customers a true AYCD then don’t offer it on the menu. Don’t play stupid little games like this.
We paid the bill exactly and left ZERO tip. NOT a place any of us would ever return to again. You can get good Eggs Benedict with a side of some damn respect elsewhere.

Apertivo is a great spot to hit if you need a reprieve from shopping. I like going in here while to take a break from the mass of people that hit Macy’s this time of year.
The atmosphere and the vibe are energetic and fun. Wine list is interesting and the food cheeses were on par with other quality wine places.

It starts with the reason why you end up here — all the other italian within 3 blocks has an hour plus wait on Saturday night. So you walk in and sit down. Bad sign.
Then you r waitress tells you that she’s new hasn’t had any of the food and doesn’t really like pasta. And you work in an italian restaurant. Drinks take 25 minutes — to hit the tables — the entire restaurant might have 10 tables in it. (It is not big or massively busy she is just going to slow she’s going backwards) Calamari app comes out luke warm. Ravioli entrée comes out room temperature — empty drink glasses from rounds long dead left on the table. And then — just went you think you’ve survived. COFFEE COMES OUT COLD. Not even a tad bit warm. Ice cold.
Forget this place — what a total hoax — I had friends in town from SF and I am mortified that we ended up here having such a poor food experience. And my fiancé ended up being sick most of the night from something they served him.

Aperitivo is a great brunch spot.
I’ve gone about 3 times and to perfectly honest, I always enjoy my time here
I’ve had the burger (delicious, and cooked well), the Penna pasta Mozzarella & Basil, and Italian Toast. All have been really good and fulfilling.
Adding only $ 3.95 for unlimited drinks is well worth the time and money. It’s a cute small spot for a good amount of groups who are looking to go somewhere and enjoy great food.
Usually I sit at the bar and service is always spot on. So no complaints here. Attractive crowd and it’s a great spot for a brunch date. (Trust me, I know) :)

I can vouch only for brunch when speaking about this place. Absolutely Devine! This little gem is my go to spot for those days when I just don’t feel like finding another brunch spot. You absolutely can not beat their menu prices! I’ve dined there several times and I’ve never been disappointed. The penne with smoked salmon is my absolute favorite! The French toast is friggin amazing! The brunch drinks are absolutely buzz worthy and do NOT come with a headache! I am so upset that I’ve forgotten my waiters name, but he’s the absolute best! On the many trips that I’ve made to Aperitivo, he’s always been my waiter.
UPDATE!!!
We’ve become regulars who are greeted at the door with a «Hey ladies»! We always sit at the bar, and our «guy» doesn’t even have to ask us what we need, because he already knows. He keeps our mimosas coming, and knows how much we love the tiramisu that he doesn’t even need to ask us. The food, staff, and price can’t be beat, so this little slice of Heaven will continue to be our go to.
Oh yea, plus they make, and bottle this awesome pepper sauce that reminds me so much of home. This gem should def become your regular spot.
We’ve now done dinner here as well, and the salmon on a bed of spinach was heavenly! I honestly think they can do no wrong!

I really wanted to give this place a better rating. I really did. I read some of the reviews ahead of time and I was like «Meh, these people are just being harsh». Plus, their brunch is really a great deal! 12.95 for entrees which includes coffee, tea and juice plus a 3.95 upgrade for unlimited drinks? Um you don’t get much better than that. Unfortunately, the rest of the experience left something to be desired. For expediency’s sake, I’m going to do a pros and cons list.
Let’s start with the cons:
–Strawberry Jam was so expired, it had turned a gross brown color and was literally as hard as a rock
–ALL the sugar packets at our table were damp, with what I don’t know and I don’t think I want to
–Waitress was too busy to refill our drinks as quickly as we would have liked. It was super packed though, so not entirely her fault
–The refills were done by pouring the drink from a pitcher which I thought was actually kind of tacky, even though I get that it saved time
–Mimosas tasted extremely watered down
–Was not a fan of the potato latkes (to be fair, my husband enjoyed them)
–Our credit card receipts were returned to our table without pens. I literally cannot remember a time when I was given something to sign in a restaurant without being given a pen. We had to ask the bartender for one.
Pros:
–My dish, the Salmon Benedict, was actually pretty good. The eggs were poached to perfection and the salmon and english muffin were nice
–My friend’s fries were delicious and his burger looked damn good too (made me wish I had gotten one too)
–The waitress was friendly
Overall, the food actually wasn’t terrible. But the slow service and the gross jam and sugar really soured the experience for me. Just couldn’t give it the A-​Ok. I may give it another shot in the future, but I doubt it.

Apertivo has a 12.95 brunch with a 3.95 unlimited mimosa/​bloody/​bellini upgrade, awesome deal!
Their menu has a nice variety of poached eggs, smoked salmon, french toast… you know breakfasty stuff. This isn’t Rosewater with your artisnal lavender essence over lemon brioche pan francais (this does not exist), but breakfast food that was pretty ok.
The service was on point. Often times when you are at a bottomless mimosa place, the waiter is no where to be seen, ours was constantly on point with a refil of adult beverage or water.
Sitting outside is super nice in the summertime. Given the food, they are really more of a 3.5 kind of place, but the service and Mimosa service put them over the top and I think all of the 1-​stars people put kind of stink.
This aint Rosewater, enjoy the poached eggs and smoked salmon with your bottomless bellini:)