Areo Ristorante

I have been to many Italian restaurants in bay ridge and this one I will highly recommend to everyone. The Chilean Sea Bass was so delicious. The service was excellent and the wine list was amazing. Will definitely go back.

I dont know the have new owners or new cooks but my food last night was terrible my girl and left hungry… same ol menu and always the same specials its so boring
… i used to go eat here alll the time now i am done with it. Food SUCKED go somewhere else waste of money

Went there last night. It was my first time at this restaurant and I enjoyed it. I had the Chilean Sea Bass which was delicious and my date had the pasta in tin foil dish. Both were really good and so was our appetizer and wine! Would definitely go again!

Great cheesecake (pineapple coconut) other than that just the usual boring southern Italian cuisine. I had the rabbit and I would have swear it was chicken. If not by the fact that was tough and tasteless. will certainly avoid next time.

A local bay ridge friend recommended this place. I have eaten at almost every restaurant in bay ridge considering I live here and this area has the best food. To my dismay the place was quiet aka dead and I see why. Its way over priced for food i wouldn’t even feed my dog. I order the stuffed artichokes. The artichokes were hard not even edible or able to eat. Was like taking a bite into bark. It taste like it was stuffed with cheap stuffing from a turkey only extremely disgusting and old tasting. Not fresh at all almost like quality of spam in a box for 15 bucks. They gave my table complimentary bread that was burnt. 2 complimentary bruschetta that was burnt as well. Didn’t even try it so cannot comment. Complimentary fried zucchini with way to much oil stringy not nice thick chunks and no dipping sauce to complete the pallets taste or add some flavor to the dish. The dark waiter only came over to take our order and give me the check he wasn’t even around to ask how anything was. I was helped by an extremely nice man who looked eastern european the majority of the time. I was so nauseated by the disgusting quality of food and absolutely love vongole which when i ordered it the waiter didn’t even know what it was till i said linguine with white clam sauce. I told them not to bring it out since its one of my favorite dishes and don’t want them to ruin something I clearly love. Hopefully it was an off day but will never go back there again. WAYYYY too many amazing restaurants in bay ridge embers the kettle black ho brahs arrange fushimi etc. even terranovas bagel joint but NOT THIS PLACE!!! BEWARE, feel like the only people who would write good reviews are friends with the owners or employees. very disappointed and a waste of money. The food was so disgusting I couldn’t even eat for the next 3– 4 hours i was so eeeeehhhhhhh, and I haven’t even ate anything since last night for dinner so I was starving that says something.

I’m a Brooklyn native and have been dining in Bay Ridge for years. It’s a go-​to spot when you want to go out to eat but have no idea what you want.
Brooklyn is also home to a countless array of Italian restaurants. They all offer similar fare — some better, some worse.
That said, I had never tried Areo’s before tonight. It never intrigued me enough and never seemed like my type of crowd. But, as I was absent-​mindedly walking down third avenue, thinking of what to eat, I crossed paths with the restaurant.
My decision to finally try it was two parts hunger, one part convenience and one part «my GF will leave me if I don’t pick a place to eat soon.»
So, we walked in and were seated at the bar. We were told the wait would be a few minutes. I figured it was no big deal — we would order a drink and watch the game until we were seated. In theory, it was a great plan. In practice, it was a catastrophe.
There was one bartender at the bar and she needed to fill all table drink orders in addition to tending the bar. When we asked for a drink, she abruptly told us that she needed to fill table orders before bar orders. The place was packed and had an endless stream of table drink orders. Needless to say, we never got served at the bar.
We were seated about 10 minutes into our wait. We were promptly given a basket of stale bread and some frozen butter. When we asked the waiter for some olive oil for the table, he told us «we’re out of oil.» Let that set in. The Italian restaurant, in business for 20+ years, had no olive oil. An amazing feat by most standards.
At the time, we were surprised but took it in stride. Things *do* happen. So, we ordered our food and, unknowingly, opened Pandora’s Box of miserable food.
We started with the Mussels in white sauce and the grilled octopus. The octopus was fine, but the mussels were the worst thing to come out of the sea since Godzilla. They weren’t clean and each bite have us a nice serving of sand and grit. In addition, the taste was «off» and prompted us to stop before we contracted some illness.
About 20 minutes later, we got our main courses. My girlfriend ordered the scallops in pesto sauce. I ordered the pork chops. The first thing we noticed was that my girlfriend’s main course was «appetizer» size. When we asked the waiter, he said «That’s what you ordered.» Not only was that not accurate — it was a lie. He specifically asked my girlfriend if she would like the full order or half order. She asked for a full order.
Since my girlfriend is completely phobic about sending food back, she stayed quiet and ate the order. The taste was fine — it just wasn’t enough for a meal.
My pork chops weren’t bad. They were cooked nicely and had a good taste. However, that order was also small — for a full portion. The rice that accompanied it was not to my liking. It had a weird! sweetness to it that didn’t vibe well with the spice of the pork chops.
The meal was so completely underwhelming that we skipped coffee and dessert. The bill was $ 100 for mediocre food and terrible service. Definitely not worth price, especially given the abundance of choices in the area.
For a better meal at half the price, go to Giacomo’s a few blocks away. You’ll never have a bad meal and the owner/​staff is a delight.
The TL;DR version:
Food: Mediocre and overpriced. Servings are small.
Service: Awful. From the bartender to the unaccommodating waiters, no one puts the customer first.
Ambiance: It was louder than the runway at JFK during takeoffs and landings.
Price: $ 100 (w/​o tip) for 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 glasses of wine. It’s way overpriced for the quality and amount of food received.
Advice: Go to Giacomo’s, Zio Totó for better food and better (more polite) service. If you really want to indulge, check out The Pig Guy for a quick bite to eat.
Additional Info: We hated the food so badly, and left so much uneaten that we went to Hobrah for a snack immediately afterward.

I was very surprised to see Areo only has 99 reviews. Areo has been around for a while so I assumed there would be plenty of reviews. Just saying…
It is my honor to write review no. 100. Areo is good, it really is. Otherwise I wouldn’t go back. Also my family really loves this place and they are tough critics.
PThe apps are all good, I happen to really like the mushrooms, which is something I would never order regularly but my sister convinced me and now I get them every time. Entrees are very good as well and I suggest you check out the specials before ordering. But let it be know that you can not go wrong with any of the pasta dishes.
Service has always been good and atmosphere is casual but nice. Good date spot or group get together.

I would give 1 star, but I must admit the food was excellent. The Veal Valdastano was perfect, my service was not. Food is not everything, an inattentive staff with no sense of leadership on the floor. The inmates are clearly running the asylum here, as is seen with my attempt to order a second bottle of wine only to see my waiter in service area, head buried in cell phone. Not surprising as he was rude from the get go and knew nothing about the menu. Your reputation is sadly true and we will not be back.

Atmosphere is very calm, service was very attentive, food was beyond words, it’s true what they say, «it’s all in the sauce». Alex, the waiter, made sure everything was up to standards. Wait time was none existing to be seated or being served. Definitely coming back

Tried lots of Bay Ridge Italian places and food and service here both top the rest.

Best Italian food in Brooklyn! But like anywhere else u need to know what to order. Start out with the octopus and spedin! Then you get a ½ order a pasta in a foil. Then u get the fillet minion medallions in wine sauce. Finish off with a pineapple coconut cheese cake! You welcome!

The filet is so good! The mushroom gratine was also excellent!

Very Disappointed!!! A few years ago this was one of my most favorite place to eat in bayridge. I have to admit that it has been 2 or so years since my last visit and i was very excited. What a disappointment! The service was horrible and the food was worse.
The halfmoon raviolis tasted as if they were freezer burned. I was surprised when we walked in how empty it was for a Sunday evening. Now I know why!!!
Never again!!!

We came to this restaurant on a Saturday night 4 adults + 1 child.
It took the manager few minutes to get us seated.
The service was not good. The waiter was not able to explain many of the dishes. When we asked for juice and butter he has failed to bring it. We had to wait over 15 minutes to remind him. Also, the waiter brought wrong food out to our party. The table was not happy with the service. About the food: at the end of the dinner, I felt my stomach hurt and had to run home. We called the restaurant 2 hours after dinner to mention of the food poison and were told by someone claiming to be a manager that the owner will call me back. Next evening after getting no calls and having great stomach pains, my wife called the restaurant again and a book keeper promised that the owner will call us back same evening. To this point we are still waiting for the owner to call.

Save your money. Overpriced and underwhelming. Appetizers were pretty good, we had a party of 10 so we shared a lot of apps. Fried calamari, baked mozzarella, mussels, portobello tower were all tasty. Entrees and service was a whole other story. The lamb shank I have had before was very dry and tough. My girlfriend ordered half moon raviolis and it came with a gross hair in it. We sent the dish back and received a new one, but not without the waiter telling us it wasn’t a hair and was a strand from the meat sauce. We KNEW it was a hair and so did the waiter when he took it back. The raviolis tasted like a can of Chef Boyardee, literally. I saw a lot of unfinished plates around the table if you know what I mean. Cold, absent service and they didn’t know who ordered what. Will not return here. What a JOKE

The food was delicious, but the service was a bit lacking. After ordering, waiter disappeared for a while, and didn’t come back to the table until after we’d eaten most of the meal. One thing though — I had the pollo scarpariello — the menu described it as crispy chicken in garlic and vinegar. Ok, great. However, they failed to mention the mountain of mushrooms in the dish — I hate mushrooms — and I never would have ordered it had I known. So even though the chicken was tasty, I felt like I got half a meal.

Great atmosphere. Beautiful dark surroundings. Their filet mignon is cooked always right and delicious. Friendly servers and always the best place to eat a great steak

What a lovely surprise… I had dinner there this weekend on a whim, it’s near my relative’s home and we wanted to eat within walking distance. There are so many restaurants along 3^rd avenue and I’ve always thought this one looked inviting but never ventured in. It was more crowded on this evening than the other two Italian restaurants that are just a few feet away so we rolled the dice and went inside. For fairness purposes, you have to look at this place in the context of it’s surroundings and clientele, first of all. The nearby Italian restaurants, both of which I’ve been to, are quite forgettable.
First thing I noticed was the martini glass display on a huge platter of shaved ice at the bar, which showed that they are making an effort to give you a properly served martini. The décor and vibe to me were very old-​school, «real» Brooklyn, especially for the Bay Ridge/​Bensonhurst area. And that is a relief and kinda nice when you’ve had enough of new American Brooklyn, farm to table, and whatever else the hipsters have made trendy. No hipsters anywhere in sight, in fact — of course, this is Bay Ridge. Service was great, very gracious, friendly and not overdoing it in anyway. The staff was quite knowledgeable about the menu and the wine list was thorough, broad and very fairly priced, in fact I was relieved to find Rhones and Riojas, probably the only Italian restaurant in the neighborhood that gives you that option.
The food was good, good enough, in fact, better than expected. Plus we left stuffed to the gills with the smoke mozzarella bruschetta and fried zucchini that are complimentary on top of huge entrees. Stand outs were the Sea Bass with leek, Sea Bass misto and veal chop with salad. Oh and the DEElicious pineapple coconut cheesecake. No one got pasta but I can’t wait to go back and try. I was not expecting to blow my palate or eat something that I would later dream about, just a tasty and thoughtfully cooked Italian-​American menu. And that’s what I got, with great, totally professional, unfussy service.

Seafood salad, grilled octopus were frozen for a while prior to being served. When served, nothing interesting about the dishes, lots of lemon and acidity but otherwise just really really boring and unappetizing. Lobster ravioli was also flat; produce just feels pedestrian at best. The service is cold & chaotic. This place is most definitely a skip; there are many more places in Bay Ridge that are outright better.

This place was delicious! We came here unexpectedly tonight and we were all pretty impressed. They brought to the table bread with olive oil, bruschetta (delish!), and zucchini fries. We ordered for the appetizer the fried calamari and the baked to compare. The baked calamari was definitely so much yummier, has just the perfect kick of spice! For drinks we ordered a pitcher of sangria and I have to say the sangria was one of the best I have had. I’d totally go back just for the sangria! As for dinner, my party of 4 ordered different seafood and pasta platters that were all liked, fresh and satisfying. I wish we made room for dessert because from what I saw from the tables around us, I wished I had room left!
I recommend to all who want a great Italian meal, eat courses sparingly so you can have all 3 here!
They are a bit pricey, service was excellent!