Pesce Pasta Yorkville

Coming here at least once a week for lunch and have not had a bad meal yet… The bartender is good… The server is on top of things… The gnocchi was excellent and the chix parmesan was tender… They let you change pastas without fanfare… BTW at no extra charge… The Upper East side eatery at decent prices… BON APPETITE…

Ugh! Dissatisfied, disappointed and barely digestible. Do not get the Veal Rollatini. Better yet, please try it and tell me if I just got a bad piece. Not impressed at all. Chicken Parm with bone in. That’s different. Gnocchi and sauce just not a standout. Service was attentive but I felt like we were somewhere near the Medellin Cartel. Where was the Capo di tutti Capi? Tiramisu was awesome. Glasses of wine so-​so. Try Pesce Pasta in Yorkville and pray I just had a bad night.

My boyfriend and I have been wanting to try this place for a long time. We live right in the neighborhood and walk right past all the time. Last night we finally went and it did not disappoint! From the start the atmosphere was so welcoming and as soon as we sat down our waiter came right over to us. He was so incredibly attentive all night and in no way made us feel rushed to leave the table. The food and especially the sauce was incredible! I highly recommend this spot for a nice quiet date night. We will definitely be back!

My family has been going here for fifteen years. The food is fresh and very good. I like the ravioli or the lasagna.

My vegetarian family went for late lunch on a Sunday and all 4 veg pastas we ordered were perfect. Hosts were great. Also delicious ice cream dessert at the end.
We were all satisfied at the end of our meal. We found an Italian gem in UES.

I had so much fun here last month and can’t understand the negative reviews. Well actually I can, and will try in this review to explain what I think is going on.
Most of the objections relate to price or insufficiently innovative cuisine.
Well, I’m sorry if you’re from Nebraska or Iowa (well, for multiple reasons: what sane, rational individual can tolerate –15 degrees, even not during a Polar Vortex, particularly when it’s flat and you have no hills by way of compensation?).
But this is neither a café where you order food yourself and a food runner brings it out, nor an Italian with with two Michelin stars.
What it is is an excellent neighborhood Italian with prodigious portions, solid seafood and pasta, a bar full of locals, and a terrific, curmudgeonly bartender who was at Elaine’s for years. Most Elaine’s customers still alive and in the city have migrated either to the Writing Room or this convenient, cozy restaurant close to the 86^th Street subway. It’s easy on the 6 from 59^th, and even easier if you get the express, which is one stop.
Also, the martinis are mammoth! I’m a bit of a lush and I felt no need to order a second.
The signs out front ( Unilocal stickers, to go phone numbers) may confuse those who are expecting bargain fare along the lines of Chinese. The prices aren’t low (my exquisite special ravioli was 21.95), but meat and fish entrees come with a marinara side and the broccoli – the signature vegetable – is enormous.
I didn’t drink any wine so can’t comment on that. But I also saw the veal and the chicken parmigiana (inhaled by a lawyer who turns out to have been Harvard Law 1978 along with LA County Supervisor and longtime local politician of Dobie Gillis fame, Sheila Keuhl). Sheila and my mother, also a liberal lawyer in the pubic sector many decades, go way back.
That’s the kind of place it is. You go with a friend/​local and end up having all these odd bicoastal connections. Another really terrific older couple was seated next to me. One was German and so are my cool landlords on the lower end of the Upper East Side.
If I lived further up on the UES, I would come regularly. There’s nothing not to like about this neighborhood place.

Last night was such a wonderful night! My sisters, fiancé and I had such a great time at this lovely place. The service was simply incredible, the waiters were so attentive to all of our needs and wants! From the moment we arrived they greeted us with such warmth making us feel very enthused to be there. We sure did enjoy the food. I had a fillet mignon (medium rare) which was just mouth watering. Perfectly seasoned. I must say Pesce Pasta is one of my favorite restaurants now. I will definitely be returning to this place. From the way we were welcomed, to the service and food. Just so great to have had a lovely Saturday night at Pesce Pasta!

Wow!. Wasn’t expecting the great food I ate here. Driving up 3^rd Ave to go home I stopped and parked due to the rush hour traffic. I found an indiscrete restaurant with a bar (I’m pretty simple). I had the best soft-​shell crabs I ever. They were sauted in a francaise sauce with capers — no need for a dishwasher as I wiped the plate dry with bread absorbing the sauce ;). I had the mussels for appetizer which were, and the tiramisu which was «to die for» homemade. Can’t wait to get caught up in traffic again. What a great find!

Best Italian on the upper east side. Great specials menu each night. And the service is great!

A lot goes into a restaurant being good or getting poor reviews. Choosing a bad wine isn’t one of them. This Old New York restaurant has very good to great dinners. The Seafood Risotto is terrific. The Fish on Specials are out of this wold. In Season the Soft Shell crab is a must. I like the Gnocchi’s and the Lasagna is a good choice. Ask them to make Eggplant Parmigiana for you. It’s one of my favorites. The atmosphere is a combination of Old New York and a small neighborhood Italian Restaurant is what you want when you visit or live in the area. The bar is local and friendly, and Alex the bartender (formerly from Elaine’s) is as good as you will find. Always ready with a quote or a clever comment. The service is European in style and don’t be surprised they smile and remember you. We love this small quaint place and go often. It is our «go to» spot in the neighborhood.

Food is great, the price is right. Nice neighborhood restaurant. Fish is always fresh as well as other items on the menu.

I hate to give a bad review to any business, but this meal was so disappointing that I cannot help it. This was from a dinner on Tuesday night, St. Patrick’s day. Maybe the regular chef was off? The place was busy though.
–My glass of pinot noir was bitter and fishy tasting. It was so disappointing that I took a sip and just let it sit there. I did not even want to emotionally invest in asking for another glass. My waiter never asked about why it was just sitting there all dinner.
–The caprese salad used hard tasteless tomatoes. It needed seasoning (salt) badly. The slices of mozzarella were thick but more rubbery than creamy. The biggest issue was the basil leaves, the best part of caprese salad, were tiny. Only a couple of the smallest little leaves of basil from the very top of a basil plant were used on each slice. Huh?
–I ordered the seafood risotto. I am not sure what I was thinking. The risotto was stiff and all stuck together and not creamy at all. The mussels were big, clean, and good tasting though. But overall, it was very disappointing.
–The bad topper was the lemon sorbet. It was served nicely in a lemon shell. It looked beautiful. However, I went to eat it and it was frozen absolutely solid, hard as a brick. I had to send it back to have it microwaved it to loosen it up enough to eat it.
If I had one or two disappointing items, maybe I would give it two or possibly three stars. I may have had the misfortune of picking every bad item on the menu. But this was a course by course series of disappointments. NYC italian? Manhattan? The consistency and quality should be better. Right?

My partner & I came here for dinner and simply weren’t impressed. The food was decent but nothing special (particularly because of the high prices) and the service was average. I had the Shrimp & Calamari Linguine which tasted bland at first but with the addition of parmesan cheese & fresh pepper, I was good to go. My partner had the Chicken Romana which he enjoyed after the same additions.
Summary: It was an average place with a nice ambiance but I probably wouldn’t return without some sort of voucher.
TIP: Visit the direct website for their menu as it has been slightly altered from the one available here.

My boyfriend used to live on the Upper East Side and this was our go-​to spot. After not dining there for almost a year we stopped in the other night. The waiter remembered us and even commented on my hair being different.
This is a great local spot. Our favorite dishes are the veal parmigiana and the meat ravioli.

This is a friendly and romantic neighborhood spot to bring a date. The servers are quick and definitely attentive, and the place never gets overly crowded.
They bring you bread and olive oil/​vinaigrette right away. My friend and I shared the stuffed artichoke as an appetizer. I’m not a fan of artichoke, but it was «stuffed» with ground meat that was surprisingly good. I wouldn’t order it again, though.
I opted to go with the gnocchi because of all the positive reviews. It was decent, but I expected a little more (maybe because I was recently in Italy for a month). My friend devoured the grilled salmon and string beans, so I’ll assume it was good.
Prices are average for the city. While we were there, a handful of people were eating at the bar. Apparently, the bartender is super awesome. Oh, and ask about their pasta specials!

It’s a neighborhood place. I eat there because it’s close. The bartender TONY is the best!!! That’s why the bar is full of people eating dinner. I like the spaghetti with shrimps and clams. The food here is unimaginative…
But sitting at the bar eating with Tony, feels like home

Decent Italian place on the Upper East Side. The gnocchi here was very soft and simply melts in your mouth. Despite being on the entrée section, the dish is not that filling though, and is more of an appetizer. The chicken parmigiana was far better in terms of bang for your buck. It was a large breaded chicken cutlet covered in tasty parmigiana sauce, and comes with a good side portion of spaghetti.

Giving it 3 stars but here is the breakdown:
appetizer — calamari was rubbery and unappetizing. I would have left except I already placed my dinner order. The breading to the calamari was good, not too heavy. But the calamari meat itself was yucky and rubbery like it was frozen and microwaved.
the main course — a friend got lasagna which was completely delicious. I got the clam linguine which was very good except it was gritty like they didn’t wash the sand out of the clams. But everything else about the dish was good.
The dessert was hit out of the ballpark though. A lemon sorbet served in a frozen lemon, and a chocolate mousse that was soooo good.
So they saved their rating by the great dessert and good main courses. Surprised at the calimari under these circumstances. Would go there again and next time I’ll maybe stay away from the seafood.

Pretty disappointing.
Steak was awful quality for costing what it cost.
Although salmon tasted good, it had fake grill marks on it which annoyed me.
Pasta sauce was good, but the portion was tiny.
I spent about $ 65 for a couple which did not include drinks and I was starving when I left.

I admit: I was a little bit whiny coming here. I was in one of my panicked, «We have a movie starting at 7:45 and need to find a place. NOW!» modes. The beau suggested this place, since we were standing in front of it. Sigh… fine. (Girl mode. Seriously.) We entered an area reeking of old school U.E.S.-ness. We were the youngest patrons, as well as decidedly underdressed, compared to the rest of the crowd.
STILL: The service was fast, kind, and genuine. The gnocchi was sublime, just pillowy and amazing. The spaghetti and meatballs were perfect. All in all, it was a good experience despite the fact I didn’t really want to be there. Heh. It’s a bit on the pricy side, just FYI.