Serafina Upper West

Disappointed. I always wanted to try Serafina out– the one by Central Park to be specific, but I ended up in the UWS today and this one has not tinted my perception.
Upon entering there is quite a foul smell which threw me off immediately, but hey… I was having lunch with the cousin and it was my choice so all I could do was proceed. The waiter came, poured water and walked off before I had a chance of ordering appetizers. The bus boy finally came a while later and we ordered fried calamari to start with and were asked if we wanted bread as well.
The fried calamari wasn’t the best, but what I really didn’t like was the sauce. It just tasted cheap and once again disappointed me as this is an «Italian» restaurant. I wanted the infamous Italian dish chicken parm, but to my surprise I didn’t see it on the menu besides the fact that there are 20+ pasta entrees. My cousin asked for the margarita pizza and I just couldn’t help, but ask if they had chicken parm. And what do you know… they had chicken parm although it wasn’t on the menu.
The food was okay, not bad (see my photo for the huge chicken parm that can pass for a pizza), but the serve was pretty bad. We only saw the waiter on arrival and then again in the end. The bus boy had to be flagged down for water and the worst part for me was that I get the feeling this isn’t the «cleanest» restaurant.
I can’t help but to fear trying out another Serafina location.

Great location and ambiance but the service was spotty, waiters too busy for good customer service.
I was excited about the lasagna but it too salty and not warm enough, parts of the dish were actually cold. Very disappointing !!!

This place deserves 0 stars. The staff is awful, and rude. The margarita pizza had lets really 4 slices, and 4 olives, and 1 basil leave. So, cheese pizza.
We asked for extra olives and basil several times to no avail. Then we get the rudest waitress to tell us that she will get it with a «yeah, whatever»
Literally, she said that.

Really good. Had arugula steak salad. So delicious. And crème brûlée ad cappucino. Delicious. Nice evening for outdoor dining. Attentive wait staff. Cant wait to return.

Surprised to see the reviews on here because I was here the other night was a large party and the food and service was excellent. I had been to the location in the 50’s and felt the food was just ok so I didn’t come in with high expectations– boy was I impressed. The pasta special of the night was linguini with lobster, calamari, and other kinds of various seafood and everybody that had it was very pleased with it. The potato gnocchi with pesto was also very good. The star of the night for me was the fresh shaved artichoke and shrimp starter drizzled in lemon, olive oil, and fresh basil– the flavors were wonderful in this and I was really happy that the portion was a good size even though it was an appetizer. Once I tried it, I definitely wanted more and would go back again for this dish!

One star is reserved for hair in my food and recalcitrant staff. This squeaks by with two. Disgusting cocktails that cost $ 18 (don’t order the espresso martini; it’s chunks of tray ice and baileys). Burnt inch thick loaf toast with canned tomatoes for bruschetta. Plates delivered to the wrong people. Sides delivered 15 minutes after mains. So sad too, because the Serafina where I live (San Juan, PR) has attentive staff and delicious food. This was none of that. Super surprised it survives on the UWS.

OMG the service in there is like pulling teeth from angry kids. It’s my fault for coming in. It’s my fault for wanting anything. And you would think that they would check on you on occasion but no. I ended up just yelling accross the restaurant to attract enough attention for a coffee. If I wasn’t staying upstairs I would never come back. I wanted sausage instead of potatoes and she actually seemed angry with me. She got my order wrong and when they dropped the food I corrected them then she came rushing to the table to say that she thought we ordered what they dropped. And with attitude to boot. And then she never checked on us again. Pretentious much? I thought it seemed certain she was heartbroken and on her period. Stank face.
And the next morning I came in at 10:50 from breakfast that ends at 11 and the woman was like «we closing soon so you gotta be…» And then gestured with her hand something that sort of meant quick. Then they sat me and never came to offer a drink or take my order for at least 5 minutes. So much for being quick. It’s like no one actually felt responsible for my table. Terrible. And high priced to boot? Nah. I’m good.

Came here on a Friday night and it was pretty busy, but we were seated right away as we had a reservation. A must have is definitely the pizza– all the varieties are amazing. Pasta is nice as well, but they tend to be very stingy with the sauce.
Service was okay, not too good. We had to wait 30 minutes for someone to ask us what drinks we wanted.
Price is kind of high, be prepared to pay at least $ 150 for a party of 4.
Overall, I would come back again.

I had an amazing meal here. Fresh imported burrata, gnocchi. Sangria. This place is top notch and the bartender was attentive and friendly.

I ate here last year and wasn’t impressed with the food but since I was staying at the NYLO hotel again I decided to give it another try… Well it didn’t go well.
I would have liked to write a review about their food this time but I didn’t get to eat anything– why you ask? I was dining solo so I sat at the bar. I wasn’t given a menu until I gave the bartender a ‘look’ and once I did I wasn’t asked if I wanted a drink or if I wanted to order some food– I sat there for about 15 minutes after getting the menu and then noticed that a couple who came in after me were tended to right away. I got fed up and just left. Needless to say I was pretty upset.

No real comment on the food, but the manager and service are absolutely worst possible. Think the manager should get back on her broom before somebody drops a house on her. Do not go here at all costs !

Had a wonderful, weekday lunch for four. Gnocchi, Rigatoni, Lamb, and Vegetable Platter. Everything cooked to perfection. Pleasant staff, attentive and knowledgeable. Beautiful dining room, we had a lovely booth at the window. Drinks were excellent. The profiteroles were declared «best ever» which overshadowed the tiramisu.
Clean, single, restrooms.
Saw a changing table downstairs for babies.
Lots of outdoor dining.

I think the food here is actually OK here, so let’s get that out of the way. We had calimari (better than your typical run-​of-​mill Italian where the recipe seems to be canola oil + bread + calimari) and some non-​mozarella but similar type cheese with smoked salmon. Both strong. Then we waited… and waited… and waited. The junk they show in between NCAA games (Nova-​UO/​UNC-​Syracuse) in this case passed, and we still hadn’t gotten our food. When we made an inquiry, server was pretty short with us: «Soon.» Soon ballooned into 15 more minutes.
What did we order? A spaghetti and salmon. Not exactly a «wait 30 minutes» type thing like Peking Crispy Duck.
While the food itself is perfectly good, «time is money,» so if that’s true, why go here? It’s like dropping a $ 20 in the street. There are better places where you don’t have to put with this nonsense.
SMH.

While searching for a place to eat while staying at the NYLO NYC Hotel, Serafina seemed the most convenient. Upon arrival we were seated right away which was great especially since we were running on a tight schedule. I ordered «Penne Alla Stolichnaya,» in other words: Penne alla vodka and added chicken. My boyfriend got the Grilled Steak & Fries. In between taking our orders and waiting for our food, a waiter made sure we always had water available to us, which is attentiveness I personally enjoyed. Once the food was brought out we dug right in! I must say is was the best Penne alla Vodka I’ve had in a while, and my boyfriend seemed to be enjoying his steak. The steak sauce and the steak paired very well. We spent about $ 55.
So would I recommend this place to anyone else? YES
Would I go back? YES
I hope those who are looking for a place to eat around 77^th Street stop by Serafina and enjoy it as much as we did.

I ate at this restaurant on my last night in NYC. I thought it was very good and I would definitely go back. The salmon dishes that they have are outstanding. The bruschetta is very good as well. It has a very fresh taste to it. The chocolate soufflé was great as well. Nothing but good things to say. Would recommend trying it if you find yourself in the Upper West Side for a night.

My boyfriend and I came here at about 9:50 on a Saturday night. The place was pretty empty so we were seated immediately. After 15 minutes we still had not been visited by our server, and (even worse), we hadn’t even received water.
Our waitress finally came over (still no water), and took our order of a proscuitto and mozz appetizer, water (because apparently you have to order water), and two rigatoni alla bolognese.
5 minutes after this we still had no water. A family came in and were seated two tables away from us and kept shooting us dirty looks. Their order was taken immediately, and they were brought water and bread before we received anything. The manager (I’m assuming) came over to our table and asked how everything was going. My boyfriend responded that we had requested water and bread and still hadn’t received anything. The manager’s response was, and I quote «Do you want bread or not?»
This is a completely unacceptable way to treat paying customers.
The proscuitto was delicious and tasted good with the bread once we finally received it. The bolognese however tasted as though it had been flavored solely with salt. I could not finish mine as it was so overly salty. The pasta was cooked well, but is definitely not made on the premises and tastes more like barilla pasta from a box.
The server came to us with her nose upturned, and said «I will need another credit card. This one has been… declined.» We had used the card earlier in the day in other places and there was nothing wrong with it. She probably swiped the wrong way, and was treating us like idiots. When we asked her to try again she refused and insisted she needed another card because, and she repeated, it had been declined (emphasis on the declined like we were too dumb to know what the word meant). She then waited there until I could dig out a different card for her to use. She whipped the card out of my hand and took it, brought back the check and then just left. No «thank you,» or anything else polite.
Overall, horrendous service, overly expensive food that was mediocre at best, and tacky music which ruined the otherwise nice atmosphere wholeheartedly warrant the 1 star. Avoid this place. There is a reason it is so empty. You can make much better food at home.

We found this place when staying at the NYLO Hotel given that they are linked by an entryway through the hotel’s lobby. On the morning we planned to eat there, we had heard that they stop serving breakfast at 11am, so we rushed down there and made it around 10:50am. As soon as we entered, we were reminded by who I assume to have been the owner and a couple of servers that breakfast was ending at 11, but since we already knew what we wanted, all we needed was our server.
We sat down and placed our order at the same time. I had the steak and eggs with a side of bacon. How this meal didn’t already come with bacon is a shame. When my plate arrived, I was pleased that the steak was cooked how I ordered it and that it tasted pretty decent. The eggs weren’t bad either, but for some reason I also got a salad on my plate. I looked around the place and noticed it seems that having salad for breakfast is a Serafina staple… I had no interest in it, so I can’t speak to what it tasted like.
Anyway, I’ve made better eggs at home and the bacon just outright sucked! Personally, I love bacon that is slightly undercooked so it’s more chewy than crispy. However, I’ve come to realize that more restaurants than not, cook their bacon on the crisp side so I deal with it. Regardless, the bacon at Serafina was absolutely horrendous. It was dried out, burnt to a crisp and bland tasting.
As for the restaurant itself, you should keep in mind that they add 18% gratuity to any check whether you’re one person or twenty. I felt like this causes the service to be less than mediocre considering the staff no longer has to excel at their duties when they know they are getting a tip regardless of how well they did (or otherwise). Fortunately our server was ok, but was slow to keep up on the water refills we asked for. He also stopped by our table almost the moment our food arrived and asked for the check to be closed out since they were switching over from breakfast to lunch. I found this to be odd since I didn’t understand why they needed to close a breakfast check before starting the lunch menu. It’s not like it was turning into a different restaurant or something… a check is a check, right? I don’t know… I’ve never worked in the food industry.
I would have to say that this place is probably being kept afloat by the NYLO Hotel and if I were them, I’d try working a little harder to up the quality all around in this place. Take advantage of the free advertising and foot traffic you’re getting from the hotel and make this place shine! Before you know it, you’ll be getting a line out the door.

What happened here? Talk about wrecking a brand. Came in for breakfast and they said «no, we stop serving breakfast in five minutes»…so I ordered from a lame and limited brunch menu, which would have been fine, but I found it odd that my scrambled eggs arrived seconds later, ice cold, with soggy old salad and fried potatoes that had been sitting around for a while. Even the water for the tea was lukewarm. Non existent service and a super surly quasi hostess/​manager topped off a pretty dismal experience.
«Welcome to Serafina. We don’t like you. And we don’t care. Gratuity will automatically be added to your bill, and if you don’t like it, too bad».

As I’m staying at NYLO Hotel (which also houses Serafina), I have had 5 meals here in 3 days. I have been overly impressed… until this morning.
I knew Serafina stopped serving breakfast at 11am (I live in Los Angeles and have not settled into East Coast time yet) and arrived at 10:50am when the manager (an older lady I haven’t seen before) told me I couldn’t have breakfast, so I showed her the time and she was rude and told me I «better hurry up and order» and then hovered over me. I told her I’d have the brioche and poached eggs (again– YUM!) and she told me to wait for the server. I then waited for over 5min for someone to approach me. I got my breakfast order in! Whew!
I also just noticed that gratuity is always included! My bad for not reading over the bill more thoroughly, but be aware.
Food is ALWAYS delicious, I was just turned off by the manager.

What I’ve Tried: Al Caprino Pizza, Regina Margherita Pizza, and Arugula E Parmigiano Pizza.
Tip: Large selection of different types of pizzas, so sharing is a good idea.
Story: Went here once and would not go back. I’d heard a lot about Serafina, so i assumed it would be good. However, the pizza was mediocre at best. There was hardly any goat cheese on the Al Caprino Pizza and the Margherita was just plain old bland. The salad also was just a mountain of arugula with four cherry tomatoes. There are so many great Italian spots in the city-​best to just skip this place

Nous avons pris un petit Dejeuner, Le service est pas Mal Mais les œufs benedicts né sont pas terribles, le thé et le café n ont plus mais joli terrasse sur la rue et salle ouverte bien pour ceux qui n aiment pas la clim