Barbone

Came here on a Sunday night in December without a reservation. We were seated right away. The atmosphere was quiet and cozy, and the candles made for a nice ambience. The food was great. I had the octopus appetizer, pasta with meat ragu, and sea bass. Additionally, the staff was very nice and accommodating.

I’ve been looking for a low key affordable neighborhood trattoria. I’ve found it! I was not expecting the quality of the food. We had the five course tasting menu which was incredible value at $ 42 a head. The food was superb and the duck ravioli was a particular highlight. And the service was wonderful and attentive. I shall be a regular.

Really wanted to like this place — homey interior and a large menu of homemade pastas — but the food quality is mediocre at best. Eggplant appetizer tasted like microwave food, bland and overwhelmed by low quality cheese. Calamari were overdone. All the homemade pastas were overcooked, had no texture and were drowned in bad sauces. Nothing redeeming about this.

I took my boyfriend here for his birthday dinner since I’d heard such amazing things about their «affordable tasting menu.» The chef did a great job letting us try the full range of the menu by bringing us each a different dish for each of the 5 courses. Our favorites were the duck ravioli and grilled octopus appetizer. This place is cute for a date spot, but if I go back I want to experience the courtyard.

Randomly popped in on a Sunday night for dinner. Quiet and cozy atmosphere. Staff is Italian which made the place feel a little more authentic.
This review is specifically for the duck raviolis in red wine sauce. It’s the only reason why I journeyed here in the cold. MUST GET THIS. Next time I go I’ll prob order two

Nice restaurant with a neighborhood feel.
My girlfriend and I were meeting some friends this past weekend in the East Village for drinks. Rather than consuming alcohol on an empty stomach, we decided to grab dinner here first.
We got to the restaurant via cab. I agree with other reviews that it is not in close approximation to subways — similar to most places in Alphabet City. We arrived around 9:30 and the restaurant was still full of people, which I take as a good sign. The lighting was darker, which provided an intimate setting. Our waiter was very friendly and made us feel comfortable as first-​time guests.
The food and drinks were great! Drinks included Gold Rush (bourbon based cocktail) and a glass of wine. Food included buffalo milk mozzarella, pappardelle, and cast iron roasted duck breast. The cocktail was on the sweeter side, and I would recommend all the abovementioned food items.
Check it out if you’re in the area! I hope to enjoy the garden everyone mentions sometime in the future.

Great small restaurant in the Lower East Village. Homemade pasta, great service, decent wine list. We ate here twice while in NYC.

Unless you’re making a plan to be in the East Village /​Alphabet City, this place might not be for you. However, if you are, I’d suggest coming here if you want a hearty, well-​made Italian dinner.
If it’s not cold outside, see if you can sit in their backyard – it’s well-​lit, lively and absolutely charming. The waiters know their stuff, too, if you’re unsure of a wine choice. Our dinner was really good. We got asparagus fries, buffalo milk mozzarella, the gnocchi and braised short rib ragu. This is the kind of food where you can tell the chef actually makes en effort. Be ready though! You’re in for a heavy meal. I’ll definitely be back when it gets cold. The owner is also a really nice guy.

Nice patio seating and great customer service. The owner was very warm and engaging. Tried the fried asparagus and calamari for appetizers. Ordered the lamb sausage pasta and it was amazing. Tried tiramisu, and coconut ice cream absolutely delicious. Great for intimate outings. Definitely coming back.

First off I’m surprised this place doesn’t have a five star rating. Food here is incredible. The owner is very warm and welcoming, something you don’t always see at places. The service is great as well, very friendly waiters with great attitudes. The only thing I’m disappointed is that i didn’t come here sooner. A real great place with intimate setting with superb food!

This place is FAR!!!, Not close to Subways.
But it was worth it.
Friend recommended this place.
Specially Outdoor Patio seating.
5 Girls, we ordered 5 Appetizers and 3 Pasta Dishes instead of the Tasting menu (so at least we get to pick what each of us want and it was less $ than the Pre-​Fix.
Appetizers
–Buffalo Milk Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, gremolata
–Steamed Mussels white wine, garlic
–Eggplant alla Parmigiana
–Prosciutto di Parma «Black Label» orange g jam & toast
–Salad (Arugula with Tomato and cheese).
Pasta:
2 orders of Spinach Gnocchi. it was soo good that we had to order more to share!
Special Pasta of the day that was accompained with Chunks of Lamb with Tomato sauce.
Overall it was really good, very soft and delicious pasta, the Appetizer was so so.
Service was outstanding, staff was very attentive for Water and to refill my Prosecco drink.
With all this 8 orders plus a bottle of Prosecco came out under $ 40 per person instead of $ 42.00 Prefix meal. We Skipped dessert since we were ALL full.
Will definitely come back again.

After searching for ‘best outdoor restaurants in NYC’ I tried this place. We ordered the Octopus appetizer which everyone recommended. I had the clams and linguine and my friend had the rabbit ravioli.
The food was average at best. The Octopus was bland. The rabbit ravioli was mushy and the sauce too heavy, I love ALL food but really disliked the flavors and textures happening here, which is unusual, because I rarely dislike anything. The clams and linguine was very bland.
As for atmosphere — we were looking for an outdoor experience but I think the restaurant needs to put a tad more effort in cleaning and sparying the back yard. Centipedes were swarming the wood fence surrounding the outdoor seating area in the back. They were huge — some close to 2 inches. It was tough to enjoy the meal when I would watch giant bugs crawling behind my friends head and shoulders. I’m hoping the restaurant will try and come up with some solutions for that. Perhaps spray around the borders? The atmosphere would have been lovely without so many centipedes running around and I’m not sure if there is a solution there — it’s nature afterall. Also the strands of lights that hung over the entire garden space (which looked beautiful) had lots of inch worms hanging from them — one of which fell into my water glass. Perhaps the restaurant can wipe down the lights to avoid this.
The service and staff were fine they did their job well. Nothing that stood out, but they were good.

Sitting outside on a spring night was lovely.
We really enjoyed the Black Pepper Pappardelle braised short rib ragu and Duck Ravioli.

Start with the bread — from Il Forno. That’s good. I chose an appetizer — fried asparagus with capers dip. Tasty dip.
Prime: spinach gnocchi with cheese sauce in a cheese shell. Quite good but rich. I had a late lunch so I brough the third home to enjoy tomorrow.
Tempted to have a dessert. I chose the affogato because I like coffee. It wasn’t just vanilla ice cream, it was a vanilla cream they freeze with toasted almonds. Great combination. The portion was just right. Two small scoops and a demitasse of coffee poured on it.
It’s a restaurant I will try another time. The price seems reasonable and the service is good.

I planned my cousin’s bachelorette dinner at Barbone and Alberto and his staff were so accommodating and wonderful! While the rule stipulates that all members of the table must participate to get the tasting menu, one girl arrived late and was able to just order an entrée a la carte, while another girl wanted more options so she got the 7 course tasting menu while the other seven of us just went the 5 courses. Trust me, 5 courses was more than enough!
For the 5 course tasting menu, you get to choose one antipasti, two primi, one secondi, and one dessert — for the 7 course, you get two, two, two, and one. Personally, I chose the Buffalo Milk Mozzarella, Black Pepper Fettuccine, Spinach Gnocchi (a special), Steak with Bone Marrow (also a special) and the Pistachio Cheesecake. The mozzarella was gloriously soft and creamy and the gnocchi were in this incredible gorgonzola cream sauce, all nested in what I swear was basically a crisp, almost taco-​like shell made out of cheese. The fettuccine was a little too bright and tomato-​y for me but the shrimp in it were good, and the steak was tender and came with a HUGE cross section of fatty marrow. I loved the cheesecake, too, and shared the also delicious panna cotta with another girl.
Between nine girls, we were all able to try a lot of different things by sharing small bites and we were all stuffed by the end of the meal. We even got a free dessert because they accidentally brought an extra one out so they just let us have it.
We did up spending around $ 100 each (eight of us covering the bride-​to-​be) but that included five bottles of excellent wine, which the staff let us taste and helped us to choose (I loved the Montepulciano), and gratuity.
I think we were lucky it was a fairly quiet Thursday night because there isn’t a whole lot of space inside — Barbone has a very cozy, rustically charming interior — but I would love to come back for a romantic date (over just one or two bottles of wine instead of five, haha). The tasting menu option is really a steal, given the quality and variety of the dishes!

Came here for a quiet Sunday supper with some girlfriends:
Pros:
* Comforting and warm ambiance, perfect for intimate dinners with good friends (tables for maximum of 6 people) or family
* Great service– we were grateful to be served a complimentary glass of wine before our check and when I left my scarf behind the waiter ran out to return it to me– so nice!
* Barbone offers tasting menus:
— 5 Course tasting menu available at $ 42 per person
— 7 Course tasting menu available at $ 53 per person
— 5 Course pasta tasting menu available at $ 39 per person
— Our tasting menus require the participation of the entire table
* Our group went for the 5 Course tasting menu available at $ 42 per person where everyone picks 1 antipasti, 2 primi, 1 secondi, and 1 dessert. I chose and thoroughly enjoyed the Grilled Octopus, Duck Ravioli (red wine & balsamic glaze), and Cast Iron Roasted Duck Breast (radicchio farrotto, red wine syrup). While the ingredients were fresh, flavorful and perfectly cooked– the portions are small– a maximum of 5 bites from each plate, but with 5 courses (and 2 shared bottles of wine), we were all beyond stuffed! The dessert was also on point– very unique and delicious Maple Syrup Cheesecake, Tiramisu (cake was not as soft or fluffy as other Tiramisu’s I’ve had in the past but it was still solid), and light and delectable Pannacotta with Berries.
* With 2 bottles of wine and 5 Course tasting menu– we each ended up paying ~$ 77 including tax and tip.
Would love to return to Barbone during warmer weather, as they have a terrific outdoor backyard seating area.

Barbone is a decent spot for Italian food, but not a «destination» restaurant. It’s your typical tiny, «cozy,» Italian restaurant with a rustic feel. We had the tasting menu, which is $ 42 for 1 appetizer, 2 pastas, 1 entrée, and 1 dessert. The cool thing is they let you pick what you want for each course — but everyone at the table must participate and everyone at the table has the same courses. What I didn’t like was I felt that even for a tasting menu and at that price, the portions were very small. I’ve had many tasting menus in the city at a variety of price points and while I completely expect a smaller portion, these were really tiny. An overview:
Appetizer: Braised Octopus — this dish had a nice char on it, but was literally a single piece of octopus about the size of your index finger.
There was then a really long amount of time that passed in between this course and the next one.
Pasta: Duck ravioli — There were only 2 raviolis! And these are not really large ravioli. I found these unremarkable. The sauce had a strange graininess and the pasta was a touch undercooked.
Pasta: Pappardelle with braised short rib ragu. This tasted to me underseasoned and the meat was not very flavorful.
Entrée: Steak with bone marrow. I absolutely love bone marrow so was very much looking forward to this dish… The steak portion was so tiny, just two bites of steak, and the bone marrow was oily and greasy. Yes, I know bone marrow is just fat but if you’ve had good bone marrow you know what I mean — good marrow is unctuous, rich and creamy without being a greasy mess. I also could not get over how tiny the steak portion was.
Dessert: Chocolate mousse — not too sweet, creamy, and a decent way to end the meal. Not the most exciting dessert, but fine as far as chocolate mousses go.
Also, at one point we asked the waiter for more bread and he made a face like, «Really?» and shook his head no. We were so put off by his response. We then asked the host again a few minutes later and he gladly obliged… What is up with that? The inconsistency there really threw us all for a loop.
Overall, Barbone was decent but maybe better to just have full-​sized courses. The tasting menus left us hungry!

Typical small NYC restaurant – the size of a hallway. Rustic and cozy in appearance. Friendly greetings upon arrival, but no clear host. They’re very accommodating for large groups, but of course, make reservations in advance. The place doesn’t actually fill up until later in the evening, past 8 PM.
Pretty much everything on the menu sounds appealing. It was hard for everyone to decide, but we got there.
Duck Ravioli: Actually impressed with how good this dish was. The balsamic sauce is not overpowering at all. Ravioli stuffed nicely with well seasoned duck and cooked al dente.
Buffalo Milk Mozzarella: Always a safe choice. Good
Prosciutto Di Parma «Black Label»: Great starter for a meal. Portion size is good and the fig spread on the slices of bread that comes out with it is great.
There are some dishes that are not on the menu that are delicious as well, such as the gnocchi. Ask your waiter about it. Good experience here. Servers were attentive, and they had bread flowing throughout our time here.

Call to reserve! And you will definitely want to reserve since the place is really small. Open Table will say that there are no tables available (might have been because mine was a large party). But when I called about a week before the dinner, I had no problem reserving for 9 people for 7:30 on a Saturday.
To start, our table shared the steamed mussels in white wine and garlic, and the calamari alla piastra. The steamed mussels were okay. There wasn’t anything special or unique about it — except maybe the fact that they were super tiny. I needed a microscope to find some of these mussels. (Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a tad). The calamari was not fried. I guess whenever I see calamari on a menu, I always just assume it’s fried because I’ve never ordered one that wasn’t. But this one was just almost-​burnt breadcrumbs sprinkled on top of rings of squid. It wasn’t horrid, but it wasn’t particularly good either. It was just different.
For my entrée, I had the pappardelle braised short rib ragu. The whole dish was kind of lacking in flavor, but I did like the texture of the pasta. I do love me some pappardelle!
Barbone is pretty reasonably priced for a birthday dinner, even with ordering three bottles of wine. So if you’re looking for a quiet, small, intimate setting with mediocre food, you’ve hit the jackpot!

2.5. I’m rounding up for a couple of pluses.
High rating for the actual pasta. But the sauces were lacking.
Keep in mind, I am extremely particular with Italian food. I can’t seem to find an Italian restaurant in the city that isn’t better than average.
App of beet salad with what seemed like canned mandarin oranges was very ordinary and very, very small. Skip.
Calamari app– came in a sizzling iron fry pan, not fried, just sauteed in olive oil with breadcrumbs, and went well with the fresh lemon. This was pretty good — the calamari had a good texture and was fresh. Again, a very small portion.
Spaghetti carbonara — not bad but not very good — I only had one forkful, my bf said it was ‘pretty good’.
Tagliatelle bolgnanese– the actual pasta was very good, pretty excellent texture. The sauce though wasn’t very flavorful. I have one and only one bolgnanese sauce I love (bf’s homemade) so it is hard for me to find one I really like.
The large order of pasta came in huge bowls. Once served though you see the bowl is very shallow. Not much food at all for $ 16 – 17 a plate. Felt like a rip-​off to me.
I like that the chef doesn’t over salt his food. In fact I had to ask for salt, and dishes weren’t overly greasy or heavy, as so many other Italian restaurants.
2 stars since I have had better before of each dish I tried. If the sauces were tastier and portions bigger, I would have been happier since the pasta itself was very good.
Though the dishes were pretty much a miss, I did love the nice service and most of all the lovely, quiet outdoor garden which is a total escape from the city … and excellent red wine!