Da Marcella

Next door to Rafetto’s on Houston Street, one of New York’s landmark Italian food emporiums, is an excellent, inexpensive Italian restaurant, Da Marcello. A while ago the restaurant changed ownership, and I had to wonder how the quality of the food would fare, especially since it seemed like the new owners were not Italian. If anything, the food is better and, believe it or not, these new owners have actually lowered the prices, and restyled Da Marcella’s interior in a very friendly way. For the price you are not going to find a better Italian meal.

I ate here for the first time the other day and it was great. The service was great and we were seated immediately. The restaurant environment is nice too. The dim lights make for a pleasant experience. I had a chicken dish with pasta and some olive oil. I wanted both pasta and chicken and they were flexible enough to make a specialty dish. The food was terrific. It was on the cheap side too. My mother had a pasta dish as well that she claimed was «the best $ 10 pasta she has had in her life». One waiter would continuously come around and refill water and bread, which was nice. You can tell by the restaurant’s service that they really appreciate the customer. The food was authentic italic. The seating situation is fairly tight but it didn’t really matter. The one downside I would say for me personally is it took a little longer than expected for the food to come out, however the wait was worth it. I went around 8:30 on a Sunday so it wasn’t very crowded but there were still plenty of people there. Everyone in the restaurant seemed like they were in a good mood and I think the fantastic service attributed to that. During the course of our meal, one of the people sitting next to us accidently spilled his wine and some it got on my pants, it was no big deal. When we asked for our check the owner told us the people sitting next to us paid for our dinner. That was a very pleasant surprise. I wish I was able to eat here more, but sadly I do not live in the area. I will be back to visit and definitely eat at Da Marcella’s again. 5÷5− would recommend if you’re looking for cheap, authentic Italian food.

Fantastic gem of a restaurant! Da marcella lives up to its promise as a charming home-​cooked Italian joint. The pasta is amazing and the prices are some of the best in the city. This place represents high quality food at reasonable prices, aimed at the everyday person looking for a delicious meal. Highly recommend! Try the pappardelle al fiorentina.

Great Italian Restaurant! My favorite dishes include the Linguine del Lavorante, Lasagna Alla Bolognese, and the Cacio e Peppe. Their soups are are also very yummy. My one complaint is their Cheesecake. Since the change in ownership, they have introduced a new cheesecake to the menu which I don’t care for at all. Da Marcella, please bring back your old Ricotta Cheesecake!

Omg i love this place. Great food, great wine. I think I’ve tried the entire menu multiple times. 1 of the few italian restaurants thats worth it.

This place was so good. Came here by chance and we are so glad we did. Very cheap and very good pasta. We also got a second helping of champagne on the house, which was much appreciated as we got engaged tonight. What more can you ask for? So good!!! Definitely would recommend. Some locals next to us commented it was the best meal they had had in awhile… We will come back when in New York! :)

My daughter is an NYU student and found this gem which had become her favorite restaurant. I’m here to visit her, so we stopped in for a meal last night. In a word –delicious! I had a pasta special of rigatoni, eggplant, porcini mushrooms, and tomato based sauce. My daughter had the bolognese. We also had a bruschetta appetizer and finished by sharing a superb tirsmisu. The service was friendly if a little slow, which didn’t bother us as we enjoyed our wine. I highly recommend.

I’m a sucker for decently priced, authentic Italian food! I went with a group to celebrate a friend’s birthday around 7 PM. We had reservations, but the restaurant didn’t get packed until maybe an hour later!
We started off with wine (I forgot which one), which was really good and didn’t burn on the way down. We also got the fried calarmari, which was crispy and delicious! The pastas were overall very good! No complaints :) Will def return to try the other pastas!

Good food and good service. It was a little crowded but still quiet enough to talk and enjoy awesome Italian food

Everything was fantastic and service was warm and so friendly. We ordered mussels which were ran out but the waiter offered us clams instead. It was absolutely delicious and they gave us such a generous portion as well! We will definitely come back and perhaps bring more friends.

Apparently, they are under new ownership. I went twice in the month of October. The food is still great (fresh pasta for $ 10), but the service is so much better. I am hope that Da Marcella continues to get better under this new ownership.

I wish I could give this restaurant more than 5 stars — they definitely deserve it.
True to their promise, Da Marcella serves the most delicious food with wonderful warmth and love. Not only is the food extraordinary (try the burrata, ragu pastas, cacio e pepe), but the service was amazing. I felt like I was being invited in to someone’s house for dinner. And the wine was superb (Barolo)! Add to all this the fact that it is gentle on your wallet — Da Marcella is a gem. And one that I will definitely be coming back to. Regularly.

Came here on a Friday night after shopping around soho area. Love the atmosphere and delicious authentic Italian food for a great price. We ordered the clam linguini and branzino. The pasta was really flavorful and the branzino was cooked perfectly, moist and soft. The service was also great, really attentive and make great suggestions. This place really put in time and effort to make their dishes taste so great. Five star for everything!

I love this place for the authentic italian food and the cozy seating area. I tried almost everything on their menu and had my bday party dinner here. My favorite starting is with chicken liver crostini paired with a good chianti. That makes me feel home in Italy for a few minutes and then if you want to stay with the earth and meat dishes the ravioli with wild mushrooms is a great first course and the braised short rib with barolo is an excellent secondo that you must try!
They have special dishes every day that are delicious like the crab meat fresh spaghetti and the wild board ragu tagliatelle.
If you prefer fish the Mussels are a perfect appetizer and the fish dishes on the menu are awesome too!

Normally when I write a review is because I’m impressed with there food and this is one of these places that won’t disappoint the Salmon here is so well seasoned once your done eating your wanting more. lol

Da Marcella is one of my new favorite Italian spots. Its become very popular so I go early usually before 6 pm.
Every item I’ve had has been scrumptious… the tagliatelle bolognese is so rich, just thinking of it now i start salivating. The fried calamari is crispy and light, served with a very tasty marinara (my friend hates marinara sauce and usually calls it nothing but «lumpy tomato juice» but he loved this one so much he asked for more) The beet carpaccio is beautifully presented and delicious. Servings are not small, but not overbearing either, and prices are resonable

I’ve been here a few times. They have good food and it’s always consistent, which seems to be a challenge for a lot of other restaurants.
They have really good lasagna, which ranks in my top 5 list for lasagna in Manhattan. I’ve had the sea bass a couple of times, which was also great. I’ve tried the Scottish salmon, which I would highly recommend. I’m not a desert person, I don’t like sweets and I rarely order anything after a meal, but the tiramisu is spectacular.

A and I came here on a double date.
It isn’t huge but the way that the jackets hang up on their hooks and their high top tables fit in, it made us squish together, which kind of sucked.
The waitress was also just kind of rude.
The food was good, nothing super special to write home about but I really wouldn’t go back.
I think I had the chicken parm which was huge and pretty good. I like what they did to their sauce, but honestly the experience there because of the waitstaff was so weird, I wouldn’t go back.

Da Marcella is an unpretentious, cozy Italian restaurant on Houston. The service was warm and friendly, like walking into a family-​owned restaurant (which I suspect is what it is.) This is one of those places where even if you are entering for the first time, you get greeted like you are their most loyal customer.
The meals were good and hearty, and for less than $ 12, it really was quite the deal. I liked the Spaghetto Cacio e Pepe, but I think I will try something different the next time – it didn’t quite have the zesty taste of other Cacio e Pepe dishes I have had. It wasn’t bad, however, and it was very fresh. My wife’s Tagliatelle alla Bolognese was better – she was very happy with her meal.
While I think I’ll order differently the next time, I certainly was not disappointed. The place is warm, friendly and unassuming, with good food at a great price.

I made a reservation via Unilocal this past Saturday or Da Marcella while en route to the restaurant (about 5 blocks) and was seated immediately as I got there on a Saturday night. For the record, there didn’t seem to ever be a wait for a seat. Since it was the day before my 10 mile race, I was ready to carbo-​load! We were initially seated inside, but was accommodated with an outdoor table (theres only two 2-​seaters) after my inquiry.
The grilled octopus stood out to me on the appetizers menu — it’s nice to see Italian places that offer something other than just fried calamari. The boyfriend made an ugly face and told me he hates octopus, but of course, he’d never had it. After trying a piece of the octopus after some convincing, he loved it! So that about sums up the octopus dish.
He ordered the black pepper pappardelle with wild boar ragu and in hindsight, I wish I ordered this. The pappardelle was packed with pepper, adding a nice, but not overwhelming spice to the entire dish. The tomato-​based wild boar sauce was amazing — no other way to describe it.
I got the linguine alla vongolle (clams), as it is usually my go-​to dish at any Italian place. This is where Da Marcella lost a star from me — the linguine was over-​cooked and was not al dente. The sauce was quite bland, not salty enough, and did not pack enough of a garlic punch. Clams were plentiful but tiny and not really satisfying at all.
Service was great — waitress constantly asked if we were doing okay all night, which we were!
If you come to Da Marcella, go for their classic dishes with tomato sauce base — these seem to be the best here and most definitely go for the octopus!