Tessa

After our first attempt at dinner across the street at a new restaurant was an epic fail. Our server was affable and helpful and the food was unpretentious and tasty. The ambiance was pretty and the bar area was large and nicely appointed. Minus one star because the food took a bit long to arrive and the promised bread didn’t come until we reminded the food runner. But a nice place for a quick bite or a casual date night.

You can always count on great service and food at Tessa! Quiet and warm spot with great décor — especially love the lighting and brick walls.
Perfect spot for a date or casual dinner with friends. I personally like a table in the back of the restaurant, but the high top tables in the bar are perfect if you’re in a hurry.

Why did I wait so long? The food is superb and out of this world the way they combine spices and unusual combinations. Even the french butter with salt, oil and a bit of spice pepper was outstanding, and I try not eat much bread, but found I could not stop! I started with the Bruised Kale salad. It was finely chopped with shaved parmesan, grated almonds, lemon focaccio crunch. I could not believe the amazing taste that exploded in my mouth and the texture was perfect. Next I had a half portion of the Linguini with Tasmanian paper, lemon, and Parmigiana basil reduction. The pasta was cooked to perfection and again the combination of spices and flavors was so appealing to my taste buds. I found the portion sizes perfect.
The atmosphere and décor are warm and inviting, I felt very comfortable in hanging all by myself, like being at home.
The service was excellent; attentive, not over bearing in anyway, nor ever neglectful, much appreciated, having been a sever for many years myself!
Bravo Tessa, keep up the good work on the UWS! See you soon.

I’ve eaten at Tessa and have also had yummy cocktails at Tessa. I recommend not the eating part, the food isn’t that memorable, but the the drinking part, another story. The cocktails are outstanding and during its brunch menu, it costs $ 7 for a speciality drink.
Yes, you can. Oh, yes, you can.
The ambiance is lovely, it’s quiet enough to engage in a conversation but also busy enough where you don’t feel like you’re on a job interview.

Tuna tartar awesome, pork belly splendid, and if you do nothing else ask about their bartender (Adrian) master of mixology and their pastry chef (Yarisis) master of sinful decadence… you’ll die and go to heaven.

The food was extraordinary! My friend had the Rabbit pasta and I had the burger. The waiter, Johnny was incredibly helpful, fun and nice. Great date restaurant!

Tessa was outstanding for our Sunday brunch. The delectable eggs Benedict deserved its menu space amidst the many eggs benny variations they offer. My $ 16 Octopus salad was deliciously healthy with colorful sauces circling the plate. The linguine thoroughly enjoyed by my bother-​in-​law. Everyone nodded in happiness at the food. The ceramic dish wear was very earthy and pretty. The woven ceilings in the bathroom, fluid metal accents and the Mediterranean beach brown hue had a design intersection of raw, sleek and warm that really impressed me. You can see the Chef’s executing their craft through a large clear pane in the basement before heading to the bathrooms. It was also nice to have a server who was real, not a cog in the conveyor belt of restaurant and patron that can be Manhattan. Keep on, keeping on Tessa.

Great brunch– fries, bacon, avocado toast and superb sweet roll coffee and nutfree breadbasket.
On second thought «I’ll just have the pecan sweet roll»

I came to Tessa for brunch and I really enjoyed the cozy atmosphere. It’s very beautiful inside and I also love that when you go downstairs the kitchen is open and you can see the chefs prepare your food. Its very clean and the service was nice. I ordered the Tessa Club and creamy spinach and kale. They were both great. I would highly recommend this place and I’m looking forward to come back for dinner. A great upper west side gem.

Great spot on the UWS. Been here twice in a week and sat at the at bar to eat both times.
On our first visit, we had some nicely made cocktails to start. We ordered the shishito peppers, a small option of the house made linguine and the medallions of chicken. Some of the best shishito peppers I have had — I am not usually a big fan, but my dining companion loves them. The linguine was FABULOUS and we regretted not ordering the larger portion. The chicken dish had some very nice flavors, but I have to say the chicken was quite dry. They had a nice selection of wines by the glass and we got some knowledgeable help in our selection.
In all, a pleasant evening and it obviously struck a chord because we went back last night. We repeated the shishito peppers and went with the linguini again, this time in a larger portion. In between those two courses, we had the tuna tartar. Very nicely done with the avocado sorbet and the Meyer lemon. If I was in the mood for a tuna tartar I would be happy to order again.
I will add this to my list of go to places for the UWS

Decent place for a meal in the area.
I stopped by with a friend for a dinner in the area, and it was pretty spacious but filled up pretty quick throughout the evening. I split the house dips with a friend and ordered the Long Island duck for my meal, and both were solid. The duck wasn’t as tender as I would have liked, but it was fairly well prepared and still tasted pretty good. I sampled my friend’s lobster spaccatelli, which I thought was a bit better than my entrée. The bread pudding dish we split for dessert was also pretty tasty, a fairly unique dishl
It’s a nice, airy space and is good for relatively smaller groups. It’s not a bad spot to come by for a meal on the UWS.

Really awesome spot. It was pretty busy on a Wednesday night, but we had a reservation. Beautiful décor inside — lots of brick, candle light, and wine bottles.
The complimentary bread came with a GENIUS combination of olive oil WITH butter! So delicious. I’m not a huge bread fan generally, but I had two pieces.
We ordered the flammenkueche (tarte flambee), the kale salad, and the lobster spaccatelli. Enjoyed everything, but the lobster dish was amazing… it had lots of tasty mushrooms and the sweetest corn kernels.
Service was very attentive. We were seeing a show at the Beacon Theatre at 8pm, so they got us in and out in less than an hour. Will definitely come back when we’re less rushed.

I wanted to give Tessa 4 stars… I really did.
Some friends and I came here on Sunday morning after kayaking upstate.
1^st Pro Tip: If you want to come here, make sure you call in for reservations ahead of time. It’s super popular.
The Décor is lovely. Brick, long reseeding walls to a beautiful wall wine display.
Seating: They do have a bunch of different combination from 2 seating tables, 4 seating tables and larger 10 person parties.
The Food:
The FRENCH TOAST is amazing!
We split it.
Plus they have this great maple butter. Amazing!
Custard dipped Brioche, whipped NY maple syrup, local fruit marmalade, chocolate hazelnut spread
The Egg White Frittata — Basque Style is also a solid choice
Piperade, chorizo, scallions, saffron spread crostini
I had the The Tessa benedict, which is basically make your own. Your choice of your bottom, middle and topping.
This was soooo good and just what my tummy was asking for all morning!
My girlfriend had the Tunisian Avocado Toast:
Country bread toast, crushed avocado, preserved meyer lemon & harissa, sunny side up farm egg
Her husband had the Tessa Burger
Certified Angus Beef, caramelized onions, pancetta, fontina cheese, housemade rosemary fries
All in all a solid experience.
Why then the 3 stars vs 4 stars then do you ask?
LET ME TELL YOU!
THE SERVICE IS AWFUL!!!
You basically have to trip someone here to get drinks, food or the check.
Politely waiting for about an hour while making conversation at the bar is crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

0 stars.
I have been to Tessa for dinner and it has been disappointing at best. Food is way overpriced, service is slow and inattentive. Their garden martini tastes like green juice with vodka (not in a good way).
I decided to give them one last chance last week when a friend and I were looking for a place to have a nightcap. We sat at the bar and waited and waited. 20 minutes later still no menu or any acknowledgement from anyone we walked out and went somewhere else where our business was appreciated. This place is a joke!

All the other Unilocal reviews are pretty spot on. Drinks — Good, Food — Okay. Service and atmosphere — excellent.
Garden Martini — Ignore the name, it’s not the whole garden! You aren’t drinking a V8 juice martini. The drink has Vodka, Cucumber Juice, Lime, Basil. And its DELICIOUS. I wish I could just have these for dinner. The lime balances the cucumber juice. They will also add less cucumber juice if you are hesitant.
Tuna Tartare– I didn’t go into the restaurant expecting to order this, but curiosity of the avocado sorbet got the best of me. Overall not great. The avocado sorbet was exactly as it sounds, but the cold sorbet didn’t pair well with the tartare. The tartare itself was pretty plain.
Mussels — I’ve had better. The sauce is really thick and mostly tomato based, you can’t really taste the garlic.

2.5 stars
I ordered a focaccia with stracchino cheese and speck for brunch.
1) It wasn’t a sandwich, although it was listed as a sandwich. It was basically a tiny pizza.
2) Although the dough was good, the amount of speck was laughable.
3) The dish barely did anything to my appetite.
Another UWS disappintment. :-(

A bar/​mezze menu is served between 4pm and 5pm. I got the garden martini with gin — super fresh cucumber juice but I wish there were a stronger hint of basil. For food I ordered the TESSA salad and burrata. The salad was marvelous. Baby kale was fresh and it was a good use of fresh cranberries. Burrata was delicious too but I didn’t think the arugula, sun dried tomatoes and olives worked well with the cheese. Complimentary country bread came with butter drenched in olive oil — never seen that before.
One of the prettiest dining rooms Ive been in.

I’m giving Tessa 4 stars overall for three reasons:
1. The service: our waitress was so nice and the pacing of the meal was perfect
2. The ambiance: the restaurant is gorgeous and was extra lovely due to the Christmas decorations
3. The truffles: They had white truffles the week we dined there and the waitress excitedly explained that they could be added to any dish BUT that there was also a special truffle linguini entrée on the menu for the evening. Well, we tried it and it was the absolute highlight of the evening. The pasta was perfectly al dente, was cooked in truffle butter, then tossed with two types of cheese, then coated in truffle foam and topped with shaved white truffles. It really was outstanding. Absolutely worth the $ 35.
So…the other dishes were all over the place. I will rate each separately…
–The pork belly appetizer: the meat itself was tender and tasty but there was an overload of other components on the plate. The sauce completely overpowered the pork belly itself. I would not order it again = 2 stars
–the razor clam appetizer: this was my least favorite of the night. Our waitress described it as a cooked ceviche but really it was just razor clams chopped up and served over a heaping pile of cooked onions and red peppers. Again, these components overpowered the clams, which couldn’t even be tasted! The only flavor coming through was onion. Not a fan at all and would not order again = 1 star
–the venison carpaccio special appetizer: excellent! I realized afterward that we loved the two specials far more than the main menu items we tried and the reason was SIMPLICITY! Both the pasta and this venison were elegant in a simple way, where the main ingredients could truly be tasted = 5 stars
My recommendation for Tessa: go for the simplest sounding items on the menu and you won’t be disappointed! I’ll be dreaming of that truffle pasta for a long, long time.

I’ll start off with a reality-​check here, Tessa’s is a little overpriced. Now that being said, the food is delicious! I was so surprised how incredibly flavorful their chicken dish, risotto, and scallops are. Now, they just recently changed their menu as seasons change which was an all around great move for them. I’m looking forward to trying some of their new seasonal menu options.
Tip: Above all else, do not leave here without trying their Burratta. If you are a Burrata fan, you’ll be really impressed and if you’re not one you’ll become one after trying the fresh Burrata at Tessa’s. Be careful with the sharing though, it can get pretty vicious after the first bite.

Came here last week for dinner.
Ambience: beautiful atmosphere, very nice lighting, cute tables.
Service: awesome service, our waitress was great, food came out extremely fast
Food:
Rosemary Focaccia: basically a loaf of rosemary bread, it was ok, nothing to fantastic
Apps: Heirloom Tomato & Beet Salad: Amazing, loved the fresh tomatoes and beets
Risotto: Mushroom & Spelt Risotto –I think I had a dream about this, so incredible, I wanted to lick the bowl.
Steamed Local Bass –incredible unique flavor, perfectly cooked. Will def be back.