Zucchero e Pomodori | Italian Restaurant in Upper East Side, NY

I order take out from here all the time but recently went in person. They have the best homemade marinara sauce I've ever had. My friend who dined with me can't have gluten. She ate her entire bowl of gluten free pasta, which was massive. I will order from here again and again. They have a few tables out front if you want to take in the elements.

The new, First Avenue location is much smaller, but still an attractive space with the same delicious Italian appetizers, salads, pastas, entrees and wine selections at reasonable prices. In some ways, the intimate space is perfect for couples and small group dinners. I always enjoy my meal and the excellent service.

The food was so delicious and very affordable in the manhattan area. The servers was very friendly and nice. They gave a lot of pasta also.
Highly recommended!

I ate here for the first time as I ordered appetizers and entrees. One of the appetizers was not as good as I expected so that is why I didn't give it 5 stars. Overall I enjoyed the main dish and the service.
I would look to try this place again to see if the appetizer that I ordered tastes better the next time.

I'm shocked this restaurant has such a low rating. My experience here was very positive, from the food to the service.

This is a upper east Italian restaurant and I think sometimes it might get lost in the sea of other Italian places in the area.

Food: Everything we had at this restaurant was EXCELLENT.

The complimentary bread wasn't plain but actually well seasoned and the balsamic and oil that was given complemented it well. The bread also came out warm and soft. It definitely wasn't typical soda bread.

We ordered the bruschetta as our appetizer and it really stood out. The bread was perfectly toasted and I loved the way they had cut the tomatoes so we could actually enjoy the taste in each bite. The basil tasted fresh and my husband loves capers so he was very happy to see them added in the mix.

For the entree I got the risotto al porcini. It's been really hard to find good vegetarian mushroom risotto in NYC. This was probably one of the nicer mushroom risottos I've had. The risotto wasn't overcooked which is huge because most places can't seem to get it right.

For dessert, we got the tiramisu. It was exactly what I'd expect tiramisu to taste like. It didn't taste overly like coffee and it wasn't too sweet either.

Next time I want to try the zucchini fritti for sure as that looked very good on the menu.

Service: The waitstaff was quick and attentive. We were immediately seated and food came out very quickly.

Ambiance: I think it's an average looking restaurant. I do think they could add a little more to the decor if they want to stand out. I personally don't care because I think the food is the most important but in the day of Instagram I do feel that can help bring in more people.

Instagram Handle: @TheShahLALand

Food lives up to the white linen atmosphere! Started with Spinach, Mushroom, Bacon salad with lemon dressing and the Greek salad. Fresh, cold and crisp, full of flavor - great beginning. Entrees of the House Special Lobster Ravioli with chopped Shrimp in saffron sauce and Linguini alla Pescatore arrived hot with an offer of fresh parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper. Both were packed with flavor, pasta perfectly cooked that stayed hot to the final bite. Accompanying bread and sun dried tomatoes in oil dip perfectly paired with the meal. Service was slow and distracted. Our waiter was also in charge of the to go orders, and every few minutes he was occupied bringing out orders and matching them to deliver drivers arriving for pick up. Too bad there is not a separate pick up spot for carry out. We were constantly hit with a blast of cold air every time the front door opened, which was every few minutes throughout our experience.

Came here because I saw a fantastic 2 course lunch deal for a good price. On the upper east side! The food was mediocre. My soup was exceeding salty, but my boyfriend's ceaser salad was tasty. I ordered a parmesan chicken for my main and that was lacking too. It was worth it for the price but nothing to write home about.