da Toscano
New York
Katsaus
Arvostelut
Great experience. Great food. Warm focaccia with prosciutto and whipped ricotta with honey was a perfect pairing recommended by our bartender. He was the best. Great suggestions for both food and drinks. Octopus and burger were also excellent. Highest ratings for Nexhat!
This beautiful and cozy Italian restaurant served delicious food. I didn’t order any pasta, but I must say, the steak was one of the best I’ve ever had. It was cooked to perfection, medium rare. My waiters, Nexrat and Mepran (I hope I got their names right), were amazing! I’m definitely coming back for the pasta dishes!
For the guys: meh, skip. If management wants to reach out and comp my wasted $300 I’d be open to it. For the girlies: We wanted to love Da Toscano. We really did. You walk in, see the white tablecloths and gold-rimmed china, catch a photographer in the corner booth staging a chicken parm like it’s about to grace the cover of Bon Appétit, and you think — alright, this place gets it. It doesn’t. Let’s start with the setting, because it matters. Da Toscano is in a hotel lobby. Not adjacent to one, not cleverly separated from one — in one. You can feel it in the air, that transient, nobody-really-chose-to-be-here energy that haunts even the most ambitious hotel restaurants. The dining room is trying hard with abstract paintings and moody lighting, but the illusion cracks fast. The focaccia came out first, glistening like it had been dunked in a deep fryer. Rosemary focaccia should be golden and fragrant, not dripping. The whipped dips alongside it couldn’t save what was essentially an oil sponge. Then the mains. The lamb agnolotti arrived barely above room temperature, oversalted to the point where you couldn’t taste the lamb at all — just brine and regret. The orecchiette, same story. Cold, salty, forgettable. Three dishes came to our table at temperatures that would get a food truck shut down, and nobody on staff seemed to notice or care. The tortellini was a strange affair — plain boiled dumplings served with little bowls of butter, broth, and parmesan on the side, like a sad deconstructed craft project. Maybe that’s their signature move. It shouldn’t be. Service was incredibly slow. It’s not super hard to keep a wine glass full. Now — the one dish that earned its place on the table: the squid ink crab pasta. Black tagliatelle, generous lump crab, crispy breadcrumbs, a wedge of lemon. Properly seasoned, properly warm, properly delicious. It was so good it almost made the rest of the meal more insulting, because it proved the kitchen can cook. They just didn’t bother for anything else we ordered. We’re riding home now, and the aftertaste — literal and figurative — is salt. Da Toscano is a restaurant that has convinced itself that presentation is the same thing as quality. It’s not. Pretty plates don’t matter when the food is cold and your mouth feels like you licked a sidewalk in February. Save your money, skip the hotel lobby, and find a place where the kitchen respects you enough to serve your food hot.
Michael is such an impressive chef, and I was hyped to try this restaurant after having Porchetta Shop in Charleston - it far exceeded my high expectations. I haven’t had pasta that got me this excited since I was in Rome, and at da Toscano we shared two pasta dishes that were a perfect 10/10 - no notes. On top of that the focaccia appetizer and pistachio tres leches were outstanding, and the service was warm and friendly. My wife and I were grateful to be able to celebrate our upcoming anniversary here and will likely visit again next time we’re in NYC.
Da Toscano is such a gem. The atmosphere is warm and inviting — cozy but still lively — the kind of place where you immediately relax and know you’re in for a good evening. The staff were genuinely friendly and attentive without ever feeling overbearing. Service felt effortless and welcoming. The food was outstanding. The baked oysters were absolutely delicious — rich, flavorful, and perfectly balanced. And the duck pappardelle was a true standout: tender, deeply savory, and beautifully executed. Every dish felt thoughtful and satisfying. A spot we’ll definitely be coming back to.
