Elio’s
“Old school Italian with excellent food that is seemingly always consistent, regardless of whether you're getting a fish, pasta or chop.”
“The food is so good here that it makes the trek to the Upper East Side worth it, and the atmosphere, which is professional and upscale without being stuffy, is a nice change.”
“This place definitely attracts the regulars along with a who's who of "faces"
The food fortunately totally matches the atmosphere…”
Elio’s
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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Very fun atmosphere w/ friendly staff. Crab claws w/ mustard sauce along w/ beef carpaccio was awesome. What they should do is combine the mustard sauce from the crabs w/ the carpaccio. That's what I did. Amazing flavors.
Bad news – Veal parm "on the bone" was like a tv dinner patty – thin, bland, etc. Chef Vola in A.C. destroys their veal chop parm. The penne w/ marinara and basil was quite mediocre. I make a better sauce from scratch than this place.
I'm a tough customer when it comes to Italian. There are so many popular mediocre places in the city it makes me quite cynical.
I did not see this business on Yelp so I went ahead and added it.
Me and a group of +5 came here spontaneously because the Mexican place down the street went out of business and I was in need of an emergency restaurant replacement after walking around the Metropolitan (which is walking distance if you need to burn some calories.) It's Italian and French cuisine, mostly chicken dishes and some vegetarian options (I, myself, am a vegetarian.)
We were seated within 20 minutes, which for a group of 6 on a Friday night is not that bad. The dining area is pretty crammed… Like SO crammed that they offer and insist on coat check because the amount of space that a jacket takes hanging over the chair would mean nobody could walk through the dining area. Yeah… THAT kind of crowded.
The atmosphere was nice and pleasant, lighting was cozy and the bar was good. The waiter recommended we try the French Martini, which was sweet, strong and savory (new acronym for "SSS"? Guys: You know what I'm talking about.)
As for the prices, it is about what one would expect for a semi-fancy-but-semi-casual Upper West Side Italian spot. For 6 people it was 345$ not including tip.
As for the food… I got the vegetarian dish that the water recommended for me… It was pasta in red sauce with sauteed vegetables (see picture I uploaded.) It was pretty decent, but nothing spectacular and not something I would be okay with paying 20$ for a small portion again. The appetizers were really the part of the dining experience that I enjoyed the most: fried zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus & artichoke and more… Yumm!
All in all, 3/5 stars for this restaurant. If you are in the area and you want some above-average Italian or French food, it may not be such a bad spot. The meat may be better than the vegetarian dishes, but I'll leave that up to you omnivores. Enjoy!
A friend probably told me seven times or more that they serve meatballs on Wednesdays. Seven times in one conversation. Unfortunately this place is conveniently located right near my gym. So , after burning off bazillion calories at spin class, I stopped by to take home some meatballs and spaghetti. Were they the best meatballs I have ever had? No. But they were probably the best meatballs I've ever had in a restaurant. Also in the bag there was good bread and a thick slice of that wonderful butter. So nice to be treated as a real patron when it is takeout. I've eaten here once before and it is solid. Would prefer to go in there during a less busy time than late dinner rush. Lovely staff.
Absolutely a 4.5 Italian restaurant!
During my last trip to NYC, I decided to venture out and try some new restaurants. Elio's was recommended to me by my Doctor. He also told me to be sure to make a reservation. I wanted to eat early and I was only a party of one….but still decided to make a reservation.
Even at 6, there were several people at the bar and several tables occupied. I was seated at a two top with an empty table very close (typical NYC). By the end of my meal, the table next to me had been seated.
Even though I was eating by myself, I opted for the fried calamari appetizer and the lemon butter veal as my entree. The calamari was very good! But what hit it out of the park was the veal. The veal was fork tender (as it should be) and the sauce was delicious. I remember sitting there forcing myself to finish (I think I came close).
Wine- they have a nice wine selection by the bottle. And they also sell half bottles of wine.
Coffee- I ordered an espresso. They gave me a biscotti with it.
I absolutely will return to this restaurant. In fact, I look forward to it.
Omg Elio's. I had no idea places like this still existed in NYC, let alone down the street from my apartment.
I first noticed Elio's on the way home from the subway on a Monday night around 6pm, and was surprised to see it so packed. It was so early on a Monday that I put it to the top of my neighborhood Italian priority list. My husband and I finally got to try it out this past Saturday night. He called for a reservation a few days in advance, and they only had 9pm. We had to wait 30 minutes past our reservation time, which we spent at the bar, taking in the atmosphere.
And WHAT an atmosphere! The same buzz and crowded room as the Spotted Pig. The same clientele and martini's as the Real Housewives. The same amount of neighborhood regulars as Cheers. The bartender's giving out grappa shots for a patron's 50th birthday. Families are laughing over a bottle of red wine, calling their waiter by his first name. This place is loud! All on 2nd Avenue and 84th Street.
By the time we sat, it had become much later, so we just stuck to a quick entree and glass of wine. The menu leans northern Italian and Italy Italian (not Italian-American), though they have a few red sauce dishes too. I ordered the meat ravioli, and my husband ordered the liver. My ravioli was really delicious, and perfectly cooked. I had a bite of the liver, even though I typically don't care for it, and it was fantastic. All the bitterness that usually plagues liver was muted, and a delicious piece of meat was left behind.
As I internally vowed to come back, hoping that one day I would be the 50 year old on the receiving end of a grappa shot, our waiter dropped a small plate of scrumptious lemon biscotti, and then joined his fellow staff members for their end of the night family meal.
My first time here was a week ago. In that time I have come once more and nearly came a second time.
The food is great. It is just so good.
They have red sauce lolitalian food that won't make you feel sick.
Veal Parm? I didn't even know there was a right way to make that. I thought it was all just watery shit. No way….Elio's makes it with, what I assume, is crack. I have been craving it since.
I had some stone crab claws one night that were so sweet I could have eaten them for dessert. Pasta is spot on. Amazing how something simple like pasta is so f'd up so consistently. Not here.
Some reviews say it has a clubby atmosphere? I don't think so. I walked in the first time and asked if they had a table on a packed night. He said sure and I waited 5 minutes and was seated and in another 5 minutes had a drink and was talking to tablemates.
Next time I went up to the bar 30 minutes before my reservation, grabbed a seat, had a drink with a great bartender and saw some friendly patrons.
This place is great.
Classic NYC. Overpriced Italian food, great people watching, and tons of self-important people around. That said this place had a great energy and being packed in like sardines actually made the experience better. I was with some awesome people (extra awesome because they picked up the bill), so my experience was pretty awesome.
You may ask why three stars. Well, if I was writing this off my own experience it would be four stars as I liked this place and had a great dinner. I am giving it three stars as it pretty over-priced and I can't imagine rolling in here again if it was my cashola. So call it 3.5.
I would say it is definitely worth a trip at least once, but not necessarily a trip back right away with so many awesome places to try in the city.
This is a great, old school NYC restaurant. It's the kind of restaurant where everyone walks in and gives each server double cheek kisses- people grow up coming here and people grow old coming here, which makes for a lovely, warm, family-like atmosphere.
At first the menu intimidated me because there are no descriptions of the dishes, in that sense it's built for regulars, you kind of just have to know what they have (which is essentially all the basics, chicken parm (some of the best in the city), chicken marsala, any basic dish you ask for they'll have or whip up for you.) At old-timey places I tend to ask the servers what they'd recommend, because most of them have been there awhile and have tried everything. Our server made our recommendations and I couldn't be happier.
The Chicken Parm was amazing, so was my boyfriend's chicken special which I can't remember- it had a light, but creamy brown sauce with garlic and rosemary. There was a pasta dish though, the paga-something. It's green and white pasta with panchetta, peas, and a cream sauce which is what we started with, and that is one of those dishes you close your eyes and just savor. It's one of the best things I've ever ate. So creamy, so delicious, it's one of those things you make sure you eat before you die. Apparently they always have it, it's not to be missed.
We had key lime pie and tiramisu for dessert, you get free biscotti and lemon short bread cookies (the biscotti particularly is outstanding) and the desserts were delicious. Tiramisu was so light and fluffy but still a bit chocolatey- what more can you possibly want?! The key lime pie is seasonal so you should basically go tonight and try it before they stop serving it (it tastes like a very light cheesecake almost).
This is going to be our go-to nicer Italian place, which makes me feel like a New Yorker already.