Gene’s Restaurant
“Totally old school, interesting decor from days past, kind of a madman vibe going on!”
“The clientele was mostly older locals, but there were a few couples in their 20's as well.”
“I definitely recommend you give it a try if you love quality authentic Italian food served in an old-fashioned atmosphere.”
Gene’s Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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And sing,
"Where everybody knows your name……And they're always glad you came.."
You get the point. I've been eating here for a year now and every time I go, I seem to be the youngest person in the place. I don't mind, I actually enjoy watching the locals greet and converse other diners and the staff. Last time I was checking my coat, these two gay guys were telling me that they have been coming here for twenty something years except for the four years that they had broken up. (Insert all three of us whining, "AWWW!"
Anyway, you get seated immediately, the service is attentive and the fixed price menu is well worth it. If you don't mind waiting the 24 minutes for the chicken (that they will warn you about), it is deelish! Also, I"ve taken a break from the FPM and tried one of their specials, the saffron salmon risotto and everyone at my table was eating off my plate. Just saying.
"You wanna go where everybody knows your name."
After all this time since my first review I have reconsidered my prior 3 stars and decided that they were unfair. 4 stars definitely and we would return in a minute. The soft shelled crabs were fantastic. We will make sure to come again soon.
I really wanted to like this old-school Italian place, but it was pretty disappointing. On the plus side, I can't imagine you would ever have to wait to be seated here, the people are very friendly, and my gin and tonic was good. However, the food ranged from unremarkable to bad. I had the baked ziti, which had a distinctly fishy flavor. Not good. Considering the fact that the options for Italian food in NYC are virtually unlimited, I won't be returning here anytime soon.
This place is neighborhood old school and probably was since the day it opened. The decor is understated and fades into the background. Quiet conversations take place here. One of the owners is always there and the waiters are career professionals in red jackets. The menu never changes and there are full dinners and daily specials. Regulars come here to be sure, but it's not cliquish; everyone is welcome. And who doesn't love Italian red sauce done well? and done big. There are occasional lapses (someone once found some debris in their pasta), watch out for those!
The most old-school place is the bar in front. The bartender is friendly and skillful. He can fix your cocktail, greet patrons, serve dinners and keep up a conversation, all at the same time. He anticipates what you need in a really nice way. People in the know will continue to head here, as they have for decades.
OMG we were so out of place but I think they loved that about us. GREAT service. Old school classic New York Italian joint. 4 thirty something pre clubbing girls having dinner at this old timey New York establishment… HILARIOUS. Some of my gfs didn't even want to take their coats off… We were surprised how brightly lit the dining room was… Knew it was going to be a quiet place but didn't expect it to be so bright. Makes sense though bc we were probably the only women under the age of 60… There were a ton of men there and some even close to our age. Not a place to dine on a Saturday night before going to park gansevort to dance all night lol.
Food:
Clam linguini- super salty but flavors were yum.
homemade mozzarella- holy smokes def order that app if it's on the menu (it was a special)
Osso bucco- it was okay, the risotto tasted great BUT super heavy so share this dish (we like to eat family style)
Chicken parmigiana- I've had better… Def my least favorite of everything we ordered. Super mehhh.
Great for feasting for a guys night. Prices are pretty average but like I said my gfs and I like to share so we just got a couple things for everyone to try.
Overall? Food was okay at best, might go back to try some other dishes. Service and espresso was amazing though.
Just had a business dinner here and did not enjoy it.
To start us off, they gave us a vegetable platter with celery, thin carrots and beets. They also gave us 2 loaves of bread and seeded bread sticks.
The vegetables tasted frozen and as for the bread (although I did not try it) I heard it was decent.
They have gluten free penne and spaghetti which is great for Celiacs and gluten intolerant. I ordered the gluten free penne in the Alfredo sauce, but was not too crazy about it.
Found the sauce to be too liquidy with an overpowering taste.
I started with a house salad, but it was just wilted lettuce with a few cucumbers and tomatoes.
One in the party ordered the muscles and they were gigantic! Anyone who eats muscles knows they should not be that large. They said they did not taste good at all. They tasted like rubber. The spinach salad was soggy and the spinach was wilted with too much dressing.
There was a certain disappointment since we have eaten there in the past and it use to be amazing.
Wonderful professional staff who doesn't push you out the door. Their wine and sodas provide a generous pour.
They are great in accommodating to gluten free and are very welcoming. The other downside is this place is EXTREMELY expensive… Grossly overpriced. It is a good neighborhood place, but just expect to pay a lot.
For a three star restaurant, I felt like this place was pretty sub-par. For starters, I couldn't really understand the raw veggies that they gave out at the beginning. In particular, there was no sauce or seasoning. As for the bread basket, it tasted quite stale and the bread was uninteresting.
For the main dishes, we ordered the mussels, salmon risotto, and penne with marinara sauce. All three were average in tastiness at best. While the salmon in the risotto dish was well cooked, the risotto tasted bland and way too creamy but in a custardy way. The mussels were overcooked and the vegetables that came on the side were drenched in oil.
Finally, for the dessert, we had the profiteroles where the actual profiterole itself tasted stale as well and the ice cream and chocolate sauce was nothing special. Overall, pretty unspectacular.
Holey amount of food!!!!! You will NOT leave this place feeling hungry.
They have an amazing prix fixe that has most of the full menu items.
They start you off with a bread basket and a platter of raw veggies: celery, carrots and radishes. That's pretty awesome. It would have been cool to have some sort of dip for the veggies, but I liked it.
Our appetizers were the bacon/spinach salad: huge, super duper generous in bacon and delicious; and the chicken chopped liver. It was a full scoop of amazing pate. These appetizers alone would have satisfied anyone's hunger. For real, it was huge. Have I said huge yet?
Our entrees consisted of veal marsala and sole with a side of veggies (huge baked potato and steam greens). Both were yummy, without extravaganza, would have feed a family of 4 haha. Regardless of the copious amount of food served, we ate everything because it was so good! The worse part is that we planned on taking our desserts to go because by that time, we were stuffed. hmmm, nope. We finished our desserts, almost licking the plates… Cheesecake and profiteroles, both amazing, made in the house. They had to roll us out of the restaurant, and shortly after leaving, we entered a food coma.
Gene's is an old fashion place, probably in need of a fresh coat of paint, but the basement restaurant has it going on. The staff is professional and welcoming, clearly has the experience of the years spent within these walls. The menu is great, straight to the point, traditional and hugely copious. Break your fast at Gene in the company of the locals!