Osteria Al Doge
“We found this gem accidentally as we were exploring Times Square and desperate for a sit down lunch.”
“Osteria al Doge is an excellent restaurant I would recommend to anyone in the theater district.”
“Great ambiance and perfect for a date or a nice family meal before taking in a Broadway show.”
Osteria Al Doge
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Date of service: June 4, 2015
Meal: Dinner, dine in
All Ratings out of 10:
Quality of food: 8
Food to Spend Value: 7
Quality of Service: 8
Overall Rating: 8
I was meeting an old college roommate for dinner when I was in NYC, and I asked him for Italian options in the Times Square / Theater District area. He loved Osteria Al Doge and suggested we meet there. The reviews looked pretty good, as did the menu, so I was excited to try it out.
As a starter we split the Polipo al Carbone, grilled baby octopus served with oven roasted cherry tomatoes, black olives, and greenery. The octopus was very tender and had a wonderful flavor, and the accompaniments paired nicely with it. I also decided to order Pasta e Fagioli, a soup consisting of cannelini beans and pasta with some vegetables and a light broth. It was decent but not amazing. I have definitely had better versions of the soup.
For my main course I ordered the Paccheri all Aragosta, which is Paccheri pasta served with a lobster ragu in a roasted garlic cherry tomato sauce. The presentation was quite nice, with the large noodles stacked offset throughout the plate, and the lobster ragu scattered around on top with the lobster tail shell on the side. Unfortunately the tail was just a shell, as all the meat had been taken out already for the dish, a bit anticlimactic. The entrée was quite tasty, with the noodles being the perfect texture, the lobster nice and tender, and the sauce having a great flavor. I would have liked for the sauce to be a bit thicker, and overall I felt the portion was a bit small, but it was still a tasty meal.
The restaurant has a very nice atmosphere, perfect for a nice dinner. The service was quite good and attentive, and the food was very tasty, though I did feel like the portions were a bit on the small side. Overall, though, I felt like Osteria Al Doge was a great option for Italian food, and I would be happy to recommend it to anyone.
We needed a nearby place to have dinner before seeing a show, so I chose this one since it seemed to have good reviews. I like how they have little benches outside so you can wait, but I went in because it was way too hot to stay out there.
We ordered the fried calamari and shrimp to start which was alright. It's kind of hard to mess up that dish.
I would've given this place four stars, but our waiter seemed a little off. He seemed like he didn't really want to be there, and when I was asking him a good wine recommendation to go with my dish I could almost hear the sigh in his voice.
Food was awesome though. And my wine pairing was great as well. I always get the linguine frutti di mare because it's my absolute favorite Italian dish and I'll never have anything bad to say to about it. It didn't even have that fishy smell most seafood dishes do, which I was glad about. We even heard the next table say how they haven't licked a plate clean like that in awhile.
I'd only come here for convenience since it was literally a block away from our Broadway theatre. Other than that, avoid like the plague unless you're into the Times Square tourist trap hellholes.
The last time I was in NYC, my friends and I relentlessly hunted for a restaurant that didn't have a long wait. Somehow, we ended up in Times Square amidst the city lights, starving after a long day and night. Luckily we turned a corner and found this fine dining establishment, Osteria al Doge. This is a place with elegant settings that offers authentic Venetian cuisine.
We started with Carpaccio Di Bietole E Caprinoi, which was a red beet salad. For my entrée, I ordered the Calamari Alla Griglia, which was a calamari marinated with lemon and herbs. The food was incredible. We also received fresh bread and bread twists. The entrée prices ranged from $19-30, but the food was well worth it. The service was great too! Our waiter was even from Italy, so it made for great conversation about places to visit and eat if we ever happened to be back in Italy.
If you are into fine dining and are in the Times Square area, Osteria al Doge is the place for you!
I just had lunch here with my coworkers and it was so great. The lunch menu is the same as the dinner menu so there is a good variety and the portions are generous. I'm back at the office and I don't feel like I'm falling asleep (which so often happens after lunch out) so that's a definite plus.
I had the pasta fagioli as an appetizer, the lemon chicken for my entree and the tiramisu for dessert. All were absolutely delicious.
Service was friendly and attentive but not in your face and the interior design feels very Tuscan and laid back, yet still charming.
My office is right around the corner and I cannot wait to come back!
This place was great! I came here with a party of 8 and I can tell you service was excellent. In my experience when tables are larger than 6 the service is slow but not this experience.
It was top notch service. The food was excellent as well. I can't tell you what the whole party of 8 ate because…well I didn't pay attention to everyone's dish too focused on mine and maybe and my friend next to me. I order the Spaghetti Vongole, see my pictures. It was AMAZING, plenty of clams, perfectly seasoned, perfect texture noodles and that SAUCE…if it wasn't a work dinner I'd drink the leftover right out of the bowl. I did get to scoop up some sauce with bread from the table but not enough bread to finish the sauce. For starters (i'm all over the place) I shared the Caeser salad with someone else. It was light on the dressing which I'm happy with. Nothing too exciting about salads – just my overall opinion of salads. My friend entree was a ravioli stuffed with salmon, it was whole chunks of salmon which is great. She loved it and could not stop raving about it and let me have a taste and I agreed with her.
For dessert we ordered 1 of everything and shared. My personal favorites were the apple tart with cinnimom ice cream, chocolate moose cake and flan. The lemon tart I felt too "lemony" however there was someone in the group that loved it.
I had a such a great experience at this place. I"ll most likely come back the next time I'm in NY.
Cold afternoon and our last day in this amazing city, we had to go with pasta and sure glad we did!! Great location, cozy, beautiful, comfortable, relaxing even though you are in the middle of everything (right next to Times Square). Friendly servers, on top of every detail. Food was delicious!! Pasta was fresh, my seafood linguini was really good and the perfect portion. My sister is allergic to shellfish, and our server was very attentive to her needs and made sure her dish was made to her satisfaction; she ordered the pasta with meatballs and it was really delicious ( of course I had to try it). We ordered a bottle of wine which went excellent with our entire experience. Desserts were really yummi, my dyer really loved her key lime and I simply loved the flan, one of my favorites! I'm really glad we went with this place, next time in the city i will definitely go back! Highly recommended
Great choice for the area. I came here with colleagues for a quick (and I mean quick) lunch before heading off to other meetings. They know and cater to their clientele which at lunch time tend to be businessfolk (not tourists) from the multiple office towers in Times Square. The service was impeccable- everything came out very quickly and the waiters were polite but they understood we didn't have much time. Even the bread/olives/olive oil/salumi/cheese (all free apps before the meal) were brought out with alacrity.
As for the food- I had the homemade spaghetti with mushroom and veal sauce. It was absolutely wonderful- just perfect for the day. The portion was big enough to satisfy my hunger but not too big as to have me napping in my office.
The price is on the high side, but that's par for the course for this area. It also has that old school, white table clothed look, but with a more business-like, pseudo-casual ambiance. I probably wouldn't come here if I were looking for great Italian in the city, but if I happened to be in Times Square this is a good option.
Welllll…..
We had high hopes based on the reviews and longevity. But the location in the theatre district can cover many shortcomings…
We went during nyc Restaurant Week and hoped they would be participating like many of the to Manhattan restaurants. They weren't. Oh well.
The process were pricey. And we meet some lovely folks from the Midwest. I got the feeling not too many locals were here.
We started with calamari and shrimp. Both fried. Both mediocre. The bread was not good. In fact it was quite yucky. The spinach and cheese ravioli was as good as any frozen ravioli you'd find at shop rite, not as good as whole foods.
The grilled chicken was 'meh'. The Caesar salad was excellent.
But now that it's all said and done it seems absurd to spend $170+ for 2 glasses of wine, a salad, ravioli, a chicken dish and an appetizer. Oh and a dessert.
I can think of 30 places I'd rather go with better service, food and ambiance that really appreciate our business.
Not that the staff at Osteria weren't good; they were very average. Next time, nah.