Scarlatto
“This little restaurant is perfectly situated in the theatre district and actually has reasonable prices for huge portions.”
“Great atmosphere and reasonably priced considering how close it is to Times Square.”
“If you're looking for somewhere to eat before a Broadway show or just some darn good Italian, this is the place to go.”
Scarlatto
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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It was delicious delicious branzino (mild fish) that melted in your mouth and had the bare minimum in flavoring. I LOVE loads of flavor, but there was something so nice about simplicity captured here- They gave a side of lemon and the fish was lightly cooked with some salt, pepper, olive oil and I believe rosemary. It may not be on the main menu as this was a company event, but if it is, order it– It was delightful!
The tiramisu was large but I did not get to taste it, but if you like bang for your buck, that dessert was it.
Service was also very good.
What a joke. My fault for thinking I would have a good Italian experience this close to Time Square. Our worst dinner by far during our stay in New York. This restaurant is perfect for you if you like to be incessantly rushed with mediocre food, in a loud environment. You will literally be in and out in 25 minutes flat without trying.
We were seated promptly after making Open Table reservations. The hostess, with a scowl on her face, mumbled to the floor something to the effect of "Enjoy your meal." The assistant server spoke a language that was incomprehensible. He did not understand us, nor did we understand him, causing confusion with our Pellegrino order. Who screws up water? While pouring water, another restaurant worker decided to pass out paychecks, jamming it under his armpit while pouring. The waiter shows up and made it clear, his goal was to turn the table over in record time. All his responses were voiced in rapid staccato. I decided to slow him down and ask questions about menu items I had no intention of ordering. By now the place was packed and too loud to talk Looking around, most were leaning in to the person they were talking to in order to be heard. The bread was stale, nasty, rock hard served with equally hard butter. The food (gnocchi, Veal shank, pumpkin ravioli were about 3.5 stars). The problem is that the food was brought out in about five minutes. Seriously. The service became so ridiculously pushy to rush us out I literally held my fork in one hand and my water glass in the other just to extend our stay and block them from clearing the table.
By now, dinner was a joke. I realized that this is a bait and switch. It looks like an old school Italian establishment, but in reality they could give a damn about the experience or repeat customers. I decided to have some fun and make light of the situation. Still holding my fork and water to prevent them from clearing the table, I told my son to start his stopwatch on his phone to time how long it would take them to clear our plates once I put down my fork/water.
49 seconds!! We asked the waiter for desert menu's, and he literally sprinted and then passed them out like a Las Vegas Casino dealer. We were all laughing by this point of the absurdity of this establishment.
I had the waiter explain every item on the Dessert menu. We split in microscopic lava cake a little larger than a silver dollar, and a banana split that was actually pretty good.
Never again.
Caveat emptor. You have been warned.
Note to self and others in the same predicament …. make a reservation if you want to eat at a 5 star yelp rated restaurant on a Sat evening in mid-town.
We did not have reservations on a busy Saturday night. We had just gotten off an evening Bus Tour and didn't want to commit to a timeframe. As a result, the 2 places that we wanted to try were booked until 10pm. With children in tow, we had to eat quickly or we would have HANGRY children!
This place had tons of empty tables at 8:15pm. They took about 15 minutes to set up a 'walk-in' table. I'm guessing those empty tables for for 'later reservations'. OK, so we got seated in a tiny corner where only 'children could fit in the corner seats'. Our server was very friendly as were the other water glass fillers. Clearing the table was slow, and since it was a TINY table, space proved to be a challenge for arriving dishes.
The food was not earth-shattering, and the presentation was meh. They served slices of a very dry bread but then again, maybe that's "Italian". They provided a parsley dipping sauce but made no attempt to suggest olive oil dipping sauces that were on the table. They happily split a couple of salads we ordered but they were tiny and lacked taste due to scant amounts of dressing. I had to ask for more dressing. The suggested appetizers were generous. The calamari was crispy and plentiful. The 'giant' meatball(Kobe beef meatball, mozzarella and fresh ricotta) as was suggested was tasty but I'm not sure it was worth the $16 for the one meatball.
Our meals arrived shortly after the appetizers and salads. I ordered my favorite linguini with clams. Half of the clam shells were missing the actual clams. I'm not sure where they went because they were not in my dish. My sister ordered the same dish and had the same experience. The taste was lacking, in fact no taste..just a hefty bowl of pasta. My niece ordered Fettuccine alla Bolognese and said 'hamburger helper'. It was very dry and loaded with pasta and lacking in meat sauce. A couple of people ordered the Pollo alla Parmigiana and they seemed to enjoy it. The special was the Braised lamb shank with risotto. Again, lacking in the shank but uber generous in the very thick risotto.
Overall, the place was nice, the service was ok and the food was nothing near overwhelming. We might have enjoyed the food more if the table and seating was not so cramped.
Went for a walk to find dinner and local mentioned this place. Figured a small Italian restaurant would be great, it was okay.
The food was very good, the service was okay, and we kind of felt rushed out.
The restaurant itself was cool and the food was good, it's worth eating at.
Last minute Opentable reservation at Scarlatto for the win.
My mom and I had been really indecisive about dinner and decided to check this place out after not being able to get a table at the better rated Trecolori.
After entering this completely packed establishment and waiting about 10 minutes, we were seated at a cozy table for two. The service was rapid fire at first. Within no time, we had placed our wine order and then food order. Our soups honestly came out way too fast. I know a lot of people are trying to catch a show and soup is prepared in bulk, but we didn't even have time to nibble our bread and take turns freshening up in the restroom before the soup came.
Thankfully my butternut squash wasn't cold by the time I was ready for it. It was hearty and full of creamy, butternut squash flavor.
For our entrees, my mom and I split the ravioli di zucca and the braised short rib with risotto, which was a special of the day. Despite the short rib not being fall-off-the-bone tender enough for my liking, it was flavored really well. The ravioli was excellent and the pumpkin/ricotta filling was paired nicely with the sage and asparagus.
Dessert was a laughable experience. We each received a different menu, and unfortunately got our heart set on the one option not available. When asking our server for a recommendation, he kept saying everything was his favorite. At least everything was equally priced and he wasn't trying to up charge us. The chocolate soufflé have the perfect amount of chocolate and raspberry sweetness without being overly stuffing.
Despite the pace of the meal being too quick at first, the not overly tender short rib and the dessert confusion, the food was pretty good and not overly expensive for a mid-level dining experience. I'll round up to a four star rating for Scarlatto.
I had stopped at Scarlatto's in between a matinee and evening performance. I really like the space-it was a large comfortable size. It was not too crowded when I arrived so i was seated immediately. I asked for ice water which they brought to me right away. I got a garden salad to start and chicken marsala for my entree. All were delicious. They also brought some delicious italian bread and EVOO to the table. All and all, it was a great meal and I would recommend to friends in and out of town and I would return.
If you're looking for somewhere to eat before a Broadway show or just some darn good Italian, this is the place to go. This is the best Italian I've had in NY so far. Of the six of us, every single person absolutely loved their meal today.
You walk in, and it's casual, but they have white table cloths and music playing. You get to enjoy a casual meal in a beautiful setting. The music plays softly, so you can enjoy your company and the atmosphere without having to shout.
They have very reasonable prices and perfect portions. We'd preciously read that the portions were small; they definitely aren't. You get quite a bit of food for a great price in NY. In our group, we had the lasagna, chicken, pumpkin ravioli, pappardelle with bolognese, and pasta carbonara. We all shared and loved every single dish. They also had a special three course fixed menu (with options) for only $30. Such a great price!
My only complaint would be that the drinks were pretty weak.
It's a fiver. Hands down. Terrific environment, great conversations(at the bar!), and a very NYC place to be. Freddie was our bartender
And he was great!