ViceVersa
“Happy Hour: They offer a lovely happy hour in the bar and lounge area (outside included) with a nice selection of cocktails and wine until 8:00 pm which is great for people that work late.”
“Great place for brunch The egg white omelet with lack truffle and cheese sauce is delicious .”
“For all the Italian restaurants I've been to over the years, the Strangled Priest Pasta with Duck Ragout is still my favorite pasta dish!!”
ViceVersa
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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This was one of my favorite restaurants in New York City. Everything I had, from the blood orange cocktail to the squid ink ravioli was superb. The food was served with perfect timing and the wait staff were attentive and polite. Prices were on point with other spots in the area and the food was exquisite. Of all the restaurants in NYC, I would definitely consider this for a second visit if I went back to the city. The entire experience was perfect I definitely recommend for a romantic date or special occasion.
Terrific brunch spot.
This place looks nice, has great service, and offers up some great food. Also, at $14pp, the 2-hour unlimited brunch beverage service (including mimosas, bloody marys, and bellinis) is a relatively great buy in pricy Manhattan.
The eggs benedict with the crab cake was delicious and highly recommended. The egg white soufflé dish with truffle oil also had some great flavors, but the airiness of the egg white caused the dish to lose temperature quickly and was cold halfway through eating it. I would stick to the eggs benedicts.
Three of us came for a restaurant week lunch. Each of us got different appetizers. The first was romaine salad with speck, apples, walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese. The second was spinach, pancetta, almonds, pecorino cheese, and mustard dressing. The third was buffalo mozzarella, beefsteak tomatoes, and roasted bell peppers. All dishes had fresh ingredients that played well off each other. However, the first two salads were too heavily salted. For the entree course, two of us got the casoncelli and the other member of our group got the pumpkin ravioli. The casoncelli are pasta packets stuffed with veal, raison, amaretti cookies, in a sage butter pancetta sauce. Al dente pasta, classic sage butter sauce make this a can't miss dish. I was happy that the raison was way in the background, but I would have liked a little more amaretti taste. The cookie was doing more for texture than for taste. Still, this dish is very successful. The pumpkin ravioli dish was also very well done, but I prefer this dish with a less sweet squash such as acorn or butternut. That brings us to the dessert course. Two of us got the panna cotta which had wonderful vanilla tones, light delicate texture, and a sour cherry sauce, that enhanced the dish. I was worried there might be too much sour, but that didn't happen to this dish. Lastly, one of us got the chocolate mousse. It was thick and rich. Although very tasty, I would have liked it a little lighter, with a slightly more bitter chocolate taste. So the meal had a lot going for it, and a few missteps. Or Vice Versa.
I booked a reservation for 8PM for a special occasion dinner. We got to the restaurant a little bit early at 7:50 and the host took us to our seats. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful and modern and they have outdoor seating both in the front of the restaurant and a secluded outdoor section in the back.
We sat in the back and our waiter gave us the dinner and drink menus. We only ordered water, and you could tell he was a bit peeved. The restaurant was pretty empty, minus a few tables, on a Saturday night.
We both ordered pasta dishes, no appetizers. The food came out within 10 minutes. It came out so quick, that it was actually suspicious how fast it came out (was this something just sitting under a heat lamp?). The food itself was very good, but the whole experience was rushed. Not within a minute of finishing was our table bused. We didn't do dessert and the check was brought to us immediately. I'd say we were out of the restaurant by 8:20PM (so much for a special occasion).
IMO there are plenty of better places to try in the same area.
I just paid a visit to this establishment for dinner, and went for their Restaurant Week price fix menu (although I realized they have a $38 price fix menu year round). The food came fast, and so did the waiter pressuring us to ask for the check.
For appetizers we had their cotechino with lentils and pasta e fagioli. They were both ok, but nothing special.
Then we had their beef short rib, which was very tender… a sizable portion of meat over some tasty fresh pasta.
The bread pudding for dessert was ok.
Overall, I don't have specific complains, other than I wasn't impressed with any of the dishes. The price fix didn't give many options, and I feel that for $38 I could have eaten more interesting food elsewhere. I was born and raised in Italy (until 25 years), and can cook, so I don't get easily impressed with Italian food unless I see more creativity and eagerness to impress. I'm not saying that what we had was bad. However, maybe because we ordered their "cheap" menu, all dishes were rather unremarkable and uninspired.
Finally, an elegant Italian place in Hell's Kitchen. In a neighborhood where the food options are all Thai and Mexican, ViceVersa breathes life into the Hell's Kitchen dining scene.
The dining room is elegant, dimly lit, and spacious. The servers, friendly, and a bit enthusiastic. But the food is heavenly.
Every visit I've paid to ViceVersa has involved pasta of some sort. A strozzapreti with slowly roasted duck ragout, Gaeta`s olives, parsley was heavenly, not overly greasy, with tender duck meat. We also tried a squid ink seafood ravioli with calamari, plum tomato, black olives. The pasta was black from the squid ink, with a distinct iodine-y flavor from the sea, and the accoutrements framed the dish perfectly. I also tried one of their Pesce dishes — roasted red prawns with lemon, braised escarole, rosemary. They were beautifully roasted head-on with rich roe spilling out of the crustaceans. For drinks, bottles of wine are available but their selection is a little meager for true gems under $60.
Nevertheless, I've decided to now make ViceVersa my go-to spot in Hell's Kitchen for elegant Italian food in a comfortable setting. The food is inventive and interesting enough to keep me engaged and their wine is good enough for a casual evening meal to have me returning.
Such a wonderful place. From the service to the ambiance this is a unique gem hidden within Hells Kitchen. Family owned and operated for over a decade, the menu offers classic Italian dishes that are fabulous!
I have lived in Hells Kitchen for almost ten years and only recently discovered ViceVersa. In the past, I would always go and refer my friends and family to Becco – not anymore. I was tired of the cramped tourist trap with decent food and went on a mission to find another local spot which led me to ViceVersa.
Service: Walking into the restaurant you are usually greeted by one of the owners, Franco. I cannot say enough about how wonderful he is and how he and his staff go above and beyond to make you feel like family.
Happy Hour: They offer a lovely happy hour in the bar and lounge area (outside included) with a nice selection of cocktails and wine until 8:00 pm which is great for people that work late. The cocktails are unique and delicious.
Menu: Fabulous! A lot of restaurants offer a million decent options, ViceVersa offers a tailored menu and each dish is exceptional. Stefano takes pride in every dish that goes out of the kitchen. The lasagna is some of the best I have ever had; Franco said that it's his grandmothers recipe.
Ambiance: Absolutely beautiful; elegant but not stuffy. This is one of the only restaurants that I will actually sit outside at. Since you step down into the restaurant the outdoor seating is not at street level, which is so nice because you don't feel like everyone is on top of you. There is also a lovely outdoor garden area in the back The restrooms are also very nice with 3 individual single stalls.
From the service to the food ViceVersa is hands down one of my favorite restaurants in the city and Hells Kitchen is so lucky to have it.
Love the atmosphere in this little Hell's Kitchen gem. The restaurant is a lot bigger than it looks and there is even a spacious patio place out back so it is great for the summer time. Loads of seating at dinner time so don't worry about waiting in line. Bread basket was okay. Seafood pasta was pretty good. Price was a bit above average. I'd say this place is good for a date but I'm just not that big on Italian food.