Borgo

I was late to dinner because some jackass decided to jump onto the F Train tracks at York Street and the NYPD were useless in getting him off of said tracks. The only reason I'm telling you this is to set the scene, which was mostly me walking in ravenous and in dire need of a cocktail. And I am glad to report:Borgo is a really fantastic place to be when you're hungry and want some sort of delicious boozy concoction and tons of fire-roasted Italian fare to wash the taste of a serious subway delay out of your mouth. And I have yet to experience it, but I would wager that Borgo is a fantastic place to be for dinner on a regular, non-delayed evening as well. I first want to note that the space is sexy as hell. And I can't even remember the last time I wrote the word "sexy." The staff is excellent (it helped that the owner was in the house I'm sure), and the candlestick holders are shockingly heavy (everyone knows that's the mark of a great restaurant). With a woodfire burning between the two rooms and a surprising amount of space between the tables, it feels luxurious to dine like this in Manhattan.Our server was aware of why we were late (they sat one person in our party who informed them and showed them photos of the guy holding up the train), and knew we needed cocktails. I tried the La Scarza (a refreshingly tart tequila concoction) and the Nonna's Nonno (their self-identified version of an Old Fashioned with a scotch/brown butter/sour cherry agrodolce twist). Banging. I also drank half my wife's classic martini, because it was that kind of night. Our party of four decided to split everything (the only way to dine, in my opinion), and we rolled with:The Focaccia Borgo - I try to always eat things named after the restaurant, especially when it's delicious bread that can be topped with mortadella. It was the first thing I ate, and vied for the best bite of the night. It's far thinner than you think, almost a flatbread, but it's outstanding.The fried artichokes - Well-fried and very tasty, but the gribiche they are served with stole the show.The Fried Delicata Squash - Chili and honey are a favorite combo, but it was a tad sweet for my taste. You can't be sad about eating this, however. One of my friends said it was like dessert, but in a good way.Anelloni - Lobster pasta is always a decadent decision, but I truly loved this sauce. I honestly don't know that I could choose between it and theFettuccine - The guinea hen ragu is so, so rich and delicious. They know to pair pasta and sauce here.Whole roasted branzino - It's hard to roast a fish better than this. This was my first time out to dinner with these friends, so I didn't pick up the head and gnaw on it for every last morsel, but I wanted to, and that's what counts. The smoked chickpeas underneath were a nice touch as well. Fennel Sausage - A thick, juicy, perfectly cooked and seasoned sausage over a bed of lentils and some kind of cabbage situation that blew me away. Stellar. Everyone was full by this point, and I got to eat more than my share. I've always said I'm a lucky man. Truly, there wasn't one miss out of everything we ordered. The plates were beautiful, and I apologize that the sexy lighting kept the photos from being what they should be. I'm not a ring light guy, because I don't want my fellow diners to hate me. I've been a fan of Andrew Tarlow restaurants since I was a wee lad who first bit into Diner's burger (back in 2009). They are reliably warm, hospitable, and most importantly, delicious, and Borgo is no exception. The cost here veers into special occasion territory, but I thought dinner was worth the price of admission, and I'd gladly come back. Especially for that focaccia.

I managed to get a reservation at Borgo, which was one of the hardest spots to get into. This spot opened back in October and their menu changes every month. We started off with red wine and ordered a bunch of appetizers: Focaccia Borgo, Chicken Liver Crostini and Fried Delicata Squash. Each of these dishes were amazing. We shared the Wood Oven Chicken. The menu stated a half chicken but the portion was definitely less than that. Personally this dish was not memorable in a good way. To end the night I wanted to try the Sachertorte. The dish had a hint of apricot in the cake, but it was on the dry side and it had to be mixed with the Satsuma sorbet. I took the cake home but ate the sorbet. I was too full to finish the sorbet. Service was overall great. The manager was proactive in making us feel welcomed. This is a great place for a date night. I'd definitely return to try the branzino and even dine in their outdoor garden.

Table for two, fireside. That was a cozy welcome on a chilly night. Straight aces all meal. Borgo was excellent. Olives and chicories to start. Nice heads up from our server on the half portion of the chicories, which was plenty for two. I had to have the al forno cannelloni for primi and then the whole roasted branzino and rabe. Loved it all. Cheesy beefy pasta goodness, succulent fish and bitter greens. We enjoyed a nice bottle of wine, fireside-did I mention that? while watching the chefs in the open kitchen take very good care of us. Capped our spectacular dinner with a delicious egg nog ice cream. Bravo Borgo, Bravo!

This was really amazing. Every bite was great, but the focaccia, anelloni, sausage, and lasagna were particularly special. The menu is also deep enough that I could see doing a whole new order next time, just reordering the focaccia and chocolate tart.

This is a much larger restaurant than I was expecting but still managed to make the dining sections seem cozy and relatively intimate. The food was fine but nothing memorable so most likely not a place I will return to. Pastas lacked the depth of flavor that is expected in the city in my opinion.

It seems like rarity in Manhattan for a restaurant to have so much space, so kudos to Borgo for giving us all an opportunity to enjoy some good Italian food without feeling like I've entered someone else's personal space. Overall, I think the ambience here may be the number one reason to come here, as it feels like you're having a dinner party at your rich aunt's brownstone rather than eating pasta in a cramped basement.The good thing is, the food is pretty solid as well and prominently features live fire cooking. The mushroom ravioli was the standout of the day. A great dish overall. The "Focaccia Borgo" is not like your typical focaccia, as it's a bit more reminiscent of a flat bread, but wasn't bad. The mains, like the Grilled Tilefish, were solid, but not especially memorable.Great spot to go to if you have a large group and want to drink some wine, eat some pasta, and escape the cramped feeling of the city for a while.

Went in on Thanksgiving and want to give the upmost gratitude for the staff and crew for working on a holiday as I know this is a tough thing to do. However, for a restaurant that required prepaid and pretip billing for a pre fixe meal you would imagine that the menu would be well planned & prepped. However, that was not the case. We were heavily encouraged to all order the prime rib option for the main as we debated ordering mains to show. The server mentioned that the prime rib was the star of the show and was very adamant about getting it. Before we could even all make our minds up he said he wrote down prime rib for all of us. About 5 minutes later he comes back and announces that the kitchen has said that prime rib is out. We literally thought it was a joke as we had started to build a friendly rapport with him. It was a bit of an awkward stand off I won't lie & I let out a very uncomfortable laugh as one does in a time of grief. I felt bad for our server in this moment. I felt management should have help him out in this situation as the prep work in this kitchen was obviously not his wrongdoing. Mind you - we chose Borgo for our Thanksgiving menu option of many in the city as it had a beef option and our lot isn't really keen on traditional Turkey entrees. But nonetheless we went on. We reorder. As we were still - about 45 minutes later - waiting for any morsel or food to hit the table - of the pre fixe. Any bread. Any spread. Any item of the many items listed. We were approached yet again that one of the items we ordered as main was out. Now two of the items listed on the pre fixe were gone. Now it was just silly that we had prepaid for options and all the options were slowly but surely drying up. We eventually started to get food. It was fine. Fried artichokes with no sauce. A crispy cracker type bread that wasn't their famed Focaccia. A fava bean spread. All in all substance was good at this point. I will say - 10 stars for the bar program and the martini cart. This part and Lee on the wine program is why this rating isn't lower than 3 stars. Truly delightful individuals who helped define our evening! But we originally asked for the Martini 2 that game with Gin with vodka and we were told everything was pre batched and they proceeded to then make our martinis table side so this was a bit confusing. However - it was a tasty martini if not very unique. Next we got the pastas. Thank god for the one dish worth loving the risotto because other wise I would have left the whole evening wanting. The risotto was delicious!!! More of that. The rigatoni was dry and had been under a heat lamp waiting to go to a table far too long. The sauce was sauce less to say. It was dryyyyy. For the mains we all had to get turkey as that was all that was left and as typical turkey goes - it was fine. But when you pick a menu that has prime rib on it and have to settle for turkey it's obviously underwhelming. The sides and dessert were fine. I think the most disappointing part of it all was no recognition in the lack of care to the amount our group paid for the meal and the portion of the menu that was not offered to us. Again I know it's tough to be open on Thanksgiving but the communication, messaging, ability to be nimble and offer different solutions didn't measure up. As someone who has worked in restaurants on holidays I know the care and extra attention it takes and unfortunately with this experience the mark was missed for our group who spent this holiday in the city. PS: ambiance and space is beautiful!

One of the best dining experience's I've had in a long while (thanks to my friends in town from Boston) Borgo is a new & true New Yorker foodie restaurant. This is not your grandma's Italian - it is elevated comfort food. Service is seemless & impecable. Ambiance is cozy & sexy. Lee, your sommelier extraordinaire, will guide your wine pairings to enhance the decadence of each plate. If you can get a reservation (run don't walk) you will not be dissapointed. Try the branzino, octopus salad, Black sea bass (not pictured -np), foccacia (np) & the olive oil (mmmm) - they were all divine. Andrew has done it again!

Lots of hits but some misses. The service and the ambiance are great, the food is generally good although not yet to merit five stars. The fried squash had no squash taste. It was essentially just fried dough. The sweet potato pie was dry and cakey with no sweet potato flavor. Hopefully they will refine their flavors.

One of the best meals I have had in quite a while. We loved the fried squash, chicken liver crostini and the chicken. We also really enjoyed the sachertorte for dessert. Service was great.