Osteria Laguna

i've been to this restaurant a few times for dinner and every time I come the meal is always delicious, the service fast and the vibes are great.This restaurant is centrally located to Grand Central terminal and the UN if you're looking for a place to stop in for lunch or dinner. it has a large back seating and fun bar seating as well and even during the summer they have nice outdoor area. Staple coming here is the lasagna which comes out on a sizzling hot skillet and is one of the best dishes offered. the steak is extremely tender. They do offer a lot of gluten-free dishes, which is great for those allergies and are very accommodating to any sort of food restriction you may have.

Quiet and large restaurant and lots of seating for the restaurant but nothing to rave about.Food was average. Small portions, Cold olives and hard bread sticks, they can keep them. They used to do a brunch menu on the weekends and have meals for 15-20$ with a drink they do not offer that anymore.They only have lunch and dinner on weekend.Most of their pasta are high 20s-Low 40$ and nothing extraordinary. Even their pizzas for small personal pies are 25$+They did tell us they were going to tell us the specials and no one ever came back, I finally flagged down the waiter to just take our order.I ordered a coffee, and they double charged me on my bill. I questioned it and they told me because they filled my coffee cup up for a 2nd time. I was the only one who drank coffee at the table.At $4.50 a cup of 6oz I think that allows a 2nd cup but apparently I had to pay for 2 cups. It's ok cause I just deducted that from their tip.They have a lot of staff standing around doing nothing.This use to be a great place. It convenient and right on 42nd street near grand central but away from the hustle bustle. But between the high prices pasta that's not worth it and yes the $4.50 double charge for a coffee. I suggest going somewhere else. This place use to be great but not with the stop. It's a good spot because near hotels so I'm sure tourist stop and take a look but if you go up into 40s or up 2nd avenue so many better, friendlier and quality of food is better.

We flew in from California and decided to dine here before we settled in from our trip. We did not receive the best greeting upon entering the restaurant, it was more like a staring contest before I broke the ice by saying, there are three of us here for dinner. The response I received was, do you have a reservation, and my reply was no do we need one? The answer from the host was sometimes you do, then we were seated by a man that was rude, as he briskly walked us to our table and left. Our waiter was the nicest gentleman and helped us with the menu. We ordered and the food and drinks were fine. The dessert was amazing but I will not be coming here again. Although after my first impression things gradually got better it was not enough for me to come here again or give my recommendation.

The service was excellent and the location near Grand Central is great. Even though the restaurant wasn't packed, the noise level was pretty high. The food was good, not outstanding. The special risotto with grilled calamari was our favorite.

It's a great casual Italian restaurant just a block away from the Grand Central. Not a high end nor gorgeous place but we could really enjoy the atmosphere. Wait staffs were good as well. Menu I felt somehow limited and not flexible but can find what we wanted in reasonable prices.

I would give this 5 stars if the Caesar salad was better. Lettuce did not seem fresh at all and just overall not very good. However, the lasagna and bread basket were to die for! Price was a bit on the high side but still a very solid meal.

I want to talk about the good things first. First and foremost, the staff was really pretty wonderful. Very good about filling water and wine, getting drinks when ordered. All of the staff was super friendly and accommodating from when we arrived to when we left.The ambiance was also really nice in the place, not too loud. We were a work group of about 10 including spouses. We had wine, drinks, appetizers, entrees, coffee and after dinner drinks. Service and the vibe was really good.But here is the other shoe dropping. The food itself was just not that good. And I am sooooo sorry to have to say that. I, and we, all really wanted to like it. We are having a great time, the place is visually wonderful, service is right on the money. And then the food came. I can't remember what every single person had, but 6 out of the 10 did not care for or did not like the food. About half of our party are from NYC and Jersey, so they have a lot of local experience in this area with restaurants. One person had the Bolognese, their comment was it was like someone opened a jar of grocery store sauce and poured it over the noodles. Another had the tagliatelle, similar comment. Another was a shrimp in pasta, the shrimp was curled up and hard from being overcooked. I had the lamb shank. It was very tender, but the sauce had absolutely zero flavor to it. And I wanted to like it. Some people only had a few bites and stopped. Some ate about half (me). But nobody wanted to take leftovers home. It was so sad. It was a work event so it was on the company's dime, we could order whatever we wanted. And we did, we just needed a better version of what we were served. If I was rating on the food alone from the group consensus, I would rate it a 2.A lot of the group felt like it was a bit of a tourist trap, very visually appealing and all that, but not up to that same standard for the food quality.

I always come here when I'm staying at Westin Grand Central or Times Square. Bread service is included and I ask for garlic and the always accommodate with a smile.For food, I've had carpaccio, pizza and branzino, all good, but IMHO, if there's one thing you have to order, it's the lasagna. It's a spinach Pasta and meat sauce is perfect to cheese ratio. I've ordered the last 5 trips. I might have it again for lunch tomorrow.I might get again for lunch tomorrow, it's that good.

Soup was amazing! Very good and interesting taste and super healthy! Bread basket came very fresh! Service friendly and polite! Ambience is on point. Will stop by again for dinner this time ;)

Food: Standard Italian fare - bruschetta was typical, no pizzazz; burrata was creamy with roasted beets; salmon entree was above average - seasoning was on pointService: the staff team was attentive to our needs and were quick; they seemed to care about our dining experience; they paid attention and made note of refilling our waters without the need to askAmbiance: clean, spaced out reasonably; the wall decor was artful