Via Della Pace

We had a reservation for four and were sat promptly. The tables are a bit close to each other so it's tight but it gave a very homey feel. Service was great as we were handed menus quickly, asked about drinks, suggestions, and our waters were always filled.We ordered a few dishes, starting with the mushroom rice balls and pomodoro and mozzarella rice balls. I thought these were ok compared to arancini. I think the crust was a bit thick and the filling wasn't hot enough (maybe they weren't warmed through fully?)Onto the entrees, we ordered the chicken Milanese (sorry forgot to take a photo), lasagna, rigatoni pirata, and spaghetti carbonara. Most of us thought the Milanese was the star with the rigatoni pirata being a close second. I'm thinking the freshness of the salad that the dish came with complimented the heavy pasta dishes really well. The chicken was also very crispy. The lasagna and carbonara were solid, but we would say it's pretty standard for NYC.

My partner made a Valentines Day reservation for Via Della Pace in the East Village after reading a NYT article about how this is where the Italian pro tennis players eat here during the US Open. The food was amazing, service was friendly and accommodating, and ambiance felt like you were in Rome!The carbonara, with crispy guanciale and spaghetti, was some of my favorite in the city.The rigatoni del pirata was also delicious with its pink rum sauce and oozing baked mozzarella. I liked the chew and consistency of their pasta, you could tell it was homemade and high quality.For our secondi we shared the rib eye steak. It was pretty fatty and salty, especially with the shaved parm on top. If I could do it again, I would probably just do pastas. Finished it off with chocolate lava cake with vanilla gelato and tiramisu. Chefs kiss!

Food was great but...service was absolutely terrible. we were rushed then asked to leave before we were done so they could make room for another partyIF you dare go, do NOT get seated by windows as they are drafty Owners should keep back of the house & fire all in front of the house

Food was very good and well-priced. Cacio e pepe has a very strong cheese flavor. You definitely need a red sauce pasta to balance it out. Lots of good vegetarian options.Very warm and inviting ambiance. Service was okay. We had a reservation, but they were running late so they sat us at an uncomfortable bar table and didn't really make it up to us. We were served by Giovanni the GOAT himself, which added a star-factor!Definitely need to come back.

DESTINATION NIRVANA ! On our first dinner visit here we were hoping to run into a few of the Italian tennis players after their matches at the US Tennis Open. OH WELL ! We didn't see any tennis stars but the food, drinks, service and ambience were beyond sensational. Before we finished our 2 week vacation in New York, NY we knew we had to return here. On Wed, Sept 11th we decided to turn up cold turkey at 5.pm....we couldn't get a reservation. YEAH BABY ! The kind host told us we had a table until 7pm. At this point we had the entire beautiful dining room to ourselves...but not for long. A fun server named Luca soon came by to help us. FIRST UP ! A really nice ice cold beer would be great...I chose the same one as on our first visit. In the meantime our good mate Flavio the colorful food runner brought us a glass carafe of water and 2 glasses. Luca returned with my ice cold Five Boroughs Tiny Juice IPA in a lovely tall glass...it tasted very refreshing. WHOO HOO ! And then Flavio brought us Complimentary Artisan Bread with dipping sauce....many restaurants do not hand out free bread anymore. OH YEAH ! To kick things off we ordered 1 x Suppli Cacio Pepe ( fried rice balls with cheese and black pepper ) Appetizer. We tried the fried rice balls on our first visit....totally delicious. Not to be confused with arancini which we also love. Our rustic Italian artisan bread tasted lovely. ENTREES ! My wife ordered Lasagna Alla Bolognese ( typical lasagna bolognese style ) while I had to have the Pinsa Fichi e Prosciutto ( Roman flat bread with fresh mozzarella, Parma prosciutto and figs ) on the SPECIALS. WHOO HOO ! Out came our Fried Rice Balls appetizer courtesy of Flavio the polite food runner. TOO DELICIOUS FOR WORDS ! In fact we ordered 3 more...one serve of each variety to take back to our apartment. Just after 6pm our entree meals hit the table. My wife loved her well made Lasagna Bolognese heaps but not quite as much as the unforgettable Baked Rigatoni on our first visit. THE BEST FLATBREAD EVER ! My Fig & Prosciutto Roman Flatbread totally nailed it....brown and a bit crispy underneath but delicately bready on top with the prosciutto, figs & fresh mozzarella. When our server Luca checked on us again I ordered another beer...this time a Montauk Easy Riser Belgian White. It came out pretty quick...ice cold in a lovely tall glass and tasted very good. By now the beautiful dining room was virtually packed out. THERE'S TIME ! At 6.25pm we ordered desserts...1 x Tortino al Cioccolato ( chocolate lava cake with vanilla gelato ) and 1 x Gelato ( pistachio-chocolate-vanilla ). I tried this Italian gelato trio on our first visit and it was as good as it gets. Our decadent looking desserts arrived promptly and disappeared almost as fast....Made in Heaven. We paid the bill by credit card and headed for the front door thanking Luca, Flavio and Gabriele along the way. The interesting looking dude behind the bar was Giovanni Bartocci ( the co-owner with his business partner Marco Ventura ). I told Giovanni we loved our 2 dinner visits to their fabulous restaurant. I HAD TO ASK ! Do you identify more with Roman or Italian....the instant reply was Roman with some Italian. Giovanni was born in Rome. HOW GOOD ? As good if not better than any Italian restaurant we have dined in world wide !CHECK OUT - my walk thru here at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YTNUhqGPR2cNOTE - Of course with 20 million views of my Yelp reviews and pics world wide in 2023 I can tell you what is great !

Nice Italian experience with fun decorations and Italian speaking waiters. Enjoyed the wine (Chianti was light). Pinsa was gold - I think it was the sauce...which means I recommend sticking to the red sauces here. I don't think the all white plates were as well received by the party. I wouldn't try and fit a young kid here, at least for dinner.

I could care less about a Ny times write up stating how many of the tennis world fine here. What I do care about is the fact that the food, staff and ambiance makes you feel like your home. The space is dark, very close and very "village like "The wait team are fri and highly efficient, greeting us just moments after we sat. The tables are spaced very tight but it lends to a cozy atmosphere The tuna tartare with Avacado is some of the best I've ever had. Very fresh, chopped very small so as not to be chewy The chicken Milanese was crisp yet tender and covered with perfectly seasoned arugula salad. My friend had a beautiful rigatoni dish which was perfectly Al dente I'm excited to go back to sample other dishes a giant thumbs up

With a rave review in the New York Times about Italian tennis players eating here during the US Open, we were lucky to get a table, even on Labor Day Weekend. It's common to find players, families, coaches, etc "at what has become the Italian players' cafeteria and lounge each year during the U.S. Open."Three of us shared a generously sized salad, Abruzesse bruschetta (with smoked mozzarella), Rigatoni al Brucio (reminiscent of puttanesca), Gnocchi Tricolore (pesto) and tiramisu. I was in awe of the salad dressing and pasta sauces bursting with flavor without feeling the slightest bit heavy. Our server was spot on with recommendations and was not demeaning of our lightweight ordering. Many restaurants in NYC are worthy of returning to, but Via Della Pace is one of the rare eateries I also look forward to introducing others to. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/27/nyregion/usopen-tennis-italy.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

Great decor especially with the skylight room and gives the old-school Italian vibes. Service was excellent here, they were attentive and able to make solid recommendations. My friends and I started with the caprese and the mozzarella tasted extremely fresh. We also got the cacio e pepe rice balls which had the perfect crunch to it. The pasta's texture was chewy and had a pink sauce that was not too heavy.

Second visit:Food/drinks really delicious, but it's still *insanely* loud in the back room, WITH earplugs. Exhausting. Service basically non-existent once you order up front. So wasn't able to ask for anything else past that.