Lavagna

For us, it's the best Italian restaurant in NY, and probably the best one globally. We first ate here years ago, during a visit to NY, and loved it so much that we returned the following day. We had dinner there this week, during a visit to the city, and the magic remained just the same. Simple, but super tasty food, creative but not presumptios, a great and friendly team, led by the owner, Jorgos (Greek name, that I'm probably misspelling). Don't skip this place!

Lavagna is a quaint, hidden gem in the East Village! We were there on Saturday night with 21 people for a large family celebration for my Mom's 80th birthday. The food, wine, service, ambiance, and value were all exceptional. The food was so delicious and at prices that I was blown away by. I regularly frequent some of NYC's finest restaurants, so have a pretty good benchmark. Our server Rob handled our large party with grace, skill, and great humor. Owner Yorgos is a first-class restauranteur and a great guy. Everyone in our group was incredibly impressed and had the best time. I could not recommend Lavagna more highly!

This place is amazing. We went for lunch. Service was amazing. Excellent people working there including the chef and everyone else. It was a slow afternoon so we got the chance to speak with the wither and chef. We would definitely visit again once we go to New York again. Food was excellent as well. It is a must stop f you are in New York. I am glad we went to this place. Thank you for making our experience an unforgettable one. Hope to see you soon

To the man greeting people and checking reservations: not sure if you were just having a bad day, but it was obvious you treated my friends and I rudely. We were the only non-Caucasian people in the restaurant, not sure if that had anything to do with it, but come on - if someone says they made a reservation, you should probably make half an effort to check in your system instead of assuming we’re wrong and telling us to wait outside. When he realized he was wrong, he didn’t apologize - he got annoyed at us because we arrived 10 minutes before our reservation time. That’s a first for me - I’ve never been to another place in NY that gets upset if you’re EARLY. The table wasn’t ready until 30 minutes after our reservation time. When we asked the host how the status was looking, he gave us attitude, said they’re busy, and looked annoyed. I understand you’re busy - good for you! But you should probably try to honor reservations, or if you can’t, don’t give us attitude when it’s your fault? Just a suggestion. Food was great, but unfortunate about the service. I’d like to hope that it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that we were the only Asian people there, but I also wouldn’t be surprised given other reviews here. :(

This place is an absolute gem! On a quiet peaceful side street, the indoor space is just beautiful, and outdoors is well spaced, separated by plants creating a cozy atmosphere. The FOOD is so good! We had the pasta rigatoni and pork chop and they were both cooked absolutely perfect. Pasta was cooked just right with creamy tomato sauce, sweet peas and fennel sausage yummy. The pork chop was huge served with spinach beans and bacon. And the Service was so friendly, attention was great. They brought out to dog bowls for the pups and kept filling it up with ice water since apparently they were very thirsty. Great attention to detail, service, food, just everything. Will definitely be coming back again regularly