Malatesta Trattoria - New York City

Lengthy review incomingAmbience: 5/5Food: 2/5Service: 1/5Terribly disappointed as I came here via a recommendation. Arrived at 8pm and waited 15 minutes to be seated, not bad considering they were quite busy. No one introduced themselves as the waiter and someone provided water as we sat down, but it wasn’t until 8:30 when one of the staff noticed we didn’t have menus and gave them to us. We ordered two entrees after 15 more minutes of no one coming to check if we were done looking at the menu. We got the special (fettuccine with shrimp) and the veal meatball dish. We had to ask for olive oil and vinegar for the bread as it was not provided initially.At 9:15 or 9:20 a completely different person arrived with our dishes; both tasted abandoned. The pasta was cooked well, but notably cold. The veal meatballs were dry, cold, and mediocre. The pasta sauce reminded me of the leftover marinara from trader joe’s sitting in the back of my refrigerator for too long.After eating we waited another 30-40 minutes before we were able to flag down someone for the check, no one came by to ask if we wanted dessert or to take anything to go.Overall this place is lovely for photos, candlelight decor and the outside dining was very comfortable. Entrees are reasonably priced for the area. However the food and service was a miss and with all the other options for Italian food in NYC, I will not be returning.

The spinach Gorgonzola gnocchi and penne arriabatta were so good. Food came out super fast. The bread they give you before your meal is also really good. Definitely try the crème brûlée too, it had a hint of lemon to it. Wish there was more room though, it felt a little too packed. Also I see people mentioning only cash is accepted but my group paid with credit card

The food is very tasty. The Gnocchi and the Ragú are amazing! Compared to other Italian restaurants in the west village the price is reasonable/cheap. I’m confused why some people here wrote that it was expensive or that the amount of food was too little, NOT AT ALL!My only issue would be that it is actually very very noisy, but I’m not sure how would they be able to fix this.The service was good, not the friendliest ever but it was good and I have no complaints!I’m definitely coming back!

I wish I could give this place 0 stars. Our waiter was incredibly rude and condescending. We simply asked informed him that we were not told we would be charged for refills of soda. Genuinely other places that we have gone to let you know that there are not free refills beforehand. When we told him, he was so rude and made it seem as though we were just complaining so we wouldn’t have to pay for the soda. Then he walked over to seemingly a friend of his sitting at another table and was telling him the story. We knew this because his friend looked over at our table while laughing. To be honest, I’m more embarrassed for the waiter who had nothing better to talk about than the table of girls that simply asked him a question.To make matters worse, when we called the manager over, the manager gave us the most insincere apology I have heard at a restaurant. Instead of apologizing for the fact that his server was treating customers this way and assuring us that it was not consistent with the ethos of the restaurant, he maintained that they don’t give free refills. Mind you we were absolutely fine to pay for the refills,, but wanted to ensure that customers were informed of this prior to ordering. Instead, he then took the bill, removed the drink charges, and brought it back to us with another half-hearted apology. He didn’t even look us in the eye when he came back, and simply reached over the hand the check instead of standing directly in front of us as he “apologized.”I have never been treated that way in a restaurant before and am just saddened that I even supported such a place with my business. I would urge everyone to avoid this restaurant as there are far better options where you are genuinely treated kindly and with respect.

The food was barely good, the Tagliateli Ragu is not good since it does not feel like a restaurant, it tastes like if i made it at home. The restaurant was way to noisy and had to wait like 20 minutes past my reservation time. Definitely would not recommend. The calamari were okay, such as the burrata but nothing spectacular. The best dish were the gnocchi, but not worth going there inly for that plate. The wine bottles are also expensive compared to what they’re worth. (5x their price)