Emilio’s Ballato
“If you're lucky, you may encounter a celebrity while dining but who cares, better focus on the food while it's hot.”
“Great ambiance, good service solid Old-School Italian Eats, including tasty Baked Clams, Linguine Vongole and …”
“The spaghetti was al dente and the meatballs were lightly and airy and well seasoned.”
Emilio’s Ballato
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Everything here is excellent. This is simple, well prepared, tasty southern Italian cooking. The pastas are all homemade as are the sauces. The desserts — particularly the cannoli — are terrific. No reservations taken, but there is usually not a wait. This place gets more than its fair share of celebrities from major movie stars to the top rap singers. One can see why they are attracted to the place.
Small mom and pop Italian restaurant were you feel part of the family in your dining experience.
Located in the East Village of New York City. The minute you walk in you feel like your in an Italian movie scene. Nice size restaurant with two dining rooms.
We started off with grilled octopus and mozzarella carrozza. The mozzarella carrozza is a prosciutto and mozzarella cheese sandwich that is breaded and deep fried to a golden brown and served with marinara sauce. Simply Delicious! Then I had the spaghetti and meatballs. The spaghetti was al dente and the meatballs were lightly and airy and well seasoned. The sauce was also good. We also had focaccia bread that was very good. My friends had the chicken parmesan with roasted potatoes and green beans, Chilean sea bass with capers, lemon, and white wine sauce with roasted potatoes and green beans, and shrimp fra Diablo. That's shrimps with spaghetti tossed in a spicy marinara sauce. For dessert we had a canolli. Which was delicious.
Our server was the owners son who was very friendly and helpful with the menu.
Came here with a group of work associates. You might walk by this place without thinking twice, but let me tell you – this is a fantastic restaurant.
We started off with a selection of appetizers. Got the caprese which was very good, however like many places the quantity of mozzarella left a bit to be desired. On top of this, we had the meatballs which were amazing. Hands down the best I've ever had. Melt in your mouth good. Next we got a linguini with clam sauce to split. I don't normally go for the lighter pastas, but this was delicious. I'd recommend adding a bit of red pepper for additional flavor, but it's not needed. Finally, we split the grilled octopus special. – prepared perfectly. Nice crisp on the outside, without a hint of that rubbery texture.
On to the main courses. Everyone either got the chicken parm or the veal parm, with one exception who ordered the rack of lamb. Second best veal parm I've ever had (I'm a little biased towards another one in midtown). Absolutely fantastic sauce, and a generous portion of quality cheese along with a nice presentation with the bone-in. Generous sized portion as well. I tried the lamb also, and it was good, but I think you'd be remiss to go here and not get the veal parm.
Also very accommodating. Prepared a member of our party with a breading-free chicken parm due to a gluten intolerance.
Will say I'm glad I didn't have to pick up the check, but this place is the definition of a hidden gem. Would absolutely recommend to anyone in the area looking for a great Italian experience.
Ballato's let me a make a reservation for around 15 people for dinner on New Year's Eve, and with no pre fixe menu or minimum required. That's no small feat in Manhattan!
We were seated in their back room which isn't completely private, but only had a few other tables so still felt very intimate. In fact, the whole restaurant has a very romantic, intimate vibe. The service was on point, and they made it easy for us to order some stuff family style as a table. From the salads to the bread to the broccolini, all the antipasti was phenomenal. Next time I'll have to be sure to order the octopus, as it seems to be one of their specialties!
And then of course there's the pasta. I think we ordered every pasta on the menu, and each one was a hit. I went with the bolognese and it was flavorful, cozy, rich.. the way it should be. All of the pasta was perfectly al dente, no matter what the shape. One person in the party went healthy and got a fish dish and didn't love it.. but wouldn't you feel disappointed if you were eating fish at a table piled high with pasta?
I'm told that this is a celeb fave, but honestly I could care less about the photos hanging on the wall as long as I can still easily get a table at this neighborhood joint!
Table for 4 in front room on a Wed. evening at 6:45 pm was no problem. Loved the feel of this neighborhood restaurant with a funky crowd of patrons and old world atmosphere. Service was friendly and flowed well from drinks to recitation of specials for the evening to delivery of appetizer course followed by main entrees and offer of desert. The Cesar Salad, Octopus, Chicken Parm looked delicious on presentation and did not disappoint in taste or texture. I particularly loved having not too much but definitely not too little, rather just right portions of this Southern Italian cuisine. All plates cleared. Four stars!
Hidden gem, unnoticeable diamond, concealed restaurant, invisible place, you name it, you got it! Well, soonest I find out about this place, forget about all that, they're all gone because I talk! Women talk, you give them one thing, they describe a million things. So no speechless here. Speechless is not the best expression to give in a review, it means people will be reading at your blank page *:p We need to talk, about this restaurant. "You cannot describe the experience until you try it" and this is not DiCaprio's line, it's my line. I gave 5 stars according to the amazing food (first and always), then down to the service, the ambience, the restroom, the cleanliness, bla bla bla. First, no reservation, so don't try to walk-in and say "we made a reservation" which I heard people say when we sat at our table near the front. Our app for the night was cherry tomato with mozzarella cheese. Stunning! The appetizer came out handsomely made. Who made it? A handsome chef? I tried it and I want more. Then I thought why not just have everything for myself and let hubby go on diet. I couldn't get enough, didn't realize I was conquering the entire region, like the Roman Empire. We also had the best caesar salad with anchovies. Perfecto! We saw the owner who sat at the very front table eating with his friend, I think because he needs to greet the guests. He recommended that I order spaghetti with chopped clam/shrimp something like that and hubby ordered pasta Fra Diavolo with big shrimp because we asked what they had. My goodness, these two dishes killed both of us. We got killed! The thing with food, although I enjoy everything I do and everything I eat, I could tell the difference. I'd recommend this dish if you're a pasta lover. Hubby came here few nights prior, for a dinner meeting with friends. He told me about the place but didn't realize that he would take me back right away. It was hard to find parking but there's a parking garage nearby but we prefer to park on the street, so we had to suffer a bit before we get to eat. It's fine, it was worth it. The restaurant has 2 sections, front and back dining rooms. The place is pretty intimate but also a very good place for a group of friends especially the back dining area. If you're lucky, you may encounter a celebrity while dining but who cares, better focus on the food while it's hot. The restroom is tiny. Would definitely come back for more. Nice boss, nice staff, great food, great wine, hubby got killed at the end. But don't panic! I've agreed that we visit the place once a while, not every week. Absolutely wonderful!
This restaurant is very good. They start you off with this great bread that you can dip into this ricotta cheese dip mixed with olive oil. I had the chicken parmagian which was good. I had ziti with it. The service was good and friendly and the atmosphere was your typical pizza gone italian restaurant.
A small hidden gem in NYC… you'd probably walk right by it unless you were looking for it. This place came highly recommended by a friend, so I figured it would be a good final meal before I left being stuck in the NYC Snowmageddon.
I walk in right when they open for lunch, and as expected at 11 AM, there's no one there… heck, some of the vendors are still coming by and dropping off new bottles of wine, various produce, etc. It takes the wait staff about 5 minutes of looking at me, wondering if I'm going to leave, before sitting me at a table of my choice and bringing some menus.
As I skim the menu, I'm surprised by how expensive the prices are. I actually came to get the cacio e pepe, but it's not on the menu, so I settle for a caprese salad and tagliatelle bolognese. I ask the waiter about the cacio, and he simply says it's not available… but he likes the bolognese better. I skim around the restaurant and notice all the David Bowie signed stuff on the walls (he passed less than a week ago), along with pictures of various famous individuals who have signed photos with the owner (Emilio). Billy Joel, Lenny Kravitz, Rihanna, Justin Bieber… it's crazy how many stars have dined here, and kind of kitschy/cool that he has their photos up on the wall.
The waiter drops off some housemade foccacia… beautiful looking, and upon first bite, I realize this is probably the best foccacia I've ever had in my life. Seriously amazing stuff. I try to save some of it to enjoy with the upcoming caprese, but honestly, it's hard to control myself… I've never had foccacia this good.
Caprese salad comes along, and again, it's beautiful. Perfectly cut cherry/grape tomatoes that are bright red, two fluffy balls of fresh mozzarella which are very nearly as creamy as burrata on the inside.
Bolognese comes next, with pasta that's cooked just right and again, made from scratch.
I'm stuffed at this point, but my back and forth talking with the waiter has gotten him to open up and be a lot friendlier, so when he asks for dessert, I ask for his recommendation. Tiramisu it is, and it's a doozy… gigantic piece, great flavor, and then that's when Emilio walks in.
He joins me at the table, orders us both some espresso to finish off the meal, and we chat about life as restaurant owner (him) to future restaurant owner (me). He's gives me some pretty sage advice, we talk about dough recipes, pizza, foccacia, and Rome while we enjoy our espressos, as I see his mind and focus constantly thinking about what else needs in the restaurant needs taking care of. No rest for a business owner. By now, I'm stuffed, happy, and needing a nap… so it's time to head to the airport and make my way back to sweet home Chicago.
Verdict: This place is amazing. Quite possibly the best Italian food I've ever had in my life. This may become a regular spot for me to visit every time I come back to NYC… Honestly, I"m typically the kind of person that will order something different at a restaurant every time I go because I"m curious about the menu items… but that caprese may become my starter every single time. I'm definitely coming back here and bringing friends.