Casa Lever
“Warhols on the walls, and intimate booths surround a collection of tables in the main space of the restaurant.”
“The risotto was delicious tasting: acquerello carnaroli aged rice, artichoke purée, smoked eel.”
“It is not super expensive, but it is definitely a place that you could impress clients or a date.”
Casa Lever
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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I usually despise Valentine course menus but there I was… I do not know how the Valentine menu compares with the regular but it was a solid OK. The cocktails all sound interesting and are good but not extraordinary. The food too was good but not quite there… I love the ambiance and the music however. Very fitting for after work drinks for midtown finance professionals. I would return and try a regular menu.
It's
Easy
To reserve
A table with
Warhol views and Warholian prices.
Came here for a group dinner for 10.
Great thing about group dinners is that we can share lots of dishes.
I got to try a number of apps on the menu, as well as some of my colleague's' dishes.
The risotto was rich and delicious. The lasagna just melted in your mouth. The main lobster w/squid ink pasta was so unique–with the pasta served in round sheets instead of linguine style.
My beef filet was solid,but I think I loved the duck breast that my colleague ordered.
Everything was good and the service was very attentive.
This is definitely on my list of top of places for business meals.
I've been wanting to try Casa Lever for a while. Walking by the outdoor bar, it's always a lively scene. I came here with friends to try the restaurant week menu. It did not start off well. The arrogant hostess by the bar gave me attitude when I asked for the entrance to the restaurant. Who knew you can give so much attitude with 4 words – "It's around the corner." When I was joined by my friends at the table, they had a similar experience as well. Second, we asked the sommelier for a jammy wine recommendation and he promptly said they don't a jammy wine in the entire menu. Uh okay. That's a first. Then he continues to say the closest thing he has is in the $95 range. We were hoping to spend around $60-$70 and his demeanor changed 180°. Then he proceeds to tell us that he doesn't have anything with what we want in that price range (but he didn't have a single wine in the ENTIRE restaurant with what I wanted). In all my interactions with sommeliers, I've never had one so condescending. They usually try to work with your palate and budget and make suggestions based on that.
Moving on… Once we were past those two, dinner was great. We started with complementary pea arancini which were delicious. Our salads, were tasty – caprese and a beet/cabbage salad. I loved my beet salad with beet vinaigrette but the cheese was a little dense. Next up was arrabbiata with spicy tomato sauce and skate. The original restaurant week menu is salmon but it was switched to skate. Skate is one of my favorite fish and it was paired with lentils so I was happy. I looked forward to dessert before we started and it did not let me down. The gianduia is a healthy portion of wafer toppped with chocolate mousse, chocolate gelato and a hazelnut creme. Our servers were very friendly so it made up for the beginning of the night. Once we were done, we sat and chatted for a bit and didn't feel rushed at all. Despite our rough start, I would come back and choose my own wine. Thank you very much.
Way overdue review. Prix fixe Valentine Day dinner..One of the only few places with an opening. Very cool walking in.. spaceship like design. Need a spaceship to reach the sky high prices.. Maybe because it was Valentines Day… I don't know.
Beef carpaccio was quite good. Giant ravioli sort of appetizer in a heavy sauce was just awful.. made me glad we weren't having a pasta dish there.
My entree of scallops – completely fishy tasting and I had to send it back.
Fiance said his lamb entree was good.
Waiter was not at all pleased with my asking to return my dish. A lot of attitude with the service.
Eventually another (nicer) server came to our table. Offered me the branzino. The branzino was actually melt in your mouth fresh and delicious.
Desserts were overly sweet and another let down.
I see they are offering a $39 prix fixe menu from some of the reviews. Maybe if that were the price point that night I would give this meal 3 stars. After all, the branzino turned out to be delicious. But the crazy high price and mostly average quality brings it down to two.
Instagram took me to Casa Lever. Hashtags are often pretentious or just made wrong, but every now and then, they expand your horizon, or bring you to new places. The latter was the case for my visit to Casa Lever. They liked one of my pictures on Instagram, and I checked them out.
The great things about Casa Lever are the fantastic staff providing excellent service, the design and decorations of the restaurant and the wine list. In that order. Unfortunately, I did not find the food neither very interesting nor very tasteful. It was good, delightfully presented and the portions were generous, but I had expected it to be more exciting. Especially at that price level.
However; if you are a fan of traditional upscale Italian, I am sure you will love it here.
The food was excellent, the service was above average, the decor was…unique.
For appetizers, I had the San Daniele: prosciutto aged 18 months with mozzarella di bufala. It was very good. I'm a big prosciutto fan and this was the first time I had it with buffalo mozzarella. The mozzarella was a very nice complement to the prosciutto.
For my entree, I had the Sea Urchin Linguine. The sole reason I chose this restaurant. I was asked to find a restaurant in midtown and when I came across this menu item, I just stopped and made an executive decision to go here. I knew my dining companions weren't big fans of trying new things, but their opinions didn't matter at this point! The dish also included king crab meat which brought a great balance between it and the brininess of the Santa Barbara sea urchin. The linguine was cooked perfectly and the sauce (of which I have no idea what was in it) just pulled everything together. I thoroughly enjoyed the dish.
Service was very slow at the beginning. It picked up after we got our wine and the staff became much more attentive.
This was at the Lever House, so one would expect unique decor – and it was. However, the restaurant appeared felt like I was in a really fancy motor home. Kitcsh Winnebago perhaps? Doesn't matter, the food was great!
Great place to get a drink after work….that is if someone else is paying! This place is expensive. It's a nice outdoor patio area in the middle of all these corporate buildings, which explains why everyone there is in a suit. Food was above average and drinks were pretty standard. If you want to be seen and see other people, this place is for you.