Celeste
“Has easily become my top UWS Italian spot for the prices and the atmosphere.”
“My favorite Italian on the Upper West Side, the food is all homemade and the prices are a bargain for the quality you receive.”
“The ricotta cheese makes it extremely flavorful and the thin ravioli really helps to absorb all the flavors in.”
Celeste
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Really enjoyed this neighborhood hot spot. The owner Carmine, is awesome. I had the margerita pizza and the broiled salmon. Both are excellent.
No credit cards.
My wife and I went here on recommendation from a friend who regularly comes to NY. Don't let the menu that you can't understand fool you. Just ask one of the friendly waiters or waitresses for a suggestion. I was recommended the shrimp tagliatelle and it was delicious. The pasta was really good and it they give you pretty good portions. Our waitress was really nice. I don't remember what her name was but she mentioned she had moved from Italy to New York and she was very helpful and really kept up with refilling our water and coming to check on us.
Oh man, I had such high hopes for this place given that they make their own fresh pasta and the prices are extremely reasonable. We came around 5:30pm and were seated immediately (didn't get busy until much later). The service was so awkward, and the tables were SO CLOSE TOGETHER; I totally understand this on a busier night but there were only 2 other parties in the entire restaurant. This was a Wednesday.
I ordered the mushroom with goat cheese & small salad as an app – it was EXTREMELY salty and the mushrooms did not taste fresh. What a waste of $15.
Move on to the spinach & ricotta ravioli (freshly made) with butter & sage… if you want to gain 20 pounds and feel like a complete waste of space after your meal, then please by all means get this dish. It was tasty, definitely, but I had to drain the butter off the side of my plate. It was just WAY WAY too much.
The pomodoro that they serve is actually pretty good, I will admit. But it was fairly basic. Tomato sauce with unique noodles.
Oh, don't forget that they are CASH ONLY.
This restaurant came highly recommended to us and we were excited! It's a tiny restaurant on the UWS. I'll start with the highlights first.
The atmosphere is romantic in this tiny candle lit restaurant. We were greeted and seated immediately, and our waitress was wonderful and Italian. All the pastas were made in house. The staff was very helpful and friendly.
And the cons…
No one in my party (apart from me) loved their dish. No one would have returned for it. I got the gnocchi and it was good. The others ordered a red pasta, olive pasta, and a shrimp pasta. No winners there. Something else that wasn't great was the bread they serve with oil. It's just a boring dry bread, and the oil and vinegar has no spices. The last thing that made it really not worth it, was the fact that they only accept cash.
It's a solid three star restaurant, but nothing great. Bring cash!
This place is too cramped. They cram so many tables into the small space, I'm practically sitting on my neighbor's lap. I asked if the chicken was chicken breast. He didn't understand. I asked if it was white meat. He said, "All chicken is white meat." Tried to explain white and dark meat to the waiter to no avail. Ordered it anyway. It was chicken breast. Food was ok but wouldn't come back.
Came here for dinner with friends after " The little shop of Crafts" (read that review first to appreciate this one ). The night was slightly young and our stomachs were mildly churning after channeling our inner Pablo Picasso. Wandering around the UWS streets, we stopped by Blockheads, Cibo de Vino, and E's Bar before finally settling for this place, CELESTE. No awning outside so I found out the name from a bus boy. Place wasn't to busy on Saturday night , so the 6 of us perused the menu and our stomachs agreed. The menu wasn't vast and featured primarily pasta and pizza specialities. Salad choices were minimal. We ordered a few salads, gnocchi (wifey), veal (Leo), and meat lasagna (JD). The collectively opinion of the group was that the food was " aiiight" but nothing to sing home about. Rada topped the night off with a lemon sorbet to satisfy a craving and continue to reign supreme as the Dessert Queen of the group. Leo gave her the side eye, but still sneaked in a spoon for good measure. Will I return , probably not, especially b/c of the creepy, sneak-up-out-of-nowhere manager fellow , who literally sneaks up out of nowhere, while we are in mid-convo and asks us twice in a Swedish accent " menu, good"? Lol… No me gusta.
This place will not disappoint! Bianca used to be one of my favorite Italian restaurants and sadly they had to shut down. I believe Celeste is run by the same owner which is the reason I wanted to try it. I'm so glad I did!
FYI, they are CASH ONLY! I went on a Friday night without any reservations but we were able to get a table fairly quickly. Celeste is not a huge place therefore tables are pretty tightly squeezed. This is New York City after all so I can tolerate compromised space for great and affordable Italian food! However, it was a bit uncomfortable.
I highly recommend "Tagliatelle Con Gamberi E Verza" ($17). Incredibly delicious! Shrimp, homemade pasta and cabbage in delicious sauce? Match made in heaven! I can't believe how well cabbage and pasta compliment each other. I could eat here everyday. Same great taste as Bianca restaurant. I can't wait to revisit! Love this place!
CASH ONLY!
It still escapes me that restaurants, especially those in the heart of the city, can continue to operate on a cash only basis. We made the simple mistake to not look beforehand and found ourselves running to the bank three blocks away.
The restaurant itself is quaint and manages to pack a lot of tables without suffocating its patrons.
My first major gripe with Celiste was the hospitality. There was no sense of welcome (with the exception of the manager/owner who checked up on us on two separate occasions). The remaining staff come off as cold and uninterested. I actually had an awkward moment with one of the busboys when I asked for butter for my bread. Did I ask a ridiculous question? Because it certainly felt that way from his facial expression. Next time, a simple "we don't have butter" will suffice.
Now for the food. We ordered the spinach walnut salad to share. Very generous portion but a bit to citrusy for my liking.
The entrees were mediocre. The linguini with clams was average, nothing that would encourage you to come back nor offset you from visiting again. The ribeye special, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment. Zero flavor! Now I see why they only have 5 portions prepared for the day. I was one of those unfortunate gunny-pigs who got suckered into ordering it.