Giovanni Rana Pastificio & Cucina
“I've been here for brunch and dinner and absolutely loved it both times.”
“When you're done, you can walk through Chelsea Market and get some ice cream or walk down to the High Line.”
“They nail the basics: perfectly al dente (not too al dente like some of the fancier italian places) and flavorful.”
Giovanni Rana Pastificio & Cucina
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Mmmmm…..fresh made pasta! Carbs Carbs Carbs! Wonderful Carbs!
Located in the Chelsea Market we decided to give it a try for dinner while sauntering around the area as I took the day off for my birthday a few weeks ago. Turned out to be a solid choice.
Tasty kale and quinoa ravioli plate, roasted salmon plate, grilled shrimp appetizer and radicchio salad. All pretty delish!
Great service. Waiters are attentive without being overbearing. Bus boys do scurry around and quickly swipe empty plates off your table. Whoa – slow down there buddy! I'm still gonna eat that last morsel.
A bit pricey for the portions but a nice atmosphere and attentive service made it worth the price overall.
Just wish the seating was a bit more comfortable as the chairs seem too narrow and hard. My butt was sore after this meal. Yet, in a good way!
Food – 5 Stars
Service – 1 Star
Average of the two – 3 Stars
I've had both take out and dine in here and the food, without a doubt, is amazing. You can see and taste the quality of the pasta and I could eat this for days! If you're looking for a great place to eat, look no further.
I must say though, the service is horrible! The entire meal, I not once had my water filled. It took us forever to place our order and we were basically ignored. When I say we were ignored, we were waving and calling to two servers who were standing less than 5 feet from us and they pretended to not see us. It was insane, I've never seen or heard of such service. For that alone, I'd likely just stick with take out.
It's a shame the food is so good and the service is so terrible and because of that I'd definitely think twice about coming back. For what you pay, I'd expect a lot more.
I brought my friend around the city and we stopped by Chelsea Market. She was craving pasta so we decided to check this place out. I always visit Chelsea Market, but have ate here. It was both our first time!
Since we were food-hopping, we shared a bowl of Squid Ink Pappardelle and Pesto. Jesus, that Pesto is pretty darn good! The service at Takeaway was pretty spot on too. They were so bubbly and friendly. I peeped the Chocolate Ravioli. I may have to try that out next time.
I'm grateful I finally got to try what this place had to offer, because that bowl of pasta makes me want to go there right now. This will be a new stop to my weekly Chelsea Market visit.
Delicious! Fresh Pasta fare like no other in NYC! Simply delicious!!! Finest ingredients!
Great wait staff. Cozy comfortable decor.
Authentic, like Grandma's, Italian Cuisine
A MUST for pasta lovers!!
You will come back for more!
It was my 2nd time visit Rana and found the dishes were even better than last year. We enjoyed our entree, squid ink linguine crab sauce and suckling pig very much. Crab sauce was heavy and creamy. Suckling pig was juicy with crispy skin. It also matched so well with the salad on the side. Our waiter was very helpful and friendly. My friends and I had a good time there!
The place was fairly packed when we stumbled in…the only available seats were at the bar. Since we were at the Clinton Market we rolled the dice and walked around inside to see which other restaurants could accommodate our party. Nothing.
The staff at Rana were pleasant, helpful, understanding and just plain good. But the real star of the Rana show was our server, Petrosian. Take his recommendations and guidance.
So we went back to Cucina at the same time as a reservation called to cancel. Ch-ching! Best table.
The dinner menu is interesting. Not at all a grab and go restaurant.
Not famished we just ordered the 5 cheese plate ($25) and the wild mushrooms ($9). They had run out of their usual table bread so instead substituted baked pizza dough. Brilliant substitution. The cheeses were blue, ricotta, parmesan, a cheddar ish and another. They were spectacular. The ricotta alone was amazing. The mushrooms were too!
There were many wines by the glass and we settled on a glass of red ($16).
I got take-out for dinner from Giovanni Rana. The pizza focaccia was good, and my husband really liked the homemade pasta with Bolognese.
Finally found a pasta place that opens late and as good as the shop I loved in Florence! (and in a similar format where there's options to eat in, take out, and take out uncooked at a similar price point too!) And in the same evening, I also realized that this is the same brand of fresh Gnocchi and Pesto I've been buying at Eataly all this time shipped fresh from Italy – very, very excited to be able to come here and just get more variety of excellent sauces and pastas without making the trek East crosstown for fresh gnocchi!
The pricing of takeaway pasta seemed very reasonable, but being avid cooks of Italian pasta, we decided to buy the pasta by the pound and see if they would sell us a tub of sauce so we can make our own creation at home (they did). The lady behind the counter was very sweet and explained to us how long to cook the ravioli, and we took home about a pound of lobster ravioli which was more than enough for two, and giant tub of pesto.
Definitely some of the best lobster ravioli I've ever had, with very distinct and delicious lobster pieces every single bite – and a steal to make such a simple dinner for two for under $20. The pesto was light so I used a lot more than usual, but even at that I still have over half a tub left – look forward to coming back in the next two days to get more ravioli and finish off the pesto!
Hungry Kat, paws up with joy!