La Vela Ristorante
“Then Francesca does a mushroom risotto with chicken and truffle oil for me which I will crave forever.”
“This is a cool little restaurant right on Amsterdam Ave in the UWS.”
“A cozy neighborhood gem with a friendly wait staff that is attentive and knowledgable.”
La Vela Ristorante
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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This is a cool little restaurant right on Amsterdam Ave in the UWS.
I've met people here for drinks (which I don't particularly recommend – as quiet as the spot is, you'll get destroyed $$$-wise) and for dinner. The service is fantastic and the food is quite fine. They're quite accommodating and the couple times I've been here, I've never seen the place particularly blown out – even on weekend nights. So if you're looking for an Italian dinner spot and not entirely sure where to go, this is a good option if you're in the area.
Recommended.
My cherie amor, you're not La Vela Ristorante.
Came here for dinner on a Friday night and this is how I know whether a place is good or not: a line.
If it's prime-time din-din hours and there is only but a couple of patrons at your restaurant, then, you really need to look at your menu and service. Competition is steep in NYC, so you have to either reduce your prices or find a better chef. Rework your menu, create a dish that'll make, yelpers like me, want to come.
Either way, we decided to eat here because I was craving some Italian food. The bread was good, came with the standard olive oil and balsamic. We shared an ordered the white clam garlic pasta and the caesar salad. The service was great, I thought the people who owned the restaurant was very pleasant, but the food was okay. I've had better.
I was a bit hesitant to try this restaurant right around my corner, specially since it's never packed. But I decided to try it since the Yelp rating wasn't too bad for it.. and surprisingly, this place wasn't too shabby!
Among me and my 2 friends, we ordered 2 'specials' of the day: black linguine with clams & osobocco with risotto.
Black Linguini with Clams (3.5): I would've personally give it a 4 but my 2 friends didn't like it so taking their opinions into account, i'm giving the dish 3.5. I thought it was well seasoned (on the light side though), and the portion size was perfect. I liked that the dish was fairly simple — black linguine, vegetable, garlic, clams, and mussels. What I didn't like so much about the dish was that the linguine was very slighly overcooked and I wished they gave more clams.
Osobocco (4): The osobocco was pretty darn delicious — well cooked and tender enough to eat. And, the risotto was also cooked al dente, where the rice wasn't overcooked but it had a bit of hardness to it.
Overall, La Vela Ristorante exceeded my expectations and I see myself going back there again. The portions size are great and the seasoning is slightly light but just the way I like it.
On top of that, their service was amazing. Our glass of water was constantly being filled up and our waitress would come check up on us at the right time.
Terrible brunch experience!
TERRIBLE SERVICE: Although we were the ONLY people here on a Sunday from 12:40-2pm (which should have been our first sign this place was a disaster), the service was awful! We literally had to wait about 10 minutes just to have somebody come over to offer us water and get our order. We ordered coffee but it didn't come until AFTER our breakfast had already been served.
OVERPRICED: The brunch drinks were previously $5 but apparently have been changed to $10 as you can see that somebody literally took a blue ball point pen and crossed out the '$5' on the menu and wrote '$10' over it. The brunch items themselves are about $14/plate.
AWFUL FOOD: I had the poached eggs with steamed spinach and my husband had the omelet with broccoli rabe. The food was tasteless and bland. The poached eggs were so watery. About 2 hours after eating, we both began to get sick. We first got nauseated. About 2 hours after that, we were both running fevers. And about 2 hours after that, we both started having nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and spent the next 12 hours hovered over our toilets. Because this was the ONLY food we ate that day, we were certain it was from this restaurant. My husband called the next day to alert them that we got sick from the food and reported to the department of health (which is what you're supposed to do when more than one person gets sick from a restaurant). The restaurant COMPLETELY blew him off and told him "Absolutely there is no way you got sick here."
I would NEVER come here again. From the terrible service to the overpriced awful food, this place deserves zero stars.
Came here on a Friday night pretty late after a show at the Beacon. I was surprised how quiet the restaurant was.
We got seated right away. The waitress we had was super friendly and polite.
We split the caprese appetizer, which was just alright. The mozzarella seemed store bought.
However, the salmon + asparagus penne I got was delicious, the sauce was like vodka sauce. I ended up inhaling my whole plate.
The bathroom here is also nice and clean (which is great since it can be tough to find in NYC).
Definitely a cute spot and would return if I'm in the area.
When I found out they offered handmade fresh pasta I had to try some. I ordered the papparadelle funghi and a veal saltimbocca for a protein component via seamless web. The Veal was decent with a nice garlicy flavor and it came with a medley of vegetables or a side of spaghetti. The pasta was underwhelming. None of the flavors actually meshed well and it needed more of a sauce instead of random tomato, olives and mushroom. A creamy sauce wouldve put it together better. A waste to see potential like that get wasted. Will probably not order from again.
Good solid restaurant.
I came after the NYC marathon, I was freezing and could barely walk after running 26.2 miles, and wanted something warm and cozy. My friend suggested we try this place, as I was looking to add some carbs and protein back into my body after the run.
there was a short wait, as was everywhere due to the marathon, but we were seated in about 15 minutes after arrival. The staff was very catering and congratulatory to all the marathon runners who appeared wearing their ponchos and medals! Our waitress was very friendly, she got us our drinks quickly. I ordered some tea to warm myself up.
For dinner I had the chicken parmesan which was good, the sauce was cold and the chicken a little bit on the overdone side. For dessert I had the tiramisu which was light and flaky, and the highlight of my night.
the restaurant is on the smaller side, and one tiny bathroom which was clean enough. And never a dull moment, there was a patron who was having a medical emergency as we were leaving, and the staff took good care of her while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
Great service, tasty Italian food, and fabulous ambiance. One complaint that we did have was a strange odor. We were getting wafts of sewage. Since I am writing this review based on the eats, I gave it 4 stars. I recommend the Grilled Polenta and Sausage in a Gorgonzola sauce as an appetizer or entree. The Salmon Vodka Penne with Asparagus was also very good. They give you bread and olive oil to start and were able to accommodate our group of 8 without a reservation on a Sunday night. This is a cozy neighborhood gem!