Pinocchio Ristorante
“If it's your first time here go for the house special, the much raved about truffle tortellini with asparagus in vodka sauce.”
“We would recommend Pinocchio's to anyone visiting or living on the Upper East Side!”
“After deciding on Italian and not wanting to leave the UES because of inclement weather, we came across Pinocchio Ristorante.”
Pinocchio Ristorante
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Visted months ago and never reviewed. Everything was 'off' that night.. Not sure why as it was the same chef, I think. Wanted to give up on the place but my parents insisted on trying again. In December this place was 5 star amazing!! The special tortellini dish and the duck with delicious polenta and vegetables. Couldn't have been better…hope that 5 star experience sticks next time around!! Love the cozy atmosphere and the service!
I had dined here when i first moved to the upper east side and thought it was really good. Think its the lack of great food in the UES. After a while i really didnt feel like it was hitting the spot so we stopped eating here. We recently had friends visit and for lack of ideas we came here again. The portions were so much smaller than they used to be. The service was kinda of weird and rude at points. Everyone enjoyed their food though but they guys left kinda hungry.
This is one of the most romantic and beautiful restaurants I've ever been to. Not in the sleek modern kind of way but in the charming kind of way. It's a small restaurant with old Italian charm, opera or Sinatra subtly playing in the background, and the owner, Mark Petrillo, providing amazing genuine service with a smile. The food is typical Italian fare with lots of daily specials. Best of all is the prices are very reasonable with most plates being $15-23. My girlfriend and her family have been coming here for years and by the looks of the other reviews, it's a lot of people's go-to Italian restaurant in the city. I thought my food was good but it really didn't blow me away, still I wouldn't hesitate to come back and try something new and most likely, listen to whatever Mark has to recommend.
A fantastic little Italian gem hidden on the Upper East Side. Thanks to yelp I enjoyed an amazing meal on a Friday night while visiting my brother who lives just a few blocks away. The restaurant was incredibly busy at 7p on a Friday night, but we had reservations and only had to wait a few minutes for our table to open up.
The owner himself waited on us and was so nice and overly apologetic that we had to wait a few minutes for the table. To start they brought us out a plate of bruschetta that was delicious (and even better because it was free!). We also munched on some bread and enjoyed our wine while waiting for our starters-Grilled Calamari and their Stuffed Mushrooms special. Both were absolutely amazing. If you are a fan of Grilled Calamari, or even if you aren't, you must try it at Pinocchio. It was cooked to perfection. The Stuffed Mushroom was out-of-this-world delicious. We all agreed that we each could've eaten a whole order ourselves! Stuffed with crab and topped with cheese, swimming in a mouthwatering sauce….amazing!
We were a party of 4 and all ordered different entrees so we could share and try each others dishes. We were all more than impressed with every single entree at the table. Eggplant Parmesan, Osso Bucco with Risotto, Tortellini PInocchio, and Homemade Truffle Tortelloni alla Vodka. I've posted pictures of each of these, all you need is one look and your mouth will be watering. The Osso Bucco was incredibly tender and just melted in your mouth. The Tortellini Pinocchio was rich and creamy and it was hard to put your fork down. The Vodka Tortelloni was equally as good and that sauce…oh that sauce…I mopped up my plate with bread so I didn't miss any of it!
We ended the meal with Tiramisu and Strawberry Cannoli desserts and some deliciously strong espresso. The Cannolis were amazing, that crispy outer shell and the taste of strawberry in the filling, just perfect. The tiramisu was drool-worthy as well.
Everything was fantastic and I highly recommend, just make sure to make a reservation in advance!
I am really quite disappointed with my recent meal at Pinocchio. We had initially wanted to go to Pio Pio next door for dinner, but the line/wait was really long so then we looked on Yelp and saw all the positive reviews for Pinocchio and decided to give it a try.
Yelp really led us astray on this one. I'm really perplexed by the multiple 5 star/ 4 star reviews of this restaurant. The food was not good and very overpriced.
We started with a mixed salad which was just okay. Nothing special. I ordered the rigatoni with eggplant and my dinner date ordered the roasted chicken. As for my dish I thought the serving was very stingy. There were literally 10 rigatoni noodles on the dish. Usually I don't count my noodles, but when the serving is that sparse, it's hard not to notice. The taste was average and the rigatoni noodles did not even appear to be homemade. The dish was quite greasy. I didn't try the chicken, as it just looked like a heap of wet chicken. My dinner date said the chicken actually tasted okay despite its unappetizing wet appearance, but did have a lot of bones. The mashed potatoes, sausage and green beans were cafeteria food quality.
The service was fine. The man who seated us and took our order was quite pleasant making this review a little difficult to write, but in my opinion restaurants with average (at best), overpriced food with stingy portions are just not good restaurants.
The interior of the restaurant is cozy. I did have a glass of Pinot noir which was fine.
One more thing that bothered me was the list of dinner specials. It is written on a portable chalk board which is set on top of the table when you are seated with your menus. The problem is that, when not in use, the chalk board is set on the floor. So they take something that sits on the floor most of the time and then, rest it on the dinner table. Pretty gross to me. Would it be okay to put a pair of shoes on the dinner table?
The moral of this sad Yelp tale, is that I never ever plan on going to Pinocchio for a meal.
This is a really lovely and reasonably priced Italian spot in a sea of cheap pizza/pasta /calzone-type places. The restaurant is small, adorable, and has charming service. We loved both our our dishes – pesto spaghetti with shrimp and rolled-up chicken with prosciutto and mozzarella. Although our waiter was very quick and attentive, we were by no means rushed, and had no problems lingering a bit at the end to finish our bottle of wine.
I was very spoiled living across from Italianissimo for a few years, but now that I've moved uptown a bit, I feel lucky to have this place close by. I'm sure we'll be back here many more times – such a gem!
This small and unassuming restaurant in the Upper East Side serves up some delicious Italian fare. With prices from $17+ for handmade pastas, this is definitely a place to take someone special. I ordered the homemade Tortellini alla Vodka and my date ordered Tortellini Pinnochhio. Both were delicious but if you are a carnivore I would unquestionably recommend the Tortellini Pinnochhio – definitely one of the best pasta dishes I have had in a while. Split a bottle of wine, an appetizer, and 2 pastas. You will thank me later.
Really quaint, cozy and romantic homemade Italian joint on the UES. Bf and I were able to get a table no problem when we walked in on Thursday at 930. Our waiter was very prompt, friendly and made good suggestions.
We loved the homemade complimentary bruschetta, well toasted bread and hearty tomatoes. The other house made bread was a pass as it was just white and room temp but it's good for sopping up pasta sauce. And the pasta, you must. Not sure about the meat dishes but they have your typical Italian American- chicken parm and whatnot.
If it's your first time here go for the house special, the much raved about truffle tortellini with asparagus in vodka sauce. It was really good, heavy on the vodka sauce hence the strong tomato flavor. However, I didn't really taste much of the truffles. The asparagus was nicely crisp and bite sized. My bf got The other (meat) tortellini, which I preferred actually. I don't eat much meat and I don't eat beef or pork but one of those were the filling for BFs dish. Still, the peas, cream and mushroom sauce were very strong and well flavored.
We ended the meal with the very good and filling tiramisu- well soaked, with their own cake (no store bought lady fingers) and a strong coffee liqueur taste. You have to love chocolate as that's a big part of this tiramisu.
$52 for dinner. We will return!