Villa Mosconi
“Villa Mosconi is a classic old school red sauce Italian restaurant that never disappoints.”
“Villa Mosconi lies on the end of MacDougal in a relatively quiet section of Greenwich Village.”
“Get any of the following: Paglia e fieno, stuffed pork chop, veal rollatini, osso buco, artichoke oreganata, eggplant rollatini, agnolotti with butter and sage, or tortalloni.”
Villa Mosconi
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Look, Villa Mosconi is a neighborhood standby, they've been representing the Village since before I was born (and before the Village lost its soul, but I digress). This isn't some fancy-ass Mario Batali joint, this is unpretentious classic Italian done right. And I'm not a fan of classic Italian – it has to be GOOD for me to like it (I have had WAY too many crappy chicken marsalas …)
I have been here multiple times, I even had my wedding rehearsal dinner here (we were married @ Our Lady of Pompeii a few blocks away). Nothing fancy, nothing showy, Italian the way Italian used to be, including yes, butter in foil packets. If you're some kind of Jersey Girl and are scheeved as soon as you walk in the door, then walk right back out the door, you're not wanted here (what is a "weird looking bar", anyway?)
Same people own Monte's up the street, I think Monte's has been around for longer (I think much longer). See my other review for Monte's – the service here @ VM is better.
I don't know, I think a large part of my love for Villa Mosconi is because my wife's family has been going here for years and years. Nonna and her brothers loved it, and we still do.
I feel like I was led astray by my fellow Yelpers here – it wasn't bad but it wasn't as lovely and charming and delicious as the 4 star rating would imply. It's definitely a friendly, homey, old school kind of place and the food was filling and heart-warming in that heavy-handed, grandma's cooking kind of way. Nothing blew me away so I have a feeling that is the kind of place that you have to find your one beloved go-to and stick with that…
It's hard to come by good Italian food, well, just food in general, these days. You know what I'm saying? People think that a restaurant with nice, clever decor and mood lighting, but with just A-OK food, deserves 4 -5 stars. Sad…really sad.
Anyway, this place has solid Italian food. Their pasta seemed fresh and all made on the premises, and their other non-pasta dishes were outstanding as well. How do I know? Well, I went to Italy six months ago, and I still long for their pasta, crepes and gelato. This place was one of the very few restaurants that reminded me of my great Italian experience.
The service here is also really amazing. I couldn't find my server so I asked another server if he could find some candles for me. Then like three other servers/employers came up to me reassuring me that they will find candles for my sisters cupcakes. Lo and behold, three people came out singing out the top of their lungs, with candles in each cupcake, singing happy birthday to my sister. Clapping and screaming, Italian-style. HA.
I had such a good time here. Will definitely recommend it to anyone who is craving some amazing pasta and other Italian dishes at a non-pretentious, snooty establishment.
p.s. the reason why i couldn't give it a full 5 stars is because everything was a bit salty (i'm very sensitive to salt). other than that, it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g
Good, home style Italian cooking… Large portions!
The Veal and Chicken Parm are great.
Villa Mosconi lies on the end of MacDougal in a relatively quiet section of Greenwich Village. It doesn't look like much on the outside, and the decor is aged and unflattering… but the food is delicious!
I came here on a Grub With Us meal so I got the chance to try out half a dozen things on the menu. Before we got started, we were given some bread with tomatoe on top as well as a separate bread basket with regular white loaf and some breadsticks. They also gave us butter along with the bread basket, but it wasn't warmed…
Appetizer
Mozza and Tomatoes – about what mozza and tomatoes tasted like. I think there's a picture of this that someone took.
Argula Salad – Tasted like Argula. Not the freshest I've seen, but passable.
Balsamic Mushrooms – Sliced mushrooms marinated in what I guess is a balsamic vinegar sauce. I absolutely loved this dish since I'm a mushroom guy but my table didn't seem quite as enthusiastic about this than I was. I ended up eating maybe 1/3 of the whole plate and it wasn't so great towards the end.
Entrees
Ravioli – Seemed like very good ravioli to me! But then again I'm no expert… the crust was thin and the spinach and cheese mix tasted fresh.
Gnocchi Pesto – Not a huge fan of gnocchi but it passed the eyeball test and tasted like Pesto. Someone else is probably a better judge than me, I really don't like the texture of gnocchi.
Pollo Scarparello – That's chicken for those of you who never took spanish or italian… with balsamic vinegar and garlic sauce. This was by far my favorite dish of the night! It came in a dark yellowish sauce in little pre sliced cubes of I believe dark meat chicken. (Thigh? Leg?) I'm a huge fan of dark meat first of all but it was cooked perfectly and the sauce is just rich and hearty. It somehow reminded me a bit of Chinese food and I was pleasantly surprised an Italian joint could come up with a dish which was so Chinese in terms of style and preparation. If you come here, this is a must try dish!!
Vitello alla Parmigiana – That roughly translated to Parmigian Veal… and it tastes exactly how it sounds. Dry, breaded, fried. Actually tasted pretty much like Parmigian chicken. I'd pass on this… probably isn't a cheap dish either.
For dessert the chef's choice was tiramisu and some kind of ice cream. Not a fan of tiramisu (did you know it has booze in it?) but the ice cream was tasty.
The Crowd here was mostly middle aged folks, some were groups of friends, one group was guys in suits and a few couples here and there. A great place to take a date as it never got too loud and it's certainly spacious. Did I mention the food was really good?
Another tip : Get the house cab! They allow you to order by the glass, or the Carafe. (Which is basically a jug) I shared a half carafe with another Grubber and I think we got about 2 glasses out of it each, not bad for $16.50!
Nondescript part of MacDougal St. Old fashioned, old world Italian. Regulars. A bar that seats about 10 people.
Prompt, courteous, professional, knowledgeable service. They have a seperate room for private parties.
They first present you with bread and olive oil. The bread was a little stale and cold. I think I tasted too much thyme in the mussels appetizer, which was also too salty. The veal piccata was good, but show have had better presentation. It was 3 pieces, floating in sauce. It should have had less sauce and more flavor. The steak was awesome, but again, should have had less sauce. The waiter recommended an excellent, dry white wine to go with the veal. The choice of side orders was either tasteless broccoli and bland potatoes, or spagetti in tasteless, light tomato sauce.
The table next to me ordered a fried mozzarella appetizer, it looked really good.
Homemade tiramisu with a raspberry, I think, flavored sauce. I did not taste any rum which a traditional tiramisu should have; but this one was still excellent – light, creamy.
Bathroon, clean, tiny! The knobs for the sink should be replaced.
On the way out, an elderly man, (who told us has been a regular about 30 plus years), showed us the who's who on the photos covering the walls by the bar area.
First and foremost, I was impressed with how big this venue was. From the outside it looks like a little mom and pop shop, but that baby is cavernous!
I really enjoyed the service here, the waiter was attentive and quite informative. Our party was seated promptly and our hungers kept at bay with some decent bread.
The food itself was mediocre. I ordered the tortellini and was not to impressed. My brothers gnocci also was no where near the best I've tried in New York. The minestrone soup was decent, but again no where near my favorite Italian place in New York.
I bet a lot of review for Villa Mosconi start out with, "It was a Monday so X and Y were closed, and we came here by default." That's more or less how I finally got to try VM, but really, there's no good reason not to give it a shot other than the fact that it's not particularly "cool" in a neighborhood that sees new places open every week.
VM is old-schools but not ancient. There's a little bar area where regulars can hang out and shoot the s–t with the owner while cursing out the Giants or whoever happens to be on their large-screen TVs. Then you enter the dining room, which is smaller than I expected and has a certain coziness to it. It definitely takes you away from MacDougal's nuttiness but keeps you in a 1960s/70s red-sauce state of mind.
Service is standard old-school Italian, which means ceremonious waiters with sum fresh-a-peppa (should you like it, of course), and cheese on your pasta. They had some really nice wines at friendly prices. For food, I ordered the Pollo Mosconi, which was a huge hodgepodge of chicken and vegetables in a sweet reduction. Definitely a "hunter's" dish for big appetites, or if you want to have leftovers for lunch the next day. The pastas looked pretty strong, too, from where I was sitting.
Not a bad thing to say about this place, so give it a try if you want some classic Italian-American food without pomp and fuss.