'inoteca

On the plus side, the egg-plant lasagna and gorgonzola bruschetta were good (although the lasagna was a little too rich). But the prosciutto cotto and spicy mayo tramezzini tasted like a regular ham sandwich and we wouldn't be surprised if it was luncheon meat not prosciutto. The meatballs were not fresh and had lots of filler. We expected more from a restaurant which has it's menu in Italian, which to be honest is a little arrogant and leaves diners having to ask about most dishes unless they're fluent in Italian. Not a great experience. The wine was just ok for the price. Plenty of other restaurants in the area which are better. Pros: Good service and atmosphere Cons: Poor food more

I arranged a bachelor party dinner for ten and couldn't have been more pleased. From the manager who booked the party, to the staff that served us, 'inoteca was on point. We went for the Classic Party Menu for a mere $39 - this is a family style dinner, and sometimes that means the portions can be meager. Not in this case. We actually had food leftover, and we're talking about 10 hungry male adults. A big shout out to our waitress who realized she'd given us the wrong bill, which we paid, and came running out of the restaurant to reimburse us the $160 we got overcharged. The wine was great, the ambiance in the wine cellar where we ate was festive, they accommodated 3 guests with serious food allergies, and generally just took care of us. Thanks 'inoteca. Pros: Food, service, price Cons: None at this point more

Late night expeditions for some vino and a charcuterie and/or cheese plate is my favorite activity. The servers are super friendly, and it is always bustling in here. Pros: Cheese selection is awesome Cons: Lines are long sometimes more

It doesn't get better than the best cheese selection, wine selection and friendly staff. On the small side but so cozy- I have loved everything I have eaten here. Among the must haves are the truffle toast, cheese selections, panna cotta, and afogado- Really the best food in town.... and not a bad spot to just get some wine! more

The cuisine of the house is limited to an inspired array of tramezzini, bruschette, panini e affettatti... more

The cuisine of the house is limited to an inspired array of tramezzini, bruschette, panini e affettatti (charcuterie). Honored aperitif-pairing fo... more

Went here a few weeks ago for a friend's party, and we sat downstairs. The downstairs area is nice for large parties, and the atmosphere seemed fun upstairs too. The food was well priced, although below-average and nothing that really wow'ed me. Service was generally attentive and fine, EXCEPT: when I tried to order a bottle of sauvignon blanc, a very obnoxious waiter first said that he only had one bottle left and he wanted to keep it so that he didn't have to tell guests he ran out. He then tried to sell me on other (more expensive) bottles. When I asked again for my original selection, he called my wine selection ""cat urine"" (he actually used a different word that citysearch won't let me publish!) and, again, tried to sell me on others. After me insisting again, he finally brought me what I wanted. I have never had anything like that happen to me before! Not very professional. I wouldn't recommend this place -- there are much better places in the LES and E.Village in the same price range, and just as fun. Pros: Fun atmosphere, good location Cons: Bizzarely rude waiter, below-average food more

This is a great 'brasserie' like place, though its italian themed, in lower east side right around THOR and the rest of the hotspots here. Living and working in Chelsea i get lazy to travel down here but this was worth it. Atmosphere is cozy, feels a bit Pastis, with wood tables close together etc. Never had dinner there but lunch was great, i am told paninis are specialty and we tried a couple. Butternut squash was great too, arugula salad a bit dry to be honest needed more dressing. The breakfast panini with eggs and ham was very boring, i would not recommend picking from the Brunch menu, go to the regular panini list. And it was quite annoying to have so much italian in the menu. I was with two friends - one is French the other is a Spaniard, and we had to ask the waiter so many times 'what does this mean'? My friend, who is vegetarian, ordred something with ham as a result. All in all a great experience and i would go back. Mimosa by the way was giant, and it looked quite busy. Come at 2pm on weekends lots of tables open up at that time. Pros: Amazingly delicious paninis Cons: too much italian in the menu causes confusion more

I had such a pleasant experience at Inoteca that I had to write a review, and I never write reviews. I went on a Monday night around 6:30pm. My friend had not shown up yet and there was little room at the bar, so the hostess nicely sat me at a table in the corner. I didn't exactly like the table, it was a little on the claustrophobic side for me, so I told her I would wait until a better table became available. The sommelier approached me right away and helped clear a bar stool at the bar and then helped me pick out a glass of wine. He came to check on me a couple times after that...making me feel very comfortable. My friend showed up and they found us a table to our liking within minutes. The service and the food were outstanding. This restaurant is a cozy and yummy place for a chill night. Thumbs up! more

I can't attest to the wine bar aspect, but the panini are good. Bit expensive, but probably worth it. more

I can't attest to the wine bar aspect, but the panini are good. Bit expensive, but probably worth it. more

'inoteca is simply awesome. They happily seated us without all of our party, did not rush us even when last person showed 1/2 hr late, let us taste wines, and then recommended the cheapest one, which by the way was yummy. The food was amazing, everything we had, esecially the truffle egg toast, was delicious, and the service was perfect. The decor is casual yet chic - there really is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Pros: service, food, atmosphere Cons: a tad pricey, but par for the course in NYC more

I've heard that this place is great, that they pair your food with your wine... but i ordered a pork shoulder panini and I asked the waiter for a wine suggestion. He just recommended the most expensive one from the menu. (without even realizing what I got for lunch). The panini was not even good, the bread was like eating a rock and -would you agree that when a dish is going to be super spicy, it should be written somewhere on the menu-? the panini had 2 different spicy pepers... i couldn't even eat it, it was so spicy...\r NOT a good place for lunch!!! Pros: Outdoor seating Cons: they dont have air conditioning inside... if it is a hot summer day, you will sweat... more

After reading great reviews I took my husband out for dinner - we ordered and sampled majority of the dishes - oh my - we both hated it. Even the table next to us we overhead complaining about the bland food. \r How could everything be so tasteless???? The only thing that was half way decent were the meatballs - but then again, how can you mess up a meatball in tomato sauce?\r Perhaps I went on an off night? Or my jaded 10 year NYC palate has become overly hard to please??? \r Service was fine though . . . from the host to the waiter . . Pros: Good service, cute decor Cons: bland food more

The best of the Lower East Side wine bars, this perpetually packed wine and food bar is built for those who can endure tight seating, eternal wait times, and a noisy, chaotic atmosphere for the sake of great tasting, perfectly portioned food that pairs nicely with an extensive and well composed wine list. I wait here because I just can't seem to force myself to eat elsewhere. more

Over the phone we were told that this restaurant does not take reservations so we were prepared for a wait since it was so highly recommended. Upon arrival we were told an hour for a table on the upper level so we wandered through shops and came back in 30 minutes to check in again. For the second time it was suggested we have a drink at the bar. They tried to squeeze us in at a servers corner and we were very much in the way with food runners. After my friends foot was stepped on we decided to go across the street to a bar and wait the remainder 30 minutes. We still wonder if by doing this we that we had somehow insulted the restaurant. At the hour mark we came back to check in and were told we could sit downstairs or continue to wait. It was a beautiful night and since they said we were next we said we would wait. A table that had 2 chairs was cleared and since we were a party of 3 we were told there was a seat limit outside and we could not have that table. There was plenty of room to pull up a chair and we watched a party of 4 already seated pull up 2 more chairs for friends who arrived 20 minutes into their meal. A table for 4 was cleared and we were told that table was ""reserved"" and we could not sit there and another party was sat. Odd since they did not take reservations. Finally after over 90 minutes we were sat downstairs in the dark cellar next to a large loud party. Yes, we debated leaving and before we were sat I began calling around to restaurants to see where we could get in right away since we were starving. Being that it was a Friday night at 9:30 on the LES, everything was a 45 minute wait. At this point we were happy to be shown a menu. The waiter had a huge attitude and was impatient when we asked him to explain the Italian dishes we were unfamiliar with. We had waited over 90 minutes to have a panini and bruscetta. Although good food, I know in NY we can find better food without the attitude and treatment. Cons: Attitude more

We were a party of five and after waiting for an hour we were sited at a table of four!\r Waiters kept bumping into our chairs since we were siting in such odd formation. [the chairs were sticking out!]\r \r The food is average at best and the service not very helpful!\r When I pointed out what our situation was they told me they will talk to the hostess and never heard back.\r \r I do not recommend this place at all, to paid a high price to sit uncomfortable.\r They should be ashame to be called a restaurant!\r You will never see me go there again!\r \r PS: They also don't take reservations unless you are a party of six, so you would be at the mercy of someone \r who doesn't care about you or how you will be sitting while you are having your dinner!\r Pros: Crowded and Uncomfortable Cons: Below average service more

Went for brunch. Always passed it on my way to the Williamsburg bridge by way of Ludlow. Finally went in... more

Went for brunch. Always passed it on my way to the Williamsburg bridge by way of Ludlow. Finally went in and was pleasantly surprised by the atmosp... more

A group of five of my friends ended up at 'inoteca by mistake last weekend when we couldn't get into the restaurant that we planned to go to, and although the restaurant was packed they were super friendly, helpful and corteous. They were honest about the long wait time and told us to sit at the bar and order appetizers. The bartender helped us with the menu and selected cheese for us. He was super friendly and helpful! A friend in our party had a large bag and they took it to the back office along with our coats. The food and wine were both amazing!! They were very gracious and I really appreciated their warm friendly service! Pros: Friendly and Warm Staff more