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Bello Sguardo - CLOSED
Categories: Restaurants Tapas Bars Restaurants Mediterranean Tapas Bars, Mediterranean [Edit]
410 Amsterdam Ave(between 79th St & 80th St)
New York, NY 10024
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
(212) 873-6252
- Nearest Transit:
-
79 St (1, 2)
81 St - Museum of Natural History (A, B, C)
86 St (1, 2)
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
Ian C. said: "I think most of the reviews talk about how the food is good but the service is not so good. We had a perfectly great dinner at Avra, table for 4. The raves about the food are correct. If you want simple fresh seafood, its really very…" read more »
19 reviews for Bello Sguardo
19 reviews in English
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Review from TootTootTootsie G.
New York, NY
8/1/2009
This is one of our favorite neighborhood spots. The capellini tossed with spinach, tomatoes, crushed red pepper, garlic, roasted peppers, and olive oil is a great option on a hot summer night, because it's filling without being too heavy. Another nice light meal is a combination of the Mediterranean-style chopped salad and an order of fried calamari with a crispy corn meal crust and a spicy tomato dipping sauce. The Moroccan chicken with preserved lemons, green olives, and roasted peppers is another good choice.
If you're looking to satisfy a healthy appetite, they offer two prix-fixe three-course dinner options, one for $19.95, the other for $24.95. You definitely should splurge and spend the extra $5. I recommend starting with the baked acorn squash or the gorgonzola polenta with mushrooms, then choose either the shrimp on a bed of black linguine with spicy Fra Diavolo sauce or the lamb tandir with mashed potatoes. Be sure to have the chocolate brioche pudding with bourbon sauce and fig gelato for dessert. There are very few restaurants in Manhattan where you can enjoy this much delicious food for such a low price. For an additional $20, you can get a bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Grigio.
The $17 Sunday brunch, which includes a drink, dessert, and coffee, also is a great deal. The French toast with strawberries and bananas will keep you full until dinner.
We come here on a fairly regular basis so the service is always very attentive, but I think everyone is treated equally. Tables are fairly close to each other and it can get a little noisy when the restaurant is full, so this might not be the best place for a first date, but it's the perfect place for a group to share assorted tapas and a variety of entrees. -
Review from Debie K.
New York, NY
9/13/2009
"Bello Sguardo" translates to "beautiful view" in Italian, but the only view I had the entire night was of the back of our waitress, continually ignoring our table.
I originally planned on getting a quick sushi dinner, but after spotting the $19.95 3-course prix-fixe dinner menu at bello sguardo, my date and I decided to try it out. The restaurant was just half full yet we were seated at the very furthest corner table. Maybe they wanted to give us an intimate, private seat but I would have preferred a more central table, especially if that meant the waitstaff would have paid more attention to us.
The bread came out quickly enough with a lovely plate of olives and currants doused in olive oil. Unfortunately It was all downhill after that. I kept trying to make eye contact with the waitress once we were ready to place our orders, but she would just saunter up and down the restaurant ignoring all the patrons and mingling once in awhile with the other waiters. We were finally able to place our orders of the white bean salad and "black and white" olive tapenade cookies as appetizers, the pan-seared skate and lamb shank for entrees, and tiramisu and ricotta cheesecake for dessert.
Our appetizers and entrees took so long to come out, I was convinced that our waitress had forgotten us and that our food was just sitting in the kitchen getting cold. Eventually the food started making its way to our table. The white bean salad came out with fluffy, chewy pita triangles and the beans were flavored with delicious fresh basil. Surprisingly good. The "black and white" olive tapenade/goat cheese cookies were a bit on the salty side. I couldn't finish the plate of 6 cookies myself. While the pan-seared skate entree was well-cooked, it tasted like it was completely doused in vinegar and the fresh flavor of the fish was completely lost. Talk about a heavy-hand. My braised lamb shank on the other hand was flavorful but tricky to eat. The accompanying moroccan cous-cous was also delicious with its dots of dried currants.
Dessert here felt like an after-thought. We were served a tiny sliver of dense cheesecake and a couple of large spoonfuls of tiramisu. I love dessert but couldn't bring myself to finish everything. Just not worth the calories.
I wanted to enjoy Bello Sguardo since it's so close to my apartment and the ambience seems chic and intimate. I walk by it almost everyday and always wondered if the food was any good. Now that my curiosity has been quashed, I don't see myself returning to check out the view at bello sguardo anytime soon. It's a shame, since the food wasn't half bad and the prices were more than reasonable. If they work on the service and not making their customers feel like they're being ignored, bello sguardo could be a really great neighborhood spot.Listed in: UWS Eatz
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Review from Terri V.
Manhattan, NY
4/27/2009
Here is a perfect example of a kitchen staff that cooks nice dishes, but the experience is spoiled by an incredibly horrrible waitstaff. This place had maybe 7 tables going with two waitresses for lunch service...the rest of the restaurant was empty.
We ordered a prix fixed meal and a D.O.C. bottle of Montepulciano Abbruzzo wine off of the $20 wine list. Received the wine and appetizers promptly.
Appetizers:
White bean salad w/sun dried tomatoes, basil, olive oil and lemon dressing, served with pasta....good!
Patlican Salad Turkish smoked eggplant puree w/ garlic and olive oil...
good, but not my husband's favorite.
Entrees:
My husband's penne arrabiata arrived after waiting 30 minutes and appeared to have been sitting under the heat lamp for about that long. He said it would have been tasty if they had served it when it first came out.
My entree didn't arrive until my husband was finished with his arrabiata...20 minutes later, so we didn't actually eat simultaneously.
We waited 45 minutes after that, finishing our wine, trying to wave down the unbusy waitress or .....someone......then finally asked the manager for the check........
he brought our baklava dessert in a "to go" bag and sat it on the table.
We left the "to go" bag where it sat...if we wanted "to go" we would have ordered in.
During the course of lunch, the table of foreign visitors next to us accidently broke a wine glass and asked it to be replaced....that NEVER happened....after 20 minutes, I politely gave them a wine glass from a pre-set table next to us.
I can only remember one or two other times that we intentionally left zero tip...this was one of them. -
Review from Jason H.
New York, NY
4/10/2009
Great food -- i was a fan of the sauce they serve with the calamari (it's spicy), also they do a mean kabob. Service is fantastic. Owner is always on the scene when I visit. Have not had to wait long for a table either (surprisingly)
A famous opera singer lives in the building and visits the restaurant from time to time. When he comes, he'll do a quick performance for the restaurant to enjoy. -
Review from Jacob W.
San Anselmo, CA
4/20/2009
Place was nice, but the bartender didn't seem to know what she was doing and charged us $43 for two drinks.
And there was some creepy promoter guy who seated us, served us our menus, and sat next to us during our dinner who we thought worked there for a while but, we found out later, did not. -
Review from Robert B.
New York, NY
12/6/2009
Will not be back.
Had a Sunday lunch/brunch there, wife ordered the buckwheat crepes - after 15 minutes they didn't have the buckwheat but changed to semolina, which 5 minutes later (and some serious sounding arguing from in back) they didn't have either. She switched to the "Eggs" aka omelet - which was described as having "home fries" on the menu but arrived with skinny french fries. My panini had been under a heat lamp for quite a while (in fact they forgot it when her eggs arrived). The food was diner grade at best.
All we got was a long series of "I'm sorry" and a full bill for the eggs (which was more than the crepes was to be) and panini. Like another reviewer we left no tip. -
Review from Dan C.
3/7/2010
Bello Sguardo, oy vey. What a disaster. Where to begin? Let's start with the staff. They only had 2 servers, plus a bus boy on to cover the whole restaurant, plus tables that were placed on the sidewalk (first day above 55 degrees in months). So servers had tables inside and out on the "patio". As a former server, this is a train wreck waiting to happen. Most of the time, you get a 4-5 table section, with all the tables close together and you are either inside the restaurant or out on the patio, never both. When you have tables on opposite ends of a restaurant, or both inside and outside, some guests are going to totally get screwed. They had the triple whammy: 2 servers splitting the restaurant and the patio, with no sense of order at all. I got nervous when we walked in and a server said,"feel free to seat yourselves anywhere"..... uh-oh, that means no seating plan, so one server could have way more tables than the other. In addition, there was no visible manager in the place. The servers were making their own drinks, waiting tables, seating guests, moving tables for large parties, and helping the bus boy. And when food came out, slowly and in big waves, there was always a cacophony in the middle of the restaurant with the servers and bus boy, figuring out where the food was going, etc. One time, I saw a server come out of the kitchen with two plates of hot food, put them down on the bar, go to another table, take an order, then go back to the bar and deliver the food to its destination!!
Why am I going on and on? Well, we were one of those tables that got screwed. Things started fine. We were greeted promptly, and quickly got our drinks and placed our food order. We both ordered the whole wheat linguine with lamb ragu (yum). Then the waiting began, and went on and on. We never received bread (not that I wanted any), as the tables around us got some. The waiting went on for 35 minutes. I asked the server and she gave a lame response, "oh sorry, the kitchen is backed up". She did not even go into the kitchen, just went back to wandering around. Then, at 40 minutes, I grabbed what appeared to be a manager and asked him to check in. He went over to the computer and talked to the servers and then, he too disappeared. Finally, at around 50 MINUTES after ordering, our food hit the table. Are you kidding me???? No apologies, just a weak, "enjoy your meal". WTF? We asked for grated cheese and ground pepper and only got the cheese. The good thing is that the food was hot, the bad thing is that it meant that after about 40 minutes of whatever, they decided to make our food. I don't even want to imagine what mayhem was going in the kitchen.
On to the food. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the portion was good and the lamb ragu was sublime. The ragu was chunky, with lots of tender ground lamb and overall, the sauce was quite flavorful.
I will probably never come back due to the poor organization and execution of this restaurant from front to back. We had an awful, awful time. The only thing sparing this place from getting 1 star is that the food was quite good. -
Review from MARIANA L.
New York, NY
3/16/2006
Elegant and refreshingly inexpensive Upper West Side boite for tapas, Italian and Mediterranean. Service is the weakest link here, but the prices, simple ambience and good food make up for it.
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Review from Gustad M.
New York, NY
8/25/2008
very fun to sit outside here. we got about 5 tapas/pasta dishes for the 4 of us and i was starving by the end of the meal... though this did make the meal nice and cheap! it was 3 tapas, and 2 half pasta dishes.
probably a very good place for the first few dates.
there was this massive white dog sitting with a couple at the restaurant that night. he was so big, he took up more than half the available sidewalk, and seemed to have some disability. poor guy, he looked like he was in pain. -
Review from Nina B.
5/5/2009
The service here was really great. The waitstaff knew what they were talking about and could provide solid recommendations for food along the way. They were incredibly attentive, and the food was pretty good. I particularly enjoyed the Octopus salad and the Sigara Borek. The pastry was perfectly flaky, and the feta was to die for. The dining set up is great for a comfortable spring afternoon where the wide open doors allow you to be inside while getting the feeling of being outside.
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Review from Alba U.
New York, NY
2/2/2010
Was invited out for what turned out to be a flawless meal here the other night. Amazing wines to choose from, and great grub-- The delicate and creamy caponata and bread which was brought over was a nice beginning, followed by a custom designed cheese plate laid out nicely with figs and other tasty morsels- delicioso. Then I had a chipotle marinated strip steak, which was tender, flavorful and satisfying, and a couple glasses of the Shiraz recommended by the charming bartender, and my date had an exotic sounding fish... can't recall what it was called, but 'twas seasoned and cooked to perfection. Great ambiance and service. Definitely will be back very soon!
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Review from M A.
Jersey City, NJ
5/17/2010
Bello Sguardo was highly recommended to us, and for the most part, it did not disappoint. For starters, we had the Mediterranean Black & White Crostini, which was so good I decided to incorporate it into my home collection of recipes. Simple, tasty, and a nice savory twist to the B&W cookie. For the entree, I had the Skate in Par-do sauce, which was also excellent. Dessert was a perfect baklava. Unlike the baklava I get at my favorite Jersey diners, this baklava was warm, and not overpoweringly sweet. The only disappointment of the night was the following: the other appetizer we ordered was the Quenele of Spanish Çabrales. The cheese was way too strong for me, but that shouldn't dissuade anyone who loves strong, pungent cheeses.
Overall, it was a good experience and would definitely come back to try some more of their dishes. -
Review from Jojo Y.
New York, NY
12/2/2009
Make sure to arrive before 7 because once you miss the prix-fixe the food here is really not a good value, and don't come with an appetite because you might be waiting 45 minutes for the waiter to take your drink order. pass.
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Review from Bob A.
New York, NY
3/4/2010
My wife and I have been here twice in the past 2 months and have had a wonderful dinner each time. The most recent time, on March 1st, we had a party of 6 and everyone loved their dishes. The prix-fixe dinner is an outstanding value but even the regular menu prices are reasonable for the quality of the preparation. Unlike some reviews from last year, the service was excellent. The wine list isn't huge but has good choices in a broad price range. The Columbia Crest reds are an especially good value.
We eat out often and the combination of quality and price at Bello Sguardo are among the best we've seen. -
Review from chicka d.
WOODLAND HLS, CA
6/11/2009
My boyfriend and I walked in here after a horrible experience at another nameless restaurant that we left mid meal. We got to Bello Sguardo around 11pm and we were greeted with such graciousness it was awesome. We had the prix-fixe for $19.95 a person. The highlights were the Arugala salad, the humus and the Chicken rosemary basil and mushroom pasta. If I had to change anything it would have been the lamb shank, it was kind of flavorless.
However the real highlight was how well we were treated and attended to. The waitress, bartender and the busboy always made sure we were taken care of.
It was such a wonderful end to what could have been a horrible evening.
Thank you Bello Sguardo! -
Review from Leah G.
New York, NY
3/22/2010
The service left a bit to be desired but the food and presentation more than made up for it. We ordered 2 of the specials- the chicken lollipops and the lamb dumplings in yogurt sauce as well as the Mediterranean salad. The portions were definitely "tapas" sized but were absolutely delicious and gorgeous. The salad came out wrapped in a cucumber slice and was filled with a vibrant mix of peppers, cucumber, and feta. My favorite, however, was the dumplings in yogurt sauce dish. I have never liked a yogurt sauce in my life but this was so light, tangy, and refreshing that it turned me into a convert. If it weren't for our difficulty in getting bread plates and bread at the beginning of our meal, I would have given this place 5 stars. Perhaps next time!
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Review from Joe S.
New York, NY
4/13/2009
4/5 stars avg... really?? I was extremely unimpressed by the food at this restaurant.
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Review from Mark B.
Berkeley, CA
11/26/2009
The fixed price menu (4-7pm) is incredible. $20 for a large selection of appetizers and entrees with large portions, really good food and then a dessert. White bean salad w/pita to die for. Excellent Moroccan chicken with olives and fantastic pasta with mushroom and chicken. Really like the cheesecake (and Turkish pudding). Went there 3 times in 4 nights. Nice service every time. Also good bread and olive tapenade brought to the table to start the meal!
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Review from Jaime S.
New York, NY
7/12/2006
perfect for dinner on a summer evening - you can sit outside, sip wine and enjoy the mediterranean inspired tapas dishes. i will definitely be going back for the white bean salad. prices are pretty reasonable too. shame on me for not trying this place out sooner.
