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Court St-Borough Hall (2, 3, 4, 5, M, R, W)
Jay St (A, C, F)
This place is great for locals and visitors to the neighborhood. Situated just a few blocks from the Promenade makes it perfect for a date, family gathering or anytime you want to go to dinner and take an awesome stroll afterward.
I was just here for a bday dinner...I made a reservation for 12 people and changed both the date and time twice. Not many restaurants (especially ones that do well) will give up this much real estate during prime eating hours. The staff could not have been more accommodating.
The food is classic Italian - everything I tried was delicious. The appetizers were the weakest point, but the prices are so reasonable that I definitely recommend looking at the wine list and getting dessert. The berry tart is AMAZING; served warm with coconut gelato.
Wait staff was friendly although seemed a little inexperienced. Overall, entirely a pleasant experience.
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Well, looking at the other reviews, it seems like people either love this place or hate it. I thought it was OK...
I ate there on a pleasant weekend afternoon, when Montague St. was closed and there was plenty of outdoor seating. We enjoyed drinks and breads while waiting for lunch. The sandwiches were tasty. The different options looked basically the same -- your choice of portobello, salami, etc., on foccaccia with mozzarella and pesto. You have more mix-and-match pasta options, also tasty. All together, a nice, relatively quick lunch.
Italian food that is pedestrian at best but for New York it is a *ZERO*.
The standard pasta side is a fusilli that has been sitting in what tastes like canned tomato sauce. Ugh.
The fish dishes are way too salty. The veal dishes are a complete waste of what might be fine meat -- but we'll never know because the kitchen destroys the veal. The pastas resemble what the Atlanta Marriott might serve at a corporate event's buffet lunch. Get on line, and grab a plate.
The atmosphere is completely uninspired.
The waitresses all seem to be young Russian immigrants. No problem with that, but it's an interesting dynamic.
In a nutshell: it's the kind of place people who don't dine out often might be lured to as an upgrade to Friday's or Dallas BBQ. But the rest of us will be disappointed.
How this place manages to stay in business is beyond me.
Visit near-by Noodle Pudding or Queen for much better Italian food. Or call me -- I'll bury its product in my little kitchen any day.
Hailing from the southern part of Italy, we have a longstanding weakness for Expresso Coffee and the sight of it on a menu card brings on a Italian salivation. So we decided to indulge in this Coffe named as a "Fine dining italian restaurant" before embarking on our meal proper.
One sip was all it took for us to realize that Caffe Buon Gusto makes one of the worst Coffees in NEW YORK. A beverage so pitiful that it left us in a sputtering rage.
It takes a really pathetic kitchen staff to dish out Coffee this bad. Our Coffee lacked any flavor of the beverage let alone that of the finely aromatic Coffee - the problem was that it contained far too much milk and too little coffee decoction. The Coffee Was burned!!!! It seemed to me that they leave it there throughout the day not caring if it tastes like crap.
Our spirits flagging, we gloomily launched into our meal.
During our recent visit to this Brooklyn Heights "Italian" restaurant, we covered considerable territory. We sampled a variety of dishes including such Veal Parmigiana, Crab cakes (this is not even an italian dish, but whatever ! owner doesnt know shit! )and the usual accompaniments like fussili, PRosciourto and Portobello Mushrooms that come with these dishes.
PAsta and main courses lack of flavor. Just a mound of hot pasta cooked with some cheap tomatoe sauce and insufficient jaggery, it lacked the consistency of real pasta!
If the bozos at Buon Gusto can't even cook a good bowl of Pasta or make a decent cup of coffee, what in the heck are they capable of?
Well of course, the stupid staff are all illegal inmigrants! By the way, the are not Russians they are mostly Polish and they dont care about serving... instead they just chitchat in the bar area and flirt with the creepy manager as well as all the mal customers sitting at the bar. About the food...what can we expect if the Cheff is Dominican, clueless about how italian food is prepared, even more clueless where Italy is located in a MAP!
Veal was serverd cold and bland, it was - forget palatable - virtually inedibile.
To serve such a pitiful parody of the Veal with the side pasta the costliest dish at this restaurant, shows utter contempt for diners coming to the restaurant in hopes of a good meal.
What's wrong with these lazy servers and cheffs? Most of them serve stale, cold, bland pasta these days that's far from fresh.
Honestly, it is far expensive for what the have to offer. If you want a decent meal, for 14 bucks, you should go to another restaurant in SOHO.
But what spoiled our enjoyment at Caffe Buon Gusto the was that disgusting Veal again.
Our dessert choice Tiramisu (is one of the most popular Italian cakes. It is made of savoiardi -otherwise known as lady finger biscuits- dipped in espresso or strong coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, mascarpone, and sugar, and topped with cocoa.
Indian almond fudge flavored with Saffron) proved to be a disappointment too. Besides lacking the almond flavor, it had a half-cooked texture and tasted more like some gooeish mixture of shit . You might as well take $6.00 (cost of the tiramisu) and throw it in the street.
When we asked our Polish waitress Liliana, a young flirty girl, about the check, cause we where charged for a fish we didnt even ordered. While she was eager to help us out with our check, she did not seem particularly knowledgeable about this restaurant. She had to call the manager, and the manager was a total disaster. This old "half italian half Argentinian" guy who was so rude ! He tried to please us by serving us more of his hidious coffee and some free "cheese cake".
With Buon Gusto proving to be such a bad experience, it's going to be quite a while before we can muster the fortitude to visit this restaurant at all !!!!
WE recommend that you go accross the street and get yourself some pizza there! It is better looking and the staff is nicE!
It might not be as good as the one on 77th street but it was one of my hangouts when I used to live in Brooklyn. This was probably the first trendy place that open in Brooklyn. I made the switch from Montague Saloon to Buon Gusto because I loved the European girls that used to hang out at the bar. I also love the food especially the Pesto and the Tiramisu is excellent.
My wife and I have been going to the restaurant for the past 12 years. It has a friendly casual atmosphere, and quality pasta dishes. It is a great place to stop if you are on a first date, and want to walk along Montague street to the promenade after, or a business lunch that will not blow out your expense budget.
I have recommended Cafe Buon Gusto to countless friends and business associates for the past 12 years. It is worth the trip from Marine Park.
- 1 star
heavy, exceedingly heavy handed with the salt this time, assault O.D.!
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bah humbug to the atkins diet and diets of that kin, that said i'm too well bred to say how… Read more »
My friend and I were looking for a lunch spot where we could sit outside, and this place fit the bill. We were both craving pasta, so we split 2 pasta dishes-- crab meat ravioli with a cognac cream sauce and spinach ravioli with an artichoke vodka sauce.
The crab meat ravioli was good, and came with jumbo shrimp too, perfectly cooked. We both preferred my sauce; the focaccia soaked up the extra nicely at the end. The pasta dishes do not come with a salad or anything, so we basically ended up paying almost $20 each for pasta only. The portions are not huge, but we were pretty impressed with the pasta (the ravioli is homemade). Would I go back? Probably not, but if you work in the area I would check it out.
The outdoor seating area was very cramped, but it was worth it to enjoy being outside on such a beautiful day.
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- low key
- recommend duck w/ risotto and the poached pear for dessert
- owner (Nando) floats around to greet customers
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The only reason I absolutely love this restaurant is becuase the food is AMAZING! My boyfriend and I travel from Sunset Park just to eat here. I get the spinach gnocchi and it is so scrumptous! The gnocchi isn't rock hard, and has amazing flavor and their sauces are amazingggg and so are the mussles provencal. The only negative is the waitstaff is not good at all. I think they must be daughters/friends because they all wear juicy sweatpants, and ate in a group of 4 or 5 of them while my boyfriend and i were waiting and waiting for our check. The bussers, and cooks are more personable and a lot nicer and attentive then that wantresses... For the prices they charge, these ladies should not be waltzing around in sweatpants!
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When visiting someone who works for the Eastern District Court of New York, I suppose this is a decent place to eat. And that's really the best thing I can say.
The food is your typical fare, pastas and whatnot. And it's prepared in a perfectly acceptable way.
Service is a bit slow and their serving size of soda leaves much to be desired.
I left feeling... ehn.
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Oh My Gosh!!! This place has the WORST waitress service ever!!! They served COLD eggplant! Yes, COLD!! They are overpriced and out of touch! Is anyone even Italian here??! Not the best place to go! Go to Noodle Pudding if you want some quality and for the same price!!!!!
Caffe Buon Gusto is excellent. It is my favorite Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. Try the lamb tortellini! The atmosphere and service is first class. Every time I come here for a meal I happen to compliment the food with the manager who is very gracious and has given us free dessert. It can be a little expensive however so heads up!
A nice spot on Montague for a casual yet substantive dinner. The veal tortellini should not be ignored.
For appetizers we shared the assorted cheese and cold cuts platter, and my entree was the pasta carbonara (I chose linguini as my pasta).
The appetizer platter was yummy, with at least 4 different types of cheese (a blue, a brie-like cheese, and 2 others I couldn't identify), with about 5 slices of cold cuts (salami, prosciutto, and something else I can't remember). The pasta carbonara had pancetta and onions, and the sauce was creamy but not too thick. A little more onions and cheese would've been nice.
We got several baskets of bread, some of which had melted cheese not sure what kind, and was sooo good dipping into the olive oil!
In addition to scrumptious-looking pasta entrees and other main dishes, you can also create your own pasta with your choice of sauce (pesto, marinara, bolognese, etc) and choice of pasta (linguini, rigatoni, penne, etc), with whatever additional toppings you want (spinach, sausage, shrimp, etc)!
Cute, quaint restaurant, a little crowded since there's not much space, perfect for a date or small group of friends. They also have outdoor seating.
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considering the slim pickins on montague, this place really isn't half bad. in fact, it's quite good. the only downside (and the reason I don't come here more often) is that I always end up spending more than I had intended to. although, that's partly because I always order wine. if you don't order alcohol, it's pretty reasonable. one word of advice, however: if you're ordering pasta and decide to add anything to it (sausage, mushrooms etc.) know that your 13 dollar pasta can quickly become 20 dollar pasta.
the only thing I've ever ordered is pasta. a lot of them are homemade, and aside from the combinations they suggest, there's an endless number of creations that you can come up with yourself. needless to say, it's sort of difficult to drag yourself away from that page of the menu.
the menu, by the way, is huge. it covers all of the standard italian fare from a to z. in fact, sensory overload probably accounts for why I always default to pasta.
not anything to write home about, but a good choice if you're in need of a dependable italian place nearby.
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This place was great food and a relaxing summer dinner outside. The prixe fix menu for dinner was a great deal. The salad with aged balsamic vinegar was a great way to start the meal. The three mini lamb chops which were fantastic and well paired with a port wine reduction. For dessert, the ricotta cheese cake and tiramisu which i shared with my dining partner were both a perfect way to end the meal.
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So after partying for 5 straight days, I understand why they call NYC the city that never sleeps. We wanted to go somewhere local around the Marriott @ Brooklyn Bridge. Located in the Brooklyn Heights, this cafe conveniently hit the spot. The entire staff is stocked of some fly ladies, who all had some dope personalities to go along with their looks. I got the vegetarian sandwich with fetta cheese and mushrooms. The presentation along with the taste of the sandwich were excellent. I don't see how you can lose by going here.
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I've been here a couple of times for lunch, and would say it's hands down the best food on Montague. I'm never quite satisfied with any of the restaurants on Montague, but Buon Gusto is a safe bet for professional lunches / dinner with parents, etc... Both experiences I had here were great, and reports from people I recommended it to were the same.
I went to this place randomly for lunch. The food was great. They have a bunch of really good sandwiches, salads, and pastas. We had the apple and goat cheese salad, rigatoni with pesto, and a portabella/mozzerella/tomato sandwich. All were tasty. Now for the major downside that I was tempted to subtract more than one star for, but since the food was so good I didn't..... The waitresses SUCK! The one we had would snap "WHAT?" in the middle of anything you could possibly say and would then move her head within inches of yours for you to repeat it. It kinda became a game to see how far into your sentence before she pulled her antics. It wasn't just her though. The rest of them were nearly as bad, especially the one who was yelling someone's espresso order (by saying expresso) to the back and when the didn't hear her screaming after the third time, she proceeded to spell it E-X-P-...... This is the sort of thing that can infuriate me. I have to say the busboys were great. They should trade places with the waitresses because those girls are completely useless. I wouldn't go back based on service alone, but the food was really good, so I will.
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went here with my parents. the food was good and they were awesome with sharing (they split the meals generously and didn't charge extra for it). Love the salad choices, but not the gelato so much. although there is a bar, the inside decor doesn't inspire, but sitting outside is nice, although it can be a little crowded. For neighborhood brooklyn this is good, not sure i'd go to the Manhattan location though, with so many other choices.
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Sunday Special - Must be…
Neighborhood: Murray Hill
Special Discount for Yelpers!
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights
Category: Cajun/Creole
all in walking-ish distance to the DOE…
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