Focacceria

I've been here a couple of times for lunch during the week and the food has always been consistent and good.

They have a great lunch pre-fixe for $9.10 which includes salad, pasta entree, and dessert. It's a great deal! The salad is a nice big portion and they have really fresh cherry tomatoes (they were yummy). The pasta comes out piping hot and isn't an enormous portion that will leave you with food coma. And oh, dessert! You can choose between tiramisu and cheesecake (with lemon zest). Both are DELICIOUS!

I also really like their pasta fagioli soup and eggplant parmigiana.

This is very solid Italian place that will give you great food for not a lot of money!

Starving and wondering around the area looking for a place to eat, while realizing that my boyfriend wasn't excited to frequent any of the restaurants in the area, since he has been to most of them and wasn't impressed, I was beginning to lose hope.

Walking aimlessly and considering just starving to death we stumbled upon this restaurant. After reading the menu (the prices are not cheap, but seem to be common for the area) we sat outside.

One of the nice things about this restaurant is that it is not surrounded by many noisy bars, something that seemed to be the case just a block or two away, so we could sit outside and still hear each other talking.

The restaurant is small yet there is something very inviting about it and yet classy at the same time. After reviewing the menu I ordered the Tre Colore with Penne ( you can choose your pasta, which is cool) and my bf ordered the Eggplant Parmigiana.

My biggest fear when I go to restaurants (besides the food sucking) is that I wont be full from my meal. i did have this worry once I got my dish but oooh was I wrong. The dish was absolutely amazing and filling, the tomatoes, garlic and olive oil were a great combination, I am practically drooling when thinking about it . The Eggplant Parmigiana was amazing as well and it came with a potato croquette which was very good as well ( i never had it and him and I had a lovely assumption fest on what the hell it was for a while... luckily the mystery was solved by our waiter... if only we paid attention to the menu in the first place...)

The service was great as well, our waiter was informative and very nice. We also accompanied our dinner with wine, because it just seemed necessary.

So what we have here: Nice location, with outside seating and a more formal inside seating, good service, amazing food and just a generally good vibe.

This results in a 4.5 starts (would take half a star away cuz it took forever for someone to ask us if we wanted the check, but maybe they didnt want to rush us.. in that case it would be a 5) :)

Focacceria has a simple decor that is comfortable and typical of small Italian eateries. They have seating for about 20 people inside and another 10 outside. The only thing I didn't like about the setting was the paper table clothes. It was not busy at 1:00PM on a Thursday. They were playing 80's music such as Janet Jackson and Madonna. While it didn't fit the setting it was kind of fun.

They have a great lunch special which my colleagues and I all took advantage of: $9.10 for a salad, penne or linguine entree ($2 extra for chicken, $3 for shrimp), and dessert. I've uploaded a picture of the menu.

The caesar salad was pretty basic, but good, and after we finished there was a really long wait for the entree. Our waiter came over and told us that the chefs had left to make deliveries and that they do this from time to time. They were missing for about 15 minutes as we sat at an empty table across from the silent kitchen. Our waiter was really nice about it and also frustrated himself, so I can't fault him. But it was irritating because we didn't have an unlimited lunch break.

When they returned the chefs whipped up our pasta in a few minutes. Our waiter offered fresh mozzarella and pepper to top our pasta. The pasta was done right, my pesto sauce was thick and creamy, and actually too much for me. Most places drench the pasta in pesto sauce, so I will have to order light sauce next time. But it was great pesto. The chicken was not that good and didn't taste fresh. It was a little chewy and dry. The portions were good and I couldn't even finish my pasta. I was disappointed that there was no bread served with the pasta.

Each of my colleagues got a different dessert so we got to sample them all. The chocolate cake was super rich and molten, it barely kept its form as we ate every last bit of it. The tiramisu was equally delicious and I recommend both highly. The cheesecake was not to any of our likings. The waiter told us it was Italian cheesecake which has a texture and flavor that we didn't expect.

I plan to return to try their namesake focaccia sandwiches and I would definitely get the special again because it's a fantastic deal for a nice sit-down lunch.

Surprised this spot was empty on a school night. Must be all the other competition in the neighborhood.

Perfect setting for us with the dim lights, calmness and coziness. Our waiter was the best! Extremely attentive. We ordered our meals based on his recs. Had the calamari as well as the fresh mozzarella. For dinner, I ordered the Pollo pasta (grilled chicken and roasted peppers in a creamy tomato sauce.) while the bf had the Tre Colore pasta (Grilled chicken breast, broccoli di rabe and diced tomato in a garlic and olive oil sauce). Food came in huge portions, enough for a full lunch the next day.

Sad points. The food was mainly OK, nothing to brag about. The sauces mainly were too oily and heavy. Also at the end, our "cool" waiter included his own tip right in our check. The audacity! I guess he didn't except one from us "young kids". Also bathroom was primitive and a lil stinky.

To summarize:
4 for service
4 for decor/ambiance
3 for food.

I came here with a restaurant.com coupon in tow.

The fried mozzarella is pretty good.

The food here was okay, I had the shell steak. I thought it was a bit oversalted and didn't look that great. The carrots and broccoli were cooked perfectly.

My boo had the rigatoni pasta with meatballs and sausage. She didn't like it that much.

Even though the coupons were only available for use Sunday-Thurs, they have similar prefix deals which do about the same, so I don't think the coupons are worth it in this case.

The best part about this place is the smallness, quietness, and lack of crowd. There were only four people in there and we were served right away.

The second best part was their cheap prices, by NYC standards. Had I not splurged on alcohol and dessert, I could've left that place with a less than $40 bill. Maybe it's the way I dine, but the only time I see sub 40 is during brunch.

The third best thing, which may be a testament to its size, was the knowledgeable and helpful waiter. He knew everything about everything on the menu and he was able t recommend some good dishes based on our appetites and food preferences.

The fourth best thing was that they accepted our groupon certificate. You never know what restrictions some restaurateurs will pull out of their arses once it's time to present the groupon.

With that said, the food was alright, but nothing to write home about. I enjoyed it.The portions were HUGE! and the fried mozzarella was delightful (I liked the hint of sweetness)

I didn't like the forced gratuity. I have never seen forced gratuity on a Wednesday night for two people. In the end, I would've given him the same thing that ended up being on my bill, but I didn't like being told what to give and how much. They lose a star for that.

I only ordered here for delivery and pick up - first time, D wanted the cold antipasto and I just got the fried calamari.

I liked the fact they weren't shiesty with their marinara sauce, but I don't think I would come here if location wasn't a factor.

What happened to this place? :-/

Used to be my favorite Italian place, but way under delivered this time.
The pasta was way too mushy (all of them).

Bread is still good.

Coming back one more time to give it another chance, because I refuse to believe that it's this bad everyday! Please go back to how you were!

3.5 Stars.

Valentine's Dinner with friends!
Last minute RSVP (Like literally 6 hrs before dinner time). Found this Low Key Italian restaurant.

Walked in. There's LITERALLY 10 tables (so that means 10 couples) and the 4 single people enjoying a quiet lovely dinner.

ONE (yes, only ONE) Waitress was handling every table. Major Thumbs up for her for taking care of every table, great service with a great smile!.

ONE Chef (Yes, ONE Cooker only in the Kitchen). Was manage to take care of all of us in ONE night.

at exactly 8 PM we got in and sat us a round table. Water was served immediately and handed us the Menu. Minutes later the Waitress came back and took our orders.

Appetizers:
Shrimp and Calamari with White Sauce
Fresh Mozzarella vine ripened tomato, basil and virgin olive oil.

Entree
1) Villagio Pasta with grilled chicken breast and sun-dried tomato and mushrooms in a light cream sauce (I recommend this dish). I think I found my Favorite Italian Dish now.... Chunks of Chicken, light cream sauce mixed in with Penne. YUM YUM

2) Eggplant Parmigiana with fresh tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. - I didn't try it (because I don't like Eggplant). But my friend said it was pretty good

3) Ricotta (Chef's Special Menu) - Was alright. A bit salty and was not creamy enough (watery for me).

Best VALENTINE Dinner EVER (because of a low key romantic dinner with a great company)

A new year is, I think, arbitrary. But if I'm wrong, my 2011 might be doomed in some relatively important spheres: shelter, social interaction, and food. Among other annoyances so far, my one-and-only winter coat was stolen, my iPhone is sounding death whimpers, and my first meal out was a massive letdown.

I watched the film The Big Night last night (wonderful!), and it left me NEEDING a multi-course Italian meal. Goaded by high marks on Yelp and a restaurants.com coupon, I met my fave future novelist at Focacceria for dinner. We thought the $20 prix fixe menu a perfect way to meet the voucher's $40 minimum---except, the server informed us that's the one way NOT to use your coupon. Zing! (No written terms on the coupon exclude the prix fixe menu.)

Instead, we started with a caprese of anemic and tough tomatoes and an insipid field greens salad. We both chose whole wheat fettuccine with enticing sauces and vegetables; however, pasta and greens alike were boiled to pulpy mush, particularly in my asparagus with tomato cream version. Like a poor, sad, toy-less child playing with a mud puddle and a stick, my fork was more likely to part the soft and heavy gruel than lift it. I'm too bored with this recap to get into dessert. Just don't order the chocolate cake no matter how brightly your server recommends it.

Oh, 2011. I know you're just messing with me... don't.