On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
7th Ave (F)
Sunday thru Thursday 10% off for Yelpers (cash only). Lunch specials all week for only $12.50, come join us and see what the Yelp is about
Scalino prides itself on fresh ingredients and simple but delicious Italian food.
She tried the mint and lemon parpadelle. "I'd like to try and make this." It's clear that when you want to recreate the flavor in your mouth at home, the restaurant has done something right. Sadly, our attempt at mimicry fell short of greatness. Another testament to Scalino's talented chefs. We had the same ingredients, the dish is simple, but we lacked the professional finesse. Because of this we will continue to return.
Scalino is always packed Thursday through Saturday night even when other places on the same block are empty. Locals known this a real quality joint. Although not fancy, the atmosphere is pleasant and laid back. The food is unpretentious and great -- especially the pasta, which is fresh and perfectly cooked.
One of the more fun aspects of this restaurant is the two owners, who are there every night it seems. One of them will most likely come by your table, plunk down a big chalkboard with the specials on it, and explain the details of each one.
The wine list, though short, is worth checking it out too. (Remember when the place was BYOB -- oh well!)
I've walked by this place a million times and never gone in before, too bad for me! Maybe it was the bright lighting that put me off?
Anway, I went here with some friends, one of whom is Italian, and we all loved it. I had the fresh papardelle with lemon and mint - so simple and so delicious, everyone was stealing it from my plate! The Italian friend gave it her "I'm a real Italian person" two thumbs up.
Delicious Italian food. Fresh ingredients. Pasta cooked to al dente perfection!
Dishes we always get when we go:
Grilled Calamari ( yummmy- husband and i always eat very scrap on the plate)
Broccoli Rabe Pasta
Creamy polenta ( very baby/toddler friendly dish)
Actually AnYTHING we've ordered here has been amazing.
Try it!
Brunch until 4?! On Sunday? Thank you so much for serving until 4 Scalino. My cup runneth over with mimosa refills too--I never had to ask. The food took a little while to be made, so don't come here expecting to be served quickly. That sad, it is nice to enjoy a lazy afternoon brunch. I had trouble picking what I wanted form the menu. They all looked really good. The ingredients were all so fresh.
Words of caution: Some of the patrons come in groups and can be loud and obnoxious (too many bloody marys I guess). They'll seat you somewhere further away if available. Sitting outside is great for people watching.
as good as it gets..... for the price. seriously, average entree is like $12 and its better then plenty of $20 menus in the area and manhattan.
Rigatoni scalino every time and if not the one with bacon. I'm a creature of habit and scalino is in the loop at least once a month either delivery of at the restaurant. summer is nice to sit outside...but every time i am outside for some reason there is always a loud annoying person right next to me. it just makes me order a 2nd drink that's all.
the arugula salad is solid. They have a similar one at craft bar and restaurant (collichio) in the city... maybe they grabbed this from them? doesn't matter I'll be back
Came here for lunch. The well-priced dishes tasted fresh. We started with a perfectly seasoned lentil salad, and the noodles in my lasagna were perfectly soft, such that I felt it would almost fall apart.
This place has a great location, delicious food and reasonable prices. However, the problem for me is that the owner treats his employees horribly. He is always shouting at them in front of the customers and snapping his fingers at them, almost like showing off. It's so awful to see that my husband and I can no longer eat there--maybe this review will be seen by him and he'll change the way he acts in public.
Yep, 5 stars. I know, I'm blushing. Scalino - you dog you. Maybe 4.5 stars is more realistic, but hell I'm caught in this restaurant's eyes, and I just can't say no. Can't say no to it's price, it's location, it's unpretentious feel, it's always excellent specials, it's consistent dishes, it's accommodating, quick and friendly service. I've had the meat, the fish, the salads, the soups, the pasta, the desserts, the wine - all are right on point. Must have eaten at Scalino 5-10 times now, and have never had a bad meal. Never even had just an average meal. Always tasty, always satisfied. What more do you want? Tap-dancing cats? Singing bears? Not that kind of place my friend.
I'm sure there are better Italian restaurants in the world, but Scalino has no delusions of grandeur - it simply makes high quality Italian food day in, day out. It is that rare Italian restaurant you don't leave saying, "The meal was okay, I guess - but I could have made that myself, or made something better." I tend to be very critical of Italian food, cause let's be honest, it's one of those cuisines that usually tastes better and is far more affordable from your own stove than from someone else's. But Scalino really gave me a reason to appreciate dining-out Italian again. Jeez, I sound like I have a crush on the place. Well, maybe I do. Nothing wrong with a man's love for his food. And for his food's establishment. So Scalino - call me, I'm all yours.
Excellent pasta. I heartily suggest the rigatoni with sausage and tomato-cream sauce for a perfectly-portioned and ridiculously reasonably priced treat. (High prices, Robert P? Really? Even the daily meat specials sit at around only $15.)
I like the proprietors' friendly attitude, but I hate (hate!) being read the chalkboard menu when I sit down. If you have the specials written, just let me peruse them myself! I don't like the whole charade of being interested in every single special on the menu as they read it. I just want your tasty, tasty pasta!
There seems to be a divide over this restaurant.
I know some people love it but I just don't see the charm! I ate there opening night and found the owner to be personable but a bit pushy for my tastes. I wanted a quiet dinner with a friend, he wanted to affirm our food choices etc... We split a caprese appetizer which was standard but good and I had the ravioli which were obviously not home made. Not only were they standard grocery store pasta at a place that is trying to give off a cozy trattoria vibe, but the preparation left a lot to be desired. It was so unspectacular I commented that I could easily improve on it at home and I am by no means a good cook. I was so disappointed with the meal that we didn't order dessert.
Was it opening night jitters? Absolutely not. I figured I'd give the place a second try a few weeks ago and it was the same unspectacular food. I guess everyone else knows what to order? Maybe I'm just missing something or maybe the vegetarian options are just not worth it.
Either way, I'd rather avoid any place with service that in-your-face and pushy.
The food here is solid and good. The guys who run the place are friendly and good people. A must try is the white beans and sausage as a app, I often get the lamb shank it is so tender you don't need knife, my girlfriend like the scallops over greens! Also there tagliatelle and papardelle is wonderful!
This place has potential. I wouldn't pick it again; but if a friend wanted to go here I wouldn't say no. With a little tweaking this could be a great restaurant. I can't resist making some suggestions here, both in the hopes that the owners read this, and also to guide prospective diners. First, while it wasn't cold out, this place was chilly. In the fall and winter they should put up some drapes. This will keep the cold out and will create a warmer, more romantic vibe. The mood suggests hearty food in a local place. But the food wasn't really hardy. The arugula salad was too delicate for autumn and the hunks of cheese in it were bland; there wasn't really a dressing, just some olive oil and some tomato. Boring and not satisfying. I ordered the fish special. I asked if it was on the bone (I hate fish with bones). The waiter said it would be filet. There were bones, and the fish was mushy, and flavorless. Some lemony squash on the plate was better, but it wasn't enough. I, by the way am a small person and not a huge eater. My companion had pork shoulder. This was better and actually came with wonderful spinach and white beans. A butternut squash puree was great for dessert and the coffee was amazing. The owner is oddly interactive. Somehow he managed to give each of us the feeling that he was being too attentive to the other person. The place was empty and it wasn't late, but I had the feeling they wanted us to leave and they dropped the check without being asked. As I write the word that occurs to me is ambivalent. The food was up and down; the owner seemed to have some approach/avoidance thing going on, the place looks warm and inviting, but isn't and the environment suggests hearty food, but it isn't really.
Wonderful simple food! True Italian food (in my experience living in Italy) is about using just a few simple ingredients and letting the food speak for itself. That is often hard to do in America, when the produce can be hit or miss... After all we grow our tomatoes for size, shape, consistency, ability to be transported far distances, etc... NOT for taste as would make the most sense....
I really enjoyed my meal here. It started with a cold corn soup. We sat outside and since it was hot, a cold soup was a great way to start the meal. Usually cold items have less flavor, but this was fantastic. Chunks of corn but in a light thin broth with many other flavors, this was just excellent.
I then had the pasta (forgive me for forgetting the name...) in the pink sauce with bacon. Someone below mentioned that they did not like this dish at all, i found it to be excellent. Strong flavors, it looked and tasted like real Italian food.
The service was excellent, they were attentive and friendly, and they do serve wine. Highly recomended for a local place.
"Little Step"
Scalino means little step, in Italian, according to the super friendly owners who not only serve me with a smile everytime, but my lovely canine companion as well. I often go to this place alone with my pup on a mellow weeknight. They always have fresh water and a few extra pieces of bread for her and lots of great choices on the menu.
I love the home-grown authentic feel. Every time I pass this place, the owners are taking 'little steps' to improve the restaurant itself. Sure, for now- it's a bit sparse, but I find it refreshing!
well priced, charming and simple. great friendly relaxed service.
Solid Italian. It's BYOB, so this place is definitely a bargain. There are a bunch of wine stores in the vicinity, so it's simple to pick something up on your way. The sausage and broccoli rabe appetizer I ordered was tasty, but the sausage wasn't exactly hot when it arrived. The bread tasted as if it was about to go stale, and the olive oil served with the bread wasn't the best - it was a little too "oil" with not enough "olive."
The pasta dishes, on the other hand, were very good. The portion size was perfect, the pasta was cooked perfectly and my morel and brown butter sauce was close to extraordinary. My companion's creamy tomato sauce with sausage was also very good.
We really like this friendly neighborhood joint. The patio is perfect, and it's on a great corner for people watching. The fresh pasta is really good. I like it better than Sette and Sotto Voce. Not as good as Al Di La, obviously, but it's really affordable. The owners have a great attitude and are good with the kids. Finally they are licensed too, although the BYOB before was really cheap. They never charged us a corkage. We are regulars now, and it seems to continually improve.
The food is simple and pretty good. I had a plate of sauteed oyster mushrooms in olive oil, salt and pepper and fresh garlic, and braised ox tails on top of polenta. The mushrooms have a nice amount of earthy flavor and the sauce it's cooked in compliments it nicely. Ox tails have a strong game flavor and comes in a chunky tomato sauce. Corn flavor is noticeable in the polenta. Both dishes taste even better when you pour a little of the EV olive oil. Bread is of standard restaurant texture and taste, i.e. no big deal.
There is no booze served. A liquor license application is still in the works.
Friendly and neighborly Italian restaurant. The wine choices are limited but diverse. But it's one of those places that the owner will know the regulars and treat them as friends. Now that we've moved to the neighborhood, I expect this Italian place as a go to for good food.
The food is good. I suppose it could be characterized as a mix of Italian and Mediterranean. I like lamb and they prepared it well.
The major drawback of this place is they don't have a liquor license. Someone in our party wanted wine. Fortunately, she was motivated enough to walk across the street and get some while they prepared our food. The owner joyfully decorked the bottle for us.
This bright restaurant looks spacious on the outside, but it's surprisingly small inside -- in a cozy way. Lots of women couples here too, though I guess it is Park Slope.
I actually really liked the very meal that someone else mentioned hating (parpedelle w/ bacon and cream sauce). This is all I've had here. The place is just OK looking. They have half portions for lunch which is nice. The owner was slightly obnoxious, talking up his restaurant almost the entire time we were there. I wanted him to stop talking. The more he talked about why I should like it, the less I wanted to like it.
Friendly staff and excellent fresh, homemade pasta at a great value.
Actually, I'd give this place 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding it up on faith and goodwill. I only had one pasta dish here, penne with gorgonzola and zucchini, which was the special of the day. I was pretty happy with it--the pasta was cooked well and the sauce was perfectly creamy with a good punch of gorgonzola without being overpowering. The portion looks small when they bring it out, but it was very filling. They give you some bread with olive oil before your meal. The bread is OK, and the olive oil is good, but I like mine with a little salt and fresh ground pepper if I'm eating it alone on bread. The waiter was the owner's brother and was very nice and helpful. The place itself is not done up or anything, but I like that.
I was very disappointed in my meal here. I had the parpedelle with bacon and cream sauce which was okay, but I mean really how hard is it to mess up bacon and cream. The other three items I tried were bland, bland, bland. For appetizers we had the sauteed artichokes and the calamari. The calamari was okay but the sauce had absolutely no spice to it. The artichokes on the other had suffered seriously from a like of salt and acid. This was the same problem my dining partner's lamb had--no salt. I cannot forgive a problem that simple especially when the chef is so sure everything will be perfect that he doesn't even put salt on the tables. If this meal had cost half the price I wouldn't have been so pissed off, but it didn't. Don't waste your time with this place.
I've lived in this neighborhood for 5 years and Scalino is the 3rd restaurant incarnation in this location and arguably the best in my opinion. Though I think my roomie may be partial to what was Sakana Aji and their tofu dish. The menu here is small but what the do, they do well. On a recent summer afternoon we had not one helping but two of a simple corn and string bean side dish. It sounds simple and trite but the corn and string beans were both sweet, fresh, and not overly seasoned. We both also had the fresh tuna salad, and they certainly know what fresh means bc this was probably the tastiest tuna I've ever had and not being a fish afficionado, even I could judge that it was of high quality. Plus, it's BYOB for now and since there are 3 wine shops in a 6 block radius on 7th ave alone this place turns out to be quite a bargain for dining out. The owner is awesome, always there, and very willing to chat. He said a liquor license is in the pipes as well as a brunch offering but it seems their plan is to grow slowly and it definitely suits them. The decor may be a bit sparse but I think it lends to the startup homegrown feel of the place plus it's kind of refreshing to go to a place that isn't overdone like so many places are in NY. Needless to say, I'm a fan of Scalino. I've been here 3 times already and will definitely be back. Good luck!
Special Discount for Yelpers!
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
Fabulous Brunch now served…
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Category: Nightlife
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Category: Pubs
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Loading...
