Restaurant Review: Via Carota

Details: Located at 51 Grove St, New York, NY 10014. The official site is http://www.viacarota.com/

My goodness was this placed packed. I came here with a friend on a Saturday night and the wait took about two hours. They don’t take reservations. They just write down names onto some pipes with chalk as people come in. They have a bar where you can drink as you wait… for hours. Despite the long wait, each patron that I saw add their name to the pipes extolled the same admiration and praise for this restaurant’s food. After eating at this restaurant, I mostly disagree.

Restaurant Review: La Lotteria

Details: Located at 29 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014. The official site is www.laloterianyc.com/

Often times when I visit a Mexican restaurants that isn’t low-end or extremely high-end, I feel ripped off. Tacos are either overpriced, undersized, or both. It’s just a taco, one of the simplest, cheapest to make foods on the planet. When you start charging over three dollars for a taco or if you start shrinking them to teeny tiny serving sizes, you are generally fucking up tacos. The tacos at La Lotteria, though overpriced by this measure, are still better than most (maybe all) other middle range Mexican restaurants I’ve had in Manhattan.

Restaurant Review: The Butcher’s Daughter

Details: Located at 581 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. The official site is https://www.thebutchersdaughter.com/

The Butcher’s Daughter is a vegetarian restaurant and juice bar. I came here for brunch and enjoyed this place about as much as I’ve enjoyed most vegetarian/vegan places.

Restaurant Review: Swine (NYC)

Official site: http://www.swinenyc.com/

Came here for some food and drink. We all had the bone marrow brisket burger. It was pretty good. No real difference between this and any other burger.

Score: 5/10

Restaurant Review: Olio e Piu

Official site: http://www.olionyc.com/

Nice place.

My group ordered the Barbabietole (beet salad with goat cheese ricotta), the spaghetti carbonara, trenette al fresco (spaghetti, but with anchivoies), spaghetti (classic preparation, tomato sauce), and the nutella pizza for dessert.

Everything was amazing. Personally, I never get an egg yolk with my carbonara so that made my day. It’s the simple things I guess. Nutella pizza was exactly as you’d imagine it. Sweet, heavy, and covered in nutella.

Space was all right.

Service as just okay.

Score: 6.8/10 Pasta was great. Only wish the servings were bigger.

Restaurant Review: Havana Alma de Cuba

Details: Located at 94 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014. Official site is http://havananyc.com/.

Havana Alma de Cuba is a Cuban Restaurant in the West Village.

The staff was friendly.

There was a nice outdoor space where we ate. It was temperate so it was comfortable to sit there.

Prices were average. Probably around $30 per person.

The food was Cuban; it included marinated meats, plantains, rice, beans, etc., standard Latino fare. We ordered the Ropa Vieja “La Bodeguita” (shredded skirt steak braised in tomato salsa criolla, served with mashed plantains and rice and beans), the Vaca Frita (shredded skirt steak sauteed with onions, peppers, scallions, and garlic, served with steam yuca with garlic mojo and guacamole), and the Tres Leches (layered sponge cake with whipped cream, meringue, and I think mangoes). It was all very tasty, although I think I would have liked the Churrasco (skirt steak with chimichurri sauce and brussels sprouts) more.

Score: 7/10 Nice place.