Excellent Service food ambience and hostess Took me in off train walking home in sweats Greeted me with pleasure read more

Returned to Cellini for a vendor party and it was AMAZING. The restaurant has an upstairs private event area, which can accommodate about 50 guests. I cannot give enough kudos to the service staff. They constantly walked around with trays of food and even brought drinks right to our table. The food that we were graciously presented were: Artisan Pizza, Bruschetta, Chucutterie, Tuna & Avocado, and Filet Mignon. We were also presented with a buffet style area with pasta, Gnocchi, and greens. Dessert was just as good as the main spread. We enjoyed multiple types of fruit, nicely presented on a bed of ice, and deliciously fresh. Thank you, Cellini, for a memorable event and I hope this vendor party always takes place here. read more

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This little Italian spot in New York felt like the coziest hole-in-the-wall... warm, intimate, and full of charm. The service was truly some of the best, and the homemade pasta tasted like it was made with love. One of those hidden gems!! read more

I found myself at Cellini for an educational work dinner. Being an Italian restaurant in Midtown, I went in with low expectations but also an open mind since I always try to approach new places from a positive mindset. That being said, I was looking forward to checking this spot out and learning something new. Cellini serves up Italian food - like many Manhattan restaurants, the space is kinda tight inside - it was crowded when we arrived but were led to a private room on the side so we were away from much of the crowds. The room was interesting - it almost looked like an add-on to the space. There were two doors to enter that both looked like ones found in residential homes (one was actually a sliding door as seen to enter onto a patio). This room was tight but since it was just us it worked - plus they did up the decor nice. To my surprise, we were actually given free reigns to order our apps and mains off the menu - these dinners are usually prix fixe so it was a refreshing to see; there were, however, some small starters and dessert that were set. We started with margherita pizza on flatbread and sausage; these were both tasty - both were solid offerings. For my actual app I went with the tre colore salad; this was fine - nothing too outstanding and I thought the portion was a smidge too small. For my main I had the Chicken Fiorentina which was boneless breasts in a white wine sauce topped with mozzarella. It was paired with mashed potatoes and spinach with garlic. The dish was pretty good - it had good flavor with the spinach being my favorite component. It was a solid dish overall albeit nothing too outstanding. For dessert we were each given a sampling of three items: ricotta cheesecake, tiramisu, and a chocolate mousse cake. The desserts were fine - the ricotta cheesecake was my favorite, the mousse cake was just okay, and the tiramisu was good albeit a little too strong in espresso flavor. Service was good, and overall I thought Cellini was a solid Midtown Italian spot - I wouldn't be against returning, but I'm not necessarily running back. read more

Excellent service. Excellent food with great ambience. We visit the city every year and I very much enjoyed it. read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

Went to Cellini with a group of four and was ushered to a table upstairs. Once there, the wait staff was quite terse with us and didn't really attend to us for the majority of our meal--hence the three star review. Food-wise, no major complains. We ordered the octopus (which wasn't exactly what I was expecting/wouldn't order again) and for my main I got the Spada alla livornese (center cut swordfish). The swordfish was super tender and definitely worth a recommendation. As a side note, I'd suggest trying to ask for a larger table (if yours in unsatisfactory). Our table for four was barely able to fit everyone's entree. read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

Efficient, prompt service during the lunch hour of a packed house! Bread, olive oil and balsamic start you off. My friends went with the Rigatoni Bolognese and the seafood medley respectively. Yum I went with the Beet Ravioli special which was delicious! I'll be back for dinner- no complaints... read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Beet raviolis - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

I came here for a work dinner. The place was larger than I expected with two floors and many private rooms. There was a coat check but not many restrooms. I ordered the tre color salad (arugula, endive, radicchio, spiced walnuts, pears, goat cheese, dried cherries) and the lobster ravioli. We also had appetizers (seared tuna with avocado, calamari, bruschetta, etc). The food was pretty good, really enjoyed the lobster ravioli and the seared tuna with avocado. There was a lot of lobster in the ravioli and I really liked the sauce. The tuna was perfectly seared and the balsamic glaze was great. The service was a bit slow but probably because we're a large group. The staff were very friendly and helpful though. I would come back and try other dishes. read more

Delicious home cooking, excellent service,I just love this place!! What an amazing experience. Highly recommended for lunch and dinner. read more

A good Italian restaurant with great food. Decent wine list. The service is great and the ambience is okay.

The food was all pretty good, but for the price I feel like I expected a bit more. The bread to start came with some really nice warm, soft pieces which I really had to limit myself so I wouldn't eat too much before the rest of the food came out. Out of the appetizers, the octopus was by far my favorite; it was much softer and more tender than most octopus I have had elsewhere. Most of the other appetizers were just alright and some did not even get finished by my table. For my main course I ordered the pescatore risotto which came with a lot of variety and quantity of seafood. I thought that I would have enough food to take home a box of leftovers, but I ended up eating the whole thing in one sitting. For a work lunch, it was pleasant, but I probably would not come back on my own. read more

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Great food and wonderful service with wonderful prices for high quality fresh authentic Italian food beautiful place in a beautful part of manhattan read more

While visiting NYC I was craving some good Italian food and all the places I tried to book was booked. Got really lucky with this one and it had some availability. I loved it here. I tried glass of Malbec which was really nice. Service was good and quick. Staff was friendly. In food I had Tri Fungi Risotto and it was delicious. Had a perfect balance of taste. This place overall is a good option for casual hangout with friends/family as well as dates. Ambiance is great, food is nice and service is quick would definitely recommend. P.S. I see there are lot of reviews about this place being relatively expensive and it is. But it is a decent restaurant right in the city so I would definitely expect that. read more

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this place has become my "go to" Italian restaurant for business meetings and special occasions with the family. I like the small atmosphere and their Italian food is some of the best I've had. read more

I came here for lunch while visiting the city for the holidays. I wanted a nice Italian restaurant close to the hotel. The inside of the restaurant felt cozy. Service was great and my food was good, i just expected more for the price i paid. I love spaghetti and meatballs and it was the only item on their menu that said it was a favorite so i expected it to be amazing. For $25, it came with two small meatballs which were good, and the sauce in the spaghetti was delicious but overall the portion was small. My mom ordered a chicken dish with cheese on top and spinach, which was also good but pretty simple. Their old fashioned was really strong which is always a good thing and it had cherries at the bottom. The bread that came to the table was really delicious and had some kind of cheese baked in it. Overall, it was a good meal, just smaller portions for the price. I would come back and try them for dinner though. Maybe I didn't order the best thing on their menu!? read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - $25 spaghetti. Very small portion and 2 small meatballs - it was very good though. - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

I threw a birthday get together here for a party of 14 and I have nothing but great things to say! In Manhattan, it's pretty difficult to find dining accommodations for a big group, but Cellini is a hidden gem. They have a private room downstairs that we were hosted at, the food was amazing, and the service was top notch. Servers Luis and Franklin made sure we were well taken care of! We all had so much fun and I will definitely be coming back! I would give this place a 6/5 if I could. PS the seafood pasta was one of the best pastas I've ever had read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Luis & Franklin aka the best - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

This is a hands on chef driven restaurant that stands out among the Italian Restaurants in the area and there are many. The dining room, though a little formal is comfortable and the service was excellent all around. We had a multi-course dinner and I can't think of one item I did not enjoy and my friends thought the same. Pastas are made in house and thankfully are not over sauced and the taste of the fresh ingredients really came through. Cellini is an excellent choice for Italian dining. read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Pasta - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

Found the yelp reviews misleading. Led to a disappointing last meal in NY. This is not Italian food. The carbonara had onions! The sauce on the veal parm was orange because once again there was an almost 1:1 ratio of tomatoes and onions! I'm sure there is much better Italian food to be had. For context, travel to different regions of Italy regularly. We did not hear any Italian spoken at the restaurant. read more

Amazing service and great food! Bread to start was delicious. Reminded me of a North End restaurant in Boston. Highly recommend!

Great service great Palm beyonce and lovely food. I had a delicious lemon drop then the lobster ravioli which was Fabulous. My husband had the classic chicken parmesan and it was delicious. We followed with cappuccino and creme brulee which was also great. read more

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The food was amazing, the service was even better!! They were very accommodating and attentive to us, even though they were very busy. Highly recommend! read more

Went to have a nice dinner with 2 other friends. We had a party of 3. At the end of the meal, the waiter came over to the table with the electronic card reader, took my card, plugged it in, and instantly clicked the 20% tip without even giving me the opportunity to choose what I would like to tip him. Keep in mind, it specifically says on the menu that a 20% gratuity would automatically be applied if the party is 6 or more people. We had 3. So I asked him why we were automatically charged 20% and he kept rambling about random things that didn't make any sense. It's unfortunate that we had this encounter. To make it worse. the lady at the front tried to make even more excuses for the waiter. I have no problems tipping 20% or even more if the service was good. It's not about the money. It's about the principle. Just to add to the rudeness and poor customer service, their front door is a bit confusing, so we were pulling on locked doors, and the lady just nudged the right door to show which one it was, but didn't bother to even hold the door after walking all the way over to the front door. This establishment clearly doesn't pride itself in customer service. Also, their utensils were dirty. read more

Absolutely spectacular New York Italian restaurant. Great ambience delicious food! You cannot go wrong with a spicy make sure you ask read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

Have been to this restaurant several times Hostess is very nice and welcoming The food is very good This visit our service was horrible Our waiter was very abrupt .We asked for wine list he just said " white or red"? Really? Then after our meal we waited for more than 30 m for our table to be cleared while other customers were taken care of A darn shame the service was so bad We will not return Tell that pseudo Italian chubby waiter to get some manners He does not belong in the service industry read more

Really solid Italian place in midtown! I got the chicken paillard; the chicken was extremely tender and perfectly thinly sliced. It came with a salad mixed with a bright, citrusy olive oil dressing. Wait was not long at all. read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Chicken Paillard - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

Incredible service and food. Feels like a warm house on thanksgiving. Waiters are incredibly kind. read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Lasagna Bolognese (Special) - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

My reservation for 1 was for 6:15 on Friday evening Instead being seated in the main dining room, I was given a seat at a table in the side room with a door that was sometimes closed. There was a table near by with three people who were engaged in what I considered loud conversation about someone's health issues. It was not a comfortable space for me as a result. I have been to this restaurant several times when I have visited NYC and have stayed at a hotel nearby. I was seated in the main dining room for all those solo visits. I am a single woman and it felt like I was put in the room because of that. I could be wrong. The waiter told me the tables in the main dining room were filled with people with reservations. I had a reservation so that did not make sense. Back to the food I ordered a glass of wine and a veal entree. The wine was delivered immediately. The entree followed soon afterwards. The food was delicious, as usual. By the time I was almost finished with eating my entree, two women had been seated beside me and an another couple had previously been seated on the other side of me. That was great. The bad news was I waited and waited for the waiter to look my way once I finished my entree. He brought food to the women beside me but did not look my way. So I waited.He eventually asked if I wanted dessert and I said no. he asked if I wanted another glass of wine. Again I said no. He did not bring the check. Finally, I made eye contact with the hostess who brought me my check. I think the food is terrific. What I did not appreciate is how the service made me feel. That is why this review is so long.The food has always been great. But I did not feel respected read more

This was our first restaurant that we enjoyed on our trip to experience the Christmas festivals in the big city. The staff was amazing and our servers were amazing. We had a wonderful meal and would dine here on another visit to the city. Try the Veal, very tender and the marinara was excellent read more

I haven't been there since my office in NYC closed due to covid but when I went it was always great. I was reminded of this after reading how honest and fair Chef Dino is when treating customers! We need to support fair and honest owners like him. Will be back soon. Ciao Michael read more

Excellent food and service. Cozy meeting place with attentive service with no rush. Highly recommended.

Came here for my friend's birthday this past Saturday. We had a table of 10 and they had 2 options for our time slot, in the main dinning room or in the basement. We chose the main dinning room. I'm actually really surprised that other reviews tout such great service, it's not what we experienced. For us, as our main waiter we had an angry middle aged Italian waiter. After we sat down, the waiter came over and asked us what we wanted to drink. In normal circumstances this would make sense. But we received no greeting and we had no drink or wine menus... So we asked for a wine menu. When it came to ordering food, we tried to order appetizers first for the table and the waiter said no you have to order everything together. So we waited a little bit till everybody had their entree order ready. For appetizers we had the caprese salad, grilled calamari, and baked clams. We ordered 2 orders of each, which were combined on a plate, so we had 3 plates of appetizers. I was actually pretty surprised by how small each order was. All the apps tasted great though. For my main course I had the imbustata. I am no expert on Italian cuisine, and was my first time having an imbustata but when the menu says large ravioli, that's what I expect. In reality it was a deconstructed ravioli, with the filling on the bottom and a big piece of pasta folded on top. It tasted good, but it definitely is not an imbustata. The waiter never tried to upsell us with more wine, more drink, more food, or desserts. He frankly did not care. After we had already received the check our secondary waiter came out with a dessert tray. Little too late there buddy. As we left no goodbye or thanks for coming from the waiters. The hostess said goodbye to one person and the general manager sitting at the bar, just continued to sit on his ass. Definitely would not be coming back because the overpriced food is not good enough to warrant such crap service. By the way they had an automatic 20% gratuity that was added to the bill which I griped about after. I would have been ok paying the standard 18% even though the service was shit. read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - imbustata - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

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I have been entertaining business clients at Cellini Restaurant for many years. The restaurant has a small bar to your left as you walk into the restaurant. The dining room has a traditional Italian ambience with a comfortable appearance, however it can be loud during a business week day lunch. We have always enjoyed the food regardless of our selection of dishes. Whenever I am meeting a client in that area, Cellini is my favorite choice for Italian. read more

I arrived with a guest at 6PM on the Wednesday after Christmas. Normally a quiet time to eat. The restaurant was packed - tourists. The tables were so close together an gentleman at another table had to stand, push his chair to the side to let another customer get past. We were advised that we HAD to order our appetizer and entree at the same time as the restaurant had over 100 tables on three floors. I am at a loss to understand how that was my problem. We had more than one waiter serving us. We had ask four times for lemon for water. No one seemed to notice or care that our water glasses were empty. While the food was good, based on the above, and the noise level I would NOT return. Good thing NYC has a lot of tourists. read more

March 25 2023 qReservation for party of 14 in Pvt Rm. $85ppnot incl liquor. 4 fish entrees returned odor plus not eatable. Niece could not chew her veal entree and my filet mignon was 3 flat slices of who Knows what. Knife wouldn't cut it Absolutely despicable to pull this and rid themselves of rotten gone bad food when 14 dinners were guaranteed at $85pp No apologies given -no good evenings mentioned -nothing. However the health department, the Better Business Bureau the attorney general and all publications will hear about Cellini's 54th St. I've only started taken action against this despicable person /owner of Cellinis 54 St Oh yes there's more. Does his Pvt room downstairs has means of escaping if there should be a fire read more

After another local favourite closed down I needed my pasta and found this incredibly awesome place. The atmosphere soon as you walked in was welcoming as if they knew my family for 30 years. Soon as we sat down we were given fantastic bread. Two different types though the cheesy one was definitely my favourite. The rather green olive oil was fantastic. I'd buy that by the litre just for home. It was so flavourful. Especially if you love olives as much as I do. I had the gnocchi with a four cheese cream sauce. And the what I assume is gorgonzola was perfect. Not too pungent not overpowering. It was just right. But all the correct marks in my book. The rest of my family absolutely loved what they had as well. And it's definitely a place I will come back too. You should check it out too. You definitely won't be disappointed! read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

Best eggplant parmigiana ever. So delicious. Great service. Only critique is that they might serve pasta with the entrees.

Very very good food. The scaloppine Marsala has so much flavor and is way more filling than it looks. I ate at the bar and the service was great. read more

Cellini Italian Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan - Scaloppine Marsala - Italian Near Me - New York, New York

Last time we were in the city they generously took us in very close to closing as we promised to be quick. Lovely people and excellent food especially the eggplant. We were just in Friday night and had to go again this time we each got our own eggplant instead of sharing. It's that good. I also appreciate a nice wine by the glass. Next time we will go back to try more of the menu. After the eggplant appetizer that is. read more

This is my favorite restaurant! Their food is well prepared and their service is impeccable. Definitely recommend for anyone who wants a too notch intimate restaurant. Previously, I worked for a nonprofit which had an annual event in NYC. Cellini's owner every year faithfully donated certificates to be auctioned at the event to benefit the organization. I no longer work at the org, but every chance I am in NYC, I make sure I eat at least once at Cellini. read more

First the very good news - the food is excellent and reasonably priced. Our appetizers included "Caprese e Peperoni" - delicious melt in you mouth buffalo mozzarella with yellow beef steak tomatoes and roasted peppers - perfect. The "Vongole all' Origanate" - baked little neck clams portioned large at $15 another menu success. Two orders of the Branzino Special arrived perfectly filleted (not a spec of bone). Freshly prepared with lemon, white wine and fresh parsley - again excellent. Also ordered - a large Veal Parmigiana with a side of spaghetti. A standard selection that did not disappoint. What did fall a bit short were the shared desserts. The tiramisu, ricotta cheesecake, and cinnamon apple tart with vanilla gelato fell short on flavor. A surprise after our satisfying meal. What also was a (shocking) surprise was the indifference of the service staff here. Throughout our two plus hour stay we had to constantly hail down a waiter for water / drink refills. We we basically forgotten. When our dessert order was taken no offering of coffee. Upon our early 5:30 arrival (we were the only group seated at the time) we watched as multiple waiters conversed while we attempted to order a glass of wine - strange and quite frustrating. That aside - The dinner overall was enjoyed. The dining room is quaint and cozy - old school Italian. As the restaurant filled we were still able to comfortably converse. Great acoustics... Solid restaurant - Just tighten up the staff... read more