Terrible vibes. Bad smells. Cramped. SUB PAR FOOD WITH EXPENSIVE PRICES. Sour, corked wine and warm, flat beer. NO LIQUOR LICENSE! Rude, arrogant men own and run this place. Do yourself a favor and go to Al di la! read more

I love the cozy atmosphere of Provini; it is a simple yet beautiful space. We came to Provini for dinner on a Monday night. Our server, Bethany, greeted us immediately. While I don't understand some of the negative reviews (perhaps weekend nights are less pleasant?) the entire experience was quite lovely and relaxing. I am looking forward to trying brunch as well as just sitting at the bar with a glass of wine. read more

The bar is beautiful. The food is delicious. The appetizers are on the pricey side but they are big and tasty. I've been twice and both times it felt very warm and welcoming. I walk by often and I always want to go in...if I had more money and better metabolism I would be a regular! read more

A fine eating establishment, Provini offers specials that combine knowledge of food and great presentation. They offer some nice beers and a good wine list - the only drawback is that they are so crowded all of the time that it is difficult to sit down within 30 minutes. They have some nice outdoor seating (which is usually usurped in the summer months). Overall, a great restaurant with wonderful owners/operators. 4****s for me. read more

This is one of the best restaurants in the city. Yet it's homey and serves the neighborhood in a really friendly kid friendly environment. Every item on the menu is excellent. The serving sizes are huge. The best salads you can find anywhere. Excellent wine list. The pasta is out of control good. read more

I eat here regularly and love it! The staff are friendly and welcoming. The food is absolutely delicious. This is the spot I always take out-of-town visitors. The atmosphere is great. They managed to make themselves look like an authentic old-time Italian corner restaurant. I've tried the brunches, lunches and dinners, which were all really good. I especially love the gnocchi and the frittata with asparagus. read more

This is my alternative to Bar Toto. Good place for a quiet (re: not a lot of kids) brunch. Amazing coffee, and amazing food. The staff are super friendly, and the space itself is well lit and relaxing. read more

I thought I wouldn't like this place since everything I ever ordered at Bar Toto was either burnt or old-tasting- but I have had a number of pretty good meals here- I'm surprised each time... I totally miss Pumpkin's, though. read more

Nice spot in the hood if your tried of eating at 12 Street and Johnny Macks. It is a little more up scale then Johnny's so not as kid friendly. It is a little small only a few tables but the service was good. And the food was very good.....great place for a nice meal with out the kiddies. read more

I live in the neighborhood and I have always enjoyed going to Provini for a weeknight dinner. In my experience the food and the service has been solid. I appreciate the waitstaff's recommendations and I have never found them to be too pushy or too neglectful. My personal favorite is the squid ink tagliatelle and the grilled vegetable platter. I like that they have a good selection of beer and wine that runs the gamut from fairly mild to very strong. However, there is one bartender, kind of a heavy set gentleman that is a really loud talker and obnoxious. I have seen him be rude to patrons that he thinks are taking too long at tables and he can definitely ruin what is otherwise a lovely environment. read more

This is a solid little neighborhood joint. It's not the place to come for an amazing culinary experience, but it is a place where you know the food, servie and atmosphere will be reliably pleasant. I come here regularly and enjoy it. read more

As are many restaurants these days, the tables are very close together. We were led to a table (for 2) that was tightly squeezed between 2 others (not uncommon these days), but what surprised me was that the waiter did not take a moment to draw the table back to allow me to pass. The marble tables are quite substantial and it was not easy to move, particularly because I was wearing a bulky winter coat and had a large bag. It really left an impression on me because I don't remember that ever happening before in a nice restaurant. I ordered a sparkling water with lime on the side and the lime was so dry that I had to "tenderize" it with a fork in order to get any fluid out of it. This is an indication, to me, of low produce turnover. When my salad came I realized there was no salt/pepper on the table and I requested both. A few minutes later the waiter brought over salt but I had to remind him to bring pepper. Again, I don't remember ever being in a restaurant of this supposed caliber where I wasn't immediately asked if I would like ground pepper with my food. The salad was dressed with a very bland, somewhat oily dressing. The specials included a saltimbocca, which I ordered, and fish (branzino), which my partner got. I didn't love it, but I have to admit that I've never had this dish before so I can't really judge. My friend's fish was quite oily. If you're sensitive to noise, this is not the place for you. Many restaurants are too loud for me these days but the amount of glass and extremely hard surfaces (i.e., marble tables), and high ceilings, create not only a loud but very brittle sound. Add to this the fact that the tables are so close together that for the first 20 minutes my friend and I just decided to listen to our neighbor's conversation instead of attempting to come up with our own takes it off of my list. It's too bad because it is right around the corner from me, it's very pretty and there aren't that many restaurants at this end of the slope. Oh well. A new restaurant is set to open soon from someone who used to work for the Mario Batali so I'll cross my fingers. read more

I am actually a huge fan of this place, and I have eaten here about 2 dozen times. However, because I have eaten here so much I think I can shed some light on the wildly different reviews. The problem this place has is consistency. For example - they have a fantastic pappardelle dish that is made with a white ragu made from lamb, peas, butter and truffle oil. The fist time I had the dish - the tiny lamb pieces were medium rare, and the sauce was perfectly balanced. But the second time the lamb was a little overdone, and the sauce was a little too salty. I've had about 5 misses out of close to 25 meals, so I do recommend you try it if you are in the area. Most of the pastas are a pretty safe option, but the menu does change seasonally. If the eggplant, smoked mozzarella & tomato gnocchi or the squid ink tagliolini with artichokes, shrimp & mint are still on the menu, I'd recommend them. Also, the Pork Tenderloin in white wine sauce was pretty solid as well. One other things worth mentioning - despite the occasional off meal - the waitstaff really goes the extra mile to accommodate. They are always genial and courteous, offering free drinks, free coffees, free desserts on a regular basis (though I do go often) They are very knowledgeable about their products, and are very easy to talk to. Don't go for a special occasion, but one night if you are looking for a good, hearty Italian dinner - give this place a shot. read more

Food was amazing. Great grilled chicken arugula salad with avocado citrus vinaigrette dressing and frittata with zucchini eggplant and cheese. Home fries were outstanding and the pesto and grilled bread was a nice touch. Lovely summery drinks. Beautiful and very tasty baked apple lemon custard puff pastry dessert. Waitress was a little stiff but it was our first time here and she warmed up a bit as time wore on. As others have mentioned service is a bit slow so not the place to go if you are in a hurry. read more

Directly across from PS 107 and NO high chairs?! No kid's menu!? Big mistake. I have talked to tons of parents that were so excited for this restaurant to open, assuming it would be similar to Bar Toto (same owners of kid friendly Bar Toto on 6th Ave.). Now all these parents that were looking forward to having an early dinner there (5:30 - 6 PMish) after the after school program lets out at PS 107 will continue to go to kid friendly Johnny Macks instead. Johnny Macks has a kid's menu & high chairs for little siblings. I have peeked into Provini at 5:30 - 6 PM and they sure could use some of those tables filled with families. Also, what about brunch?! I went this AM and left after discovering no high chairs. There were 2 tables full and many empty. If they took a nod from Bar Toto w/ some kid options and high chairs (even the snap onto the table ones - they take up NO room!) the place would be full of families laying down $$. As Julia Roberts says at the boutique she returns to in Pretty Woman, "Big Mistake!" BTW: Went here with a girlfriend for dinner and the food was decent. Could have used a few more vegetarian friendly comfort food options. I'll continue to drag my butt and my family farther away from our home to go to Bar Toto occasionally instead. read more

Uhm. This place might be my favorite. Sitting here finishing my wine and cheesecake I'm shocked they are not a strong 4stars. I love this place. Love the staff, food, location, everything. read more

Wife and I tried this place when it opened. Our drinks came in the middle of mediocre risotto. Chalked it up to being new (despite being owned by the people from several other "successful" slope restaurants). Went 2 years later... Service was horrible. Sat outside. We were the ONLY couple not told about the specials. We were the ONLY couple not given bread after our order. We started to smell ourselves to see what was wrong! Got the food, it was still mediocre. Never again. Shame. read more

Great food. Warm and comfortable atmosphere. And great service. The bartender and server were both lovely and helpful. To the reviewers who were unhappy with the high chair policy here - please please please, give those of us who want just ONE option in park slope without strollers and crying 2 year-olds a place to go. We are not asking for much. And honestly, Bar Toto is just down the road. The short walk will do the family good. I sincerely hope the owners hang tough with their adult crowd policy. It's just not a family place, which I would think is clear from the decor and ambiance. So please, owners of Provini, keep it the way it is! Besides, Two Boots, Dizzy's and Johnny Mac's are far better options for the family.. in terms of menu, atmosphere, and price. As long as a kids menu is not added, we will be back! read more

We love Provini. We come here for brunch or dinner at least once a month. Their tiramisu is amazing and we enjoy their paninis at brunch/lunch. read more

Was here two times. First impression was ruined a little bit by a very long wait time for food but it was worth it. So came back with the family. Second time food and service were impeccable. Taste is well balanced. Great ambiance. Special thanks to our waiter Ash. read more

I had a perfectly fine experience at Provini. It didn't knock my socks off, but that's ok. The decor is lovely, the service is friendly, and the price is right. My boyfriend ordered the lobster ravioli (one of the specials) which he absolutely loved. Could not get enough of it. I had the lasagna, which was decent. I probably should have gotten something a little more exciting, but whatever. My only complaint about this place is that they are really stingy with the bread. When they brought it out for us, there were 5 little cubes of bread on the plate. Barely one bite each. Accompanying our cheese platter were 4 more tiny little pieces of bread. Definitely not enough to pair with all of the cheese. Very strange. I'd give it another try, but I think I'll probably just stick to Giovanni's up the street when I'm in the mood for Italian. read more

Ahhhh ? Small, intimate and chill. Sat at the bar to eat because the table wait was 40min. Im 5'3" and the bar was kinda high for me-but I was hungry...Rib eye was fatty and grisly and honestly, very disappointing! If you know good steak..don't order here. Some arugula and hard tasteless cheese was thrown atop the beef. I should have went with my gut and ordered pasta. Til next time carnivores xo. read more

Love Provini! Hand made pasta with broccoli rabe pesto was divine and paninis were delicious. Had the cheesecake for dessert but the chocolate crust wasn't a good combination. I definitely love the food. Service was very slow. read more

Almost impossible to improve upon. Excellent beers and wines, good simple panini's and nice ambiance. Staff are authentic and recently imported Italians. Nice touch. read more

Every neighborhood should have a Provini. A wonderful place when you want something special, but want to stay close to home. I have been several times and the food is consistently delicious and the service consistently welcoming. Jana in particular makes recommendations that are always on target. I've brought my child to many, many restaurants in the nabe, but not every restaurant needs to be child-friencly. There should be different restaurants for different moods, and this is the perfect one for a far better than ordinary meal in a spot-on perfect atmosphere. read more

Provini is wonderful! A cozy, friendly atmosphere, charming waitress, and really good food and wine. I had the Sicilian salad, pappardelle, and coconut semifreddo -- all excellent. read more

Went to provini for my birthday dinner. We started with the antipasto which was delicious and a big portion (enough for 4 people). If you go here i would definitely recommend it. I was craving good pasta. All their pastas are housemade. I ordered the bolognese. It was decent but I have had better hence the 3 stars. The noodles were very good and obviously freshly made. too bad the sauce was lacking. My friend had the braised short rib. It was dry and overcooked. We had tiramisu and the apple tart for dessert. The tart was not so good. rather than being a nice balance of sweet and sour it was just plain old sour. Tiramisu was fine. I had a glass of the pinot. not so good tasted like cheap wine. We also got one of the prosecco and raspberry drinks. Pretty good. the restaurant has a simple/elegant decor with a beautiful mahogany bar. The staff are all very nice so i'd give it 5 stars for service. read more

My wife and I have only been to this restaurant three times and only for lunch. The food has been okay. When there on 8/9 my wife asked if she could substitute goat cheese in place of the Gorgonzola that came with her salad. The waitress said that the kitchen staff is willing to remove something from a menu dish but that they didn't like to make any substitutions. The strange thing is that Provini made that change in the past. There were only customers at two other tables, so it's not like the kitchen was too busy to be flexible. Anyway, we won't be back. Thankfully there are neighborhood restaurants that are more accommodating to customer requests. read more

I have been to Provini twice: once for brunch and once for dinner. Brunch was ok. Nothing over the top but it was satisfactory and somewhat enjoyable. I decided to give it another chance and go for dinner. I ordered the pork loin with truffled mashed potatoes- a dish I have had several variations of at other restaurants. It came out like very thinly sliced pork chops with mostly fat and they threw a little piece of prosciutto on top of each one. It was poorly cooked and prepared and looked like a dish I would get from a diner. The potatoes tasted like instant mashed potatoes that someone shook a hit of cheap truffle oil on top of. The pork gave me a stomach ache as I tried to eat it and for the FIRST time in my life, I sent my food back. The waitress was gracious and gave me pasta instead which I insisted was fine, but was in fact, alarmingly mediocre. This restaurant is beautiful and I really wanted to like it- I live very nearby. However, the food is poorly done. No way around it. To top it off, the only part of the kitchen you can see is this large microwave that I sat and watched most of the food that came out of the kitchen, go into for several minutes at a time. I find that pretty unacceptable. I have had food from a diner that is way better. It's getting 2 stars instead of 1 because brunch is ok. read more

Stopped in here on a Monday night for dinner, and was really pleasantly surprised both by the attentive service and authentic pasta dishes. Great prices for the neighborhood too. Will definitely be back. read more

I've been to Provini a few times with my boyfriend. Now I have eaten a lot of Barilla pasta in my lifetime, so imagine my delight when I tried the pasta with pomodoro sauce. OMG, I was in heaven!!! We split the flourless chocolate souffle with raspberry sauce and that was equally delicious. Keep up the excellent work, Provini! read more

This one of the few places that I keep coming back to. They serve delicious pastas and seem to know their wines very well. My favorite is the carbonara that is served only for brunch and white wine spritzer( assuming it's a hot summers day). I find the service efficient and maintaining a nice balance between non intrusive yet attentive. read more

Right up there with the best italian restaurants in the city. Wonderful atmosphere. Not pretentious at all. Food is consistently excellent. Interesting entrees. Meats and fish always cooked to perfection. Have never had a bad meal there. Agree with another reviewer about very good service sitting at the bar whenever it is busy. However the service, in general... I've always found good. read more

My friend and I were really excited to try Provini but it was incredibly disappointing. It was packed on Friday night and we sat at the bar. The decor and ambiance is wonderful but the food was terrible. We ordered the flan, the pesto pasta, the rabbit special, and the lamb ragu pasta. The flan was separated, the pesto flavorless, the rabbit overcook and over salted, and my husband called the lamb ragu "cold rubbery pasta with s$%t nuggets over the top". We eat at Bar Toto all the time and they have reliably good food. All four dishes that we ordered were seriously flawed. I'd go back for drinks at the lovely bar but would not order dinner. read more

Just got back from an excellent experience at Provini. A mix of classy/classic decor, great/friendly/attentive service, a varied and affordable menu, and delicious food sold me. We split the prosciutto and mozzarella starter (with blueberry compote/fig jam) which was perfect and came with a bonus plate of marinated olives and flatbread, and I had the ribeye. The steak was cooked exactly as I ordered and came with a healthy bed of greens below. The food wasn't the absolute best Italian food I've ever had in my life, but the great service and relaxed, warm atmosphere more than made up for any minor issues I might've had (alright, alright, the steak was a tiny bit too oily -- FINE :P). read more

Ever since this place opened, I wanted to check it out. It just looked gorgeous from where I was standing on the sidewalk, peering in at the shiny tin ceiling and elegant, yet understated decor. Was also pleased about the menu, which looked to be authentically northern Italian. Finally went there for dinner. The wine selection was impressive, though intimidating, and we began to feel a little out of our depth until we ordered our food. While the food itself was ok, it was a little under-seasoned. Maybe it was an off night. My dining partner had a pasta dish with fish. The waiter, an Italian, who came round with the cheese to sprinkle on top of my pappardelle with ragu, informed him that in Italy, it is not customary to put cheese on a dish with fish in it. I know this is the general convention...but it's kind of not true. I lived in Italy for a while, and ate many dishes with fish in them, including pastas and seafood risottos that also had cheese. The dish needed that extra bit of salt. This piece of advice was a little irritating, and generally characterized what was so awkward about our experience of dining there that night: throughout the meal we felt like we were kids again going to a fancy restaurant for the first time, not quite sure how to behave, so as to reassure the proprietor and waiters that we knew how to eat our food and when we were done, how to signal them. This combo of hovering and food that could have been better executed made us slightly grumpy about the cost of the meal, when normally that wouldn't be an issue. I don't know, maybe brunch or wine and snacks could be better ways to enjoy this place, although if they have carbonara on the menu, I might have to give it another try... read more

I hope it was just an off night, because the waiter was touchy and short. He was making an attempt to sound helpful but his exasperation was obvious. God forbid you should ask him something out of sequence or not at the same time! He was "very busy" and we needed to have all our ducks in a row before we troubled him -- all while it seemed like it was an average weekday evening. Most of the dishes were off. When we expressed the opinion that one of the dishes wasn't good he said "no one else has ever said that." Why do I care? Then he told us our opinion was "cultural." It was really borderline. I don't think I'm going back. read more

When Provini first opened, I tried it but didn't care for the small rather expensive dishes that were offered. Recently my fiancé and friends went to celebrate and I loved it! The food, wine and dessert were delicious. We went back again for 4th of July and had another great dinner. The waitstaff on both occasions were very nice, attentive and seem to enjoy what they do. We will definitely be back! This is my new favorite place I also like Bar Toto... always a good meal there. read more

The ambiance is nice and cozy. Perfect combination of furniture and lights that creates a wonderful retro' ambiance. Wine list is extremely interesting because it has the perfect balance of price and quality. Food got an A+ for the Italian chef who makes the best Ignudi in the world as well as the tastiest Pappardelle al ragu'. Service is impecable and waiters are very friendly. The owner is also always walking around to make sure that your are having a pleasant experience without pushing anything on you. Definitely if you are in park slope and you feel some craving for a real Italian meal you gotta go!! no question about it. read more

We've been regulars at Provini since they opened (with our well-behaved six-year-old daughter), and we've always received fabulous service and attention from all of the staff. We love the fresh pasta dishes, especially the pappardella and the pecorino gnocchi. The specials are always really delicious; just the other night they had a baccala' mantecato with confit'ed tomatoes and caramelized red onion that was fantastic. They just started offering an Italian cream-filled doughnut for dessert that was to-die-for. As far as being child-friendly - Provini IS an intimate restaurant with an elegant dining room. I wouldn't bring my child to dinner there in the later hours out of respect for people trying to have a romantic dinner for two. That being said, our daughter loves the place, and we do eat early dinners there regularly. It's also a great place for lunch and they have excellent coffee in the morning. read more