Arte Cafe

Outdoor garden was so dark that we couldn't see our food. Had to use flashlight app on our phones. Waiter was distracted and had little sense of timing. Other staff friendly but timid. Food was good but not hot. Maitre'd liked offering smallest tables available until asked for something larger--several were available. Large restaurant with very large bar and seating both outdoors in front and in back garden. Have ben to this restaurant many times over several years --always about the same experience, that is, almost good but always lacking or disappointing. Yet often crowded --often by visitors to the city wanting to be near Columbus Avenue/Central Park and not too far from Lincoln Center (where prices are higher and reservations more difficult to get).

Haven't been to this neighborhood restaurant in 15 years, who knows why - - very surprised at the quality of the food and the new interior. We'll be back often.

Had a time crunch and the waiter was very accommodating! Food was served with time to spare

Consistent Italian dishes with great flavor. We’ve tried just about everything on the menu and are always happy. We really love the fusilli and the bolognese as our go-tos.

Excellent dinner! The best veal I have had in NYC. And our wine choice was really extraordinary. Great service and a place I have gone to for years. Hope it stays for a long time!

Been multiple times. Always good food, professional service. And their $18 three-course dinner before 6pm is a steal.

We had an attentive server. I have eaten here many times over many years...that about says it!

The food was delicious. The lake salad w walnuts, apples, avocado, ricotta salata, carrots and a lemon vinaigrette was one of my all-time favorite salads. The special mixed seafood pasta was also excellent. Desserts — panna cotta and gelati/sorbetti plate — we’re also great. I thouggvut would be loud because the tables were close together but it actually wasn’t. Atmosphere is cozy — I’m sure it would be great in winter.

We've dined here several times over the last five years and have given gift certificates to friends. Watermelon martini was great for a warm night prior to going to theater on Broadway.

One of our favorite neighborhood restaurants. Well priced - good food - comfortable ambiance. There is outdoor seating - but it was too hot to avail ourselves of that on our last visit.

We go to Arte Cafe at least once a week and love it!

Great evening and first time for me at Arte Cafe. I had been concerned after reading a couple of very bad reviews about the air-conditioning, but the restaurant was cooled perfectly. We were very comfortable. I also very much appreciated that we were not sitting on top of other diners. There is a welcome, spacious feel to the place. Greeting and service throughout was lovely, caring and on time, without being in your face. Good wine by the glass list. Excellent salads - my friend and I ordered two different ones - beet salad and insalata mista, and shared. For the main dish, I ordered the lasagna, one of their classics, and it was quite good too, though too rich for me to finish. The same with the gnocchi that my friend ordered. I would definitely return to try other entrees there. Happy to have discovered a friendly, excellent and affordable neighborhood restaurant.

A very pleasant space, good for conversation, good food

Very good and great happy hour!

We came to this restaurant to celebrate our marriage (newlyweds) and had indicated so in the online reservation. We instantly loved the decor and were thrilled to try this place out. We were seated and promptly asked if we were ready to order, no acknowledgment of our occasion or introduction from our server. We were using a gift certificate and when we informed the server, the manager was brought in to help sort out how to use it. We were ignored by the server once the manager was "handling" the gift certificate. It took over 20 minutes to figure out how to use the gift certificate so we tried to order a round of drinks while we waited but were told it would complicate the process (they never asked if we were finished with our meal). The manager returned with the check, telling us we had XX left on our gift certificate, leaving us no option to tip (and we don't carry cash). My husband had to leave the restaurant to go get cash so we could leave the server a tip (which was primarily for the bus boy who we loved and made sure our table was neat and our waters were filled throughout the meal without intruding).

We'll have to go back to use the rest of the gift card, but don't expect to return beyond that visit. Not sure if the restaurant is entirely to blame, if they are not trained to use the OpenTable Giftcards. After this experience, I'm wary to use the rest of our OpenTable Gift cards.

Consistently lovely neighborhood restaurant.

Good lunch deal but incredibly slow and inattentive service. Food came out at varied times and had to ask several times to have our order taken and for the check. No one came back to check on us- we would have to seek people out each time. The lack of service makes the deal not worth it and I would not return.

The quality of the air conditioning was horrid.
Will try it again when the weather gets cooler.

Way too warm - fix the AC or close the door. Awful!

Arte Cafe has been our family's, hidden upper west side gem for many years. We stumbled upon it many years ago and kept going back for their fresh, deliciously prepared and reasonably priced Italian fare. We enjoyed it so much that we used to come for a mid afternoon Christmas dinner. From the calamari and salads to one of the best bolognese sauces in the city to fresh fish (for me), yummy chicken piccata and the final tiramisu, no one could ask for more in a neighborhood spot . After we moved our of Manhattan, we still come back for the incredibly priced, lunch special menu and the same well-cooked dinners. Just go and feel confident in ordering anything. But don't pass on the bolognese.

arte was a great new find. Our family all enjoyed it.

Great Italian restaurant. Delicious food, romantic atmosphere. Terrific staff. Wonderful neighborhood place.

Our favorite UWS Sunday brunch place. Regular dinner menu features some of the best lasagna we've ever tasted

I’ve been here several times and the food seemed better before. It took a long time to get the food after we ordered. No one could really speak English and get things right. They tried though.

This is the second time in a month that I've gone to Arte with friends, and for the second time I found the service lacking - and it was the same waiter who gave us poor service both times! (Why is he still working there?). Not only was he inattentive, even though there were almost no tables occupied and another waiter working, which means he only had a few tables in his station, but - once again - he didn't get the order right (I can't believe it's always the kitchen's fault...). We waited almost 10 mins after he gave us the check for him to come back and pick up my credit card.

Also disappointing was that the prix fixe lunch menu advertises tiramisu as the only dessert option, which was fine with my friend and myself, but they served us gelato, and because it was a flavor neither of us likes, we asked for a different flavor and only was offered lemon sorbet. We were both looking forward to the tiramisu!!

I will return at some point, but will request that we have a different server if we should get this same waiter again.

Not the best performance this time. The restaurant was hot. My linguini vongele was bland. It was in serious need of salt and the pasta was overcooked. I’ve been coming here for over a decade. I’ll be back, but hopefully they’ll be back on their game!

great happy hour at the bar.
good food & service but they need to keep the place better air-conditioned!

Arte Cafe is a very laid back dining experience. I notice it's been a bit more crowded lately, probably because of good word of mouth. I've been going there for years, and outside of a bad spell when they were remodeling for what seemed like a year, it is back to being a wonderful place to dine and meet friends. I also love the bar menu, from 4 to 7 (as I recall.)

Their Pre Fix lunch menu is excellent. Delicious food at a very reasonable price. Also, very good service.

Was casual and good was made to order and the service at the bar where we were comfortable could Not have been better! Unfortunately they were out of what they promoted, so stock needs better handling.

My daughter suggested we try Arté Cafe for lunch and I'm so glad we did! The lunch specials are amazing and well worth the value. Definitely be back!

I ordered Salmon Eggs Benedict and received eggs and salmon, without the english muffin. The kitchen “just forgot” to put it there. Didn’t even get a discount for waiting for toast 10 minutes and eating them separately. Will not come back.

Dismissive, unprofessional service. Food was fair. Nice outdoor dining spot.

We have been going to Arte Cafe for years. It seems that they keep changing managers or management and the restaurant goes from very good to terrible, the main dining room was half full due to a private party in another part of the restaurant and people eating outside. However the noise level was extremely high so we opted to sit at a table top in the bar. Unfortunately, they could not get the a/c strong enough to cool the room. Plus the fact that some of the bar crowd got quite animated and that area too was noisy. We ordered one appetizer and one entree each, we were three people. The app came out quickly, but it took over an hour to get three entrees. As we sat there sweating, no one came over to say the kitchen was back up or offer any explanation. When we questioned the manger they blamed it on the private party. The waiter on,y came over after we spoke to the manager to say it would be coming out soon.

If they can’t handle a private party with not that many people, and the restaurant, they should limit themselves to one or the other. It’ll be a while before we try this one out again!

Air conditioning was out and the front door open just made it so much worse. The waiter seemed to think that making himself scarce would’ve helped the matter which actually just made it worse. It truly was an awful experience.

Great Local Restaurant & Good Value. Great management.

My only complaint was the AC was not on high enough for such a hot summer night.
Other than that, lovely restaurant with delicious food.

Outstanding food and service in a charming, cozy environment.

We've been back here a few times. The menu is good, the place is spacious and not on top of each other but the ventilation and circulation of air, during the summer is amateur time. Either that or they want to save money on the AC. When you ask them to do something about it they seem almost powerless to help. They seem to be under orders.
We also had a table whose extension leaf kept dropping on one of my diners and they couldn't fix it...annoying.
I like the place so I will try me more time then I am done.

We've been here many times... usually everything is fine, but this time we had a waiter who didn't put our ordes in correctly (twice) and when he gave us the bill (which was correct - $228), we gave him 2 credit cards and he brought back 2 payment slip to sign showing each card had been charged $50!!! (instead of $114 each)... had we not been honest and pointed out the error, you would have been out of over $100.

Also, there was a table near us with 4 young women (one, it turned out wasn't so young) who were laughing loudly and carrying on, and even though we complained to the waiter, nobody asked them to keep it down. I finally went over myself as they were leaving and pointed out how loud they had been (they laughed at me...).

All in all, this was NOT the kind of experience we expect at Arte. Very disappointing.