I am a little flabbergasted that it gets such extremely high reviews from Yelpers and no real sour apples at all except one at the very end of the reviews and that was from 2009 so I did not bother to run it.
Well, I am always suspicious of any place that doesn't get hit with some indignant Yelp criticism--but who knows?
Ristorante Grifone
Category:
Italian
244 E 46th St(between 3rd Ave & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10017
Neighborhood: Midtown East
(212) 490-7275
- Nearest Transit Station:
-
Grand Central - 42 St. (7, 7X)Grand Central - 42 St. (4, 5, 6, 6X)51 St. (4, 6, 6X)
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Price Range:
- $$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Romantic
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
45 reviews for Ristorante Grifone
Review Highlights What's this?
-
"Proper old school Italian done right." In 15 reviews -
"Spaghetti Carbonara, with pancetta and parmigiano cheese." In 2 reviews -
"...Fritti, with a delicious light batter and a light tomato sauce." In 4 reviews
Rating Distribution | Trend
44 reviews in English
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Review from Peter A.
Denver, COWe found this cozy gem while staying in Midtown during a recent visit and it was fantastic. Proper old school Italian done right. The service was attentive and sharp, but not overbearing. The decor was ripped out of a mid-60's TV show (with some 70's updates like track lighting) as was most of the clientele (just an observation, not a bad thing).
But the food. The food! Every course was near perfect. We've been back home a few days and are still dreaming about this meal. Can't wait to come back! -
Review from Adam F.
Jupiter, FLMy sweetheart found this location via YELP! It was excellent. Very old school Italian. Waiters all dressed in Tuxedo's. All authentic. Food was out of this world. It feels like you are dining in someone's living room. Very cozy atmosphere. I love these little places.
I ordred the lasagna and my girl got the chicken parm. Portions were huge. Quality was fantastic. Would've loved to have tried a desert but we rolled out of there. -
Review from M.D. S.
Carlsbad, CAMy first meal in Manhattan. It's all downhill from here. The service was spectacular, friendly, felt like a member of the family, great suggestions on food choices.
Cocktails and food were the best. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. Try to leave room for dessert. -
Review from Thomas W.
This cozy little Italian restaurant is about as old school as you can get. It is a prototype for many of the older restaurants East of Grand Central Station. The prices are very middle of the road for midtown Manhattan. Middle of the road is a good way to describe this place. The bread and bruschetta portions are very generous. I had the linuine with white clam sauce. It was very hot, and well prepared. The service and cleanliness were wonderful, but a little too isolated for me for a Friday night. Still I would return without hesitation. I struggled with this restaurant's rating, but realized my motto is that it is all about the food. This place has good food, and polite service--what more can you expect! -
Review from Alejandro B.
New York, NYExpensive, but this little place has the best gnocchi and tomato sauce I've ever had. Nothing else I had from here (except maybe those complementary biscotti cookies for dessert) truly stood out, but I'd be ordering those amazing, fluffy gnocci on seamless pretty often if they were listed. -
Review from Alexsander R.
Norwood, NJI love Griffone restaurant staff is always on top food very good fresh pasta all the time different once my favored Appel ravioli and green & white pasta with prosciutto and paise
Good for and for dinner never been disappointed -
Review from Pooja V.
Edgewater, NJGrifone is an old style Italian restaurant ambiance! I went there with my customer and we all loved the food. I had the Puttanesca Pasta dish, others ordered the specials of the day. The service was really good. I will go back there for lunch or breakfast with clients.
Personally, I enjoy the not too fancy but cozy place and Grifone was like that. -
Review from Jonathan Z.
Queens, NYGrifone is a hybrid Italian restaurant. It's got that old school authentic Italian je-ne sais quoi, or should I say 'Io non so che cosa' but it's dressed in a very contemporary upscale setting.
The food is delicious, as you'd expect it to be, and the staff is knowledgeable and friendly. A great option if you're in the mood for italian with a few friends. -
Review from Rob B.
New York, NYTerrific, elegant northern italian restaurant.
This is a very old-school italian place. There's nothing trendy about it, and that's just fine with us. The service level is very high. The Captain and waitstaff are more than willing to accommodate whatever it is you need and provide advice on what's good right now.
The food itself was very good. Again, old school. The sauces are rich and the portions pretty large. Don't miss the desserts!
We really enjoyed it and will try to return. -
Review from Jenn A.
New York, NYWent for a small networking lunch. Italian food. Nothing great, nothing bad. Ordered the antipasto for appetizer. The mozzarella was good, rest was average. For lunch meal ordered the squash ravioli. It was average. The ravioli seemed to be inconsistently cooked bc parts of it were dry at the outer edges. The filling of some were dry, while others were moist. Nice service though. -
Review from Shelley D.
San Antonio, TXI couldn't be happier that we happened to stumble upon Ristorante Grifone. They took us in (out of the snow!) and made room for us even without a reservation. The staff was extremely courteous, and clearly took pride in their work and their establishment. The food was simply incredible. I can personally recommend the tortelloni, mussels, crepe pie and chocolate cake. (They also brought out complimentary appetizers.) I can't wait to return on my next trip to New York. -
Review from Rob S.
Garden City, NYMy favorite restaurant in the world.
Top quality, old world service and absolutely no compromises when it comes to satisfaction. You don't need a menu, you just need an appetite.
Best dish: spaghetti carbonara, osso buco.
Best dessert: crepe cake
You have to love Mario!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/6/2011
My favorite restaurant in the world.
Top quality, old world service and absolutely no compromises… Read more »
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1/6/2011
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Review from Melanie M.
Chicago, ILRistorante Grifone saved my life.
Ok...maybe that's a little dramatic, but only a little.
Back story: Dinner time rolled around and once again I was at work. After a week of long hours, eating mediocre delivery for lunch and dinner, I was in need of something substanstial, healthy-ish and tasty. I also needed a serious boost! I was tired, hungry, a bit bloated from all the lousy sandwiches and chinese I'd been consuming. As an alternative to the usual route for in-office dining I hopped on menupages to find something better.
While scouring the .com with my boss he was shocked to find Ristorante Grifone. He provided details; such as, "this is the best Italian restaurant I've ever been to" and that he takes his "wife here for dinner everytime we have tickets to the theatre", but he couldn't "believe that they deliver". Excited by the prospect, and nervous that it might be getting late for delivery, I hastily selected my entree, he selected his favorite usual (Spaghetti Bolognese) and our order was successfully placed!
About 30 minutes later, if not faster, the phone rang. Our food had arrived, and, nonetheless, in the hands of a tuxedoed guy! I'm not sure if that speaks to the typical level of service for delivery, but it does say a great deal about dining on premise.
NOW for the food. I ordered the Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce (they asked what kind of sauce I wanted!). I've had this dish before, I would say about 10 times from various dining establishments over the last 3 years, and this was among the very top. The butternut squash filling was as savory as it was sweet and the sage butter sauce was properly emulisified (i.e. didn't turn into greasy pools). They also sent along a half loaf of french bread and I'm not sure if I was craving carbs, but it was fresh and really tasty.
As an ultimate testimonial to the substantial boost I received from my wonderful dinner (good or bad depending how you look at it), we got in another 2 and a half hours of work in before heading home.
All and all, Ristorante Grifone hit the spot, gave it a little massage and sent it to bed satisfied! -
Review from Wayne C.
Brentwood, TNThis is the quintessential New York - Italian restaurant. I travel to New York a few times a year and a very good friend of mine recommended this restaurant to me. My friend grew up in the Manhattan area and when he heard I was traveling to New York he arranged for me to visit Ristorante Grifone. He INSISTED that my wife and I dine there. Wow, we're so glad he did - we intend to go again the next time we visit and it will be a permanent visit for future trips to New York.
I have never had a meal/experience like this in all my visits to New York, or for that matter my visits to Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta, Paris or Cannes.
Grifone is elegant, without being pretentious and it is not overly pricey. It simply is excellent execution of northern-Italian cuisine. The dishes are simply quality.
All the pasta is home-made in house and the sauces are incredible. The tables (as I recall) are white table cloth and there are only about 15 or so tables in the restaurant. The service is outstanding. They live up to the cliche' --- they make you feel like royalty. The servers are mostly family and have worked there for years.
My wife had simple pasta with bolognese made of veal, pork and maybe beef(?) with a velvety sauce that was so simple but the best thing that you will taste. I had a veal dish with capers, lemon and artichokes that was so flavorful, that it trumps all the veal/caper dishes other restaurants offer which tend to be so "ordinary".
The dessert that we ordered had layers of light lady fingers layered with a marscapone cream and a reduction sauce that exuded so much quality. We loved it.
Grifone is the one restaurant that we will hit every time we visit. -
Review from Joanie K.
This isn't your "oh let's have a light lunch" italian spot - if you come here, you need to be aware that you will be judged if your order is not hearty.
Old school Northern Italian restaurant in Midtown East with fantastic waiters in tuxes (great sign that they take their job seriously) with amazing food. Great for winter.
We had the baked clams to start which were AMAZING. I don't think I've had baked clams quite as good before. However, 1 order for 2 people is def enough. I don't need to eat 8 clams, alone!
For entree, I had the Vitello Vino Bianco E Funghi (veal with white wine & mushrooms) which was delicious. The veal was so thin and even though it was covered in sauce, it was still a bit crispy.
Prices are steep.. it could've been a little lower in my opinion for the type of food served and the location, but the food is great and the service is excellent. -
Review from Dave O.
Oshawa, CanadaI miss Mario, his great staff and of course most of all the great, great meals that enjoyed last year.
Do you deleiver to Canada? :-)
Folks if you have not yet dined at Grifone, please make a reservation and tell Mario that Dave the Canadian sent you, and you just may be given a sample of his fine GrappaListed in: Top Restaurants1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/26/2010
I have been working in NY since Feb 2010 and found this little gem of a restaurant by the name of… Read more »
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5/26/2010
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