Cucina 8 ½ Reviews

I recommend you not waste your time at this establishment. In the height of booking reservations early for Christmas time in NYC we booked here over a month ago. We received notification via email our reservation was cancelled. When I called to find out why I was ignored on hold for over 15 minutes. When I called again they were frantic and said a bigger reservation took over. When I said thats unfair and unprofessional as we are coming out of country and had our week planned out and reservations are full at all the restaurants now, I was told by the manager “I will try and sleep at night” and hung up on. The blatant rudeness left a worse taste in my mouth than their bad food reviews. Don’t waste your time at this place!

We have eaten at Cucina 8 1/2 several times and it remains our favorite special occasion restaurant in NYC. The food is exceptional, salads, homemade pastas, entrees all beautifully prepared. The ambience is upscale but not pretentious and very comfortable. The staff is the best in NYC. When they found out we were celebrating our 52 nd anniversary, they treated us like celebrities.

Great for groups, attentive service with custom signs and menus, talented singer we got as a bonus, love the live music, outstanding food

Very bad experience. Unfortunately, the employees have a bad attitude, the service is slow and they make a lot of mistakes with the orders. The food was good but it's not worth it because the atmosphere is not pleasant. Our table was 6 people and the bill was about $2,000. We expected a better service and we never received it. When we left we were waiting for the coats for more than 15 minutes and when we asked for the manager because no one knew who was in charge of "delivering the coats at the exit" he was very rude and told us "literally" that if we had waited a long time now we would wait longer. We were speechless and couldn't believe that a manager was so unprofessional and ridiculous. Very unfortunate that this place is managed that way. Kindness and education have been lost in NYC.

Best business dinner spot in Midtown. 1) Great table spacing-ask for a booth 2) not dark and easy to read the menu 3) not noisy 4) unobtrusive service. Left us alone and we weren't rushed 5) impressive food-top notch We'll be coming back

Highly recommended excellent restaurant Italian cuisine very professional local welcoming and elegant staff. I felt pampered by my entrance when I sat at the bar for a small drink until the delicious tiramisu with which I ended dinner. I tried some during my stay but this is superlative state.

On Christmas Eve we had dinner at Cucina 8 1/2 and it was one of the best first time adventures of my life. I booked our Christmas Eve dinner here weeks ago before we left from LA. What a hidden Gem, so glad I found it will definitely be back every time we visit New York from the West Coast. The night before we ate at the Centurion Lounge at 1 Vanderbilt, triple the cost but less the service and quality of Cucina 8 1/2. Elizabeth our server is what made this place so even more outstanding. I highly recommend trying the Chuck's Lemoncello Martini it will keep you coming back. So will the good food and the service they really make you feel welcomed here. Thank you again

Hidden gem-we will be back. They offered a quiet private room and the event coordinator was really responsive. Exceptional, authentic food. We had Chicken Parmesean, NY Steak and a Branzino. We started with a fantastic Casar salad and had a rich olive oil cake to finish. It was perfection. Top notch service. Staff really went out of their way to accommodate, especially the manager. She selected really reasonably priced wines and explained they were from the Caymus family. Me and my team weren't rushed or disturbed. Glad we went.

Refined place, warm and professional welcome, excellent quality food elegant atmosphere price appropriate to the level of the room will definitely return

I went here with my girlfriend for our anniversary and they made the experience somthing to remeber with our names written on the menus complimentary desert and a rose for my girl.I will definitely be coming back here as the service and food was amazing.If your thinking of coming here for a birthday or anniversary I highly recommend it.

Cucina 8 1/2 has my heart as my favourite NYC restaurant. (For the 2nd year in a row) 🏆 Table side Cesar salad: Always a 10/10 & a must order imo! ✨️ Burrata: My go-to appetizer and crowd pleaser. ✨️ Meatballs: Another great sharable, especially because we know how much pasta we were going to order and needed protein lol. 🏆 Zucchini chips: Another must order in my opinion, these cacio e pepe chips will have you craving more when they're all gone. 🏆 Spaghetti al limone: This pasta is perfectly chewy and so easy to eat with delicious and refreshing lemon flavour. ✨️ Lamb Chops: This was some of the best lamp chops I've had, the mint & sorrel pesto really brings the flavours together. ✨️ Atlantic cod: Another good dish, great for those with lighter flavour palettes. 🍰: As a group of not super sweet tooths we actually all indluged and LOVED their dessert. The tiramisu is the BEST, Nutella chocolate cake can never disappoint, Orange olive cake is perfect if you like light cakes & the apple crostata with vanilla Gelato is a comfort dessert that you only get on holidays. Overall, this is my 2nd visit here in 2 years and a restaurant I recommend everyone go to try when visiting the city or for celebrations. Especially if you're a SATC fan, this is an iconic place to visit! - IG @ SpicyAivy

Wowwww incredible dinner with friends! From A to Z stuff food service and Amazing women Liz make sure everything was perfect. Food was amazing we get to meet the chef wonderful person very talented. I have no words thank you for wonderful dinner!!! Definitely I recommended this place!!

The food was outstanding and the service was better. It was our anniversary and they couldn’t have treated us better. Very nice atmosphere, with live piano and the friendliest service we have had in a long time. Highly recommended and appreciated

Ok food, CATASTROPHIC SERVICE!! Just had dinner here. Sadly, the culture of this place and its staff is UNACCEPTABLE. From the get go, servers got the drinks wrong, mixed up the plates on every course, and included drinks on the check that were never ordered. When we corrected them, they got aggressive and confrontational, which was unexpected. Anyways we carried on and ignored their egotism and repeated disrespect since we had children in our group, and by this point we only wanted to leave and never be back again. But their defiant attitude would keep pushing it when we addressed the manager (a bearded man who did not have his name), who was absolutely unable to engage in a conversation since his attention repeatedly wondered into the air, his responses were incoherent, and his demeanor unstable to the point that he seemed absent or under the influence.

The service was exceptional, the food great, especially the Caesar salad prepared at our table and the overall ambience was wonderful.

Had one of my Birthday Celebratory meals here. WOW! Love the Booth, All the Staff was great , even the guy who showed us how to get from the elevator to the restaurant and MOST IMPRESSIVE IS LIZ! She is personable, shared restaurant history, a TRUE AMBASSADOR for 8 1/2! As the Birthday girl, we were given special treatment! The space is very NY and gorgeous! Definitely order the focaccia, beets, any of the pastas and save room for desserts! Coming back for sure!

We went there for dinner yesterday before a concert at Carnegie Hall. It’s only a block or two away and I am so happy we stopped there. The food was over the top wonderful I could not stop eating the focaccia and the zucchini chips. We then had a delicious chicken dish, Branzino and raviolo which just melted in your mouth. We ended with cappuccino and olive oil cake . It was a lot of food but we wanted to try different items and we were so happy we did. The staff was so welcoming and took very good care of us. We had a lovely table, a booth that was in the corner very private and romantic. Cannot wait to go back!!! Get restaurant with fabulous food and staff 😊

We were celebrating our anniversary and wanted something extraordinary. We went to Cucina 8 1/2 in Midtown West. Ambience: Very modern yet romantic place with booths along each side of the restaurant. Food & Beverage: Burrata Salad with charred picked sweet peppers, spicy green, & crostini - light and tasty. Branzino with Kalamata olives, charred lemon, herbed salad greens, and rigatoni pomodoro - delicate white fish, crispy skin, with tangy tasty of the Kalamata olives. Lemon Olive Oil Cake with light and delicate flavorful lemon without being overpowering. Prosecco Rose (by the glass) was ideal for an occasional wine drinkers like me. Not too heavy or strong. Service: Greeted immediately and shown to our table, water glass was filled within minutes with choice of tap water or sparking water, and each dish was presented carefully facing the diner. Our water glass was checked frequently and filled as needed by the roving wait staff. We are looking for another special occasion for a DELIGHTFUL & DELICIOUS MEAL … at Cucina 8 1/2 in Midtown West New York City.

The enjoyment of the excellent food served is sadly reduced by the very poor service. An appetizer ordered with the drinks eventually arrived after the full order was given and the appetizers were finished. The lemon pasta was a cool lump of congealed sauce that should have been sent back. The tiramisu arrived more than 30 minutes after it was ordered and was a cold pre-prepared dessert in a glass. On the positive side much of the the food was quite good. The zucchini chips are addictively good, the bronzino is delicate and buttery. There was live music, which created a romantic atmosphere. Such poor service should be addressed as it distracts from the quality of the food. Lots of people in the kitchen, into which you can see, but very few people serving the food; they look understaffed. I would not recommend the restaurant unless you made it clear about your expectations regarding the timely delivery of the food.

Great food and upscale craft cocktails + Chef Driven food.The atmosphere is very cozy, with nice design and intimate lighting.

Just amazing! The staff were helpful and knowledgeable about the menu. Denani our server was sweet and very helpful, Elizabeth a little blonde diamond made our experience amazing. She went above and beyond to make our meal and experience there just fantastic. The food was excellently prepared and the taste was stellar. We had the sea bass and the charcuterie board and the Tiramisu. I would highly recommend them. Thank you for making our New York experience amazing.

Great place in heart of Manhattan ! Upscale craft cocktails and amazing food ! Thursdays great Jezz live music ❤️ I recommend this place highly!

Very nice welcome and we got the kind of table we asked for. Then a REAL long time before our server approached us. We ordered cocktails and our various courses all at the same time. So our focaccia came pretty quickly. Then our Caesar salad came. And STILL no cocktails! Finally caught the maitre ‘d and told him we were waiting forever for cocktails, and they finally came. Our server was essentially in absentia. No cordiality whatsover! Like she forgot us? All food was excellent (shrimp tortellini, gnocchi) but we just felt abandoned by our primary server and it wasn’t that pleasant an evening. Too bad.