Mattina

I'd just discovered that Mattina was open for dinner and popped in with a coworker for early dinner. We sat up at the bar top and chatted with the man expediting that afternoon. Our waitress had two favorites on the menu (tortelloni and spaghetti) : we each chose one. My coworker ordered a salad that was large enough to share. Everything was beautiful and tasted phenomenal. Honestly this place feels like such a hidden gem! It's been a month since I was here and I've lost count of how many people I've suggested it to!
If you've got a mid-sized party they have some cute and comfy booths along one side! Such a cute place that I get looks romantic in the evening/night.
I'll back as soon as I can!

Do you ever go out to eat for dinner and wake up mad about it the next day? That was my experience with Mattina. Was really excited to try it out and had dinner there on 8/28.

First the good- the lamb was really tasty as was the branzino.

Now the bad- we didn't have a server, the prices were crazy for the service/ portions, and the food was just average. It was such a weird experience. Not once did anyone come over and talk to us about food (when we sat down or when people dropped off dishes) which you absolutely should when you're paying $60 for a branzino. No one made recommendations or asked how we were doing or if we liked our food. We had to ask whoever we could flag down to order every time we wanted something so it made it seem like there was no designated server. The portion sizes were tiny for what they were charging. I understand food costs are high but the lamb skewer was miniscule and charging $22 for 5 oz of very average wine is wild. At least keep the 5 oz part to yourself or buy smaller wine glasses?!

It felt like we were waiting on ourselves the whole night. Eating tiny portions at our tiny table, drinking tiny pours of wine from giant glasses.

I can say with utmost certainty this place will not be open in two years. Go to any other Italian spot in the city. I'm begging you.

We came here on a Sunday to do an early lunch.

There were only 3 or 4 tables seated other than ourselves, service was normal paced, no complaints.

Appetizers were good (we had the meatballs and the beet salad) and it made us excited for our main dishes.

Unfortunately, the pastas were not good. Both pastas we tried were lacking in flavor and the noodles tasted like cardboard. We didn't finish either pasta dish. Will not be coming back.

I like the decor a lot, except the placemats. Maybe it was their lunch setting. Idk. But the woven plastic placemats cheapened the vibe? It was giving first college apartment. Weird next to their Design Within Reach chairs. The placemats also kept sliding around.

Service - they felt understaffed in the kitchen and on the floor. There was one waiter that we saw at noon on Sunday. There were many open tables (85% open tables?) but he told us that there were a lot of reservations. We convinced him to allow us to add one more table for our party of three instead of three sharing a table for two. He finally acquiesced on our third inquiry when the reserving parties didn't seem to materialize before our food came (nor after - not all, still at least 60% free tables). Oh, they also brought the wrong beer but already opened it. The beer was pretty good though.

Light order since we had a late breakfast and planned to get donuts from Johnny's after around the block:

- asparagus and smoked egg. I thought this was not bad, well prepared but a pretty skimpy dish.

- pasta pie. This was actually really good despite my guilt over carb on carb. Would get again based on taste but really they should call this slice of pasta pie to be clear that it's not an enclosed pie like chicken pot pie.

- mushroom tagliatelle. This took like 30 minutes to come after the first two items. Mushrooms were perfectly cooked and seasoned. Pasta was al dente but needed more salt. Sauce packed mushroom flavor but also needed salt and also it was oddly kinda more liquid than sauce. I can't complain too much because I'd still order it again even though it could be improved.

All in all, some decent dishes but I don't think I'd revisit for lunch. Perhaps it is a better spot for dinner.

I recently celebrated my birthday here and had an exceptional experience! Our server was incredibly helpful, friendly, and attentive. We started with the delicious arancini and milk bread, then shared a variety of pastas, including the bucatini, box cut spaghetti, and duck ravioli. Since it was BBQ Thursday, I indulged in the Wagyu, which was like butter. The wine selection was fantastic as well. Overall, it was a delightful and intimate meal with a wonderful ambiance.

Beautiful restaurant with an open kitchen. It's a combination of casual sit down restaurant and counter service coffee, where you can buy pastries and other sweets.

I stopped by for lunch by myself and got 1 pasta dish and nothing else and the final check with everything included turned out to be $37... The portion was honestly a little small.

I want to give it a better review because the food was fine, but honestly the price just wasn't worth it

what a lovely experience! every dish was amazing, love the ambiance, and they were so helpful and friendly. would go back again!

We were two for lunch on a Saturday. We had the little gem salad with radishes (fresh, delicious and perfectly seasoned); the zucchini with herbs, ricotta and pickled onions was also excellent. Their veggies are farm fresh. We also had the chicken skewers with salsa verde which were outstanding, very tasty and moist. Everything was extremely flavorful. Their wine list is great, with mostly Italian wines. Their coffee tastes like in Italy. The service was very good and friendly. The decor of the place is beautiful and sleek. It reminded me of cafes in Milan. The vibe is very pleasant and relaxing.
We really enjoyed our lunch, would love to go back and also try their main Michelin star restaurant SPQR.

Amazing food and service! It was a nice little cafe near Japan town.

My favorite was the truffle pasta, it was rich in flavor and not too creamy.

The steak was okay but not really worth it for me.

The ambience was nice and not too loud.

We recently came by to try their pastries and coffee only. He got the maple pecan banana cookie, soft, very bread-like but he liked it. The curry chicken biscuit was buttery, slightly hard, and I thought the chicken curry was just okay. The espresso with vanilla cream was good and strong. Also love the slightly sweet vanilla cream on top to offset the bitter espresso taste. We sat inside overlooking the outdoors area. Service not memorable.

Maybe we will come back to try other things on their menu in the future.