Felice appears to be an Italian premium chain restaurant with locations around New York and Florida. We were around the area shopping and walking around for errands of course, and my partner fortunately has been on an Italian binge recently. They really love lasagna, and this restaurant nearby had it on its menu. We were able to walk in on a Sunday without reservation at around 5:30 PM. When you walk in, it appears to be a coffee shop with a barista. The restaurant is actually located on the bottom floor.
Ambiance & Service
When you walk down the stairs, you can see the dining room. It’s very open with lots of vertical space. The restaurant was never really busy while we were dining, and it did feel pretty comfortable sitting there.
The service was pretty fast and somewhat spotty at best. There were a couple times I had to flag the wait staff for water or for my check.
Food
The complimentary bread was room temperature with a soft inside and crispy exterior. The olive oil had some bitter and bold olive notes which were quite good.
The Bicicletta ($17 - left) came with white wine, Martini Bitter, club soda, and Cerignola olives. I did not enjoy this at all because it tasted like straight alcohol and not much smoothness to it.
The Felice Sangiovese ($16 - right) was a red wine from Fattoria Sardi 2020, Toscana. It was pretty nice and solid.
The Polpettine ($18) was homemade veal meatballs, tomato sauce, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. The veal meatballs were very dense, and it reminded me of a bit of those Ikea swedish meatball texture. It was firm with just a slight bounce to it.
The Lasagna Tradizionale ($28) came with homemade spinach pasta, slow-cooked veal ragu, bechamel, and Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce. Overall, this lasagna was ok. There was nothing here that made me wow, but it was just a decent solid lasagna though its value is questionable.
The Spaghetti Carbonara ($27) came with homemade spaghetti, eggs, Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and crispy bacon. Unlike other carbonara plates, this one did not come with a visual egg on it. The sauce was fairly cheesy and decent. The bacon provided a decent amount of salt. The spaghetti was cooked perfectly, and it had a nice al dente texture to it. The sauce though was a bit underwhelming for me. I would’ve liked a bit more fluidness to it since the sauce was a bit starchy and started to break up a bit.
Final Verdict
If you’re around the Central Park area and are looking for an option for Italian, this place is simply OK. The interior is pretty nice and feels comfortable, but the food is average at best. The price and value for what you get is not going to be as good as other places in the city if you’re willing to walk.
Yelp Jabs
Felice makes their pasta fresh every day and we were intoxicated by how everything we ate was so perfectly prepared!
Perfectly prepared compared to what, Olive Garden? There was nothing unique about the menu or the plating at all.
this place is good for after-work dinner … I’ve had the pizza here and wine- both were great
I don’t think pizza is a good judge for if the restaurant is good or not. I would prefer to check out the pastas. Pizza seems to have a lower barrier of satisfaction.
Revisions
- Jan 29, 2023 - Initial revision.