We were near Broadway and 50th to watch the Back to the Future musical, which was actually surprisingly good. After, we had wanted Thai food, but the restaurant was closed briefly. My partner didn’t use the restrooms at the theater, so I scrambled for another option that had a restroom and found this restaurant off of 54th. We were able to walk in without reservations for 2 at around 5:30 PM on a Saturday night. The host said that the “garden” was saved for just reservations, which we were fine with.
Ambiance & Service
The front of the restaurant reminded me a bit of East Village ambiance. In the front, you see a lot of exposed brick, the very small kitchen, and the bar. The kitchen is so small, such that it seemed to only be able to fit just 2 people. In the front area, they have some exposed windows, so natural light can come in.
In the back of the restaurant, it’s basically like sitting in a greenhouse, where you can get the ambiance of the outdoor environment with garden accents.
The service was very attentive, and the pace of the restaurant was very relaxed. I find that many of the Hell’s Kitchen (Midtown West) restaurants seem to exhibit this mood. It all feels very much like a neighborhood restaurant.
A small warning is that they charge extra (around ~3%) for using a credit card. I don’t recall anywhere on the menu mentioning this, but I saw it on our bill.
Food
The Red Sangria Carafe (500ml) ($20 - happy hour) came with glasses and some orange peels and apple slices in them. A normal glass during happy hour is $7. The sangria was quite good, and it was super easy to drink. It was slightly sweetened already, and it can serve about 4 servings in total.
The complimentary bread came with 4 slices and was served with your typical olive oil and balsamic concoction. The bread was soft and room temperature, and it soaked up the medley well.
The Parmigiana Di Verdure ($16 happy hour, $19 normal) came with layers of zucchini, eggplant, tomato sauce, and smoked mozzarella. This was pretty good in that I thought it was a lasagna at first and didn’t realize it was mostly breaded veggies. The tomato sauce was sharp and had nice rich tomato flavors to it.
The Ossobuco alla Milanese ($40) came with slow-braised veal shank over saffron risotto. The veal was quite delicious, and they give you a tiny fork to take out some of the marrow. The saffron risotto was cooked perfectly. It wasn’t too soft, and had a good balance between normal rice and soft, nutty textures. Combined with everything and compared to other Manhattan Italian places, it was all really good, especially for the price.
The Lasagna all’ Emiliana ($24) came with classic beef ragu lasagna. This was probably one of my favorite lasagnas that I’ve eaten in the city because it wasn’t your regular ordinary lasagna. Whatever cheese and sauce they use gave it a slightly different flavor.
The Panna Cotta ($14) came with a creamy, chilled, egg-less custard made in-house, garnished with resh mint and red wine-berry vincotto. There wasn’t anything super special about this, but I can confirm that they didn’t screw this up. Some places have the panna cotta broken too much, whereas this one was actually prepared well.
Final Verdict
Giardino 54 was quite an amazing find, and it’s a very cozy Italian restaurant for the neighborhood. All of the food and drinks we ordered were great, so we would not hesitate to return.
Yelp Jabs
Had the prix fix dinner here in NYE … The restaurant didn’t have the room to physically accommodate our group of 14… NOT GOOD FOR LARGE PARTIES… Don’t go here as a group
This was a pretty funny review by a Yelper. Yeah this restaurant is pretty small, and to accommodate 14 people is really asking for it. Also, I’d fathom to guess they got the prix fix because it was sa NYE special. It’s really hard to judge a restaurant for their special day type meals because that’s all about mass production.
I told them that it was our anniversary and we wanted a “nice” table. I told the hostess that this was an anniversary and we made a reservation. She said she might have an actual table in the back in awhile and we could sit at the bar and have a drink - not on them - on us.
I don’t know what a “nice” table is here, but unfortunately, some of these restaurants are too small to cater for super special requests like this. This Yelper probably should’ve set their expectations that this is just a neighborhood restaurant. A possible suggestion for this Yelper would be to try to make reservations for outside hours and not to be with the rush of everyone in Manhattan. We find that when we eat super early, it’s actually pretty easy and cozy. Of course during prime-time dinner hours, you’re going to be with the herd.
Revisions
- Jul 22, 2023 - Initial revision.