Giuletta
Giuletta is a new casual Italian restaurant right next to Grand Central Terminal and the Met Life building. The word signifies “youthful” in Italian. The restaurant comes from the team behind La Pecora Bianca, which is another casual Italian eatery across Manhattan. I made a reservation for Giuletta a few days in advance pretty easily for 2 people at 5:30 PM on a Friday night. According to the business owner, it is “inspired by the feeling of a summer on the Amalfi Coast, the restaurant combines classic Italian dishes, a lively atmosphere, and a welcoming approach to dining that feels both refined and relaxed.”
Ambiance & Service
The interior has a very cutesy, striped pink look to it. It’s definitely very chic, and so there are many young female professionals checking this restaurant out. We were seated in the backroom, which appears to be an area that can be reserved for parties. The music was decently loud, playing 80s pop-themed music. This backroom also has its own wait staff and bar area, so drinks are served very quickly. The bar area is quite small, but it probably has all the essential liqueurs to make its cocktails.
The service was extremely speedy, partly because this area has its own staff. It’s easy to flag people down, and our table was cleaned very quickly.
Food
The Orange Juice ($6 - left) tasted like it was concentrated from a bottle or box.
The Super Tuscan “Il Bruciato” ($21 - right) came from Tenuta Guado al Tasso, Italy, 2023. This red blend consists of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. Although appearing dark, it’s actually quite balanced in richness and freshness. You can tell the bottle has been open for a sufficient amount of time because it was quite smooth and has nice luscious red fruit flavors on the tip. It’s a great complement to hearty, meaty sauces.
The Fritto Misto ($19) came with calamari, shrimp, fennel, onion, broccoli, olives, and aioli. The aioli had a spice to it. The batter for the fritto misto was light and somewhat fluffy. In some cases, it didn’t stick to the elements. Otherwise, the seafood was pretty fresh. It was a bit odd that the shrimp appeared to be thinly sliced across the body or flattened. Regardless for the price point, it’s decent.
The Pork Piccata ($34) came with lemon butter, crispy capers, and whipped potatoes. The pork was pressed flat, and it was quite dry and overcooked. The lemon butter sauce was decent, though it was oversalted.
This is the whipped potatoes that came with the pork piccata above. The whipped potatoes was very buttery and oversalted. When paired with the pork, it was decent. Standalone, it made me a bit thirsty.
The Tagliatelle Bolognese ($29) came with beef and pork and housemade pasta. The pasta was decent. It had a decent bounce, but it was slightly overcooked. The pasta had a bit of a mushy taste to it. The bolognese had a lot of meat in it, but it could’ve used a bit more tomato base.
Overall Impression
Giuletta is just a casual Italian restaurant, and the food is very straight forward. There isn’t really anything memorable about this restaurant outside of the chic decoration and ambiance it brings. It’s probably one of those restaurants where if you don’t want to spend a lot of money and have a casual outing will satisfy those requirements.
Yelp & Google Jabs
I will say I was a little disappointed to find that the menu is essentially the same as La Pecora Bianca, just with a few additional options… That said, the food itself is really good and I’ll probably be back, it just felt like a bit of a missed opportunity to innovate and create something more differentiated.
The restaurant responded to this Elitist, “only 20% also appear on an LPB menu, so 80% of the menu items are unique!” Regardless, this is a casual restaurant, trying to appeal to a mass audience, so I wouldn’t expect anything different unless they really want to target a different tier.
I do think the music played could have been more authentic. The server was great I just think the food was mediocre.
I do not think this restaurant was meant to be a classic Italian restaurant, as demonstrated by its decor. With the striped and the colors, it definitely pulls its inspiration from the Amalfi Coast, so I think the music is fine.
Revisions
- Mar 27, 2026 - Initial revision.