We were around the Bloomingdales area running some errands back and forth around the Midtown East area and decided to take the risk of looking for a restaurant without making reservations since we normally eat dinner fairly early. This Quality Italian seems to be from the same owners of Quality Meats and Quality Bistro which are on my list. Quality Italian is a modern take on the Italian American steakhouse tradition, and the prices are probably on the mid to high range.
Ambiance
When we arrived around 5:30 PM, you can see the bar on your right and the concierge directly in front. We told the concierge we were walk-in, and they spoke on their radio to the upper floor. We were immediately accommodated, and we walked up the stairs. When you arrive, to the right is another bar area, and to the left is the dining area.
The decor is quite interesting in that it has a lot of blend of modern and old world steakhouse styles. There is a lot of glass everywhere, and the lighting is dark but intimate. There are round tables sprawled out for larger parties, and they have pretty decent distance from each other to respect for COVID conditions.
Because the dining area is on the second floor, it presents a feeling similar to eating in the multi floor Times Square restaurants. You can see some of the midtown lights through the window.
The service was quite fast and attentive. After we placed our order, the dishes came out in about 5-10 minutes. I imagine the chicken parm pie was probably sitting in an oven prepped and ready to go.
Food
The dry-aged porterhouse agnolotti ($44) came with 24 month parmesan, brown butter, and vincotto. This was simply delicious. This was basically ravioli-like pasta with tender porterhouse grinded steak in the middle. The sublime sauce had brown butter and slices of parmesan. My partner not only devoured the agnolotti but was also trying to slurp up the sauce after.
The chicken parm pizza alla vodka for two ($41 per person) came with vodka sauce, stracchino, and fresh herbs. I had not done any research on this prior, so I didn’t know what to expect. This was basically a very large round chicken parm patty with vodka sauce on top. The flavors of this were pretty good, but they were also similar to many chicken parm flavors and textures out there.
Below the chicken parm pizza were condiments which came part of the package including a lightly dressed arugula salad, honey, and a few shakers. The shakers included red pepper, some parmesan/oregano minced blend, and dried olive chunks. Even though I don’t like super sweet flavors, I was very surprised that the honey paired decently well with the pizza. The other shaker condiments weren’t totally necessary, but I think they added some fun to the whole experience.
Final Verdict
Even though we only ordered literally 2 items, this restaurant was very enjoyable for a night out around the Midtown East area. Definitely check this out if you’re looking for a decent all around Italian American restaurant.
Yelp Jabs
Refused to seat my kids since they didn’t have a vaccine card. Honestly disappointed. My 2 boys are 6 and 4. Of course I’m vaccinated. But perfectly fine. We went somewhere else and spent our 375 dollars.
There is a NYC law that kids of 5 and older need to be vaccinated. The penalties for a business that do not comply can be bad.
When the server cleared the plate, he did not inquire as to why half the meal was left untouched… Though I do not appreciate that he put his hand on my shoulder. Touch is simply a no go. Quite unwelcomed here… Lastly, one expects a certain consistency of etiquette when dining at this price point: something which was hit or miss. I am always grateful to cross off something from the bucket list.
I’m not sure what self entitlement expectations this elitist originally had, but it’s an odd one that’s for sure. This is the sort of passive aggressiveness that some restaurants don’t really care about fighting tooth and nail to satisfy. Someone should tell this elitist that their expectations are off by a bit. The price point is high, but realistically it is not categorized high enough to roll out the red carpet for this elitist.