Ci Siamo: A Last-Minute Surprise That Delivered Big
Popped into Ci Siamo on a whim this past Monday night and was quickly welcomed and led to seats at the bar. From the start, the bartender set the tone—guiding us to the perfect dry white wine by the glass and offering recommendations that turned out to be spot on.
The prosciutto? Silky, melt-in-your-mouth perfection—none of that tough, stringy stuff you sometimes get. The beets with anchovies were boldly anchovy-forward in the best way, earthy with just the right hit of acid and umami. To top it off, they gifted us an escarole salad on the house, which rounded out the starters beautifully.
For mains, I was leaning toward something else, but at the bartender’s urging, we went with the cavatelli and stracci. God, was he right. The rabbit in the stracci was impossibly tender, and the broth had a depth of flavor that was rich but not heavy, with cracked black pepper bringing just the right amount of heat. The cavatelli, made gluten-free for my friend, was shockingly good—I’m not gluten-intolerant, and I still took her leftovers home. Between the crab, spice, acid, and salt, that dish was simply phenomenal.
Desserts didn’t disappoint either. We went with two recommended options, both fantastic, but the real standout moment was when the bartender, noticing our excitement over a lemon curd dessert my friend couldn’t have, surprised us with a scoop of gelato topped with lemon curd—on the house. Her little gluten-free heart was beyond happy.
Yes, it’s a bit pricey. Yes, there’s a lot of hype. But the quality of the food and the genuine care in the service make it all worth it. I’ll be back very soon.
The Breakfast was really good this morning. I had Iced Coffee with Vege Breakfast Burrito. The server was very Nice. Highly recommend because they have Vegan and Gluten Free options.
the hand soap actually smells good.
dad said that rainbows everywhere was the "best gay beer i've had yet"
expensive but it's nyc so to be expected.
great options without gluten, but no gluten-free substitutes
This might be my new favorite Thai Food spot 🤔
You ever just have “food eras” where you crave one specific type of meal or cuisine for a few weeks and it’s all you want? Yeah. That’s me with Thai Food atm.
Had to check out a spot I’ve long heard about:
📍Glur Thai (@glurnyc)
👉 WHAT WE GOT:
• Chicken Pad Thai ($17) — *gluten free*
• Vegan khao na ped ($20) — vegetarian duck over rice, pickled ginger, and Thai herbed gravy
👉 WHAT I THOUGHT:
The Chicken Pad Thai was certified ✨🙏 From plating, to portion size, to flavor, this dish brought it all. The chicken was thin and juicy, the noodles were slick with flavorful salt, tons of peanuts to spread around, and of course, a like wedge to tie all the flavors together 😍
The Vegan khao na ped was also excellent for mock duck. The pieces of “duck” were crispy, flavorful, and not greasy (at some spots, Nick meat can be a bit slimy). Fresh ginger and dipping sauce on the side made this a simple yet flavorful dish, great for vegetarians 🌱
Service was friendly and our dishes came out in just around 10 minutes which was fantastic given how hungry we were.
The space is small so come early, or be okay with a small wait if you come during busy dinner hours (we waited 5 minutes).
Allergy warning — Ordered a dish labeled gluten free on the menu. It came with gluten [bread] on the dish. When asked how was that was possible, the answer was “it’s gluten feee besides that”. They eventually took the dish back and remade it without the bread.
Very disappointing, as I’ve been here several times and the food is so very delicious. But if you’re looking for gluten feee as a celiac or other strict dietary reasons….. beware.
I want to like this place so bad, but I’m just unsure. I’ve been here three times, once for lunch and twice for takeout. Let’s start with the good: it’s close to my apartment, they have good gluten free options and seem to be knowledgeable, and when the food is right it boarders on good/fine but I’ve had better. I usually get the plantain, bean, avo arepa and it’s different every time. It’s kinda bland if I’m being honest, and the most recent time I had it, there were no brands but severely undercooked mushrooms. This place is also VERY overpriced. Especially their weekend brunch which I accidentally stumbled in on. The wait time is also always outrageous.
Great Food and perfect service! The dishes look and taste fantastic and the food is really authentic! Great for people with food allergies, everything is well annotated even gluten free!
The people working very nice and friendly. They were very informative about the items on the menu and had many gluten free options. I would visit again! Great experience! 😊
Friendly staff, good food, fast service. Great transparency over gluten free items, they're clearly indicated on the menus which is nice.
Top tip: for a quick, cheap meal, order fries and ask them to throw some feta on top, and get tzatziki on the side, so good!
Very tasty bowl, gluten-free is no problem at all. Nicely decorated store, the employees have always been friendly. Unfortunately, reasonably healthy food is quite expensive in New York, and this is also the case here.
I absolutely hate to leave low reviews but the experience that I had at Tao was just not what you’d expect for the caliber of the restaurant of this type.
Starting off, I will say the food is really good! And the vibes were amazing. From the decor, to the music, to the atmosphere—it was all great for a Thursday dinner with my girlfriend.
As amazing as the vibes were as well as the food—the service was ABSOLUTELY lacking.
We went for a dinner and it was NOT a busy night AT ALL. You could see 2/3 servers just standing around at all time that day.
Starting off our server didn’t seem like she was trained at all with the menu and service. My girlfriend has a gluten allergy and it made ordering extremely difficult with the server because she had absolutely no idea what was gluten free at all so every single dish that we ordered she ran back to the kitchen to ask and then took forever to come back to double check with us. So that made ordering extremely difficult and took absolutely forever due to the back and forth that she went from the kitchen to us.
When the dishes were dropped she didn’t tell us which items were which so we had to just figure it out ourselves and it was our first time there so that just left a very sour taste in our mouths as well.
Not to mention the drinks took over 20 minutes to arrive. All we ordered was 2 lychee martinis.
Overall, probably wouldn’t be returning considering our first experience was so lacking.
I have a gluten allergy. The waitress was very accommodating and double checked if the fried chicken was safe the fried chicken is gluten free but it’s fried in frier that would be cross Contaminated.
Soo amazing for triple
Checking.
Unfortunately we were so rushed.
To the point I was still shoveling food in my mouth and she asked to
Take my plate. Even watched over our table. And the
Manager coming over on her iPad multiple time during our dinner
( if there is a time limit let us know in advance, we were there total 2 hours with drinks and dessert)
Idk if I was starving but the food was excellent!!! Everything was soo good!
Dips to filet kebab to dessert
Food was very good and lots of gluten free options! The little gem lettuce salad was a win. Also had the spicy peanut pasta (gluten free!)
Great for small dinners or dinners with parents as the space inside is not all that large and the menu puts a small (but worth it) dent in the pocket.
We met for dinner at Cafeteria in Chelsea. Pretty relaxed place, friendly staff, nothing too fancy—which I actually liked. We came especially to try their mac & cheese. It’s not really my kind of food, but honestly, it was really good! Creamy and rich—I totally get why people love it. The menu is very American, with some seafood and other options too.
I asked if they had a whole wheat option for bread, but they didn’t. Only gluten-free or served in a lettuce leaf. Not a big deal, but it would be great to have that for people following an ADA-friendly diet.
The food was tasty, not trying to be upscale or anything. A good spot for a casual night out goth friends
7/10
Our dinner was outstanding and their enchiladas are to die for!!!
It was so good that I ordered a second main course—despite no longer being hungry—as it was THAT good. The food is freshly made with all natural ingredients.
Our server gave us fantastic service and great recommendations. He was very attentive without being overbearing: just perfect.
I frequent this restaurant because I have never, ever been disappointed. What a wonderful little gem this place is!
I am gluten-free and they accommodated me fully.
BEWARE-if you are gluten free. There are many designations on the menu that claim items are gluten free. The kitchen staff does not understand the concept. There was barley in the chicken soup, even though I asked to make sure that it was GF. Other food/salad were tasty but I grilled the server about each dish. And ate simply
Delicious dinner! They don’t have gluten free pita but they can accommodate most of their menu to be gluten free. Service was great and the food was delicious, I didn’t even need pita! Definitely recommend
We had terra catered for a dinner party and couldn’t have been thrilled with how it turned out! The food was absolutely delish, came hot and ready to be served. The arayes were absolutely a fan favorite, and additionally the Terra team couldn’t have been more generous and patient to go over food allergens. Most of our order was gluten free which was perfect for guests with celiac and reassuring as a host to serve them.
Over and over again guests kept asking where the food was from because they wanted to order. Will absolutely be ordering again in the future! The chocolate chip tahini cookies are also divine.
We stumbled upon this restaurant after a tour in the Hudson Yards.
The moment we walked in we were greeted with a warm smile and big welcome. We did not have reservations and they still accommodated us on a busy Friday night. The server was knowledgeable and made excellent recommendations and accommodation for some gluten free options. The meal was delicious. We were checked on by multiple staff including the evening manager. It was a perfect night. Thank you.
The baguettes are somehow both fluffy and crunchy, the ham cut thick like you have at family christmas, the cheese is lavished in reckless abandon and topped with a mustard that manages to be both sharp and sweet, like your crush from highschool.
The best sandwich in NYC if you don't want to wake up the next day with the gluten guilts. Its so fresh it feels like you've eaten a salad, but satisfies like you treated yourself to a burger. Warning: I must assume dark magic is being practiced here.
What a great find! THIS PLACE DESERVES 5 stars!
I’m visiting from Los Angeles and was in search for the best donut in town. I told Chat GPT that I wanted to find the best donut near Hells Kitchen that are like my fav Butter Salt Donut at Sidecar in LA and it recommended this place. The 4.3 stars threw me off but I came anyway and I so glad I did.
The vibe is lovely. I feel like I’m a French coffee shop. Plenty of seating. We ordered the Carmel Chocolate Chunk Cookie - it was Devine! A huge, thin, gooey in the middle, soft but crispy in the outside, perfect cookie. We had a Bacon, egg, and cheese on gluten free bread - the bread was soft and not dry like other GL options can be. The bacon is thick, baked in the oven goodness and the egg is runny delicious. + the Lumberjack was the icing on the cake. It’s the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on their maple donut. Oh. My. Goodness! It was so good. I came here for a donut and a breakfast sandwich and got them all in one dish. It was so good!
We also ordered dirty iced chai as and they were delicious. They don’t have coconut milk sadly, but their whole milk did the trick.
Can’t recommend this spot enough.
How did I not know about this restaurant til now?! I've been on a hunt for good gluten free dim sum, and this place is it! 10/10, and the ambience of the place is lovely as well.
I had this on my list to visit and was pleased to see gluten-free options for my partner. I love my eggs Benedict and the coffee was described as elixir of life which it felt like that day.
The Nutella waffles were amazing and the service was very good.The restaurant also made great omelets that were gluten free. And the pancakes were scrumptious! Highly recommend!
We went here Sunday (our last night in NYC) because it was a short walk from our hotel. The music was so loud we couldn’t hear each other without yelling. They turned the lights so low we could barely see our food. My drink was tiny for the price. My beet salad was okay, it could have used more fruit and cheese, a little salt and pepper. My friend ordered a burger without the bun and with sauce on the side. It came under cooked, with the bun and sauce on it and with the wrong side. She is gluten free so she couldn’t eat much of her expensive meal. I was served the wrong meal twice and by the time I received it, my friends had been done eating so I took it to go. It should have been free but that wasn’t offered to me. It also had pesto on it (which is not expected with a ragu) and I hate pesto, so I could not even eat it. The menu did not state it would have pesto on it or I never would have ordered it. I paid way too much to eat there for terrible service and food we either couldn’t or wouldn’t eat due to misleading info or wrong orders. I would not return to this location and wish I didn’t have to pay for my experience at all, as it’s not cheap either.
Stepping into Cucina Alba in NYC feels like an instant transport to the first day of summer. I'm drawn back time and time again for the incredible vibes and their off-menu gluten-free options. The servers are not only attentive but also add to the overall experience.
This restaurant has become a staple for my date nights and hosting friends and family. It's like a little slice of Italy tucked away in the world's best city. The combination of the warm ambiance, gluten-free options, and attentive service truly makes it a gem in the heart of NYC. Cucina Alba is a place that captures the essence of Italy, and I can't recommend it enough!
100% Dedicated Gluten-Free
