Nonna Dora's

My husband took me to this place because they have gluten-free pasta and the Nona experience, which was really amazing! We had several dishes. Every one of them was excellent. The service was amazing and the price was reasonable.

The food is decent, but somewhat overpriced. The service was prompt and attentive. You will need to select from their 3- or 5-course tasting menu. The portions are quite small — especially if you’re ordering salads for appetizers. The flavors are somewhat underwhelming. For our dinner, we ordered meatballs and seafood salad for appetizers; squid linguine with clams and shrimp mezzelune for the main course; and panna cotta for dessert. The meatballs were my least favorite dish. The ground beef was quite dry, bland — and just boring. The mince needed cumin, garlic, and onions, IMO. The marinara sauce was extremely underwhelming. It tasted like generic canned marinara sauce. It certainly didn’t taste like an Italian grandma’s slowly simmered Sunday sauce — or something that any self-respecting Nonna would permit to be served at the table. I sorely regret not getting the eggplant appetizer — which looked amazing. The shiitake mushrooms on top of the shrimp ravioli were sad and flavorless. They lacked the delicious, umani flavor characteristic of shiitakes. I’m guessing they used frozen mushrooms — and didn’t sauté them properly. I say this as someone who regularly cooks with fresh shiitakes — and who once made the tragic mistake of using frozen. As a moderately proficient home cook, I could have easily prepared something better — so maybe I’m more critical than the average reviewer. Still, this is shameful quality for any decent restaurant. It’s a very small detail — but it’s what makes a meal special and exciting. The restaurant itself is located in a very modest space, on the first floor of an apartment building. It’s easy to miss. The ambiance felt like something in a fast-casual chain restaurant — rather than in an Italian grandmother’s kitchen. Everything felt industrial and impersonal — and somehow unloved. Ironically, it’s right next door to a Chipotle. On the positive side, our waitress was friendly and helpful. The restaurant was clean and quiet. The pasta was quite good. It’s made-from-scratch — and there were lots of gluten-free options. It was bouncy, chewy, and flavorful — and everything that you would expect from a Nonna’s homemade pasta. Overall, the food wasn’t bad. The shrimp mezzelune and the panna cotta were my favorite dishes. The ravioli pasta and shrimp filling were very good. The fruit compote and vanilla custard were absolutely delightful — although the serving was tragically minuscule. (I considered getting seconds.) It’s probably best to come during lunch — when you can personally observe Nonna Dora making the pasta. Perhaps the quality of the food is better during lunch, when Nonna is carefully watching — and standing at the ready with her rolling pin. It’s 3/5 stars for me — it’s definitely not bad — but not anything special either. Instead of Nonna, it looks like Cousin Vinny was perhaps doing the cooking that evening. The quality of the food probably depends upon who’s cooking — and whether Nonna is watching.

Best gluten free pasta in the city. It is fresh gf pasta and they have multiple shapes and the best sauces. Also great gf apps and dessert