IL Passatore

Great place to impress out of town guest or for a date. I’m a vegetarian and there’s always a great rotation of pasta and salads. The bread and olive alone are reason enough to try this place out!

Totally lame — not very expensive and still over-​priced. Food is mediocre and servers dress like camp counsellors. Cash only (which is always kind of shady) and small portions will leave you feeling like a sucker as well as still hungry.

My fiancé has been here several times and loved the food. She took me out here for dinner and unfortunately the food was just ok this time around.
Had the Bruschette to start, Tagliatelle all Bolognese for the pasta, and a fish of the day. The starter was fine but the pasta was super salty and the fish was too greasy and oily.
They have many options on the menu and dessert too. Wine and beer only and CASH ONLY.

Oh man this place is great. I call it the pasta palace. Whenever I’m in the mood for some good pasta I go here. Big backyard, very comfortable, friendly staff.

Had a few of the pasta dishes which are quite good (homemade pasta) and this could be my new favorite Italian if the plates weren’t so disappointingly small, making it hard to justify the price point (the pasta dishes should be twice as generous to make them entrees sized)

Had to write an article on butternut squash dishes so tried the butternut squash tortelli at IL Passatore. It was really quite good. I would like to return in the near future and try other items from their menu.

I ordered delivery from here (over the phone — they’re still old school, which is charming) based on the high reviews. I’m confused about what I got based on everything I read beforehand.
The two dishes I tried were the pesce ravioli (which had no fish, but instead lobster and crab) and the spaghetti carbonara. Both were disappointing.
The ravioli was salty overall. The sauce was bland and the filling was dense. I didn’t get much flavor from the lobster or crab that was inside. The stuffing overall was a little off-​putting. The carbonara also came across as salty, and while the flavor was better overall, the sauce seized quickly into a clumpy mess.
I am curious about the experience of dining in, but the quality of the food I have makes me unwilling to try, considering other options. Seems like the food can be pretty hit or miss.

Tucked away in an unassuming corner of Graham and Bushwick is this little gem of an Italian restaurant. Cozy and dim inside + a great backyard outside, it’s perfect for hot summer days and cold winter nights. With a well-​priced menu and a gruff but gracious waiter — it’s easy to see why this spot is a local favorite.
The fried artichoke starter ($ 10) is deeply flavorful with its crust of pistachios and side of creamy goat cheese. Pair that with the generously portioned octopus ($ 13) and your dinner will be off to a delicious start. For a larger group the mussels ($ 9.50) are excellent. While it’s sometimes slightly sandy, the portion size is so good and the broth is so delicious that even though I know that’s a possibility, I’ll still consistently order the dish. After all — what is life if not for the risk you take?
The lamb ragu parpadelle ($ 14) is a perfect plate of thinly rolled flat pasta tossed in a deeply unctuous sauce. The vegetarian lasagna ($ 12) is a warm block of delight — even for this hardened carnivore — with its dollop of creamy ricotta and savory pesto and the shrimp risotto (when they served it during the winter) was comfort food at its best. The only disappointment for us was the carbonara ($ 12) which was all cream but no satisfaction — falling flat next to the assertive flavors in the other dishes.
There is sometimes a consistency issue, as evidenced by the mussels. Our Mezzelune di Burrata ($ 12), delicious on one occasion, had the distinct and off putting hints of canned cream of mushroom soup the next. That being said, taken as a whole, Il Passatore gets so many things right that it’s easy to forgive the small missteps.

I almost don’t want to write this review and give away the secret of the hidden gem on bushwick ave. I figured I would anyway because if I don’t give it away someone else will and lets face it, I like giving the scoop when the food is this good. I also love talking about cheese.
I recently came here for a friend’s birthday dinner and the 6 of us were promptly seated in the back «garden» where all the cool kids were seated. Our waiter was so patient with us even though we obviously couldn’t pick which wines we wanted to try or which entrees or which starters for that matter. Everything looked tempting but we ended up all sharing seven items on the menu.
The excellent:
1) Lasagna Vegetarian: This lasagna could hold its own against any of the big guns. You do not miss the meat believe me. The flavors are so perfectly balanced and I love that its topped with more ricotta and their delicious basil pesto. It also doesn’t hurt that it looks gorgeous! This is something everyone would want to taste and take multiple instagram shots of.
2) Burratina: Burrata is a beautiful cheese and I could never dislike it. Ever. This one is presented with prosciutto and a tomato jam. YUM.
3) Butternut squash tortellini: These are HUGE rectangle pasta goodies stuffed with squash filling and they swim in truffle sauce. I mean, enough said.
4) Steamed octopus: This starter was perfect. The octopus was really tender jut the way it should be. Don’t be afraid of those suckers, just dive it.
Just good but still solid:
5) Pappardele con Agnello: The ribbons of pasta and lamb Ragu is very tasty but It wasn’t the best I’ve had. I would recommend this only if you really love lamb sauce but otherwise try the other pastas
6) Piadina with brie and speck: Think of this as an Italian quesadilla. Its very nice as a starter but we were not overly impressed with it
This dinner is what all birthday dinners should be. I’ll also mention that our wine glasses were never empty and we all left drunk, happy and with complimentary limoncello shots and lava cake. This place is a keeper. Shout out to our amazing waiter who deserves all the credit!
–ONLY BAD THING: Make sure you bring enough cash because YES they are CASH ONLY and no they do not have an atm (They really should). You will have to stumble your way over to the gas station next door and extract cash while still in your food coma.

Felt the need to issue a rare Unilocal review as it breaks my heart to see people who have only tried this place once and clearly have no taste give it absurdly low reviews.
This is everything that’s great about NYC and Brooklyn. For those who have actually been to Italy, you’ll notice the food here is cooked and served in a traditional style — not Americanized (eg: smaller portions, lighter sauces and warm but fairly laissez-​faire servers). This is the only place I’ll ever order pasta in a restaurant as they make it fresh and it’s stupendous. Seasonal specials kill it, as does their extensive, excellently curated and very reasonably priced wine list.
I love the music they play. People seem to think they should have the godfather theme on loop in here. It’s not a cliché. It’s a restaurant. And an excellent one at that.
If you have an issue with it being cash only, maybe you should stop living on credit and leaving Unilocal reviews for fine dining establishments.

Had ragu. was either cooked in a dirty pan or came out of a can.
Fo real tho
I felt real sick
Chef boyardee taste’s better
Service was impeccable

Prices you can’t beat! Fast service. Small, intimate environment but always crowded!
Get the Octopus. It’s soooo tender and they cook it to perfection.
I also had the Orichette with pesto which was good and the lamb ragu. Yum yum.
Nice little neighborhood gem.

Loved the butternut squash tortellini! And the Pinot Grigio was a great choice to go with it. Small but cute. Cash only which is kind of a bummer, but there is an atm at the gas station next door so it’s not to much of a inconvenience.

This place is literally the best restaurant option at the Graham stop! I’ve never had one bad thing from this place. I could eat here every night and at their price points, I that could be a reality.
The space is tight, so it is best to go with just one other person.
That carbonara — YUM!

Yes, yes, and yes!
This restaurant is a diamond in a rough. If
you want fresh homemade authentic Italian food, pasta, wine, and Italian men from Sicily to deliver it to you, come here! You are greeted with delicious homemade focaccia bread to chew on and don’t even get me started on the heavenly desserts. This place is not too big so make ressies and stay a while. 5 stars. I am def a loyal customer for life.

Went here for dinner yesterday evening not knowing what to expect. Reviews of this place seem to range from poor to excellent, but I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and try it because my Italian boyfriend was craving good pasta. We both really enjoyed our meals.
We ordered a half carafe of house red, steamed mussels for an appetizer (I did not enjoy these whatsoever, but seeing as how my boyfriend did, I’m not going to say it was because they were bad, just not to my taste), tortellini and spaghetti carbonara — I had the carbonara. Fresh pasta is simply far superior in every way to dried pasta and the difference was evident here. The portions and quality were fair for the price, and we will probably end up going back.
Downsides — high prices for wine, cash only (it’s OK, but it’s always nice when you can pay with card), and the music was absolutely bizarre for an otherwise romantic little Italian place. They played Cee Lo Green, rap, and hip hop at a volume a little higher than I would have liked, which essentially destroyed all ambiance. If they could play something at a more comfortable level and more low-​key, this would be a great date spot.

This place is AMAZING! I found it on Unilocal and went for my birthday three months ago and have been back 4 times since. It’s a small and dimly lit spot and the food lends to the romantic feel.
I’ve had the risotto, Chilean sea bass, spaghetti al carbonara, mussels, ragu Bolognese and an appetizer that has polenta, artichoke olives and cheese, all delish!!! This is definitely a place I will continue going to. Stop reading this and go check it out.
The only down side is they open at 5pm and are cash only, that’s a bummer! But definitely deserves the 5 stars.

Let me start by saying that I never eat Italian food in America, becuase it is too heavy and I feel awful when I finish. The only place I’ve been able to tolerate Italian food was in Italy. That being said, when my friend gasped after hearing that i lived only 3 blocks from her favorite Italian restaurant and had never been there, I thought «why not, I must be missing out.“I have been back now twice in 2 weeks!
Il Passatore is everything I LOVED about Italy. Their light sauces, perfect portions, fresh pasta that is clearly made to order, and robust selection on their menu is why I gave it 5 stars. The service is impeccable! Not only are the servers knowledgeable and honest about the menu, they never stand over you while you eat and let you enjoy your meal in peace.
The culinary experience is so wonderful that I felt I was in another country for an hour and a half. I can’t wait to go back!

Ugh no. The food is so blend and unremarkable. The portions are small. Glass of wine is $ 10. And on top of all they are cash only.
How can this place have 4stars average review?
Hipsters must have pretty unadvanced and primitive palate.

Get at this place.
It’s small and cozy and packed, and totally worth a short wait (if you’re willing to sit at the bar). The staff here are amazing; they run around taking care of folks and rappin’ in Italian to each other.
The pasta is incredible. They’ve got the full set up so you get the primi, then the secundi, but I couldn’t imagine goin’ the whole shebang with the portions they dish up.
My she-​beau is Italian and vouched for this place, and she knows my rants on GF pasta and the difficulties, particularly with restaurants, but these guys nailed it.
Big ups for the free limoncello, too, homies!