Aperture

So I have an evening off and decide I’d like to try something new, and I’ve been dying for Italian food lately… I am skimming through the web (because I know that seamless and grubhub take a cut of orders placed through their sites, and I’d rather the restaurant keep their own money) and find Aperture. Haven’t ever eaten there before, but the menu seems nice, so hey let’s try them out. It’s almost 10 pm so I know I’m pushing the envelope. I ordered two pasta entrees, and await delivery. It’s about 11 pm when the food arrives.
The total was $ 32. Unfortunately, all I have are twenties, so I ask the delivery boy for $ 4 in change. He informs me almost smugly, «I don’t have any change.»
You don’t have any change? Really? It’s not like I’m paying with a fifty or a hundred… I just need $ 4 back. How do you not have change? I search my wallet for any stray singles but unfortunately, I only have twenties. I asked the delivery guy, «why would you leave the restaurant without change?» He says, «we usually only go through seamless so it’s all credit card.» Well, I’d placed my order over the phone, and the gentleman who’d taken the order never asked me for credit card info, nor did he warn me they’d need exact change. If all I’d had was $ 50’s or $ 100’s then I would have seen it as my responsibility to inform him that I’d need change, but like I mentioned, I don’t think it’s asking much that the delivery guy have at least change of a twenty on him. I mean, that’s kind of his job. I expressed my frustration to him, I’m being left with the choice to either short him $ 2 and change, (which I’d never do) or tip him $ 8 on a $ 32 delivery. I’m sorry, I’m not that rich. I ask him, «why wouldn’t you guys have told me me that I shouldn’t pay in cash, why would you not have change?»
He replies and I quote, «Why you gotta be a D*CK, man?» I said, «Excuse me? Listen, you’d better take this food back there and what’s your name?» His reply as he turned on his heel and stormed away, «No man, it don’t even matter!»
Well if it doesn’t even matter, then why are you running away, and why can’t I have your name? Obviously, he knows he stepped over the line.
I called the restaurant back immediately and asked for the manager or owner. I told him what had transpired. He replies, «He what? That really doesn’t sound like Derek! I’ll get you change, it’s not a big deal, if you need change!»
Maybe you don’t know Derek as well as you think. Maybe Derek isn’t happy or isn’t suited for his position. The point is not whether I want my change back, the point is this is unacceptable behavior for an employee. Don’t question whether I’m telling you the truth, I have no motivation to lie. But now I do have motivation to never order from Aperture.
I know a lot of people say this, but I’m in the industry. I’ve worked as a server and a bartender for over 20 years in this city. I would get fired for this at any place in which I’ve ever worked. Use better hiring practices, a delivery boy shouldn’t be allowed to lose you clientele.

My stomach!
We were on our way to Prime Meats but they were full. This place is down the block. I checked the Unilocal reviews and it seemed like people gave them great reviews so figured what’s the harm.
Well, the harm is that my stomach is wondering what kinda crap I ate.
When someones menu is longer than an A4 sheet, I stick to ordering a dish you can’t screw up.
So we ordered a Pizza and a Baked Ziti.
Well, I’m not sure about the Pizza but my friend left over half and then 5 minutes later complained about his stomach starting to talk to him. And the baked ziti I ordered (well, even I who makes amateur ziti at home, makes it better than this)
It’s a bar like setting and seems more like a local hangout, they all knew each other there.
The waitress was super nice and she really tried, but it just wasn’t happening for us.

This a great place the service is very professional and courteous the waiter Robert is amazing very funny comes right to the table starts you off with delicious cocktails the bartender Evian who makes a great cosmo also has a vast majority of select wines the pizza is phenomenal with your choice of various toppings it was amazing when the food which was suggested by the owner Andrew when it reached our table was flawless as I have visited many top notch Manhattan eateries I was amazed of the quality of this Brooklyn restaurant Aperture is a must!!!

Aperture is the real deal. I would give this place more stars if I could. One of the best restaurants in Brooklyn. They have a full menu that satisfies every type of craving and/​or special diet at very reasonable prices. They prepare traditional Italian dishes better than myother. Nice happy hour and late-​night menus; friendly owners and bar crowd.

Great pizza !!
Fast delivery!
Very nice people over the phone.
My new pizza place !

I found out about this place when I was given a gift card for any restaurant on this list and aperture had the best score rating in Brooklyn and this list was right. I been here a few times but tonight they blew me away. My wife suprised me with a 33^rd birthday party. We had about 30 people and everyone of them said the food is amazing, the restaurant is great and it is a diamond in the rough. They are great for a romantic dinner or a group affair. I been to plenty of places to eat. I use to be a chef, I am 320lbs, I know food. Everything and everyone who works here is amazing. I started going here about a month after they opened and I will continue to go here. Best Italian food in Brooklyn and I think in the world. Thank you for everything. See you all soon.

Amazing food and amazing service! Our waiter rob was personable and fun. Can’t wait to come back!

Which review is unlike the others? Apparently this one. I ordered from Aperture based on the overwhelming amount of positive reviews, and what I consumed last night for dinner so far from what I was expecting.
I was staying in the area for work, and I was craving some good, wholesome Italian food. Feeling lazy, I ordered from Aperture through Seamless. I got the most basic and the most «I can’t screw this up dish» I could possibly order: chicken parm with spaghetti. The most exciting thing about meal was how quickly it got to my hotel, and being that I was famished, I was more than excited to receive my food. I opened the container and it smelled like the dish should have smelled, but it looked and tasted nothing like what I wanted.
The sauce was impossibly dry; the chicken was bland and tasteless; the cheese was overwhelming and not well-​balanced with the lack of (dry) tomato sauce. There was no enjoyment, no sense of home in the classic Italian dish, and it left me feeling incredibly disappointed.
Perhaps it was an off night for Aperture, but I would never eat food from there again, nor would I recommend it to anyone. I mean, unless I didn’t like the person, and then maybe I would consider suggesting it.

Absolutely shocked at how breathtakingly average the parmigiana and ziti was. Paster is undercooked. No cheese. Hardly any pasta sauce. $ 18. Seriously?

Do you live in NYC? Do you like delicious food? And you haven’t been to Aperture yet?!? Well, then you’re missing out!
My husband and I came to Aperture on a Friday night for dinner. We started off with the hot antipasto for two which came with stuffed clams, stuffed mushrooms, shrimp, and eggplant rollatini. Everything in our app was so good, well prepared, and hot. It wasn’t warmed up from earlier in the day like other places might.
For entrees we wanted to try their pizza. So we ordered a caprese pizza ($ 10). Since it was $ 10 we thought it would be small and just enough for one person, like a personal pie. Apparently not! It was a huge pie! We also ordered the seafood fra diavalo. Which also ended up being enough to feed a family of 4 lol. They serve all their food in very large portions. We ended up taking more than half the pizza home with us.
Their dessert menu looked delicious too, but we couldn’t even think about ordering anything else after our meal. We’ll save room for dessert next though.
Do yourself a favor, try Aperture out, you’ll end up thanking me and the chef.

Came on a Wednesday night. Pretty empty except for some loud rambunctious women sitting at the bar.
We were seated immediately and immediately were given water.
Waitress was ok she answered all our questions. But was pretty lacking in the personality department. She was nice but robotic in her interactions with us instead of fluid and second nature.
Ambiance is confusing. Nice tables and chairs, linen. napkins and table cloths. Great wall décor, very clean place. Open kitchen. Bar area with a flatscreen they had the game showing. Warriors (my favorite b-​ball team) vs lakers. It seemed like an imaginary line existed down the middle of the restaurant dividing it in half. On one side you have a nice restaurant the other side a sports bar. The loud ladies and some of the staff engaging in their fiasco made it annoying. They had potty mouths and trust me I curse like a sailor but it was ridiculous especially when you’re trying to enjoy a meal and engage in conversation with your guest who could hardly hear me at times. It’s a pretty small space. I wish they would’ve dimmed the lights. It was extremely bright and the fact that it was dark outside made it seem brighter. I actually squinted when I first walked in.
The food was good. They gave out an amuse bouche of bruschetta. Good flavor, could’ve been executed better. They also gave out bread with ice cold butter (pet peeve of mine) the bread wasn’t warm (another pet peeve of mine). The bread also wasn’t cut all the way through so me and my guest had to play tug a war to get a piece.
We shared the cheese ravioli. It was wonderful. The marinara sauce was phenomenal. Well seasoned, satisfying dish. We cleared the plate.
I had the shrimp scampi. The sauce was pretty light in comparison to other shrimp scampi I’ve had. Overall it was delicious and a good portion. My guest had the salmon oreganata and a side of ziti with marinara sauce. Salmon was cooked perfectly and the lemon butter sauce was a nice accompaniment. The breadcrumb topping was tasty in itself but not needed. The ziti was pretty uninspiring literally ziti noodles with marinara sauce on top.
We were too stuffed to get dessert. Overall the food is delicious. A few execution errors and service flaws. Has the potential to be something greater than what it already is.

Finding a place that makes EVERYONE happy is tough. Aperture does it. They have the Italian traditionals, home style dishes, macaroni & meatballs, stuffed shells, eggplant rollatini, which is more my daughters liking. They also have new interpretations with Classic Italian ingredients, more my taste. Cavatelli with sausage and broccoli rabé, in a light tomato marinara. And, if the entrees can’t fill your needs, they have great pizza.

This review is for delivery only.
My friend and I decided to go for some delivery Italian the other night, and thought Aperture might be a good choice. Y’know, comfort food. Well, the delivery experience wasn’t the most comforting. First of all, the delivery took almost 2 hours (and 30 minutes longer than the estimated time). We were starving!
By the time we got the food, the Aperture Pie we ordered was already pretty much cold. I think the pie would’ve been quite delicious if still warm, and the brussel sprouts actually really worked for the pie. Really creative ingredients that worked very well together. It wasn’t bad at all cold, but the best part of pizza is having it hot initially and having the cold leftovers the next day, so I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to enjoy the pie hot.
We also got the Veal Sorrentina, which was alright but not at all memorable. Lastly, we got the broccoli rabe as a side, but what we actually got was just regular broccoli sauteed with garlic. I’m conflicted about the broccoli, because it was actually really garlicky and delicious, but that’s not what we ordered!
Overall, the place gets 2 stars. As far as food goes, I actually would’ve given them a 3 or 3.5 starts, considering the taste of the pie and the broccoli. However, between the cold pizza and the broccoli rabe/​broccoli mixup, I can’t justify how pricey this place was for delivery. For that price (I think the veal was over $ 20, and definitely the least tasty and memorable part of the meal), I expected something much better.

Awesome experience!
We ended up here after putting our name down for a 45 minute wait at Buttermilk channel Sunday brunch. We decided to walk around the area and see what they had to offer and ended up finding this gem right down the block.
They opened at 12pm and it was 12:02, perfect! The place was empty and the staff welcomed us with open arms. We really only wanted drinks, bellinis particularly and I took a look at the menu and was like OK we’re eating here. Rum french toast, apple and cinnamon pancakes aww man it sounded so great. My friend ordered the steak and eggs which came with parmesan truffle fries and I got the rum french toast with 90 min bottomless bellinis ($ 15 each-​sooo cheap!). First round of bellinis were so good and our bartender, Kaitlin, allowed us to look around. We got a great view of the backyard area, they have a retractable canopy which was cool.
Everyone was extremely friendly, we met the owners Al and Ant, spoke to the chef, Baldo and all the other staff. Everyone was genuine and conversation went from first year issues (one year anniversary is on ⁸⁄₈), to marketing issues and horseracing. It was nice genuinely vibing with them and really getting to know them.
Steak and eggs was off the chain as my friend said; he totally hugged Baldo before we left lol. My french toast was delicious! Lots of strawberries, perfect amount of sweetness and my side of fried eggs was good. I also ended up ordering the pancakes bc everyone kept talking about them. I don’t think they lived up to the hype but the French Toast was my fav.
We definitely going to come back to try their dinner menu.

Travelled to the area in hopes of scoring some pupusas from Solber Pupusas but when the truck was nowhere to be found, I made my way over here. It was during the lull of the afternoon and the restaurant was empty. However, service was very attentive and nice. They start you off with some prosciutto, which is delicious, and for entrée I ordered the Upside Down pie, which is basically a margarita pie with the order of the ingredients reversed. Definitely a must try.
While I’m disappointed I couldn’t get some pupusas, I am very happy I came across this place.

We had our post wedding brunch here and the service is amazing. Keelan our waitress is so sweet and attentive she checked on us and refilled our drinks so quickly. The food is awesome so delicious. We never felt rushed after our 90minute bottomless brunch drinks
We came back a week later and they remembered us and the service is still amazing
We had the steak and eggs and pancakes and omg so amazing
Today trying the rum toast it looks so pretty I do not want to eat it but it’s going in my belly
Come in you will not be disappointed

I came on a Friday night with the girls and had an amazing experience! Our waitress was friendly and attentive. She was very helpful with the wine recommendations, as our groups was not too familiar with wine. It took us a while to decide what to order, but she was patient and didn’t pressure us at all.
Scungilli– Tasted fresh, but the pieces were chopped up too finely.
Calamari– This was good, I like how there wasn’t too much batter on the calamari. The dipping sauce was also excellent, although the medium could have been spicier.
Chicken Sorrentina– The pasta was delicious and the sauce was amazing. The chicken was good, but the sauce was definitely the star of the dish.
Marinara Pizza with mushrooms and sausage– I love how thin crusted and saucy the pie was. I will definitely be coming back for more!
Margherita Pizza with meatballs and eggplant– The pizza was good, but I prefer the saucier marinara pie.
Italian Cheesecake-​Light, fluffy, and yummy!
Spumoni Ice cream– Delicious!
Overall, my experience here was great! The atmosphere is awesome, it’s not one of those places where the music is loud and overbearing. Great for groups or for a date!

First off, want to state this review is for take out. Very solid 3.5 stars for our experience.
We would occasionally order from the very good Luna Rosa that used to be in this spot so were intrigued to see Aperture kept the oven and a similar menu.
Cutting to the chase we decided hedge our bets and try a pizza and an entrée. We went with the meat lovers pizza and a chicken parm. We read the rest of the reviews so knew the portions weren’t going to be that big for the price… and they were spot on. For about $ 40 you get a 12″ pie and a small piece of chicken (chicken comes with choice of pasta or salad… we chose salad which unfortunately they forgot but I won’t hold against them since we didn’t feel like calling them back to get).
The pie was really beautiful (see image) and the toppings seemed extremely fresh. I liked how pepperoni was sliced paper thin so was light yet flavorful. It was cooked to perfection but unfortunately where it fell apart for us was the dough. Maybe it is just our tastes, but flavor of crust was too sweet and just a little off. Rest of pie was good but dough killed it for us.
The chicken parm looked good, and actually liked that they hammered it thin like veal, but the sauce was just a bit too salty for us and not a flavor we would crave (not like a Frankies or Queen sauce that is like crack)…and as noted before, portion was small. Saving grace was the excellent bread that came with it.
Overall it was good but not great (especially, when there are literally dozens of other restaurants with the exact same menu within a ¼ mile). Again, keep in mind we are reviewing takeout so maybe it is whole different experience eating in. If we decide to give them another chance we will try it then and update out review accordingly.

Happened to be in the area and came across this place on Unilocal.
What a nice bar/​restaurant. The margherita pizza was excellent. Nicely cooked with a great tasting sweet sauce. Delicious dressing on the house salad. Reasonable prices.
The owner and the pizzaoli were really nice and really took pride in their restaurant. Definitely recommend.

Das war einfach nur perfekt!
Erst einmal ist der Service so nett und freundlich die Kellnerin gab und solange wir auf unsere Minestrone gewartet haben erstmal 2 bruschetta umsonst (was bei Frankies 8 $ gekostet hätte) und als die Minestrone dann kam war es auch noch eine große Schale zu einem fairen Preis, super leckere Tomatensoße, Kartoffeln nicht überkocht und mit super Gewürzen.
Die Pizza war dann noch das I– Tüpfelchen: sehr gelungener Teig, nicht zu dick und die Tomatensoße hat so frisch und gut gewürzt geschmeckt das hat wirklich 5 Sterne Charakter.
Alles in allem super Service und nettes Personal, delikates Essen, faires Preis-​Leistungsverhältnis und gemütlich :)

Ah! I feel so excited to write the first review for this place. We went about a week before they opened officially – this was the «soft opening.»
I had passed Aperture pretty much every day on my way to kickboxing, and it was cool to see them slowly getting ready. A raw bar? Italian specialties? A wood-​burning oven? I was sold.
After seeing them open for a few days, I finally dragged my roommates to the restaurant so we could all try it out. Normally, I’m not a huge Italian fan and tend to gravitate towards ethnic food, but hell, this is Carroll Gardens!
We got an assortment of things – margherita pizza, oysters, baked clams, and the veal marsala (a great test for any Italian joint).
Oysters were good, although one of the varieties was way, way too briny for my taste. Margherita pizza was excellent. The crust was wonderful, with the perfect amount of charring on the bottom. Clams were clams, and the pasta with the veal was a-​ok. For me, the veal dish itself was the star here – perfectly cooked, and that sauce? Delicious.
The food reminded me of the family-​style Italian places we went to whenever we visited my grandparents in Brooklyn. Rest-​assured, that’s a very, very good thing.
Weird-​ish gripes unrelated to food: My roommate thought the name sounded like an (smartphone) app, and I didn’t get the motto («Focused on Flavor») underneath. I know it’s related to the name of the place, but restaurant mottos aren’t my jam.
In an area where there are so many upscale, ultra-​pricey places, Aperture sets out to be a great neighborhood restaurant where people can come and enjoy themselves. I know we certainly did.