VERO Italian Kitchen & Lounge

I’m torn on giving this place a 3 or a 4, i’d actually like to give it a 3.5.
Came here for dinner with my mom, on a wednesday, which happens to be pasta night! Which I did not know beforehand. So, on pasta night, you have the option, for $ 20, to get an appetizer (a house salad or rice balls), and then for entrée, you get to taste the three pastas of the day, and if you’re still hungry, you may order more of any of the pasta, a pretty, pretty, pretty good deal.
Clearly, we went for this. The pasta’s for the day were a homemade penne with cauliflower in a garlic and oil sauce. This was good, it was better at the bottom because they clearly put the sauce on after the pasta was all done and in the plate already, instead of cooking the pasta in the sauce for a minute before plating, but anyway, still good.
The second pasta was a large rigatoni in a mushroom sauce. I’m not a big mushroom fan, but the rigatoni was fantastic, and the sauce wasn’t overwhelming. My mom personally loved this one.
Lastly, the third pasta was a fettucini in pesto sauce. Wow, this one was terrible, sorry. I took two bites of it, and went, nahhhh, I can’t do this. The fettucini was realllllly good, but the pesto, wow, wayyyyy to overwhelming. Even with less of the pesto it’d probably still have been terrible.
So, we stopped eating it, and both ordered a different pasta to finish our meal. The waiter, and manager, who happened to be serving us, both questioned us not liking the pesto, and we were honest with them, and they weren’t bothered or angry, they appreciated the feedback. And quickly brought us more of the pastas we ordered.
Overall, the help was great, the service fantastic, I have to shout out the busboy, we NEVER had to ask for water, and he was attentive without being annoying. I’ll easily go back, but won’t rush to do it. Also, the place is really beautiful after reopening.

Nice atmosphere, server was friendly– but took a while to bring drinks. Appetizer was good (meat/​cheese board) — entrees were the big let down– ordered 3 steaks– all 3 were very overcooked, ordered cavatelli with braised pork– the red sauce was water, probably won’t go back

I liked everything and would definitely return. Came here with my boyfriend, brother and brother’s wife. We started with a cheese and meat plate. I do not eat the meat but the cheese, we ordered burrata, mozzarella di Bufalo, Taleggio and Fontina all delicious. Really enjoyed how they served with jam, just like Italy. Everyone enjoyed the eats as well.
This is all tapas style, which I really enjoyed about it. We ordered Polenta, Rice Balls, Gnocchi, Lamb Chops, and Flat bread. I ate the flat bread, Polenta and Gnocchi. All was good but the Gnocchi was just too much, would not order again.
Everyone at the table loved the lamb chops and even though a hefty price for 3 or 4 small ones (don’t remember which) at $ 28, they ordered round 2 of them!
Drinks were good, good atmosphere, I would come back and try it again.

4 of 6 meals came out raw And had to be sent back and came out undercooked a second time. Empty on a Saturday night at 730‑1030, not a good sign. 4 tables filled and a discouraged looking staff. Nice atmosphere but the food was not good. Same owner as vittorios but food no where near as good.

I arranged a party of 22 people for dinner and drinks. Usually this many women in one restaurant could be a difficult task. But Mike & Kristy and their staff were amazing. They were more than prepared for us, service from the Bar (Rob was Fantastic) to our waiter made us all feel welcome and special. Our 4 course meal was delicious, served with out delay. I would highly recommend Vero’s for a night out for a couple to a large group. They bend over backwards to make your night special at Vero’s Italian Kitchen & Lounge!

Came here with my friend for my birthday. I liked the ambiance, drinks were good, service was good. Food was fine, nothing extraordinary for the price. I’d definitely go back for the cool atmosphere and good drinks, but nothing too too memorable.
Good spot for Long Island, different from the usual/​typical spot!

We recently enjoyed a dinner at Vero. We had been there for a Unilocal event to try apps and cocktails. The cocktails were spectacular but the apps were spotty so we waited a few months for them to work out the kinks. Glad we did. We tried 4 apps. The soft shell crab salad was fabulous as was the frito misto. Ribs were good. The only miss for me was the polenta fries. They were super crispy but came with a lame vodka dipping sauce that did not compliment the graininess of the polenta. Something creamy would have served better. Everyone loved their mains. The duck ragu was great– perfect ratio of ragu to pasta, which clearly was fresh. Steaks were cooked nicely and the Bronzino was tasty. We were so full that we shared one dessert and it was more than enough for the 4 of us. Plus we all took food home. Wine list is small but nice selection of reasonably priced wines. Overall a great experience. We will go back.

This is gotta be the best place in Amityville as well as any part of this area of Long Island. We enjoyed an amazing shrimp starter and then had Panninis with salad and zucchini fries! Such an amazing spot and great prices. It’s such a treat to have such a lovely place on broadway in downtown amityville. Will def come back soon!

I went to Vero for lunch today and the food was incredible. I ordered the broccoli and sausage panini, which was the best panini I’ve ever had, and it came with a side salad & zucchini fries (amazing, by the way). We ordered the gelato for desert, that I would also recommend.

I went to Vero before pre and post the damaging fire. I love a local wine bar, and I really enjoyed both visits, but the Unilocal sponsored event didn’t paint the best picture of the place. The drinks are delicious and a little unexpected so I would suggest trying something out of your comfort zone. The do put these tremendous bricks of ice in the drinks, and the bartender explained it avoids the watering down of the drink… but they were a little awkward! All in all, I would most definitely go back!

Brought the husband here for the sole purpose of having a Vespa, one of their signature cocktails that I tried during a recent Unilocal event. It was fabulous!

Good drinks, nice apps.

As far as the bar is concerned, yeah c’mon out for it. It’s got a trendy feel and a bar staff that keeps the drinks flowing.
I just like that they have this hard to find oranic hard cider. It’s called J. K’s Shrumpy Hard Cider and the taste is incredible.
But the atmosphere here goes way beyond what you would expect to find in the area.

Even though they just opened back up after being closed for a while, the food is on point and the service is smooth. It’s nice to have the option of such fresh and high quality ingredients outside of the hotspots of NYC. Lucky for those who have this gem in the neighborhood and worth the trip for those further away.

Wonderful food, and service… study the menu, share the entrée. stick with the wine, can’t go wrong… Can’t wait to go back !

Since the «fire», there has been no sign of life at this place. I’m so upset because I bought gift cards for family. You’d think that a sign or something would be shared with a status update How is it possible that it takes longer ro repair after a fire than it took to demo and build the original? I called their sister restaurant Vittorio’s and got a Bull%^$# response that progress is being made but they can’t honor gift cards from the other restaurant because of a difference in computer systems. I don’t suppose they could set up a terminal from the other place at Vittorio’s to read the cards. No, that would be logical.
I now refuse to go to either.
Anybody want to buy a couple hundred bucks worth of gift cards for Vero?

Good food, unique. Drinks were a little over the top in being fancy and not worth the money.

Conceptual disaster. Food is pretty good, but they will not last unless they change their direction. Italian tapas will not work for that area, especially at those prices. When you enter the bar area it looks cool. But as soon as you walk through the curtain to the dining area it all comes apart. The motif on the booth seats are hideous. We sat at a table with 3 dining chairs and one living room chair. No idea where they were going with the décor.
Service was attentive, but waiter was way over the top and somewhat obnoxious at times. We came for Mother’s Day dinner and the 4 of us ordered appetizers and entrees. The waiter rudely stated I recommend 12 plates to order and you are only at 7 and walked away in a huff. Seriously? It was said in a tone like, «you better eat all your veggies or else you won’t get any dessert». You don’t need that when you go out to eat. Food came and went and was decent, but nothing you would run and tell your friends about. I had the grilled marinated eggplant ($ 6) and the cavatelli with pork ($ 14). We felt obligated to order dessert. We all had the tarts filled with raspberries in a zabaione. It was good, but really small.
It’s from the same owners of Vittorio’s and Mike’s Pizza which are both excellent so I’m sure they had an idea to do something different, but trust me it will not work. If you want to do the whole small plate thing add some innovative pizzas to the menu and cut the prices a little. Concentrate more on the wine as well. We were handed a cocktail list with a bunch of house made drinks and «craft» beers that I never heard of. The bill came to $ 142 without tip for the 4 of us with barely ordering alcohol. I don’t even want to imagine what it would have cost if we ordered the strongly suggested 12 plate minimum. No thanks.

Welcoming staff. Great atmosphere. Extensive menu. Small plates. Large prices. Very good food. Outstanding service. Attentive.
Try the meatball sliders. You won’t regret it. Will come back. Just not often.

We heard about this restaurant from a friend. She was adamant we’d love this place. (Which is risky b/​c we can be a bit snobby when it comes to our meals… so we knew she meant business.) She was absolutely right. Here’s the scoop:
Ambiance: Very nice. Nice & modern (BUT WARM) in side the bar area. The seating area is much warmer & dimmer which I loved. Very cozy. Each 4 top table had 3 dining chairs & 1 living chair. I’m sure I’ll find out the significance of this later but that seemed fun! We sat at a table with 2 chairs a banquette in the other side.
Staff: Very professional & our waitress Christina was especially sweet & funny! The only thing that kept this restaurant from getting 5 star for service was by the time we were leaving the restaurant was getting very busy and it took a while to get the check & our coats.
Drink: The cocktails are clearly created by a knowledgeable mixologist and many include underused ingredients such as Pernod and bitters and some even fresh herbs. Very interesting! Their wine list is extensive as well.
The Food: Vero is a small plate restaurant. You don’t typically find them outside the city & I’m very happy to have found one here. All the plates take you though a tour of Italy’s regions. you can pick a tasting of each area of choose as you go. Here are the categories:
Salumi — a sampling of high quality dried/​cured meat such as soppressata, salame rosa, prosciutto di Parma…
We tried this… It was good but pales in comparison to the other goodies here!
Formaggi — several delicious varieties such as Parmigianno reggiano, Gorgonzola Dolce, Provolone and more…
Olives — 3 different combos
Bruschette: — bean, a tomato confit, a mushroom & an eggplant relish.
We had this as well & I would DEFINITELY order again. The bread was well seasoned & they were all soo good. The eggplant was the table’s winner!
Pasta — we did not try but will next time. There are several fresh & yummy delights here.
Specialiata — We didn’t try this either but they are smaller dinner servings of fish or meat served with creamy polenta.
Foccacia — Made fresh!
Piattini: We ordered the tasting of four & had:
— Creamy polenta served on a wooden board with duck ragu; very good!
— Veal meatball sliders — good a bit dense for my taste
— Spiedini — we missed the salt from the anchovy… maybe it was missing? Still good though.
— Octopus salad — a well seasoned & grilled octopus bits sit atop a well dressed mix of greens. This was my 1^st time having octopus and I’m not sure I’m a fan but I will try again. It was seasoned well and the consistency wasn’t tough, per se, but dense. (I said this about the meatball too! Maybe it’s me… Maybe I’m dense. Any who…) My brave table all tried it too! They are not usually as adventurous… Go team!
Lastly the desserts… very hard to choose but we had:
— Bread pudding with blueberries — This was excellent!
— Latte dolce fried custard — Delish, warm custard bites, crispy-​ish on the outside, break open to warm custard that slowly oozes onto the plate of berry coulis (if I’m not mistaken). Sooo good!
— The last desert was something in a martini glass (I want to say crème anglaise or panna cotta but I can’t recall… It wasn’t my dish) with cherries and once delivered to us was finished off with some espresso poured over top, tableside. Very nice touch!
Needless to say… I’m a fan of Vero! I will be back sooner than later & am excited to try all their goodies! This is a much needed & much appreciated addition to the island’s dining scene!