Bar Luna

When my friend advocated to make Bar Luna our dinner destination, I had my doubts. My positive dining experiences on the Upper West Side were fairly limited, so I hoped for the best.
We walked into the casual restaurant, and I was immediately charmed by its relaxed elegance. The space was full of wine racks displayed across its rustic brick walls, and the intimate candlelight created the perfect date atmosphere. Regardless of the seductive vibe, the restaurant also catered to the many children of the area with decadent treats, such as macaroni and cheese.
Upon our arrival, we also recognized a couple of friends and inquired about a table adjacent to theirs. The friendly hostess was pleased to accommodate our request.
My friend who had introduced me to the restaurant, scanned the menu and was shocked to notice that the previous Italian-​style options had become much more Americanized. Apparently a new chef had taken the helm of the kitchen, but his specialties still sounded delicious.
We placed our order and waited for our food while munching on some mediocre bread not worth the carbs. My meal, however, was fabulous. The Broiled Filet Of Salmon was perfectly cooked to my preference with a slightly crisp yet a moist interior. It was served with a large Mediterranean chopped salad and grilled, fresh vegetables. This light and healthy option allowed me to bypass the elaborate meals that my friends had ordered, such as the Squid Ink Linguine with spicy seafood and the tender Braised Short Ribs. Of course I still tried a bite of each and thought they were both delicious. I also saved room and calories to indulge in the sweet Bread Pudding for dessert.
I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this casual, neighborhood charmer, which was located in what was previously a gastronomic wasteland. Bar Luna provided a complete package of great atmosphere, tasty cuisine, and affordable prices.

Awesome wine list and food altogether.
Try the short ribs

we had dinner here by chance last weekend because we were in the neighborhood without any specific reservations.
the food was average and drinks were good. the service was decent, but the wait time for our entrée was unacceptable. i probably wouldnt return anyway, in light of all the other options in the area.

This is a great spot to sit out at on a nice Fall night. It’s lit romantically and beckons couples to walk in.
The good:
— the Sidecar I had here is one of the best anywhere (rivals Bar Centrale)
— the bar is generous with their pours and Will R.‘s double scotch on the rocks was closer to a triple
The bad:
— The Mac and Vermont Cheddar was pretty bland. There was plenty of cheese but bland cheese results in bland mac and cheese so maybe add a bit more funky cheeses?
— The fried calamari was heavy on the breading and not much else
So basically, this is a good place to grab a drink. I’d pass on the food next time.

A friend and I stopped at Bar Luna for drinks and a quick bite to eat.
I had a chicken sandwich with french fries and a couple of glasses of their New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The chicken was surprisingly tender (considering it was deep-​fried) and the wine was very flavorful.
Every one from the hostess to the waiter to the busboy was friendly and pleasant to deal with. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had at a restaurant.
It cost $ 60 for 3 glasses of wine, a chicken sandwich, and a small plate of mozzarella and tomatoes covered in olive oil and basil.

We shall soon see about the food– I at least know in this moment I have the best seat on the upper west side — on the corner of a long pale-​red wooden high table with high chairs to dangle my achy legs– the seat looks over the restaurant’s outdoor sidewalk seating area and sits half inside/​half outside. I receive both the summer breeze mixed with light air conditioner. eating in a lullaby. argentine music plays in the background. Hopefully the food will complete my summer silly stupor.
The ravioli was good.

Came here on a Sunday evening with the intention of using a
certificate. Great ambience; lots of mahogany, fresh flowers and adorable outdoor seating on the sidewalk.
I wasn’t prepared to be «wowed» by the food and was pleasantly surprised when it was good. I enjoyed the spiced lamb burger — perfectly cooked, well-​seasoned and served on a brioche bun. My companion ordered the chicken lollipops ($ 7 for 4 measly pieces.) which were fried and slathered in an unremarkable peanut BBQ. He also ordered the Vermont cheddar mac & cheese — while it wasn’t inspired, it was the perfect, classic mac (albiet a small portion). Our server was excellent & very sweet. I thought the food & drinks were rather expensive, and while the food was good, I wouldn’t go out of my way for it with so many restaurants in Midtown West & the UWS. The placed was about ¾ full on a Sunday night, which is always a good sign!

Great atmosphere and wonderful for a date night.
Food is great, albeit a tad pricey. Lots of drink options, including a number of cocktails and a nice wine list for sure.
Surprisingly larger than it seems once you make it past the bar. Went with a group of six and there was plenty of room for us in the back.

Lame, lame, and more lame. Feel free to not give this place a shot. I can assure you you’ll be disappointed. I don’t know what else to say about this place. It kind of sucks.

I love the interior of this place. I like the exposed brick wall and the lighting is great — creates this kind of warm, candlelit glow. I was predisposed to liking this spot when, upon going for the second time, the manager recognised me and welcomed me back. A good start, I thought!
We had salads to start, both of which were really good. Mine had arugula, walnuts and dates and very yummy dressing. I followed this with mussels, in a white wine sauce which were also delicious. My let down was the bread — we were served a basket upfront, but it was really not fresh. And this is such an easy thing to get right at a restaurant. We shared a chocolate mousse for dessert, which was also a little disappointing — the kind of dessert I might expect to get at an chain restaurant.
Finally, the service was a little scatty. Our waitress seemed quite rushed and we had to flag her down once or twice to get her attention.
I feel that Luna has all the makings of a top notch neighbourhood wine bar and restaurant — but it is going to have to be more consistent and pay attention to the little things if it wants to compete with the likes of Tangled Vine and Buceo 95.

Not the best food I’ve ever had and not the worst. Seemed like a better version of bar food for the starter menu. The entrees were a bit better.
I would say our favorites were the Manchego Salad and the Black Linguini Pasta. I would stay away from the Calamari (we usually do not order calamari to begin with since we try to stay away from fried food… this was not worth it and I wouldn’t consider it light… which is what we were told). Nothing special about the shrimp and white bean app or the chicken paillard.
We did have good service from David. Went through many a wines to taste before deciding on the Super Tuscan, which was a recommendation from the Bartender (David may need to brush up on his wines knowledge tho).
We enjoyed the ambiance and even better when the place was clearing out as it got a little loud throughout the evening — but to be expected at 830 rush on a Friday night.
Probably would not go back again, but if you want moderate food at moderate prices, you could try it.

This Place is a good Spot to Chill With Friends over a bottle of Red on a warm summer Night. The Ambiance is Very Romantic with its Dark wood and Exposed Brick. The Staff are Always Attentive and Nice. I Carbo Loaded here Prior to Last Years NYC Marathon.
but.
This Place Seems to be Under New management/​ownership and it is not good. It seems They Got Rid of Most of The FOH staff. I heard its soon to be… A FONDUE BAR! welcome to the mid Nineties Bar Luna. You had a Good Thing Going.

This place is very UWS with its exposed brick wall and dim lighting and rustic Italian menu. I will not hate on this place. We went here Saturday night as a group of 3 couples. We had dinner, wine and deserts. The food was not spectacular — my pizza was sub-​par, but the gnocchi was very good. However, everything else was fairly consistent in the food department.
The service here was good as well. There were a few times where we had to hunt down our waiter, but when he did show up, he was attentive and promptly returned with whatever we needed. We ordered 3 deserts and he gave us a fourth for free, kind of cool as we were by no means upset.
Will this place blow you away with its amazing food and service? No. That said, you will have a good Italian meal, with good service and in a space with decent ambience — and nothing will get f-​ed up.

That works for me.

Not fabulous, but good. I’m not a huge fan of Italian because it so often seems generic– the same dishes, same ingredients, no matter where you go– but my roomie is a sucker for wine bars + Italian food, so we often go out to these types of places.
I will say first off that they have a very attractive dining room and bar area. Beautiful exposed brick and soft lighting with lots of candles. I could see it being a great date place. Also, I’ve never had a problem with service here– everyone’s been polite and attentive.
Here’s the thing: the menu relies way too heavily on truffle oil, goat cheese and mushrooms. Don’t get me wrong, these are all great ingredients… but maybe try to expand a little bit more.
However, whatever we’ve ordered has always been tasty.

Hovering servers are bad, ignore-​y servers are worse, especially when you have places to go and things to do. I went for brunch/​lunch around 1:00 on Sunday and couldn’t leave till around 3:00, because I think they forgot I was there.
The food itself (warm goat cheese salad, roasted vegetable panini, and shoestring truffle fries) was good — especially the fries, because I’m a yokel and had never had truffle oil on anything before. Too bad I had to wait 45 minutes after finishing my salad for the sandwich to arrive, and another 45 for the check — which was delivered by a different server, because I think mine left halfway through my meal.
Over the course of eating, I saw four different couples come in long after me and leave long before me. Four. That’s eight people. Now, I know I’m a slow eater, but it shouldn’t take little old me longer to be served and eat than it would take EIGHT people.
Whatever — since my original waiter left, the new one only saw that I had a sandwich so only charged me for that. Thanks for the awful service and free salad!
(P.S. I’m really not that dishonest actually — I was just so ready to get out of there and get on with my day that I barely glanced at the check.)

This review is only for their alleged «brunch».
Whenever I see the long lines piling out of Sarabeth’s and Good Enough to Eat, my heart sinks and my eye begins to wander, scanning the street for other potential brunch options. This time, Bar Luna caught my eye.
Willing to take a chance, we sat down and quickly realized that they do not serve a proper «brunch». Rather, they offer their regular food, plus a few token brunch classics to attract the overflow crowds from the more proper brunch establishments (like me!).
A salmon benedict was one of these offerings, but was really not impressive. The hollandaise sauce was lacklustre, and the remaining components were pedestrian, albeit palatable. The stuffed french toast was okay — there was an ample serving of pears, but otherwise there was nothing much about it that left me craving more.
I do have to say that we received excellent service, but it quickly became apparent that our server was probably either the manager or owner. The hostess was also very friendly, but you could see the rest of the wait staff floating disinterestedly throughout the restaurant, as they attended to the other tables.
I don’t know what the rest of their food is like, but this place falls short as an UWS brunch alternative when you can’t get in to Sarabeth’s or GETE. If the lines at those places are long again, it’s definitely back to Fred’s for me!

I did not Unilocal Luna before going to it… it was a place my friend and I stumbled upon as we were looking for dinner on the UWS. So when I came back, eager to share about the new gem I had found, I was shocked to see how many people had a bad experience. Mine was anything but bad!
On a Thursday night around 7:30, we got a seat right away and were immediately served a bottle of chilled water and bread with dipping oil. Our waitress was quiet but sweet and helpful, and the bussers were very polite and attentive. Our water glasses never got to empty.
The food was good– I don’t think that I would ever crave it specifically, but I was very happy with my linguini in clam sauce special (perfect portion, very fresh, and I was able to get whole wheat pasta– $ 13). My friend was very happy with her big burger and shoestring fries (surprisingly large for only $ 10). We both had sangria (no complaints or rave reviews) using the 2 for 1 special, which was nice. I was more than satisfied.
Perhaps the staff read the reviews and decided to change their act, or perhaps treating it as a restaurant instead of a bar made my expectations different, but I am really happy I went. I can see taking people there when they are in town for an affordable, comfortable, and nice meal. I hope, for everyone’s sake, that it gets more consistent so it can stay in business.

When you have to lean over the bread basket to shout to your friend «where in the hell is the waitress?» you know that you’ve found yourself in the wrong place.
At first I was excited — live music softly playing, a glass of Reisling, my girlfriends — it was a perfect Wednesday, until I ordered the crostini with dip. There were three: fava bean with pecorino, artichoke, and chicken liver. I abhor chicken liver pâté and it was the best of the three. They were so mushy and flavorless, bleehhhhh.
For food we all shared the mini lamb burger (ok), the truffle oil and something-​pork-​related pizza (meh — too oily, too truffly), and the pasta with lamb ragu (courtesy of Chef Boyardee?)
What had started as a pleasant evening ended as a stomach ache and a twenty minute wait for bread and olive oil.

A friend and I were looking for a cozy good wine place after work to have dinner with a less noisy mob; I found this restaurant this place.
Although it is considered a wine bar, the waitress we got didn’t know much about wine! Since I was in a spicy mood, it was essential to pare with a good white wine … Boooooo– After two tries of telling her what I wanted in a wine — I finally got it… I hate sending stuff back but in this case the wine was awful.
To start I ordered a Goat Cheese Brulée. The goat cheese was creamy and fresh and it was nicely paired with marinated beets, truffled greens and walnuts. It was a refreshing start a spicy delight I was about to relish. I order the special of the day — a Spicy seafood risotto, which was good and had a generous serving of seafood which was well appreciated.
it wasn’t my favorite but I would go back — the bar menu looked agreeable… and the inside décor was lovely… loved the modern bathroom door! :)
Also, the sitting inside was much nicer, than the awful view outside… no really much to look at…
So-​So eats!

I should have listened to the Unilocal but a friend suggested Bar Luna for dinner and since it looked so pretty I decided to make my own decision. Mistake number one.
We had a glass of prosecco at the bar and chatted with the affable bartender about the delicious popcorn they have for snacking. The delicious part of the meal ended about there.
We sat at the high table in the front which gave us a birds eye view of the place (and the couple making out in the corner) although it was slightly close to the host stand. We asked our server for a wine reccomendation and had a hard time convincing them we didn’t want to pay $ 70 for wine on a Monday night (especially when there was an excellent South American Cab Sav for $ 44). She also reccomended the polpette appetizer which were the same as served in the spaghetti and meatballs only these were served with crostini (apparently that made them special). The meatballs arrived drowning in tomato sauce but were tough as rubber balls. Overworked and overcooked I’d say. And no crostini. When we asked about it we were brought another basket of bread. Umm… ok?.?
The rest of the meal followed suit. I ordered the grilled calamari salad and the steamed mussel appetizer as my entrée. My friend ordered from the prix fix and had the mixed salad and penne pasta with plum tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The salads were fine — nothing special. The calamari was cooked relatively well — slightly chewy but by no means inedible and was seasoned fine. The mussels were described on the menu as spicy but there was no heat to be found. They were slightly fishy and there a number in the bowl that I had to remove myself that just never opened. The tummy rumbling at 2am told me that they definitely could have been fresher!
My friends penne was probably the worst of the lot. It came out in the smallest bowl I have ever seen for an entrée! The penne were mini and while I hate when things are over-​sauced, these were so ridiculously undersauced that the whole dish was dry and gummy. We had to ask for extra sauce about 3 times before it finally arrived.
Dessert came with the prix fix so we shared the brownie with hot fudge and vanilla ice cream. The hot fudge helped to make the rest of the meal go down easier.
Service sort of varied between really great to non-​existent. We witnessed a strange exchange between the host and some tourists who had made a reservation through Open Table. They thought their reservation was at 7:45 but he had it for 7:30 and they discussed at length to decide who was wrong. I couldn’t quite figured out why it mattered because the entire place was EMPTY at that point.
Overall, I had hopes that this place would prove the Unilocalers wrong. It’s cute, the menu is cohesive and it’s in a great location. But unfortunately it was just too off the mark in too many ways. There are too many other good options in this area where the food and the value are much better.