Gola Osteria Restaurant & Catering

The ambiance is dimly lit and intimate, creating the perfect setting for a romantic evening. It feels tucked away and special, like a hidden gem. The pasta tastes house-made and perfectly cooked, with rich, well-balanced sauces that feel authentic and thoughtfully prepared.

Celebrated a birthday here and left disappointed. While the food was very good, the service undermined the entire experience. Our waiter was repeatedly condescending, made pointed remarks toward members of our table, and created an atmosphere that felt uncomfortable rather than celebratory. For a restaurant with a reputation like Gola, I feel like attentive and respectful service should be the bare minimum. Spending roughly $300 on a meal where guests feel talked down to is simply not acceptable. The food alone isn’t enough to justify the price if the hospitality falls this short.

I had taken my partner to Gola Astoria for their birthday celebration. The ambiance and wait staff had been on point. We were pleasantly impressed how they had brought our food out very quickly. My partner had mentioned to me that the Tortelloni dish they ordered was not fully cooked. It was hard not Al Dente. We brought it to the wait staffs attention and requested to have the plate replaced. The waiter said they could cook it alittle more for us. I requested it be replaced due to Tortelloni not being a dish that can be reconstituted by cooking it more. He responded ," Are you a food critic " very smugly. 10 plus minutes passed and he had brought back the Tortelloni to our table and it was completely flat and mushy. It looked as if it was microwaved. My partner mentioned it looked well ov

After my fourth visit, I have to say I'm not impressed. The pasta is is mediocre, is the only affordable dish for non-wealthy folks. Would have loved to try the pork chop but it's 50 whole dollars. The appetizer and pasta we got was drowning in olive oil. Mostly good flavors, but not exciting or rich. For the price, and delightful atmosphere, the food falls short.

Gola has a very well earned, and very well deserved, reputation in Ithaca. I came ravenous, determined to maximize my experience. My only question: is the Carbonara made with guanciale, as God intended, or pancetta (or worse). I was delighted with answer and proceeded. The tonnarelli is fatta in casa, as is all their pasta. It was prepared perfectly al dente. The carbonara itself was appropriately heavy, creamy and punctuated with magnificent crispy, buttery bites of guanciale. Carbonara done poorly can be too eggy or too creamy (due to inappropriate addition of extraneous dairy); mine was exactly where it should be and held it's own against any I've had in Roma. Against all better judgement, I ordered the swordfish as a secondi; my GLP-1 agonist failed that night. It arrived, a large fi