"Water and Wheat is my go-to spot on the Upper East Side, and honestly, I come here for one reason: the lasagna. It’s the only place I’ve found in the area that makes lasagna the way it’s supposed to be made. Most restaurants cover lasagna in so much cheese that it overwhelms everything else and turns into “cheese with pasta.” Here, it’s perfectly balanced. You can actually taste the meat, the sauce, the spices, and all the flavors that make a great lasagna. Service is consistently good, and the prices and portions are very reasonable. For wine, I always get the Sileno Cannonau di Sardegna and it never disappoints. For appetizers, you can’t go wrong with the meatballs. They’re juicy, and my recommendation is to hold onto the bread basket and dip the bread into the meatball red sauce. It’s so good. For dessert, I always finish with the tiramisu, which is the perfect way to close the night. Great atmosphere too, a small family-style restaurant with a really nice vibe. Highly recommended."

"We really enjoyed our lunch at this restaurant. I highly recommend it for both the quality and value of the dishes. During the weekday lunch, they have a menu under $16 that includes a house soup or salad and a sandwich. We had the Classic Italian and the Caprese — both were generous and very tasty. The bread was warm and crusty, and the soup (butternut squash) was excellent. The beer was on special for $6. The service was great, and they also offer homemade pasta. The music was nice too (“Emotional Bliss” by Sajmoonn). Overall, a perfect spot for a quick, delicious, and reasonably priced lunch. We’ll definitely be coming back to try more dishes!"

"My friend and I walked into Water & Wheat around 1:30pm on a Saturday. We got lucky that someone didn't show up for a reservation, so I highly recommend making one. The space is very small, and the tables are crammed together. The 6 tables by the door also get an unpleasant chill whenever the door is opened, but that can't be helped. We both decided to try the grass fed brisket bolognese ($23), and our server recommended the mafalde noodles. This was my first time trying mafalde noodles, and I liked the shape and texture. At first, I thought the portion size looked tiny, but there is more than meets the eye. Flavors tasted natural, though I would have liked a bit more seasoning on the meat. Pricing is appropriate for the area. Service was fantastic! There were multiple check-backs and water refills. They were apologetic whenever people had to squeeze past us or the door was open for longer than normal. Overall, I would recommend Water & Wheat for a quick bite if you're in the area at an off-peak time. For me, a pasta dish over $20 needs to be mind-blowing, and while the bolognese was good, it wasn't unique that I need to keep going back."

"Wheat and Water absolutely blew me away. The food was fantastic. It is honestly hard to nitpick anything, especially for a place that clearly deserves over a four. My girlfriend and I ordered the meatballs, octopus, the 10-layer lasagna, and the grass-fed Bolognese with mafalse. I didn’t even get pictures of the meatballs or octopus because after the first bite, we were too focused on wiping the plates clean. That’s how good they were. The fresh-to-order Sabata bread was a 10/10 on its own. It was some of the softest, freshest bread I’ve ever had. They mentioned their pasta is made fresh daily, and you can definitely taste it. I’m very picky about pasta, and this checked every box: fresh, mom-and-pop quality, and just flat-out delicious. At this point, I’m confidently calling this the best Italian food in the entire city of New York. It gets packed (we had to sit outside, and even that filled up as it was 50 degrees), but it was beyond worth it. Super thankful I chose to have dinner here and will definitely be coming back!"

"Called in for a last minute reservation on NYE and they were able to accommodate us. The space is very snug and we were seated close to the door but the servers kindly moved us to a different table once it opened up. My husband and I were spending the night at Lenox Hill Hospital and wanted to squeeze in a last date night before the year ends. Water & Wheat was truly the perfect way to end our night. The food was delicious (highly recommend their meatballs and carbonara), the service and ambience was perfect. All the servers/hostess were wonderful."