Sponsored Content
La Perla Nascosta, a cozy Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side, might be the neighborhood’s best-kept secret.
West 79th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam avenues is one of the Upper West Side’s busiest thoroughfares, but stepping into La Perla Nascosta brings an immediate sense of calm. It’s the restaurant’s welcoming atmosphere, combined with attentive service and high-quality food, that makes La Perla Nascosta a top-notch classic Italian restaurant.
La Perla Nascosta’s menu makes it the place to go for Italian comfort food. Inspired by the osterias of Northern and Southern Italy, La Perla Nascosta showcases a full range of meat, seafood, and vegetable options using traditional recipes. Diners can get adventurous with authentic dishes like Octopus Carpaccio, or stick to crowd-pleasers like brick-oven pizzas and house-made pastas. Two favorites in particular are the Eggplant Parmesan and Penne Alla Vodka.
La Perla Nascosta is also the perfect place for an indulgent brunch. In addition to brunch staples such as Eggs Benedict and Avocado Toast, the brunch menu includes unique flavors like Fig Toast, a sweet pizza made with Nutella, and Banana Bread French Toast. Of course, there are also classic Italian dishes like Lasagna and Chicken Milanese.
La Perla Nascosta has been open for less than a year, but it is already establishing a stellar reputation. The restaurant has racked up more than 100 Google reviews and an average rating of 4.9 stars.
A common thread across the reviews is the restaurant’s authenticity. “From the moment we walked in, the atmosphere felt warm, intimate, and authentically Italian,” wrote one customer in a recent review.
Another recent customer wrote: “From the very first moment in La Perla Nascosta you can tell that the cuisine is truly authentic Italian, with traditional flavors, fresh ingredients, and recipes that honor the real essence of Italy.”
In a sense, it’s fitting that La Perla Nascosta is serving up great Italian food in a warm atmosphere on West 79th Street. Upper West Siders might remember the space as Coppola’s, a longtime Italian restaurant that closed in 2023. In fact, La Perla Nascosta’s owner, Florin, worked at Coppola’s after he arrived in the United States from Kosovo in 2013.
It is especially meaningful for Florin, who lives on the Upper West Side, to carry on the tradition of great Italian hospitality in the neighborhood. Florin is a restaurant industry veteran, and in La Perla Nascosta he uses his lifetime of experience to create a restaurant that’s one-of-a-kind.
Haven’t tried La Perla Nascosta yet? A good time to stop by is during Happy Hour, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. There’s also a generous offer of 50% off signature cocktails on Monday nights.
In Italian, La Perla Nascosta means “The Hidden Pearl.” It turns out this gem of a restaurant was hiding in plain sight.
To book a reservation, click – HERE.
La Perla Nascosta
(212) 224-9667
206 West 79th Street
New York, NY 10024
Hours: 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 12 p.m. to 11 pm Fridays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.
That looks soooo good.