Sempre Oggi

Verdict: A Rare Find on the Upper West Side — Book It If Italian at the $$$$ Level Is What You're After

Most Italian restaurants in New York trade on intimacy: a dozen cramped tables, low ceilings, the sense that the city's density is pressing in from every side. Sempre Oggi at 164 W 75th St does the opposite. The room is cavernous, contemporary, anchored by gold busts that give the space genuine character without tipping into kitsch. That spatial generosity is the first signal that this is not a neighbourhood red-sauce spot. The second signal is the menu, where familiar Italian categories get noticeably better ingredients and more careful execution than the price tier usually demands.

The verdict: if you want serious Italian cooking on the Upper West Side at a $$$$ price point, Sempre Oggi is the clear choice.

What You're Actually Paying For

At a $$$$ price point, the honest question is always: what justifies it? At Sempre Oggi, the answer is in the sourcing and the pasta. The rigatoni, house-made, interlaced with crispy guanciale and sautéed onion in a roasted tomato sauce, is the kind of dish that separates restaurants serious about Italian technique from those coasting on Italian branding. Guanciale is the correct fat for this preparation; using it well, crisped rather than slack, signals that the kitchen under Chef Nick Griffo is not cutting corners on ingredient selection. The calamari preparation, finished with fresh herbs and crème fraîche, is another example of this approach: the base ingredient is familiar, but the sourcing and finishing lift it past what you'd find at a $$ Italian trattoria in the same neighbourhood.

For context on what $$$$ Italian means in New York: the cuisine pricing data shows a typical two-course meal at $40–$65, which positions Sempre Oggi as accessible relative to tasting-menu Italian elsewhere in the city, while the $$$$ overall price range reflects the full dining experience including wine. That gap between cuisine pricing and overall spend is largely the wine list, 145 selections, 2,420 bottles in inventory, with Italy as the stated strength. Wine Director Aviram Turgeman and Gabriel Richter have built a list priced at the $$ tier relative to the list's own range, meaning you can drink well without immediately hitting the $100+ bottles, though those exist too. Corkage is $50 if you bring your own bottle, which is standard for this level in Manhattan.

When to Go

Given the room's scale, Sempre Oggi handles larger groups without the table-sardine anxiety of smaller Italian spots. For a solo or two-leading looking for the most relaxed experience, earlier in the week, Monday through Wednesday dinner, will give you more of the room and more of the kitchen's attention. Weekend dinner is the harder booking and the louder room. If you want the full experience of that dining space, going before 7 PM on a Thursday gives you the atmosphere without peak noise levels. This is a dinner-only restaurant, so there is no lunch option to sidestep the booking pressure.

Booking difficulty is rated hard, which is consistent with a well-reviewed Upper West Side dinner destination. Plan ahead, walk-ins to a room this size are not impossible, but at $$$$ you should not rely on it.

Practical Details

Reservations: Required; book well in advance given high demand. Budget: $$$$ overall; cuisine pricing at $$ for a typical two-course meal ($40–$65 before wine and tip). Wine: 145 selections, 2,420-bottle inventory; Italian-focused list at $$ pricing tier; corkage $50. Meals: Dinner only. Address: 164 W 75th St, New York, NY 10023. Dress: No formal dress code on record, but at the $$$$ price point, smart casual is the safe call, the room and the gold busts set a tone.

How It Compares to Other $$$$ Italian in New York

Sempre Oggi sits in a different lane from the white-tablecloth Italian institutions. For a direct Italian comparison, Via Carota is the neighbourhood-casual alternative, lower price, no reservations, no wine program of this depth. Ai Fiori occupies a more formal French-Italian register; if service formality matters to you more than spatial comfort, it wins on that metric. Babbo in the Village is the obvious New York Italian benchmark at this tier, more name recognition, tighter room, louder atmosphere. Sempre Oggi beats Babbo on space and wine inventory depth; Babbo wins on legacy and downtown energy. Altro Paradiso skews lighter and more seasonal; Ammazzacaffè is a different format entirely. For Italian at this level outside New York, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto show how the cuisine travels globally, but for the Upper West Side specifically, Sempre Oggi has no direct competitor at this combination of scale, wine depth, cooking quality.

For more New York dining options across cuisines and price points, see our full New York City restaurants guide. If you're planning a full trip, our New York City hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the full picture.

Pearl Picks: More to Explore

If you're drawn to ingredient-led cooking with serious wine programs, these restaurants across the US reward the same attention: Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Smyth in Chicago, Providence in Los Angeles, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, The French Laundry in Napa, and Emeril's in New Orleans.