Restaurant in New York City, United States
Serious cellar, reliable Italian, easy to book.
Sistina is the Upper East Side's most wine-serious Italian restaurant, with 5,000 selections and 125,000 bottles in inventory covering Tuscany, Piedmont, Bordeaux, and Burgundy. Food pricing sits at $$ for lunch and dinner, making it a smart value relative to Midtown comparables. Book if you're near the Met or want a polished Italian dinner without a downtown commute.
Yes — and more so if you live or work north of 72nd Street. Sistina has operated at 24 East 81st Street as a serious Italian dining destination in a neighborhood that rewards regulars and offers few genuine alternatives at this level. At $$ for a two-course meal (roughly $40–$65 before wine), the pricing sits below what comparable Italian rooms charge in Midtown or downtown, which matters when you factor in the wine list. If you want a reliable, polished Italian dinner without the schlep to the West Village or NoMad, Sistina is the answer.
What makes Sistina more than a convenient option is the wine program. Giuseppe Bruno, who serves as owner, general manager, and chef — alongside co-owners Cosimo and Nicolina Bruno , has built a list of 5,000 selections backed by a 125,000-bottle inventory. The focus runs deep into Tuscany and Piedmont, with strong Bordeaux and Burgundy representation and a California section worth exploring. Wine pricing is $$$, meaning expect plenty of $100+ bottles, though the breadth of the list gives you room to find value if you look. For an Upper East Side Italian restaurant, this is an unusually serious collection , the kind you'd expect at a destination wine bar or a much pricier tasting-menu room.
The cuisine is Italian, served at lunch and dinner. The $$ cuisine pricing reflects a kitchen that competes on quality rather than spectacle , direct by ambition, not by execution. For a special occasion on the Upper East Side, that combination of restrained pricing on food and genuine depth on wine is a strong proposition.
Sistina works leading for three types of diners. First, Upper East Side residents who want a serious neighborhood restaurant they can return to regularly , the kind of place where the staff knows your name and your preferred Barolo. Second, anyone planning a dinner tied to the Met, the Frick, or another nearby cultural institution, where the location at 81st and Madison-adjacent puts it in easy walking distance. Third, wine-focused diners who want to explore an Italian-heavy list without committing to the $$$$ price tier of Per Se or Le Bernardin.
For a date or celebration dinner, Sistina offers the kind of setting where the wine list does the heavy lifting , a bottle from the Tuscany or Piedmont section can turn a direct dinner into something more considered. For a business meal, the Upper East Side address works well if your guests are hotel-based in the area; it reads as a deliberate, informed choice rather than a default Midtown booking.
Reservations: Easy to secure , book a few days ahead for weeknights, a week out for weekend dinners. Budget: Plan for $40–$65 per person for food before wine; wine spend will likely double or triple that figure given the $$$ list. Meals: Lunch and dinner served. Location: 24 E 81st St, Upper East Side , convenient to Museum Mile and the Met. Wine focus: Tuscany, Piedmont, Bordeaux, Burgundy, California; 5,000 selections, 125,000-bottle inventory. Dress: No confirmed dress code in available data, but the price point and neighborhood suggest smart casual at minimum , don't show up in athletic wear.
See the comparison section below for how Sistina stacks up against New York's other high-end options.
For more dining options across the city, see our full New York City restaurants guide. If you're planning a broader trip, explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in New York City. For benchmark Italian at the destination level, Dal Pescatore in Runate and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico represent what the leading of the category looks like in Europe. Stateside, The French Laundry in Napa, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Smyth in Chicago, Providence in Los Angeles, and Emeril's in New Orleans give useful context for what serious American dining rooms are doing at different price points.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sistina | Easy | ||
| Le Bernardin | French, Seafood | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Atomix | Modern Korean, Korean | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Per Se | French, Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Masa | Sushi, Japanese | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Eleven Madison Park | French, Vegan | $$$$ | Unknown |
Comparing your options in New York City for this tier.
Sistina is a neighborhood Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side run by the Bruno family — Giuseppe serves as owner, chef, and general manager simultaneously. Food pricing sits in the $40–$65 per person range for two courses before wine, which is where things get more serious: the list runs to 5,000 selections with particular depth in Tuscany, Piedmont, Bordeaux, and Burgundy. Book a few days ahead on weeknights; a week out covers weekends without stress.
Italian kitchens at this price point typically accommodate common restrictions with advance notice — call ahead or note requirements when booking. The $40–$65 food pricing and traditional Italian format suggest a menu with enough flexibility for vegetarian adjustments, but specific dish details are not available here. check the venue's official channels to confirm options before arrival.
Yes, with one caveat: the food prices ($40–$65 per person) are reasonable for the Upper East Side, but if you plan to spend on wine — and the 125,000-bottle inventory at many $100+ price points makes that easy — the bill climbs quickly. For a birthday or anniversary where the wine is part of the occasion, Sistina is a strong fit. For a purely food-driven celebration, the value case is more moderate.
Sistina is a long-running Upper East Side Italian restaurant at a mid-to-upper price point, which typically means business casual is comfortable and appropriate — think collared shirts and no athletic wear. The venue data does not specify a dress code, so if you are unsure, err toward neat rather than formal. No data suggests a jacket requirement.
For Italian with a serious wine focus at a comparable price point, Sistina sits in a distinct Upper East Side niche with limited direct competition in the neighbourhood. If you want more ambitious Italian cooking and are willing to travel downtown, options exist across Midtown and the Village at similar or higher price points. For wine depth alone, Per Se and Le Bernardin have extensive French-focused lists but at significantly higher food costs ($66+ per person).
Groups of four to six are manageable at most Upper East Side restaurants at this scale; larger parties should call ahead to confirm table configuration and availability. Sistina's reservation lead times are short — a week out for weekends — which suggests seating is not under extreme pressure. No private dining room details are available in the current data, so confirm capacity with the restaurant before planning a large event.
It works. Reservations are easy to secure, food pricing at $40–$65 per person is reasonable for a solo two-course meal, and the wine list is deep enough that ordering a single well-chosen glass is part of the point. Solo diners who want a quiet, reliable Italian meal on the Upper East Side without the booking difficulty of more competitive tables will find Sistina a practical choice.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
