New UWS Gnocchi Spot Makes Pasta ‘As Easy As Pizza Or A Cheeseburger’

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY – A new gnocchi take-away cafe is now open on the Upper West Side.

The cafe, Gnocchi on 9th, is located at 228 Columbus Avenue, between 70th and 71st Streets.

“Gnocchi are super light and pillowy pastas, they’re almost like a potato and pasta dumpling fusion, this soft perfect bite,” explained co-owner Ariel Strizower. “If you combine them with our homemade sauces, it’s heaven in a box – especially when you top it off with burrata.”

Gnocchi on 9th already operates two storefronts downtown, in the East Village and the Lower East Side, where they serve affordably priced takeout containers full of doughy pasta dumplings covered in a variety of sauces, plus or minus the aforementioned burrata.

“Every New Yorker grew up eating lo mein and fried rice out of those takeout containers, and we wanted to tackle a type of food that my business partner Mike Salzano and I loved, which is Italian food,” Strizower said. “We didn’t understand why you had to spend as much money as you do to get a bowl of pasta in the city nowadays.”

Gnocchi on 9th plans to expand offerings at the Upper West Side location, to eventually include pesto and cacio e pepe. They’re even trying to figure out a way to add gluten-free gnocchi to the menu, the only difficulty being avoiding cross-contamination in a small space.

Tiramisu and Caesar salads are also available.

Hours are not yet “set in stone,” but at present the cafe plans to open on Columbus Avenue between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily.

“It’s something to rival what you would spend $25-30 on in a restaurant, and the same portion,” Strizower said. “We want to make it as easy as getting a slice of pizza or a cheeseburger.”