Il Gallo Giallo Wine Bar

This is an absolutely wonderful restaurant in New Paltz, NY. I've been here 3 or 4 times and never been disappointed. Creative, inventive, seasonal dishes and wonderful service. Anything on the menu is worth trying. Great selection of wines, beers and cool cocktails too. This is by far the best restaurant in New Paltz and I think I've tried them all. Very professional. Not to be missed!

If I could do 2.5 stars I would.  This is my second visit here.  The first visit was when they first opened and we had a decent experience, sans the kale that was so gritty I couldn't eat it.  But I enjoyed the porchetta, and since there are always growing pains with a new place, we decided to try a return visit.

This time we just stopped in for a glass of wine and a nosh before our dinner plans at the fabulous Italian trattoria about four doors up the street.

The bartender was very kind to let us try a bit of a new wine they had gotten in, and it was very good.  The glasses of wine that we had were good, so no complaints there. I'm a huge fan of a good wine bar, and the good ones have bartenders that know alot about wine and love to share thier knowledge.  This didn't seem like such a place.  

We ordered the herb fries, which were a large sized portion for sharing, and very tasty.  Lots of sage and rosemary. The aioli wasn't really aioli. It was bland mayo with a little bit of a garlic flavor.

It's not that there is anything wrong with the place, but I don't find enough right with the place to become a regular.  Like others have said - I don't think they know what they want to be.  It looks like a restaurant and the menu is extensive enough to be a restaurant, yet they market themselves as a wine bar.  And there is just something lacking in the atmosphere.  I just don't get a warm, convivial vibe here.

And I must say it's also bit of a turn off to see the owner responding so negatively and snarky to some of the other diner's reviews and comments on here.  That speaks volumes to me.  

There are much better places in the area, but if you're craving porchetta, then come for that.

I've been here on two separate occasions. The first time was with my roommate  (we're seniors at the university). We were looking for something low-key so we could catch up with each other, and this was a good choice for that.

She ordered a red wine, myself a white (I can't recall which ones as this was a few weeks back) and we each ordered a plate of the eggplant caponata to munch on. The wines were served promptly and the food arrived about 15 seconds after we began wondering where it was (we love food, so that wasn't exactly a long time)

Our waitress did check in with us to make she everything was okay, which I always appreciate. The food was very good, although the eggplant chunks were a little large and a tad awkward at first, but nothing that ruined our experience.

Getting the check did take longer than expected, but I got the feeling this us the kind of place that prefers its customers to linger. I found this to be a pleasant alternative to the 35 minute turn times in most restaurants

The second time was for dinner with my mother and my boyfriend. I once again ordered the caponata appetizer, which was fine except for this time the toast was a bit burnt. My mother had ordered a mushroom special for an appetizer which was overall delicious albeit a bit heavy on the garlic. My boyfriend had gotten a different type of caponata, which he wasn't too fond of because it had an olive base that was a bit too heavy for him. I enjoyed it so we ended up trading.

The baked macaroni and cheese was awesome. Very filling. The pork special both of my accompaniments had ordered, unfortunately, was very dry around the edges to the point where they couldn't eat a large part of the pork chop. The sides were great and the middle of the meat was delicous, however.

Overall, I'd say give it a try, because the wine selection is amazing and the servers are very knowledgeable, but this place would be better for appetizers or dessert than an entire evening.