Bartolo

Ryan Bartlow opened Bartolo on West Fourth Street in July 2025. He put the brief in one line: by no means is this Spanish inspired, it's a Spanish restaurant.1 The bread comes from Spain. A bakery called Panaderia Jesus bakes the pan soplao and stamps each roll with the restaurant's name.1

Why go

Bartlow's first room is Ernesto's, the Basque place he opened in Two Bridges at the end of 2019. He brought the bar director Thomas Thompson and the wine director Daryl Coke uptown with him. His wife Davitta Niakani-Bartlow and her sister Alexandra Niakani run the floor. One importer supplies most of the pantry, Lidia Sanchez of Taste of Spain Foods. That is the part of the claim you can taste.1

The ajo blanco shows his hand. It is the old chilled soup of almonds, stale bread and garlic, traditionally finished with halved grapes. Bartlow sends it out under balled honeydew and a scoop of honeydew sorbet. His own account of it is a contrast of temperature and texture.1 The MICHELIN inspector's line on the room: Oozing with style and class, this little West Village hideout feels like a secret.4

Order this / avoid

Order: the anchoa y mantequilla, $18 in March 2026. A slab of cold butter goes on pan de cristal with a whole anchovy filet over it.3 2
Order: the ajo blanco con melon, the dish Hartman picked out as the review's favorite.2
Order: the escalope de secreto Iberico, $45 in March 2026, a pork Milanese under tart piquillo peppers with a yolk the server mixes and spreads across the breading.3
Avoid: the bacalao fritters and most of the large plates. On the rabo de toro Hartman writes that the red wine sauce they're braised in is a little too bitter to be enjoyable.2
Avoid: ordering a round without reading the prices. Cocktails started at $21 in October 2025, the alcohol-free ones included.2

What locals & experts say

Will Hartman rated it 7.7 for The Infatuation on 7 October 2025, under the headline "At romantic, pricey Bartolo, the food sends mixed signals."2
Nadia Chaudhury, Eater's deputy editor for the Northeast, ate there for a dining report on 11 March 2026: the room feels like it's been part of the neighborhood for decades, harkening back to the 1920s through 1940s when Spanish-by-way-of-Spain restaurants were flourishing in Manhattan.3
Bartlow, to Eater on what the kitchen is trying to do: he wants one ingredient on a plate with almost nothing else on it.1

Good to know

Where: 310 West Fourth Street, near West 12th, in three low-ceilinged rooms below street level. Servers wear matador-red ties.2 1
Which room: the left one is draped in white fabric and takes conversation; the right one has red walls and runs louder.3
To drink: sherry by the glass from Bodegas del Rio and Bodegas Luis Perez.3

Verdict

could-visit — Take the bar on a Monday. It is kept for walk-ins, and that is the night the cooks drink there.

Bartolo.