Best Italian Restaurant in NYC (inspired by the "Italian Deli" thread)

Traderdave

Traderdave

#23
#23
Bk-If you got into Rao's then you are really connected!
I was there 2 years ago. The food is very good down home Italian. The atmosphere reallly makes the place special. Frankie Pellegrino even came over to chat and bought us drinks.
 
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Ozzy

#24
#24
justlooking said:
And the reason is, that there are no longer any ethnic Italian neighorhoods in Manhattan. (Rao's, for example, is a holdover from the way that neighborhood used to be. As is ALL of Little Italy.)

So those kinds of places don't really exist in Manhattan any more.
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Beat me to it.... Although the places I listed cept for Parkside and Chricci's aren't necessarily in Italian neighborhoods. But Jews dig great Italian as much as the Pisans.



Speaking of Rao's I mentioned to Bender a few months back that I have a table for 4 waiting for me whenever I get back to NY. I'm not connected but a client friend of mine who won the table in a card game.... is.
 
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blondekelly

#26
#26
Traderdave said:
Bk-If you got into Rao's then you are really connected!
I was there 2 years ago. The food is very good down home Italian. The atmosphere reallly makes the place special. Frankie Pellegrino even came over to chat and bought us drinks.
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I have been going there for years. it is the atmosphere that makes the place, I always have an amazing time when I go, the food is so-so. I have a friend of mine that has a friend that gets me in when I want to go. (doesn't everyone have a friend like that, lol.)
 
M

Monk

#27
#27
blondekelly said:
I have been going there for years. it is the atmosphere that makes the place, I always have an amazing time when I go, the food is so-so. I have a friend of mine that has a friend that gets me in when I want to go. (doesn't everyone have a friend like that, lol.)
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Yeah, Rao's is especially fun when someone gets whacked while you're in the middle of your parmigiana!
 
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Heartbreaker

#29
#29
Is Carmine's still around on 57th st? I havent been there in at least 10 years. I used to love watching the waiters bring out the fried zucchini piled about 2 feet high on the plate.
 
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Daddycool

#32
#32
I must say and I am sure to get some boo's, but Carmines on 47 and Broadway is a good family style restaurant. It might not be the greatest Italian place but it is very good for the price.
 
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justlooking

#33
#33
I'm not saying it's not very good for the price. You'd have to be an idiot to deny it's very good -- or at least good, maybe not "very" -- for the price. But it couldn't possibly be "the best".
 
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Monk

#34
#34
Another one of my old standby's is Bricco on West 56th between 8th & 9th. I go there after the theater sometimes. Their ante pasta is particularly good, not to mention their pasta. Arte Cafe on West 73rd between Columbus and Amsterdam (not to be confused with Arte Pasta in the Village) is also reliable. It's a good date place, because the tables are well spaced. Their wine list isn't bad, either -- I particularly like the Montepulciano they serve by the glass. I think there's a "garden" in the back, although I've never been seated there.
 
J

justlooking

#36
#36
I don't know what to say.

I don't go to many of what I'd call the "ethnic Italian" places. Mainly out of convenience -- for reasons I stated above, they tend not to be in places I can easily get to. (I really HAVE to try Parkside though. I just HAVE to.)

I go to a lot of what I'd call the "mainstream restaurants that serve Italian food" places. I'd probably recommend A Voce most highly out of them. But I don't get the feeling that's what anyone in this thread has any interest in.
 
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robnotbob

#37
#37
There's a place by Kelly that is pretty good (Il Sogno), but I really enjoy a little hole in the wall (also near Kelly) off Lex on 39th called Sam's Place. I shit you not. Basic Italian comfort food, but great service and OK prices.
 
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stevana

#38
#38
Forlini's on Baxter Street (in the court house area downtown Manhattan) is a place I have been recently several times for lunch. I had only various sandwiches but for you folks who know Italian sandwiches, you can get pepper and egg or potato (Dan Quayle please correct me if I am mistaken on that spelling) and egg. I suspect it is very good for dinner as well. Been there for generations and still survides as an Italian place although maybe only two blocks below Canal and surrounded (except for the nearby Baxter Tavern by Asian places). I can't vouch for best but think that well worth a visit for authentic broad-based (i.e., there are a shitload of things on the menu) Italian stuff.
 
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stevana

#39
#39
Daddycool said:
I must say and I am sure to get some boo's, but Carmines on 47 and Broadway is a good family style restaurant. It might not be the greatest Italian place but it is very good for the price.
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Carmine's down by the Seaport has been around more than 100 years (not affiliated with the mid/up town places). Informal, Italian seafood place. I love it.
 
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