I agree with kmarie, Carmine's is known for catering to big groups, families and people who like to eat too much. They are proud of serving you too much food. The whole point of this place is to serve "family style" which means one very big plate of food, and you serve yourself. It's not like a regular restaurant where you order what you want yourself. So the dishes cost a lot of money, each one is maybe $30-40. I wouldn't go there except if forced and in a group. I did have to go once, didn't like it as I don't like that catering to gluttony that some restaurants have (Carmine's brags about their "oversized" or "robust" portions)., but a lot of food goes to waste and you'd have to obth want the same thing, also.

next time I am in NYC, I am determined to get to Felidia.

https://felidia-nyc.com/

Agree with the above. If you're not looking for large quantities, then I'd go with Il Tinello. But I think Carmine's is more iconic and you could stop at the bar for a drink (though dinner is a bigger production). It's a win-win.

Of all the Italian places in west midtown, why those two, which are mediocre at best? I last had to suffer through Il TIgnello cause a friend of mine who is a Bay area chef of no small repute thought she read a tip that Regis Loved it. No better and no worse than any out of date Italian with frozen broccoli than in any other city in the US. Would rather get takeout from my house than pay the price asked by those two....

Please please if you care about the food on your plate, there are so many others...Camines is known for bus tours for suburbanites going to matinees....its not awful but........ geez....I am sick right now so sorry for typo mistakes..

Have you read EATER?

Consider Becco as a third choice... it's a lydia Bastianich restaurant with a pasta special favored by theatre goers...

I love Becco, but never for the pasta special, which is mediocre at best. But the a la carte menu is quite good, and the specials are usually even better. But if I wanted to go to an old-school Italian red-sauce restaurant, I'd probably choose John's of 12th Street (not John's Pizzeria on Bleecker or the John's in Times Square). If you want a "reinvented" red-sauce restaurant, then look at Carbone or Parm (though the latter is more casual and has a less interesting menu). If you're looking for a pre-theater Italian meal, then I like Trattoria Trecolori, which does not serve distinguished cuisine but does a pretty good job of traditional Italian food) or La Masseria. If you like something more modern, the pastas at Viceversa are uniformly excellent.

Theatre area is not known for great Italian food. If you care enough, you will get another food there and try Italian another night. This is from the perspective of a local who loves food. Whether you go to Becco (tourists only) or the other, PLEASE...we do a lot better than that.

Oops, I posted this on another thread by mistake.

Here's one of my favorites for Italian food, https://maialinonyc.com/menu/#dinner. All these years on, it can still be hard to get reservations.

Fra: Now there is a place I would walk to any night of the week...even in heels.

Are you kidding..of all the places in NYC midtown????

No one hear knows about Pasquale Jones or Babbo, or Maialino or Vic's, from the Cookshop people??? Marta?

Do you want recommendations from people who live here and eat out often, or from tourists? And none of the places I mentioned are more pricey than the ones mentioned by others.....

I give up here......get yourself a good Fodor's guide and have fun!!!

Is Maialino the place with the roasted pig head appetizer?

I don't think I've ever noticed that, curious, but roast suckling pig is their specialty, so maybe.

I just looked at their online menu and didn't see it, I guess that would really be nose to tail dining. It was probably somewhere else I was thinking of.

>>> Now there is a place I would walk to any night of the week...even in heels.

I think Maialino might have had the pig head as a special order but there was another Italian place that was more famous for it and which is no longer open...PERLA on Minetta Lane, which was a terrific small places that was one of my faves. But the head was larger than a suckling's would have been, as I remember.

If you seriously want one and have enough people to eat that much, I'm pretty sure you can find one at a Mexican or Italian place. The roast pig at Maialino is superb and I like the pasta made with its sauce even better. Great restaurant.