Bhammer

Hi everyone I will be traveling to New York this week and was wondering does anyone have the name of a good Italian restaurant? I like good home-style food; we will be staying in Manhattan and can travel locally any suggestions?
Thanks
Bruce

nytraveler

I'm sure there have to be hundreds of Italian restaurants in Manhattan.

How about giving us a budget - and even a hint of a neighborhood.

And what do you mean by home-style food? Are you talking about basic red sauce southern Italian style food? Or Roman? Or northern Italian?

Kerry392

My husband and sister-in-law rave about a restaurant called Frank. It is on Second Avenue on the lower east side.

Pappy

Hey Nimrod, could you be a little more vague? (I'll be in Europe next week...where should I stay??).

Try Vinnie's in Queens.

wantsomesun

My FAVORITE is Quattro Gati on 81st just east of 3rd Ave. A friend and I stumbled on this place one evening and since she had just come back from Italy said the food was authentic. I love the beef carpachio (spelling?) and the ziti in vodka sauce, heavenly.

Another very good choice is on the West Side on Columbus just south of 72nd St, called Pomodoro. The bread is made there and is wonderful. Everything is very fresh.

Have a great time while you are here.

Bhammer

Hi everyone - sorry for being a little vague. will be staying near on the 700th block on 7th Ave in Manhattan. Could you recommend a small "whole in the wall" type Italian restaraunt in Little Italy or a near 7th Avenue. We're not looking for anything fancy and expensive, just some good old fashion Italian food! Thanks.

aztarian

Carmines, especially if this is your first trip! Its a must!

nytraveler

Little Italy has shrunk to the point where it barely exists any longer - and the restaurants are mostly meediocre at best.

Carmine's is the opposite of a hole in the wall. It is a large, noisy place with enormous portions of acceptable but not great food. Most people eat family style - sharing everything - since the portions verge on the grotesque.

Don;t know any hole in the wall places.

For better food in a fun atmosphere at a moderate price you might try Trattoria delArte. Great antipasto.

ekscrunchy

There are no hole in the wall restaurants in those locations. I would steer clear of dining in Little Italy; if you must dine there, Il Cortile is your best bet. It is the only rstaurant in the area that I know of that is not solely patronized by tourists.

www.ilcortile.com

If you are willing to travel, ie take a taxi or subway, there are many many places...you must get away from the 7th Avenue area to find something interesting with excellent food that is not very expensive. Do you have a price range in mind? Are you willing to take a taxi to the Bronx to the Little Italy up there? I guess the taxi would cost about $20 one way from midtown to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. There are many great Italian places in Manhattan, of course, but no place with great food is going to be a hole in the wall here!

Bhammer

Hi everyone, traveling will be no problem and we can take a cab for $20
or more. Price range should be $20-30 per person.
Thanks
Bruce

sailorgirl2001

I used to live around the corner from Piccolo Angelo in the West Village.....a little hole-in-the-wall with great food.

http://www.menupages.com/restaurantd...staurantid=701

ellenem

Your hotel may be quite near Trattoria Trecolori (133 East 45th St) which has good reasonably-priced food. (From your description, I think you're in Times Square--NYers never use "700th block" descriptions for avenues.)

GoTravel

Little Italy is crap food and I'd skip eating dinner there.

Maybe lunch because it will not be crowded.

nytraveler

Agree not to identify places as 700th block. You identify places by cross streets - for example 7th and 51st or 7th and 56th.

700 block won;t work since the numbers are completely different on every avenue (ie 700 block on 7th avenue might be 2400 address on Broadway or 500 on Fifth Avenue or 300 on Second avenue).

j_999_9

Try Cara Mia on 9th. Small place (maybe 10 tables), good service, good food, nice but not showy atmosphere, decent prices.

Gekko

There are dozens of amazing Italian restaurants in NYC, maybe hundreds. Carmine's is NOT one of them; do not go there.

Frank is excellent. Lavagna, in the same area, is too.

Il Buco is incredible but much more expensivie than the East Village options.

Uptown, Spigolo deservedly received a great review from the Times' Frank Bruni, and he's usually very hard on Italian restaurants.

For your budget & expressed type of place, I'd say LAVAGNA is your best bet. Try the Rigatoni -- it is one of the best dishes in all of New York!

Kal

GoT,
So crap tastes OK at lunchtime?
Sorry...couldn't resist. O

We found a nice hole in the wall place called Ristorante Grifone's.
Up in the mid 40s at 2nd or 3rd ave.

Mostly Nor Italian cooking and tutto bene!

bobrad

If you're near Barryvile , New York there's a good restaurant in the center of town hard to miss.

NeoPatrick

I'm laughing too at the idea that food in Little Italy is crap, but anyone should go there for lunch. Huh?

There are a whole row of "hole in the wall" or at least small, family type Italian places along 9th Avenue in the 40's. Pietrasantro, Cara Mia, Cascina, Amarone,L'Allegria to name a few. But for great Italian and reasonable prices I'd head to the corner of 50th and 9th and eat at Roberto Passon.

ekscrunchy

I would take a cab to the Bronx and eat at Roberto's. but for $20-30 per person, with some kind of drinks, you will not get very far, even in the Bronx, if you order more than one course! Another option is Manducatis in Long Island City, just over the 59th Street Bridge from Manhattan and so cheaper with a cab than the Bronx. Piccolo Angolo (not Angelo), 621 Hudson Street in the Village, mentioned above, might be another good option.