Old Fashioned Italian Restaurant in Manhattan
 

I'm leaving July 27 for a vacation in NY.
My husband lived in NY until 1977 and recalls fondly some "old-fashioned" Italian restaurants that are no longer there. He wants a red-sauce kind of place with good food and traditional southern Italian dishes. We used to go to Johnny's in the Times Square area, but it is no longer there. Any part of Manhattan is fine, but we will be in Times Square area and Greenwich Village. Inexpensive to moderate in price would also be good. Sorry for the short notice. Thanks in advance for any help.

Il Vagabondo is one of my favorites for old-fashion red-sauce italian dishes (62nd btwn 1st/2nd). They have a bocce ball court inside the restaurant. They have a newer addition as well so request to be seated by the bocce ball court for the old-school ambiance.

Thanks for the quick reply, Jarred.
Any other suggestions from anyone?

Gene's on w. 11th near 6th avenue fits the bill. It's been around forever, very old school style in look, food and even waiters. The have all the usual red sauce dishes and many others. They also have a very reasonable prix fixe menu with good variety - appetizer/main cource/dessert/coffee for about $26.

You can view user commets and menus on menupages.com.

BTW, Gene's has great profiteroles for dessert.

Old fashioned Italian in midtown, Gino, 780 Lexington Ave, about as old school as they come. In the Village, Ennio and Michael Ristorante, 539 Laguardia Place just below NYU.

Perhaps your husband remembers Mama Leone's? My family do-very corny,wonderful for taking small children, good food...and long gone, but if anyone else here remembers it, my family would love something similar for an upcoming trip we are taking.

Sometimes those 30-year-old memories should be left as memories...have you ever been to a class reunion?

Becco over on Restaurant Row (9th or 10th Ave in mid-40's)-- for classic red-sauce and dont skimp on portions, there is always Carmine's in the Theatre District right off Times Sq.

In the East Village
John's
on 12th St near 2nd Ave

I don't claim to be a NY restaurant expert at all, but a couple of weeks ago we dined at Becco and it was very nice. It is very convenient if you are trying to see a show the same night.

These are good suggestions - I was gonna mention John's of 12th Street (not to be confused with the pizza places on Bleecker and in the W. 40's) - it will probably be the most reasonably priced . . . I used to go there 30 years ago . . . .
You might try Baldoria on W. 49th - pricy but can be popular, mostly because it's related to the famous Rao's in East Harlem. Gino is a real throwback, too (cash only).Other ideas might be Patsy's on W. 56th St. - Sinatra's favorite place - is really old fashioned, I think the food is mediocre at best . . . but the atmosphere is genuine. Check out the menus on www.menupages.com

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
I met my husband in NY when I was attending NYU and I remember Mama Leone's. We'll check some of them out.
The homepage for Il Vagabondo is hysterical.

Il Mulino...not cheap

There was a mob hit on this season's soprano's at Johns and E. 12th. I have been to John's and Gene's both several times in the past few years. In my opinion Gene's is better (and I even saw Micheal Imperioli eating there once), and only a bit pricier than John's *their prix fixe can't be beat).

I haven't been to Ennio & Michael's in a few years but have had some nice meals there. It is a bit pricier if I remember correctly. It also is a newer place, so it doesn't have the throwback charm kind of ambiance of John's and Genes, but the staff was delightful.

Second Il Mulino - very old school and delicious. Try lunch you might have a better chance to get in.

Beware of the bill at Il Molino. There have numerous accounts of the bill being incorrect and never in the dinner's favor.

The food at Il Vagabondo is compartively mediocre at best (I used to live on the block, two doors down), but the atmosphere is great and it's a good place for "celebrity sightings."

For "old-fashioned" Italian cuisine, you can't beat Volare in the Village, West 4th Street.

Piccolo Angolo on Hudson Street might be what you are looking for.

This wasn't my post, but THANKS, responders for some great ideas.

We had our worst restaurant experience ever at Baldoria this summer. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. We had a reservation and were there early. We were the first ones seated upstairs. We got our appetizers but then waited 40 min and still our entrees had not arrived. Everyone who came after, had theirs and were on dessert. The manager rushed by our table once, thumping on it as he passed and said, "it's coming." Well, it didn't, not for a long time after he said that.

Our waiter had no reason as to why our meals were taking so much longer than everyone else. I think they forgot our order in the kitchen. We asked him to please let the manager know what happened, as the tables around us were now paying and leaving and we were still waiting. He promised us he would inform the manager. He suggested the manager would make up for it.

In fact, the manager never came over, we got our bill and never received any coffees (but they charged us for them) and there was never any attempt at to make up for the poor service. The manager then finally came over as we were telling the waiter about the coffee on the bill and the manager proceeded to argue with us, saying maybe it was what we ordered (no, it wasn't, it was exactly what the people next to us ate). He was rude and certainly didn't handle this with any kind of apology. We eat out a lot, all over the world, and have never encountered this kind of poor service. Mistakes can happen, but rude service is not something to put up with when there are so many great restaurants in NY with terrific service. The food, also, wasn't worth half of the trouble we went through. Very standard.

BTW, we noticed afterwards they were not in our NY guidebook.