Little Italy pick

[wc4572]

Taking my girlfriend to NYC for her first time. She wants to eat in Little Italy and I don't know where to go. I tried a search, but was struggling to find a dedicated post. If there is a current one, I'd be happy to read up. Thanks for the help.

[daisy17]

I've never found an Italian restaurant in Little Italy that was remotely good or worth recommending. You can do SO much better. (I think you'll find most eGulleters agree.)

Some of my favorite Italian restaurants:

Lupa

Peasant

Scarpetta

dell'anima

I might add L'Artusi to that list. If you wanted something really casual and not expensive I'd say Otto. Locanda Verde is getting some good commentary as well. I haven't been to A Voce with its current chef but have heard good things.

Of these, Scarpetta is probably the most expensive/upscale. They probably all have their own threads and menus online. I beg you, skip Little Italy.

[wc4572]

Fair enough. I'll look up those places and try to convince her. Any other reason to explore Little Italy?

[Pan]

Well, there's a bit of good shopping in Little Italy. Di Palo's on Grand and Mott is worth a visit. Otherwise, it's really a place to walk through, if that (I find the restaurant touts rather bothersome). There's one pricier restaurant in Little Italy that Fat Guy liked, but I forget its name.

I like Lupa very much and haven't been to the rest of the restaurants that Daisy recommends, but I can also recommend some inexpensive, good Italian restaurants in the East Village/Lower East Side. My list would start with Supper, on 2nd St. just west of Av. A and Frankie's Spuntino on Clinton St. a bit south of Houston. I also like 'inoteca on Rivington and Ludlow, but always go there late at night and tend to have a panino or otherwise light meal there. They have very good cheeses and salumi, as well as salads, etc. and a good and well-priced wine list. Supper is basically a trattoria with an open kitchen and something of a Tuscan aesthetic for excellent, fresh ingredients and relatively simple but tasty cooking. I've been to Frankie's Spuntino only once so far but found it similar to Supper in that respect. There's also a good Sicilian restaurant, Cacio e Vino, which has very good schiaccati - two pieces of very flat bread with filling in between - and pizze and an excellent inexpensive wine list. I really like Lupa best of the relatively affordable (to me) Italian restaurants, though; my only problem with it is that it seems almost impossible to get reservations at reasonable times, but if you're going on a weekday and they won't give you a reasonable reservation, just show up, and you'll probably have no more than a 20-minute wait, if my experience is any guide.

[LPShanet]

Well, there's a bit of good shopping in Little Italy. Di Palo's on Grand and Mott is worth a visit. Otherwise, it's really a place to walk through, if that (I find the restaurant touts rather bothersome). There's one pricier restaurant in Little Italy that Fat Guy liked, but I forget its name.

I like Lupa very much and haven't been to the rest of the restaurants that Daisy recommends, but I can also recommend some inexpensive, good Italian restaurants in the East Village/Lower East Side. My list would start with Supper, on 2nd St. just west of Av. A and Frankie's Spuntino on Clinton St. a bit south of Houston. I also like 'inoteca on Rivington and Ludlow, but always go there late at night and tend to have a panino or otherwise light meal there. They have very good cheeses and salumi, as well as salads, etc. and a good and well-priced wine list. Supper is basically a trattoria with an open kitchen and something of a Tuscan aesthetic for excellent, fresh ingredients and relatively simple but tasty cooking. I've been to Frankie's Spuntino only once so far but found it similar to Supper in that respect. There's also a good Sicilian restaurant, Cacio e Vino, which has very good schiaccati - two pieces of very flat bread with filling in between - and pizze and an excellent inexpensive wine list. I really like Lupa best of the relatively affordable (to me) Italian restaurants, though; my only problem with it is that it seems almost impossible to get reservations at reasonable times, but if you're going on a weekday and they won't give you a reasonable reservation, just show up, and you'll probably have no more than a 20-minute wait, if my experience is any guide.

←

I support Daisy and Pan's thoughts. I think Falai is also worth a try. And I had a very nice meal at L'artusi last night that would put any in Little Italy to shame.

[LPShanet]

Fair enough.  I'll look up those places and try to convince her.  Any other reason to explore Little Italy?

←

As mentioned, there are good food STORES in Little Italy...or at least there's Di Palo, which is worth a visit. There's also a sense of history, which is fun. But the restaurants are pretty much all mediocre. However, Peasant, mentioned in an earlier post, is in the neighborhood just adjacent (north) to Little Italy (called Nolita), and has very good food. I'd say Emporio, also in Nolita, is pretty decent, too, although the same owners have a better/more ambitious place in Soho, called Aurora.

Edited June 26, 2009 by LPShanet (log)

[Pan]

I should probably add that I showed up at Lupa on Wednesday night around 9 PM and was given an estimated 45-minute wait time for a 2-top (we went to Keste instead and were given a table almost right away). I'm wondering if weeknights are more popular there in the summer, but in any case, if you show up without a reservation, have a Plan B (and possibly a Plan C) as backup.

[oakapple]

As mentioned, there are good food STORES in Little Italy...or at least there's Di Palo, which is worth a visit.  There's also a sense of history, which is fun.  But the restaurants are pretty much all mediocre.

←

Little Italy has an allure that NYC natives sometimes fail to grasp. Most U.S. cities do not have anyplace like Little Italy, and most cities do not have a restaurant anything like Peasant or Lupa. To the visitor, Little Italy is fascinating, and many of the restaurants there execute the Italian standards competently—which often is precisely what the visitor is looking for. I have taken visitors to dinner there on numerous occasions, and not once has anyone been disappointed.

When a visitor asks to visit Little Italy, it is not a ridiculous request, and if you dine there they probably won't be disappointed. The fact that NYC has better Italian food elsewhere is utterly beside the point. So next time a visitor asks you to take them to Little Italy, you should indulge them. You might be surprised to find that they actually like it.

Edited June 26, 2009 by oakapple (log)

[weinoo]

When a visitor asks to visit Little Italy, it is not a ridiculous request, and if you dine there they probably won't be disappointed. The fact that NYC has better Italian food elsewhere is utterly beside the point. So next time a visitor asks you to take them to Little Italy, you should indulge them. You might be surprised to find that they actually like it.

←

Well put, oakapple...gotta indulge your friends or visitors every now and then.

So, the question is, is it Benito I or Benito II? As Benito II says on the web site:

One of America's most respected and celebrated restaurateurs, Drew Nieporent, recently told The New York Times, "I've been going for about 35 years to Benito II on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. The food hasn't changed, which is a good thing, because the food is very good!"

[daisy17]

As mentioned, there are good food STORES in Little Italy...or at least there's Di Palo, which is worth a visit.  There's also a sense of history, which is fun.  But the restaurants are pretty much all mediocre.

←

Little Italy has an allure that NYC natives sometimes fail to grasp. Most U.S. cities do not have anyplace like Little Italy, and most cities do not have a restaurant anything like Peasant or Lupa. To the visitor, Little Italy is fascinating, and many of the restaurants there execute the Italian standards competently—which often is precisely what the visitor is looking for. I have taken visitors to dinner there on numerous occasions, and not once has anyone been disappointed.

When a visitor asks to visit Little Italy, it is not a ridiculous request, and if you dine there they probably won't be disappointed. The fact that NYC has better Italian food elsewhere is utterly beside the point. So next time a visitor asks you to take them to Little Italy, you should indulge them. You might be surprised to find that they actually like it.

←

I have to disagree. I can't think of an occasion where I've been served anything in Little Italy better or more interesting than a pasta dish I can easily assemble with a jar of tomato sauce and box of penne at home. I feel obligated, when asked about Little Italy restaurants, to tell the inquirer that there are two extraordinarily good spots nearby (Peasant and Lupa) and numerous others around the city. Fine if people want to go there, or the Olive Garden in Times Square for that matter, but I'm not going to have anything to do with that decision.

I fully support walking around Little Italy, rainbow cookies, and DiPalos, but to waste a meal there while in NY - don't get it.

[Eatmywords]

Yea, that's what I was thinking. If visitors assume LI showcases good Italian food its up to the natives to set the record straight esp if it’s someone on EG asking. I think Little Italy deserves a walk through (which would be convenient after dim sum in China town) but I’d pass on the food. If they're really jonesing an LI experience a cappuccino and canoli at Ferrara’s would be a good way to go.

[weinoo]

Evidently Drew disagrees.

And, fwiw, I always try to steer people away from Little Italy...it's just that there's really no other way to experience that type of Italian restaurant other than on say, Mulberry St.

Conversely, I've taken some less than adventurous eaters to Lupa who thought the pasta was raw and didn't see much on the menu that appealed to them.

[daisy17]

Evidently Drew disagrees.

And, fwiw, I always try to steer people away from Little Italy...it's just that there's really no other way to experience that type of Italian restaurant other than on say, Mulberry St.

Conversely, I've taken some less than adventurous eaters to Lupa who thought the pasta was raw and didn't see much on the menu that appealed to them.

←

I can see wanting red sauce/chicken parm/traditional Italian. I've always gone to Johns on 12th for that.

[oakapple]

I can see wanting red sauce/chicken parm/traditional Italian.  I've always gone to Johns on 12th for that.

←

But have you actually been to the place Nieporent recommends? I can see disagreeing about a restaurant you've actually visited. But I cannot understand categorical condemnation of a neighborhood with upwards of 30–50 restaurants.

[Sneakeater]

I've been to Benito's. It's not that good.

[daisy17]

I can see wanting red sauce/chicken parm/traditional Italian.  I've always gone to Johns on 12th for that.

←

But have you actually been to the place Nieporent recommends? I can see disagreeing about a restaurant you've actually visited. But I cannot understand categorical condemnation of a neighborhood with upwards of 30–50 restaurants.

←

Honestly, I have no idea. I've eaten at more than just a few of them. Have zero plans to try again on Drew's recommendation.

[Pan]

As mentioned, there are good food STORES in Little Italy...or at least there's Di Palo, which is worth a visit.  There's also a sense of history, which is fun.  But the restaurants are pretty much all mediocre.

←

Little Italy has an allure that NYC natives sometimes fail to grasp. Most U.S. cities do not have anyplace like Little Italy, and most cities do not have a restaurant anything like Peasant or Lupa. To the visitor, Little Italy is fascinating, and many of the restaurants there execute the Italian standards competently—which often is precisely what the visitor is looking for. I have taken visitors to dinner there on numerous occasions, and not once has anyone been disappointed.

When a visitor asks to visit Little Italy, it is not a ridiculous request, and if you dine there they probably won't be disappointed. The fact that NYC has better Italian food elsewhere is utterly beside the point. So next time a visitor asks you to take them to Little Italy, you should indulge them. You might be surprised to find that they actually like it.

←

I get your point of view, and when I went to Il Cortile several years ago, it was perfectly OK, though overpriced.

That said, I think that nowadays, several blocks of Bleecker St. feel like a small and possibly realer Little Italy, lined as they are with one Italian restaurant after another. And on that street (though west of the most Italian-restaurant-heavy blocks) is a genuine and very good Neapolitan pizzeria - Keste - though they don't know how to make a decent salad, while Lupa is less than a block south and Arturos is a block south. Maybe we should have a side discussion about any other Italian restaurants on and around Bleecker St., because I do think that there's a kind of mini-Italian strip on that street now.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Go for dessert and an espresso at Ferrara's.

A place that was probably considered "Little Italy" at one time, but these days is more Chinatown is Forlini's on Baxter St. The food is nothing special, old school New York Sunday gravy style, but it's not bad, and it has some history and an interesting atmosphere as a popular spot for lawyers, judges and others who work in the nearby courthouses.

[Steve R.]

Not that I'm running off to Little Italy to eat any time soon, but I generally agree with Oakapple that a perfectly good meal can be had that friends from out of town (or even some NYC'ers who dont frequent anything other than old line out of borough red sauce places) will enjoy. I've taken many to Da Nico over the years: http://www.danicoristorante.com/home.php and, if you avoid being upsold and sit in the back outdoor area or near the pizza oven, it's a nice place with good food and old style ambience.

And, as jaded a New Yawker as I am, there was one night there 4-5 years ago, when we sat out back and they brought freshly made bread over and there was an older generation woman in an adjacent apartment building visable as she put wet clothes and sheets out to dry on the clothes line that went across to someone else's apt, that was magic. And the lasagna, etc didnt hurt going down either. Just sayin'....

[weinoo]

I've been to Benito's.  It's not that good.

←

No one said any of these were "that good." They're what they are...and some people actually like the atmosphere and the food, strange as that may seem to all us jaded food board people.

By the way, was it Benito I or Benito II?

[Sneakeater]

II

[weinoo]

Damn that Nieporent!

[daisy17]

I've been to Benito's.  It's not that good.

←

No one said any of these were "that good." They're what they are...and some people actually like the atmosphere and the food, strange as that may seem to all us jaded food board people.

By the way, was it Benito I or Benito II?

←

Look, there's nothing wrong with eating at a not fantastic restaurant. I've done it and will surely do it again. I just think that given the options in this city - even the non-expensive ones like Otto - it would be a shame for any of us to respond to the OP, who bothered to ask about where to go for Italian on a trip to NY, with "sure, Little Italy's great, enjoy yourself."

(I was going to argue that I'm not jaded but really, that's just futile.)

[cganzer]

I have never dined in Little Italy, but I'd imagine that there are places that, even if the food is objectively not as good as that available elsewhere in the city, provide an overall experience (ambience, service style, etc.) that evokes a nostalgia that can't be replicated elsewhere, and I could certainly see someone wanting to experience it even knowing that better execution is available elsewhere.

That said, the suggestions to put together a picnic from Di Palo or Alleva make a lot of sense to me.

[Eatmywords]

And that’s the million dollar question. -What is the foody factor here? Is it about doing the tourist/nostalgia thing served with edible penne vodka or the best Italian food in NYC?