The best places to eat spicy pasta, tender meatballs, and old school charm. The problem with compiling a list of the best Italian restaurants in New York is that there may be more of them here than in Italy. Roberto's modern Italian food, served on a side street away from the hustle and bustle of Little Italy in the Bronx, contrasts with the Italian-American food with red sauce that is common in the neighborhood. This applies to keeping reptiles as pets, giving your living room an “island theme” and cooking Italian food at home.
It's impossible to draw up a list of the best Italian restaurants in New York without Mario Batali's establishments popping up everywhere like daffodils in spring. What follows are the trattorie, the osterie, the enoteche and the Ristorante which, by virtue of the menu or technique, the atmosphere or the energy, are the best Italian restaurants in New York. From rustic Tuscan dishes to savory Sicilian specialties, this list of restaurants with seating service brings together the best of the best, both new and old, in New York City right now. That reduces the number of establishments that serve what is arguably New York's favorite food to, oh, a few thousand or so.
