Unlike Little Italy, in Lower Manhattan, which has been reduced to little more than a cheesy tourist strip, New Yorkers know Arthur Avenue as the “real Little Italy” of the Big Apple, a neighborhood where more than two dozen Italian stores and restaurants have been operating for 50 to 100 years. From a Bronx classic to a Sunnyside classic, these are the most reliable Italian places in the neighborhood where you'll want to be every night of the week. Chef and owner Missy Robbins opened Lilia in Brooklyn after running Michelin-starred Italian restaurants in Chicago and New York. This area is also home to Dommincks', an Italian-American place where New York Magazine published so many winks about its family-style offer that we are concerned about the permanent damage caused by eye strain.
New York Magazine highlights the commitment to ingredients and writes that Mattos' style here is no less satisfying, if you could say more traditional. Depending on who you ask, Don Angie could be the contemporary version of an Italian-American restaurant that we've all been waiting for, or a self-conscious addition to a neighborhood brimming with quality artisanal pasta options that focuses on preparing food suitable for social media. As it turns out, Una's Neapolitan pizza is one of the best pies in New York City, and Esquire says that the owner's dedication to craftsmanship spread the Neapolitan style throughout the United States. Code Switch, from NPR, reports that Astoria used to be known for its concentration of Greek and Italian-American residents and, although the cultural mix has changed, since people from about 100 countries live in the neighborhood, you'll still find one of the best Italian restaurants in New York.
Carbone is known for being a place to visit and for its delicious Italian-American cuisine with red sauce, unlike other notoriously popular destination restaurants in New York with notoriously bad food. And the designation of Via Carota as one of the best restaurants in the city isn't just limited to the Italian food category. There's no seating at this small takeout spot on the border of Windsor Terrace, but that doesn't mean Joe Brancaccio doesn't prepare some of Brooklyn's best Italian dishes. The pizza restaurant that New York Magazine calls, in extreme Brooklyn, has a rooftop garden, bee hives and an on-site bread bakery, as well as a slightly ironic tiki bar.
Regional Italian dining traditions have inspired generations of Italian-Americans to develop their own regional cuisine, which can be found at its best in New York City thanks to the immigrants who help shape this city. Ci Siamo is part of the Union Square Hospitality Group, which also owns Marta, located at The Redbury New York hotel in Midtown. Going to Gravesend to eat a Sicilian portion and an L%26B spumoni is a New York rite of passage, but it would be a mistake to consider this classic establishment as a simple slice shop. New York Magazine rates I Sodi as excellent, just a couple of points below Gramercy Tavern or the revered dining destination Le Bernardin.
