Tony’s Di Napoli is a NYC Italian American restaurant that has been around for a number of decades. It’s probably comparable to Buca Di Beppo or Maggiano, but it is less of a domestic chain than a NYC chain. They serve family style portions, and they have both half and full sizes of many of their pastas. This particular location is located in Times Square, and normally I shy away from this. So how did it go?
If you’re around the Rockafeller area and are looking for pretty decent Italian food at a not overly expensive price, this restaurant might be a good candidate. It is located on the 2nd floor of the Nordstrom NYC flagship store near the watches section. We walked in without reservations around 5:30 PM, and we were seated at the bar fairly quickly.
Because Nordstrom doesn’t have the drinks menu online, I’m hoping my memory serves me well. The left is a mai thai, and the right is a mezcal cocktail. The mai thai was doused with passion fruit liqueur which is why I got it in the first place. It wasn’t too strong, and everything tasted very tropically and subtle. The mezcal cocktail had a slight smokey flavor to it. I don’t remember what else was in this though, but it definitely was sweet.
This is a local restaurant to Long Island City that classifies itself as an Italian Argentine restaurant. The place is super small, but it feels nice and cozy.
The chicken piccata is served with capers in a lemon and butter sauce, served with roasted potatoes. This dish was actually really good. The potatoes had a nice crunch to them.
The lasagna marchigiane has bechamel, bolognese, and parmigiano. The tomato sauce was pretty good. It was sweet with a little sour to it, but I’m not sure if it was homemade or not. I wish the texture was more chunky though, but still it was pretty good.
This is another restaurant on my list to go. I am not crazy about Italian, but I was hungry and wanted something pretty straight forward.
The lasagna bolognese came with ground beef, béchamel, and tomato sauce. The pasta consisted of several very thin sheets with a thin layer of ground beef between each. Careful though, the lasagna was piping hot. It was pretty good, but I think I would’ve preferred more sauce and more cheese as an ode to the normal lasagnas you’d normally get. Otherwise, I think it was pretty good.
Vapiano seems like it’s a chained Italian fast eatery. For the NYC location, the front desk gives you a card, and you walk up to a pasta station if you want pasta or a pizza station if you want pizza. You then tell the cook what you want, and they make it fresh in front of you. They ask that you take the card and tap the screen with it to get it charged with what you ordered. After you finish your meal, you pay as the cashier as you exit.
This place is located in the Upper East, and arguably walkable from the MET.
The spiedino di gamberetti was OK to me. Nothing really memorable, but they gave you a decent amount of shrimp.
The antipasto misto was actually pretty good, and they gave a decent variety of meats and cheese. For 2 people, this was quite filling.
The pappardelle al ragu di vitello was good as expected. The pasta could have been cooked just a tad less, but the sauce it sat in was pretty good. The cheese on top was freshly grated by the server.
We came by in the spring when they boasted of lush flowers and decorations. Apparently the flowers were not real, but that still does not stop it to become a very photo friendly place. It still is nice during the day because they opened the canopy, and so there was a nice breeze coming in. I think for food, it wasn’t a whole lot of hit, but the ambiance is pretty appealing to those who want to get a drink and just enjoy the colors for photos.
This place was ok. Pasta was good, but it needs protein. The meat cheese board was just ok.
Had to make reservations 30 days ahead of time. Food was decent. Interior is nice. Homemade pasta. Good date place. Slightly overrated. Very similar to Culver City Bucato (before it shuttered) a few years ago.
Food was just ok even though it’s highly recommended by people. Probably a good date place though.