Some of the BEST Italian Food on Long Island

 

BUONGUSTO
1446 Old Northern Blvd., Roslyn Village (516) 484-4070

Italian food has always been king of the hill in Long Island. One of my favorites include Buongusto in Roslyn Village, offering superb pasta and chicken dishes, great pasta, and giveaway prices ­ don’t miss the pasta and shrimp combo. Without a doubt, owner Franco is the man, greeting his customers like old friends.

We told you it was the best, now tell us.
OUR READER'S REVIEWS:
"Very good pasta, I had the fresh fried calamari followed by a little orecchiette con broccoli e pomodoro"
- Antonio

 

Marios Italian Kitchen Inc
Route 25A, East Setauket (631) 751-8840

Go to Mario’s in Setauket for Rigatoni Supreme, and especially their carbonara dishes. You will be satisfied.

We told you it was the best, now tell us.
OUR READER'S REVIEWS:
"Mario's is a restaurant I discovered recently, and I lived here for 7 years, it's damn good"
- Sal

 

Spasso's of Copiague
1038 Montauk Highway, Copiague (631) 842-1182

Spassos in Copaigue, which features a superb dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But the menu lasts all week so try it out the place is nice and so are the people there.

We told you it was the best, now tell us.
OUR READER'S REVIEWS:
"Eat there all the time"
- Scott and Mary

 

Gino's Restaurant & Pizzeria
16 W Park Ave., Long Beach (516) 432-8193

Gino’s of Long Beach is a recent find, with incredibly tender veal cutlet and delicious and inexpensive rigatoni dishes; they also have great Italian ices and Sedutto ice cream.

We told you it was the best, now tell us.
OUR READER'S REVIEWS:
"Nice food, the family loved it"
- Vincent and the Bono family

 

City Cellar
1080 Corporate Drive, Westbury - (516) 693-5400
 La Famiglia
5 School Street, Glen Cove- (516) 759-7549

A Tale of Two Pastas:

City Cellar & La Famiglia
The City Cellar Restaurant in Westbury, directly opposite Target and next to Famous Dave's BBQ, is a stunning visual achievement. Its sleek, modern look is a real knockout. Once inside, you are welcomed to a large, beautifully decorated room that has the chic of Manhattan and the smoothness of Florida. Tables are tastefully a good difference from each other, insuring not bumping in to your neighbor. The adventure begins.

Our hostess led us to a table surrounded by a few families, but mainly 20- to 30-year-old men and women, fashionably dressed and out for a good time. Groups of women validated that this is the place to be seen.

It was all downhill from here. It is unfortunate that both the food and the service doesn't match City Cellar's visual splendor. It took about 15-20 minutes for a waiter to drop by. He took the drink orders and then disappeared. Bread was brought by. It was sourdough bread and hard as a rock, both in the crust and the inside. We showed it to the waiter as we knocked it on the table for emphasis. We could have hammered nails with it.

"Sometimes they leave it out for awhile," he confessed. He made no offer to replace the bread so we made the request. A return visit brought no bread so a second request was made. This one was better, but by now we had finished the appetizers.

For appetizers, we had the mushroom and onion soup, in light cream sauce with pinot grigio. If you are a mushroom lover, this is the dish for you. It is served in a bowl that is half filled, making the soup look like a lot less than it really is.

I ordered the escargot in garlic butter, a very bland dish with no trace of the promised garlic. At $11, it was a total waste of money.

For entrees, we split our dishes. A pasta order of farfalle with Portobello mushrooms and roma and sun dried tomatoes in a pesto sauce with pignoli nuts yielded a miniscule amount of chicken pieces, which were less than bite-sized. Again, a somewhat bland dish. I had the veal and braised beef Bolognese with baby mushrooms and strands of parmigiana and rigatoni.If rigatoni goes for about 59 cents a pound retail, my portion was about 15 cents worth - an incredibly small amount of pasta. The veal was tough, and the beef was probably pureed and there was no visible meat present. The tab for each of these two disasters was $19 each.

Diners can also order the crabmeat crusted Chilean bass for $29 and a 12-ounce New York Strip steak with garlicky potatoes for a mere $34 - you've got to be kidding. This has to be one of the worst deals on Long Island.

Our waiter confessed that a Florida company owned this beautiful place. The wine display behind the bar must have 1,000 bottles. This is a fashionable, trendy place to be seen, but if it's good food you're looking for at somewhat normal prices, walk next door to Famous Dave's and order practically anything from the menu. It will be better than the City Cellar.

For those who would like to experience the ambiance, come after dining hours. For others, you may call (516) 693-5400 for reservations. The City Cellar is located at 1080 Corporate Drive in Westbury.

Just when you vow you'll never go out to eat again after a bad dining experience, you bounce back. A visit to La Famiglia Restaurant in Glen Cove restored our faith in food preparation.
No one will ever accuse La Famiglia of being sleek or chic. It is a small neighborhood restaurant on a restored School Street. What it does offer is great food and great prices - which shows you can't tell a book by its cover.

As soon as you walk through the door, you are greated by an owner and his band of merry men: "What are you looking for?" they ask. "We can make it for you."

The meal starts off with kick ass bread, both Italian and foccacia. A huge bottle of olive oil is brought to the table. Let the party begin!
The junior member of our review crew opted for a slice of pizza, huge for $2 and a plate of rigatoni in butter. A delight for $6.50.
La Famiglia offers six kinds of pasta in a variety of sauces. We ordered a plate of rigatoni carbonara. A huge plate of rigatoni, with a mountain of bacon and a small amount of onions in a cream sauce was a work of art. It was not drowned in sauce, but a beautiful mixture of ingredients. This set us back a whopping $10.50.
The other member of our crew had chicken fraincoise, an accompaniment of penne a la vodka. The vodka sauce was light and flavorful. The cheese was grated, not braised. It too was a gigantic portion which was partially carried home. This was an unbelievable $8.50.

Throughout the meal, our waiter kept asking how everything was, brought a new bread-filled dish when he saw we had demolished the first batch. Everybody in the restaurant was smiling and laughing, obviously all having the same good time as us. A veal cutlet hero that was huge and very tender set us back a big $7. This sandwich had about 50 times the veal that my veal Bolognese had at City Cellar.

When we headed out, I spoke to one of the owners, Paul, and complimented him on his food and their prices. He commented, "If you have good food, people will come back." I know I will.
La Famiglia is located at 5 School Street in Glen Cove; call (516) 759-7549.
- Rich Branciforte




Waterzooi Belgian Bistro
850 Franklin Ave. Garden City (516) 873-0855
A favorite of those on the singles’ scene, Waterzooi might be Long Island’s only Belgian bistro of its kind. Unsurprisingly, the bistro features a full bar with a wide array of creamy Belgian beers like Hoegaarden and Leffe Blonde. However, most people come not for the beer but for the Moules Pots and Belgian favorites.
Moules Pots are mussels serve with frites and mayonnaise. At Waterzooi, they don’t just have moules pots, they thrive on moules pots. First, there is Puttanesca, which comes with black olives, capers and onions in a marinara with anchovy tapenade. Then there is Montrachet, marinated in white wine, goat cheese and roasted red peppers. Other varieties of moules pots at Waterzooi are Bouilliabaisse, Lucifer, Fra Diavalo (hot and spicy), Creole, Belgian White, Thai, Oreganato, Provencale, Champagne and Homard. Among Waterzooi’s specialty entrees are De Monk, pancetta wrapped monkfish filet over a truffled sweet corn risotto, caramelized baby Swiss shard and a blue crab lobster broth. It doesn’t get much more exotic sounding that in Garden City, does it? Plus, Waterzzoi shares ownership with local favorite establishment, The Victory Bar & Grill.

Brown Osprey
3943 Merrick Road, Seaford (516) 221-9626
Since 1979, this restaurant has been home to some of the South Shore’s finest Italian and traditional American dining. They offer a full menu of complete dinners that include entrees such as Chicken Francaise, Pasta Carbonara, Yankee Pot Roast, Calf’s Liver Saute, Fried Bay Scallops and Roast L.I. Duckling A’La Orange, all with the Brown Osprey’s Soup Du Jour, tossed salad, entree, potato, choice of vegetable, coffee or tea, ice cream, sherbet or pudding, for one price. Open for luncheon or dinner.


EDDIE'S PIZZA
2048 Hillside Ave., New Hyde Park (516) 354-9780
We told you it was the best, now tell us.
OUR READER'S REVIEWS:
"Best damn bar pies in the world"
- Jason
LA BELLA PALERMO
90 West Main St., Babylon (631) 321-0763
We told you it was the best, now tell us.
OUR READER'S REVIEWS:
"Fabulous food, but the wait staff is the best."
- Carl
RAFTER'S SPORTS BAR
42 Broadway, Rocky Point
We told you it was the best, now tell us.
OUR READER'S REVIEWS:
"Good bar, food, great pricing, bands, pool tables, video games, plenty of parking, biker friendly, total NFL package,
open 7 days. STEAKS ARE WAY UNDER 20 DOLLARS!!"
- Joseph