What’s the best authentic Italian restaurant in New York City?
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I’m looking for a mom and pop, non-chain, Italian restaurant with superb authentic Italian cuisine in NYC.
The first copy and paste here is so old that some of those restaurants are no longer there.
One of my favorites is Via Emilia NOW located on 21st and Park - they have some very unusual dishes - split an appetizer of tagelle - a kind of do-it-yourself ham and cheese on a hot biscuit. Or try the gnocco frito, a large platter of Italian cold cuts served with delicious fritters. Pastas are excellent - large enough to share. The desserts are excellent, too. The prices here are very reasonable and the quality of the food and the service are very, very good (they don’t take credit cards)
http://www.viaemilianyc.net/
Another one of my favorites is Da Andrea on Hudson and Perry in the West Village. They also are one of the few restaurants that serve tigelle (share it - too filling for one person). Wonderful food, excellent clam sauce here, good service, but it can get crowded and cramped.
http://www.biassanot.com/
Il Mulino in the Village has great food, but, they play too many games with your bill. They make a lot of "mistakes" - you can get charged for a wine that you never ordered (or drank) or an appetizer that you never had. There are also "mistakes" in their addition. If you catch these and point it out to them, they apologize and correct the bill, but this happens more often than not.
Il Cortile is wonderful.
Babbo is probably the best Italian restaurant, but it’s very expensive and definitely not "mom and pop" food. Also, they are booked about two months in advance.
For good food that’s very reasonably priced, consider Bianca on Bleecker Street or Celeste on Amsterdam and 84th on the Upper West Side.
And, if you are from New York, you already know that Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island have better and cheaper Italian restaurants than Manhattan.
Owner Jason Denton and Chef Mark Ladner talk about their popular Greenwich Village 
Chef/owner Daniel Boulud talks about his flagship 4-star restaurant on NYC’s Upper East Side. Get more info on Daniel on Savory Cities: http://www.savorycities.com/newyork/restaurant/daniel/60-e-65th-st