A dish from Lombardi’s.
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Lombardi’s
Manhattan’s Little Italy is home to a seemingly endless collection of overpriced, wildly mediocre restaurants packed with tourists twirling spaghetti on their forks. Let’s face it: New Yorkers don’t often eat in Little Italy, a honky-tonk stretch of Mulberry Street north of Canal dotted with Italian restaurants where the red sauce often tastes like it might have been pumped from a single underground reservoir.
But in 1890, when over half of all Italians in New York City lived in Little Italy, the neighborhood extended much further, from East Houston to Chambers Street, and from Broadway to the Bowery. Do yourself a favor, and venture to the outer limits of the old neighborhood, where some of its best Italian restaurants still linger. There’s legacy Italian deli Di Palo’s Fine Foods; Lombardi’s, the birthplace of modern pizza; sceny Italian restaurant Emilio’s Ballato; and others. For another Little Italy in New York experience, we’ve got a guide to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.
For this round, we’re removed Di Palo’s Fine Foods.
Robert Sietsema is the former Eater NY senior critic, with more than 35 years of experience as a restaurant critic in New York City. Previously, he has written for the Village Voice, Lucky Peach, Gourmet, and dozens of other publications. He specializes in food that’s fun to eat and not expensive, covering the five boroughs, New Jersey, and beyond.