In this city, restaurants come and go faster than you can say "sustainable locavore burger." And even though there are great new additions to the culinary landscape popping up every week, you've gotta give kudos to anyone who can stick it out for over a year. With that in mind, we bring you Still Got It, our tribute to establishments that continue to serve mouthwatering meals and drinks long after the buzz has faded—or if the lingering hype is still justified.
Carmine's has been an Upper West Side institution for over two decades, but its overstuffed family-style meals have become such a gimmick that it's easy to dismiss it as an overblown tourist joint. But do not be deceived: the restaurant's basic Italian-American dishes are just as tasty and robust as they were before the banks invaded the neighborhood's shores. But you better come hungry, and you ought expect to be eating the leftovers for days and days.
Carmine's is meant for large groups, and when the restaurant's busy (and it often is), its cavernous dining room is loud and bustling, filled to the brim with families and parties. The menu is posted on a wall in the back, and you'll probably have to keep getting up to take a look at it as you debate over dishes with the rest of your group. They serve some fancier stuff, like lobster fra diavalo and porterhouse contadina, but it's best to stick with the basics and don't go too crazy. Start with a hefty, oil-and-olive drenched mixed green salad (one dish will feed at least three, if not four people) and if you're with a really big group, try the crispy fried calamari dish, too.
For main courses, you can mix-and-match types of pasta with red sauces, meats and other proteins—the panchetta-flecked pomodoro sauce is a particular favorite, or try the meatballs for a heavier kick. And though there's no question your gut will be bursting by the time you've started on your second helping, do leave room for dessert. The creamy, chocolate-dipped tartufo compliment the hearty entrees, plus there are chocolate cannoli, if that's not enough to tempt you.
Carmine's isn't as well-cultivated as a more frou frou city trattoria, but the dishes are simple, filling, and oddly comforting, like a big dinner cooked up by your Brooklyn-born Italian grandmother. And while prices aren't as middling as they were a few years ago, you get so much damn food you won't have to cook or eat out again for three days. Take your family, your non-foodie friends, your UWS childhood playmates who remember walking past Carmine's on their way to Blockbuster to rent the latest Mary-Kate and Ashley movie. And be sure to bring some breath mints—they do not skimp on the garlic.
Carmine's is located at 2450 Broadway between 90th and 91st Street on the Upper West Side (212-362-2200, carminesnyc.com). They have an additional location in the Theater District.
