NYCNomNom’s Top 3: Affordable Italian

Happy Mother's Day to all. As promised, below you will find NYCNomNom's first guest post here at excellenteveryday wines. Enjoy.



There is no shortage of Italian restaurant choices in the New York Metropolitan area. As a lover of all things pasta, there also has been no shortage of Italian food in my diet.  I have had the opportunity to try many of the finest Italian restaurants in Manhattan, but there are still a number of fantastic, affordable choices.  You just need to know where to look.

Here are my top 3:

1) Antonio’s in Monroe Township

I was surprised when this Italian restaurant in a strip mall in New Jersey impressed me so much.  The food was sensational with great attention to detail and ingredients.  These dishes are obviously made with love.  Our favorite dish was the crab stuffed shrimp over a bed of the most tasty spinach we have ever had.



2)  Becco

Becco is an Italian Restaurant on Restaurant Row in NYC that I have been back to at least half a dozen times.  The food is always a hit, and they do an endless pasta special, featuring the 3 homemade pastas they have that night for $17.95 at lunch and $22.95 for dinner (and both include salad or antipasto).  They also have a full page list of $25 bottles of wine.  The pasta alone is worth going for, but they also make osso bucco so good that it is what I compare all other osso buccos to. (It's not cheap at $30, but it's worth every penny and could probably feed 2 people.)



3) Culinary Walking Tour of Greenwich Village

When I think of getting the most bang for my buck when it comes to eating Italian food, I have to go back to the culinary walking tour I took of Greenwich Village.  Not only was it incredibly informative and fun, but we got to stop at over 6 dining establishments and sample their specialities. After the tour, you even get coupons to go back and try things again.  This also happened to be the place we first tried Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street, which is sensational.



And sometimes you just need to splurge.  If you are looking for fine dining Italian in New York City that would be a highly memorable meal, I recommend La Masseria in the Broadway district (they also have a location in East Greenwich, RI).  It's not so expensive that you need to only order the apps, and the quality is so high that it's worth it.

We were most impressed by the prawns, which were honestly the size of a grown man's hand.



For more details on these dining experiences, you can find my full reviews here:

• Antonio’s
• Becco
• Walking Tour
• La Masseria

Happy Nomming!