Bamonte's

"Operating for over a century in Williamsburg has made this old-school, red-sauce restaurant a local legend (appearing in an episode of the Sopranos along the way didn’t hurt, either). Opened in 1900, the restaurant is still owned by its founding family, which serves up classic Italian American dishes via tuxedoed servers. Must-orders include briny scallops oreganata, spaghetti and meatballs, and the famous pork chops with pickled peppers. Don’t miss the cannoli, an off-menu dessert." - Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Staff

"The ricotta doesn’t get any fresher than at this restaurant, where it’s sluiced between layers of crumbed and lightly fried eggplant in the city’s best eggplant rollatini. The tomato sauce is appropriately bright and pungent in this quintessential mama dish that originated in southern Italy but only gained in popularity among Italian immigrants here — and every Brooklyn Italian restaurant has its own version." - Eater Staff

"Red-sauce Italian fare is Bamonte’s specialty, and it’s been serving it to the neighborhood since 1902. That old-school mentality shows: The waiters wear tuxedos, tables are draped in white tablecloths, and there’s opulent decor like chandeliers and red drapes. Rest assured, the food still stands up, especially standout dishes like baked clams, chicken Francese, pork chop with sweet or hot peppers, and spaghetti with meat sauce." - Eater Staff

"In the 120-plus years since Bamonte's opened in Williamsburg, the NYC dining scene has experimented with many different ways of having fun: all-you-can-eat sushi spots, restaurants on boats, and clubstaurants with caviar bumps. None compare to Bamonte's. It’s not that the food at this old-school Italian spot is spectacular. The calamari leans pale, and the red sauce is watery. But what you eat here never really matters. Because by the time a platter of totally okay penne alla vodka lands on your table, you’ll be obsessed with the woman in a fur coat who drove in from New Jersey, and 10 childhood friends from Windsor Terrace, passing around platters of baked clams. No restaurant entertains with bow ties and bottles of red quite like this one. " - molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah, neha talreja

"Eating at a big round table with your family isn’t a recent trend. That’s exactly what people at Bamonte’s in Williamsburg have been doing since this Italian-American spot opened in 1900. The dining room, which has a few round tables covered in white tablecloths scattered around its big space, hasn’t been updated since the ’50s. This is an ideal choice for a night of passing around baked ziti, pork chop parmesan, and fried calamari." - hannah albertine, kenny yang