Via Carota

"An essential New York restaurant, Via Carota is one of the handful of spots from Rita Sodi and Jody Williams that remains the crowd favorite for good reason, with its simple Italian dishes dressed up to perfection. Long known for being walk-in only, these days the restaurant thankfully has some tables open for reservations. There’s also a cookbook that came out last year." - Melissa McCart

"The Waiting Room: Bar Pisellino  The Back-Up Plan: Marie’s Crisis Cafe The team behind Via Carota and nearby I Sodi essentially opened a bar to deal with their overflow, and for that we are thankful. Bar Pisellino in the West Village is within a block of both Italian spots, and it's a picture perfect spot for a spritz and some arancini. Like its restaurant counterparts, this place can get pretty packed with everybody else who’s also waiting patiently for their insalata verde. If there’s a wait for the waiting room, head to Marie’s Crisis Cafe and sing some show tunes at the divey piano bar instead." - willa moore

"Sometimes, we’re wrong. It’s rare, but it happens. Our initial review of Via Carota, for example, was pretty lukewarm. But that was back in 2015, a confusing time when bone broth was the beverage du jour and electric hoverboards were catching on fire. With its perfect mix of casual, buzzy atmosphere and impressive, unfussy food, this West Village restaurant has grown on us immensely over the years. It’s one of our favorite Italian spots in Manhattan, slightly edging out the latest iteration of sister restaurant I Sodi, so swing by for some world-class cacio e pepe and a crisp, towering salad. Just be sure to arrive before 6pm. Via Carota is essentially walk-in only, with limited reservations, and we aren’t the only ones who love this place." - bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah

"Via Carota, one of the best restaurants in NYC, doesn't take reservations, and there's pretty much always a wait of two or more hours. Obviously, that's kind of annoying, but it doesn't deter us from eating here. This place manages to stick out among thousands of Italian restaurants in NYC by making food that’s unfussy and uniformly delicious. A meal here should involve some of the dozen-plus vegetable dishes, the steak tartare-like svizzerina, and the cacio e pepe (which is non-optional)." - bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, tiffany yannetta

"The world is constantly changing, but there are two things you can pretty much always count on being true: You'll have to wait for a table Via Carota, and it’ll be worth it once the food arrives. Get a table on the sidewalk at this West Village Italian restaurant, order the chopped steak, and spread the roasted garlic cloves over it." - matt tervooren, neha talreja