22 February 2008

Strada 57

315 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
212-757-1620


There are hundreds of little neighborhood Italian restaurants in Manhattan, and Midtown has its fair share. But finding a very good Italian in the area of 57th Street west of 8th Avenue is a challenge. Fortunately Strada 57 is just the kind of neighborhood place you can stop in without a reservation, be greeted, seated at a nice table, and be served a nice meal.

The restaurant has a nice windowed front seating area, a bar area which occasionally has live jazz music, and then two rooms in the back that have comfortable seating. The décor is somewhat provincial, and clearly not Manhattan interior design.

Service is generally professional and always enthusiastic.

The menu is filled with typical Italian-American choices. The kitchen’s execution is inconsistent; occasionally producing fine versions of classics and occasionally serving up very nice dishes which only have a distant relationship to the Italian originals. Regardless, the food is always satisfying be it home made pastas, meat, poultry or seafood.

The wine list is limited but does have fairly priced Italian reds and whites, and other regional wines. We have always found an interesting bottle that we had not previously tried and frequently been impressed with the quality of the wine.

Strada 57 - Recommended

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Martin my name is Cody and I'm going to be in Manhattan next week. I'm a big lover of Italian food and coming from northeast Ohio I have a lot of choices. Akron, Cleveland, and Youngstown all have large Italian communities and there's plenty of authentic food to choose from. But New York is where Italian food began in the U.S. and I want to make sure i try the most authentic Italian in the city. Your review of Insieme really caught my eye. We seem to share the same views on what Italian food should be and I was hoping you could tell me, bar none, the best and most authentic restaraunt in the city. my Email is cmp62@uakron.edu And a reccomendation would be greatly appreciated.

Anonymous said...

We would recommend Alto for excellent Northern Italian, which will be a pleasant change from most other Italians. For an interesting Italian with American influence our choice would be 'Cesca. And for a modest true Italian we recommend Bistro Milano.