Carmine's, Upper West Side

Our Rating: 8

Zagat Food Rating: 4.0

Visited: 28 September 2018 (Nth Visit)

2450 Broadway between 90th and 91st streets, New York, NY

Open: 11am - 11pm (Sun - Thurs)

11am - Midnight (Fri - Sat)

+1 212 362 2200

On my first non-business trip to New York in nearly fifteen years, my first stop was Carmine's! When I was young I used to eat here with my friends all the time. Good food, good atmosphere, friendly staff, gigantic portions, it checked all our boxes and left our stomachs full without leaving our wallets empty.

A decade and a half later, the food tastes exactly as I remember it. Perhaps even better. The portions however, seem even larger! I think though that it is more a function of appetite reduced by age rather than any actual growth in the already gargantuan portion sizes.

I went alone, but ordered enough food to feed a family of 7. I figured, when am I gonna have another chance to go back? Another fifteen years? Might as well. The waiter, bless his soul, seeing me alone and ordering like we were going to the mattresses, simply asked, "you been here before?" I said, "yeah." And he just said, "ok," and brought another table to connect to mine, to fit all the food. No snide remarks, cool as a cucumber.

There are a lot of world renowned Michelin starred restaurants in New York. But if I had to pick one place to go back to in New York, to have my last meal before going to the gallows, Carmine's would be it.

Porterhouse Contadina, with peppers, onions, Italian sausages and potatoes. Mama mia.

Mixed seafood linguine with white sauce.

Mixed meat ragu, with meatballs, bracciole and Italian sausages over rigatoni.