This unfussy gem located on the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue — otherwise known as the borough’s Little Italy — has been dishing out generous servings of well-sauced pasta for more than 50 years. It’s more food hall than restaurant, and the knowledgable servers are happy to guide diners through the massive menu. The stuffed artichoke is a highlight of the menu, as is the sizable sirloin steak served with a mound of fries.

Roberto’s modern Italian fare, served on a side street tucked away from the hubbub of the Bronx’s Little Italy, is a welcome contrast to the red sauced Italian American food common in the neighborhood. The wine list is more sophisticated, too, backed up by a menu that trumpets dishes like seasonal vegetables steamed “in cartoccio” — in a foil pouch — and a rabbit stewed with potatoes. Roberto Paciullo, a native of Salerno, Italy, is behind the villa-esque Roberto’s, where there’s not a meatball in sight.

Let’s face it, the menus of most upscale Italian restaurants have fairly predictable menus, and you can visit them confident that you’ll find, say, an al dente cacio e pepe or a decent veal milanese. When Rezdora set out to push the envelope on the classic Italian menu, it caused a sensation three years ago. The menu is anchored in Emilia-Romagna, and thus we have the gnocco frito of the region — thin cool slices of prosciutto matched with puffy warm fritters — and cappelletti verde, little pasta hats stuffed with leeks and spring peas that the menu rather poetically calls, “grandma walking through a forest in Emilia.”

Bi-level Italian spot L’Artusi has reigned as a reliable staple in the West Village for over a decade. And for good reason: It keeps crowds coming back with piles of spaghetti, twists of bolognese-slicked tagliatelle, and plate-sized spreads of shaved wagyu carpaccio splattered with a horseradish cream. Reservations still get snapped up well in advance, so plan ahead accordingly.

Chefs Jody Williams and Rita Sodi’s Tuscan destination Via Carota is no longer the secret neighborhood spot it used to be — expect to wait an hour or more for dinner no matter the day, or try for a late-night glass of wine and a bowl of chewy cacio e pepe. For a larger meal, classics like the grilled chicken and tagliatelle with prosciutto will get the job done, but the stars of the show are often the restaurant’s vegetable dishes: The options change regularly, and it’s hard to go wrong.

Petite Tuscan restaurant Fiaschetteria Pistoia makes up for its size with charm — the servers are brusque yet friendly, known to slam down a wooden crate of wine when asked for the list. Still, their recommendations for affordable bottles rarely miss, and everything from the salads and pork cheek to the cacio e pepe and spaghetti con bottarga are celebrations of the genre. For dessert, the creamy tiramisu is so ethereally light, it’s worth ordering even if full.

If Spiaggia in Chicago is what put chef Missy Robbins on the map, Lilia in Williamsburg is what rocketed her to stardom. Lucky diners might encounter Robbins hovering over the flame-spitting wood grill, the device responsible for singing Lilia’s succulent lamb steaks. Others might stop short at the host stand, quoted a two-hour wait for walk-ins. Reservations book up far in advance, which is understandable for pastas this good, especially the sheep’s milk ricotta agnolotti, slathered in a heady saffron honey sauce.

Over a century in Williamsburg has made old-school, red-sauce Italian restaurant Bamonte’s 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, who serves up classic Italian American dishes via servers in suits. Must orders include briny clams oreganata, spaghetti and meatballs, and the famous pork chops with pickled peppers. Don’t miss the ethereal cannoli, an off-menu dessert. 

The city’s oldest Sicilian restaurant, dating to 1904, is Ferdinando’s Focacceria in Carroll Gardens. The “focacceria” part of the name doesn’t refer to the familiar southern Italian bread, but to a type of snack shop often found in the island’s capital of Palermo. The menu here, once limited to small sandwiches of cow spleen or chickpeas and composed plates of seafood and vegetables, now serves a full-blown Italian American bill of fare. Depend on baked clams, fried squid or shrimp, and tomato sauce-soaked rice balls, along with squid ink linguine that’s best washed down with a coffee soda.

This Cobble Hill newcomer in a remote part of the neighborhood dredges up all sorts of antique Italian American recipes for some of the year’s best pastas so far. Spiedini alla Romana, a warhorse of old-school red-sauce joints, is presented as a digestible toasted cheese sandwich with a light, lemony sauce, while the orecchiette comes topped with crumbled pork sausage and broccoli rabe, suggesting its southern Italian origin. A landscaped backyard on a summer day is one of the restaurant’s greatest assets.

A picturesque backyard and a neighborhood vibe are the cherries on top at Frankies 457 Spuntino, which launched a small empire of restaurants on well-executed Italian American classics. The restaurant is as well-known for its sandwiches — the meatball parm and the eggplant marinara are both worth trying — along with its pastas, particularly the cavatelli with hot sausage and browned sage butter. Wines are affordable, and it’s a great restaurant for groups. Reservations are recommended, but it’s usually possible to snag a seat at the wine bar, where the restaurant’s full menu is served.

The dark, cozy space of Al Di La has been a Park Slope favorite since 1998, both as a dining destination for Anna Klinger’s northern Italian pastas and as a go-to for locals around dinner. Go for the spaghetti neri all chitarra (black spaghetti with octopus confit, basil, and hot chile peppers) and tagliatelle if it’s a first-time visit, but know that there’s plenty else to explore. Listen for the specials, and prepare to wait for a table at peak hours.

If date night calls for a big plate of pasta with piquant red sauce, Michael’s is the place. Founded in 1964 with a facade of rusticated stone, the dining room is warm and comfortable, with a pianist who sometimes plays Sinatra classics and other pop songs on a grand piano on a raised platform above the bar. Linguine with red clam sauce is particularly clam-heavy, the massive veal chop is unparalleled in the borough, and a plate of fresh mozzarella with grilled red peppers can be found on most tables.

This Sheepshead Bay establishment has been a neighborhood staple for decades, serving a variety of seafood dishes and pasta in a crowded dining room a stone’s throw from the waterfront. The restaurant is known for its red sauce, which can be ordered at varying heat levels and comes served atop various seafood dishes, including its standout fried calamari. The seafood diavolo, as well as the raw oysters and clam, are also not to be missed.

Located along Staten Island’s seaboard not far from the Atlantic beaches, Lobster House Joe’s is one of the borough’s premiere Italian seafood restaurants. The double dining room is casual and nautically themed, and you can’t go wrong with one of the perfectly steamed lobsters available in a range of sizes. The place also excels at seafood salads, linguine with any kind of red sauced seafood, chowders and bisques, and anything involving clams — from raw to incorporated into pastas to stuffed and baked. There’s a newer branch on the opposite side of the island on the Arthur Kill.