OK, What are the Best Restaurants in Syracuse these Days?

[Forza Azzurri]

I hate paying for italian. It's noodles and sauce.

Yea, and the Roman Colosseum is just another old-time stadium in need of a makeover...

Speechless at this post...Have you ever been to Italy and eaten the food there?

 

[Trueblue25]

I hate paying for italian. It's noodles and sauce. That said, Nick and Angelo's in Liverpool and Tassone's in Baldwinsville are pretty good.

I usually order steak, scampi or egg plant parm depending on whats offered


Love good calamari or caprese to start

 

[690West]

I hate paying for italian. It's noodles and sauce.

I take it you’ve never had a piece of Rosalie’s braciole or Francesca’s Veal Saltimbocca melt in your mouth?

That’s like saying “I don’t like Asian, it’s pork fried rice and fortune cookies”

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I usually order steak, scampi or egg plant parm depending on whats offered


Love good calamari or caprese to start

Tougher to find good calamari these days. You have to salt it right out of the oil and the health kick means that restaurants are either using less salt or even no salt.

 

[Shawn91111]

Tougher to find good calamari these days. You have to salt it right out of the oil and the health kick means that restaurants are either using less salt or even no salt.

No, the problem is fried calamari can turn from good to bad in a matter of moments depending on how long it is in the oil. Cooking squid any style, needs careful attention or it will overcook in no time.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

No, the problem is fried calamari can turn from good to bad in a matter of moments depending on how long it is in the oil. Cooking squid any style, needs careful attention or it will overcook in no time.

yeah, agreed on that..there is a small window when it is cooked correctly...

But I find over/undercooking to be less of a problem than the salting issue...

So many times, it gets delivered to the table and the color is right and the texture is right but there is not enough flavor because there is either no salt or not enough salt. And you cannot salt it at the table. Too late.

 

[Fly Rodder]

I don't order noodles and sauce unless they're making their own pasta.

 

[dooey139]

I usually order steak, scampi or egg plant parm depending on whats offered


Love good calamari or caprese to start

Did you try the calamari steak at joeys for an app? Phenomenal

 

[patcuse]

I hate paying for italian. It's noodles and sauce. That said, Nick and Angelo's in Liverpool and Tassone's in Baldwinsville are pretty good.

Im with you Capt would never order pasta and sauce out. No bang for the buck. Not allowed to call it sauce In my house it’s gravy.

 

[Trueblue25]

So no one’s been to atillio’s on james st?

 

[Millhouse]

Carrraba's is a chain restaurant owned by the same company that owns outback steakhouse, LOL!

It's halfway decent for a boil-in-the bag chain restaurant, but it's no scratch italian place by any means.

I heard Vito's (the old Rico's) re-opened under new management and kept the same menu as the old place. Rico's used to be good for Italian. Haven't been to Vito's since the re-opening but seems to have good reviews: Google Maps

if boil in bag refers to sous vide, i'm a big proponent of it

it's worth buying one of those sticks just for steak. cook it perfect in the bag with salt, fire up a chimney starter, skewer the steak so it can sit over the over blazing chimey for a minute per side, slice over a some herbs and oil on the board. steakhouse quality, simple, perfect.

i'm done ordering steaks at restaurants now

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Im with you Capt would never order pasta and sauce out. No bang for the buck. Not allowed to call it sauce In my house it’s gravy.

That is not true. Depends where you live and what the restaurants are like. My favorite little local Italian place flies its ingredients in weekly. The Cacio e Pepe or Bucatini all'Amatriciana (sorry, typo) is worth every penny...The mozz make me think I'm in Puglia or Campania...

There are some absolutely fabulous Italian restaurants in the city...

Gravy just means that either your ancestry is southern italian or you grew up surrounded by them...

Up north, it is sauce...

One other thing...I will completely concede that there are large swaths of the country where I would never consider going to an Italian restaurant unless it was a really special circumstance - like an Italian-born and educated chef who just really happened to love Des Moines or Toledo...

 

[IthacaMatt]

Guys...Carrarabas? Really?

The reason they can do a pretty good job is because they don't have a super-extensive menu. Fewer ingredients and fewer menu items mean that the ingredients stay fresher, and the staff is more likely to get the meal right.

You can say all you want about the "historic" Italian restaurants in Syracuse, but Pascale's family of restaurants, and the Grimaldi family restaurants are all in decline, if they haven't already closed.

If anyone wants to try to claim that Dominic's or Avicolli's on Route 57 are better than Carraba's in Fayetteville they're nuts.

Rico's closed. Gentile's closed. Francesca's lost their chef, Chance Bear, about 7 or 8 years ago. Asti's isn't bad on North Salina, and the wise guy place at 700 N Salina or so (I forget the name) also changed ownership and changed their name a few years ago.

I make better Italian food than most of these places. (I cooked at Dominic's back in the early 80s, after I got out of college, when it was still good.)

 

[KellySyracuse]

So no one’s been to atillio’s on james st?

I've been there but it was at least 3 years ago. Atmosphere is nice, quite a few wannabee high rollers at the bar. Food was okay but not memorable enough for me to go back. Francesca's would be my go to place on Salina with Asti coming in 2nd

Edit: sorry I've been to the Attillios on Salina St. if you didn't already guess that. Haven't tried the James St. place yet

 

[orangezen]

best BBQ in area is Ray Brothers in Bouckville on rt 20 great BBQ

 

[rrlbees]

The reason they can do a pretty good job is because they don't have a super-extensive menu. Fewer ingredients and fewer menu items mean that the ingredients stay fresher, and the staff is more likely to get the meal right.

You can say all you want about the "historic" Italian restaurants in Syracuse, but Pascale's family of restaurants, and the Grimaldi family restaurants are all in decline, if they haven't already closed.

If anyone wants to try to claim that Dominic's or Avicolli's on Route 57 are better than Carraba's in Fayetteville they're nuts.

Rico's closed. Gentile's closed. Francesca's lost their chef, Chance Bear, about 7 or 8 years ago. Asti's isn't bad on North Salina, and the wise guy place at 700 N Salina or so (I forget the name) also changed ownership and changed their name a few years ago.

I make better Italian food than most of these places. (I cooked at Dominic's back in the early 80s, after I got out of college, when it was still good.)

I’ll say it. Avicollis is better than Carrabas.

 

[IthacaMatt]

So no one’s been to atillio’s on james st?

What did that place used to be called? Antonio's?

 

[IthacaMatt]

I’ll say it. Avicollis is better than Carrabas.

Sorry, but no. Nothing at Avicolli's is as good as the pork loin wrapped in prosciutto with fig sauce, or the Tuscan grilled filet. The fried zucchini sticks (get them well done) are really good, too.

 

[KellySyracuse]

What did that place used to be called? Antonio's?

yes, the place on Salina. The James St location was Julie's Restaurant if I recall, Karen from Karen's catering owned it but she died from cancer a few years ago

 

[Trueblue25]

What did that place used to be called? Antonio's?

No clue, didn’t know either existed. May stop by before xmas

 

[Cusefan0307]

Antonio's I believe is strictly takeout now and they have a few locations around the city.

 

[Trueblue25]

Never been to Avicolli’s, could be better. Have to try

 

[rrlbees]

Sorry, but no. Nothing at Avicolli's is as good as the pork loin wrapped in prosciutto with fig sauce, or the Tuscan grilled filet. The fried zucchini sticks (get them well done) are really good, too.

Go to Avicollis and start with their beans and greens (has sausage in it too). Then order your salad with Italian and crumbly blue and have a couple rolls dipped in their oils and spices. Then order the chicken riggies with red or pink sauce (I prefer red). Then tell me you didn’t go to heaven.

 

[Cusesky8214]

Go to Avicollis and start with their beans and greens (has sausage in it too). Then order your salad with Italian and crumbly blue and have a couple rolls dipped in their oils and spices. Then order the chicken riggies with red or pink sauce (I prefer red). Then tell me you didn’t go to heaven.

Fantastic pizza and wings there too!

 

[IthacaMatt]

Go to Avicollis and start with their beans and greens (has sausage in it too). Then order your salad with Italian and crumbly blue and have a couple rolls dipped in their oils and spices. Then order the chicken riggies with red or pink sauce (I prefer red). Then tell me you didn’t go to heaven.

OK, fair enough. You have a much better chance at a good meal someplace when you have someone to recommend stuff off the menu.