Carmine’s is one of our favorite New York City restaurants. It’s conveniently located on 44th Street in the Theater District, near Times Square. FYI, there’s another (even larger) location on the Upper West Side. Both offer ample portions of delicious family-style Southern Italian food. Carmine’s is our go-to restaurant whenever we’re in town getting together with a group of friends or enjoying a family dinner.
We usually meet up at the bar for a drink before our meal. It’s a great place to sit (if you can get a seat) and people-watch! If there are only two of you and you want to grab a quick bite, you can eat at the bar. The restaurant is popular with the pre-theater crowd, so be prepared for a full house.
Carmine’s Standout Entrees and Desserts
Carmine’s Italian-style food is terrific and portions are HUGE, so it’s best to go with four or more people. That way you can taste a variety of dishes. Besides its incredible pastas, the menu also includes a selection of veal, chicken and beef entrees. During a recent family reunion dinner, our entrees were specials of the evening – Salmon and Baked Clams and Rack of Lamb – both absolutely delicious 🙂 Other standouts include the Fried Calamari, Linguini & Clams, Steak, Veal Parmigiana, and Stuffed Mushrooms.
Desserts are amazing too! We love their Tiramisu and Italian Cheesecake. And if you really want to splurge… order the Titanic (pictured at top). The ginormous sundae has six scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, wafer cookies, two caramelized bananas, strawberries, pineapple, hot fudge and whipped cream.
During one visit, we put a request in for a big round table (there’s only one in the restaurant that seats 12 people… on the second floor) and we got it! Our last group was a little larger so we opted to put two tables together in the main dining room.
New York City has SO many great restaurants , it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out where to go. We rate Carmine’s “right up there” in terms of FUN, food, ambience, service, price, and location. Check it out next time you’re in Manhattan and let us know what you think.