Angels over Italy
Restaurant: Angels Restaurant
Where: 1st Avenue between 62nd and 63rd.
Dinner: Gorgonzola Bread, Lasagna, & Penne al Forno.
Drink: Pinot Grigio by the glass.
Price: $40 (for 2)
My Take: The first thing you notice about Angels upon entering is that the place is decorated with angels everywhere - even angels painted into the cloud mural on the ceiling. Angels doesn't have that old school Italian NY eatery where you'd expect to see a mob boss eating a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, but it does have an authentic feel to it nonetheless.
This may be because when visiting on a weekend night, there were 3 enormous parties of Italian Americans dining rather happily and boistrously. The party closest to my table must have had 15 or 16 Italians with thick Brooklyn accents. They were extremely loud, which I didn't mind at all - it's nice to see people enjoying themselves. This did, however, upset one of the, no doubt, Upper East Side residents. This woman, probably in her 40s or 50s, asked if her party could be moved. As she was escorted to a table in another part of the restaurant, she paused near the long table of revelers and shouted, "Go back to Bensonhurst!" This resulted in tables being pushed aside and several of the men standing to argue with this woman and her party. These were not small guys - NYPD or FDNY most likely. At one point I was almost sure that one of the 40 year-old partiers was going to take a swing at the 75 year-old father of the offended woman. Cooler heads prevailed, so I didn't get to see a big fight in an Italian restaurant, but it was certainly the most entertaining altercation I've seen in all my dining experiences.
On to the food... if you order one thing on the Angels menu, make it the Gorganzola Bread. This is a loaf of Angels garlic bread resting in a shallow dish of melted gorganzola cream sauce. It's truly divine (as if could resist that adjective at a place called Angels). The lasagna has more cheese than anything else and the Penne al Forno was tastly enough, though I'm not a big fan of their tomato sauce. The upside is that the portions are enormous, so several meals (yes, more than two) may be possible out of one entree. Other than the garlic bread, I'd have to say that the food is average or a little above average for Italian. This is unfortunate, because there is so much to like about this restaurant. I think they'd do well to find a smoother, tastier red sauce, but that's just one guy's opinion. There's no arguing with the business this place draws in.
The Verdict: A no frills, enormously portioned, good value Italian eatery on the Upper East Side.
Where: 1st Avenue between 62nd and 63rd.
Dinner: Gorgonzola Bread, Lasagna, & Penne al Forno.
Drink: Pinot Grigio by the glass.
Price: $40 (for 2)
My Take: The first thing you notice about Angels upon entering is that the place is decorated with angels everywhere - even angels painted into the cloud mural on the ceiling. Angels doesn't have that old school Italian NY eatery where you'd expect to see a mob boss eating a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, but it does have an authentic feel to it nonetheless.
This may be because when visiting on a weekend night, there were 3 enormous parties of Italian Americans dining rather happily and boistrously. The party closest to my table must have had 15 or 16 Italians with thick Brooklyn accents. They were extremely loud, which I didn't mind at all - it's nice to see people enjoying themselves. This did, however, upset one of the, no doubt, Upper East Side residents. This woman, probably in her 40s or 50s, asked if her party could be moved. As she was escorted to a table in another part of the restaurant, she paused near the long table of revelers and shouted, "Go back to Bensonhurst!" This resulted in tables being pushed aside and several of the men standing to argue with this woman and her party. These were not small guys - NYPD or FDNY most likely. At one point I was almost sure that one of the 40 year-old partiers was going to take a swing at the 75 year-old father of the offended woman. Cooler heads prevailed, so I didn't get to see a big fight in an Italian restaurant, but it was certainly the most entertaining altercation I've seen in all my dining experiences.
On to the food... if you order one thing on the Angels menu, make it the Gorganzola Bread. This is a loaf of Angels garlic bread resting in a shallow dish of melted gorganzola cream sauce. It's truly divine (as if could resist that adjective at a place called Angels). The lasagna has more cheese than anything else and the Penne al Forno was tastly enough, though I'm not a big fan of their tomato sauce. The upside is that the portions are enormous, so several meals (yes, more than two) may be possible out of one entree. Other than the garlic bread, I'd have to say that the food is average or a little above average for Italian. This is unfortunate, because there is so much to like about this restaurant. I think they'd do well to find a smoother, tastier red sauce, but that's just one guy's opinion. There's no arguing with the business this place draws in.
The Verdict: A no frills, enormously portioned, good value Italian eatery on the Upper East Side.
posted by Hairy Lime at 10:39 AM
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