After NYC, which city has the best/most authentic Italian food? (Boston, cons)

[kidyankee764]

Philly? Funny - when visiting cousins in Philly, they ordered the "best pizza in Philly" and it was absolutely disgusting. A pizza place like that would go out of business FAST in the New Haven, CT area.

In this poll, I'd vote Providence. But that's only because New Haven isn't an option.

[HockeyGuy85]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Philly? Funny - when visiting cousins in Philly, they ordered the "best pizza in Philly" and it was absolutely disgusting. A pizza place like that would go out of business FAST in the New Haven, CT area.

In this poll, I'd vote Providence. But that's only because New Haven isn't an option.

Youd have a very tough time selling Providence over Philly as far as Italian food goes.

That one little experience doesnt change the fact that Philly is 2nd to NYC in Italian food.

Ive had plenty of good Italian in Philly.

You can say Providence all you want, but by the same token, id bet Utica has better Italian food. Its all about personal experience.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by MD2LAFTW

It's bland in comparison to Indian, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian and Peruvian foods I've had.

Well yeah, those places tend to be incredibly spice heavy vs. letting the ingredients speak for themselves. That's like saying a Corvette is slow because it's not as fast as a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. My point is that if you think real Italian food is bland, then there are TONS of food types that you'll find super bland (including just about anything American). Sure... Italian food isn't as spiced up as many of those types of cuisines, but it's far from bland.

Originally Posted by grapico

WHAT

That is pretentious. Let me spell it out P R E T E N T I O U S. I looked at their menu and it is 135 dollars. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR YANKEE MIND???

I can not even pronounce that stuff. I Can bring the entire family and eat way cheaper at CiCi's buffet, and it might not be FANCY like yankees like it, but it is tasty enough and it is a bring your own sauce establishment.

I guess I'd recommend staying in that fancy place, I am glad all yankees are clustered up there and can be pretentious and look down on us good folk. They all commute on Acela to wall street jobs in Manhattan from their Rittenouse Square apartment in the sky. Then come back home to fancy apartment eating imported mushrooms from Sicily trying to be more italian.

Listen here, this is america, not fancy italy, b/c we don't need more of yankees everywhere else spreading pesto sauce allover the place.

Was this post sarcastic? Please say yes.

Because if not... wow. The resentment and anger expressed in response to the so-called "pretentious" restaurant is more appalling to me than the $135 prices. I like restaurants like that from time to time. I don't make a lot of money, but it's fun to do something high end like that from time to time. That $135 isn't just for food. It's for an experience. It's for top of the line service, it's for an incredibly nice setting, AND for picture perfect food. How's that any worse than spending $100/each for tickets plus $10/beer and $6 per hot dog at a [insert the name of country music star here] concert?

We all have preferences for recreation and we'll all spend money to do what we like. Shelling out $135 each at a nice restaurant doesn't make you any more pretentious than shelling out $135 each for tickets and beer at a concert. Me? I'm going to the nice restaurant 100 times out of 100. I commute to work on a subway car that costs $1.75 each way and live in a 700 sq foot apartment. Hardly "elite."

The "this is 'Merica" outrage about "pretentious" Yankees is fairly hypocritical seeing as the "Merica" crowd tends to think they're better then the rest of the planet.

Originally Posted by HockeyGuy85

Youd have a very tough time selling Providence over Philly as far as Italian food goes.

That one little experience doesnt change the fact that Philly is 2nd to NYC in Italian food.

Ive had plenty of good Italian in Philly.

You can say Providence all you want, but by the same token, id bet Utica has better Italian food. Its all about personal experience.

To be fair, I haven't had much Italian food in Philly and I can't speak to it. I don't doubt that it's awesome. However, there are no "facts" when it comes to a debate over "better food." And Providence has a long history and fairly current history of major Italian influence. The "Little Italy" neighborhoods in Boston and New York have gentrified to the point where they're almost a Disney version of themselves. While Providence is small, its Italian neighborhood is one of the most authentic I've seen in the US (more so than Boston, NYC, Chicago, SF, Baltimore, etc). The food is outstanding and certainly of the caliber of any big city on the list. It's not an insult to Philadelphia that Providence is in the same discussion... it's a testament to how good Italian food is in both cities.

[HockeyGuy85]

Originally Posted by lrfox

To be fair, I haven't had much Italian food in Philly and I can't speak to it. I don't doubt that it's awesome. However, there are no "facts" when it comes to a debate over "better food." And Providence has a long history and fairly current history of major Italian influence. The "Little Italy" neighborhoods in Boston and New York have gentrified to the point where they're almost a Disney version of themselves. While Providence is small, its Italian neighborhood is one of the most authentic I've seen in the US (more so than Boston, NYC, Chicago, SF, Baltimore, etc). The food is outstanding and certainly of the caliber of any big city on the list. It's not an insult to Philadelphia that Providence is in the same discussion... it's a testament to how good Italian food is in both cities.

I never actually said Philly was better. I said youd have a tougher time selling Providence over Philly for Italian food.

Per capita Italian/authentic restaurants. Isnt that what we're talking about?

I even said, its about personal experience. NYC is the premier Italian food city. Philly is second if we're talking restaurants per capita.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by HockeyGuy85

I never actually said Philly was better. I said youd have a tougher time selling Providence over Philly for Italian food.

Well, when you said this:

That one little experience doesnt change the fact that Philly is 2nd to NYC in Italian food.

You pretty much said Philly was better than any city not named "New York"

Per capita Italian/authentic restaurants. Isnt that what we're talking about?

I didn't think so. I thought we were talking about this (the thread title):

After NYC, which city has the best/most authentic Italian food?

I didn't see anything about per capita. I don't think the number of restaurants per person is really that important. It's a quality thing not a quantity thing. If it were about quantity, Providence wouldn't be on the list because cities like Philly and Chicago probably have more restaurants than Providence has people.

I even said, its about personal experience. NYC is the premier Italian food city. Philly is second if we're talking restaurants per capita.

This I agree with. There are far too many Italian restaurants for anyone here to have sampled enough to determine with certainty which city is truly better. Even if two people go to the same restaurant, the experience will vary. I would love to try Italian in Philadelphia because I've heard nothing but good things. Providence has been my best experience so far with Chicago being a close second.

[HockeyGuy85]

"2nd in Italian food to NYC" doesnt necessarily mean second best. That was meant as quantity/number/amount.

[kidphilly]

I have had very good Italian in Providence. My take on this FWIW and not to be a homer; the food is every bit as good in Philly and with more quantity of the good quality restaurants and a better diversity (to me much better Northern Italian offerings IMHO) from low to high end in this regard.

North Jersey also has exceptional Italian as does South Jersey (mostly Philly expats)

I honestly have had little experience with Italian in Chicago; typically do other genres in Chi-town which is just exceptional overall

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by HockeyGuy85

"2nd in Italian food to NYC" doesnt necessarily mean second best. That was meant as quantity/number/amount.

Then you're most likely right. I haven't seen stats, but I don't doubt it.

[HockeyGuy85]

Tomate Pie is something you can only get in Utica, NY and Philly area too.

Tomato pie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


This is only in Utica area, but I guarantee this would be a hot Italian dish in any major city.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_riggies

Theres also pizzerias in Utica with "sauce on top" pizza.

[HockeyGuy85]

Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn is the only other place ive seen outside Utica with sauce on top pizza.




Not a pizza thread but cant find any riggies pictures. Theres your pasta dish.