Carmine's, New York City

This is a very popular but fun place with good Italian food in a somewhat homey atmosphere. It is in the heart of NYC not far from Times Square. If you go, be sure to remember that the servings are generous and can be shared. Don't make the mistake of ordering separately for each person as you will have a lot of uneaten food at the end of the meal.

Favorite Dish: All the pasta dishes were good .

Thursday, May 2, 2013
Dinner at CARMINE'S in the Theater District, was included in our Tour Package. There was 52 of us, including our escort Paul. Almost immediately when everyone was seated, the waiters brought in baskets of garlic bread. Then came the mixed green salad. Entrees included Shrimp in white sauce with linguine (pic # 3) - Penne - Chicken Marsala - Salmon Oreganato - all served family style on large platters. There was sooooo much food and all delicious.
There were pitchers of water and Cola on the tables and after dinner we were offered a wonderful platter of various desserts (pic #4) and tea or coffee.
I do not know the cost per person as it was included.

Restaurant Hours:
Sunday - Monday 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Tuesday - Saturday 11.30 a.m. to Midnight

We arrived for dinner early to beat the usual rush, we were the only table inhabited in the 40 seat entry level party room. Expecting superlative service from the three waiters and two bus
people was to much of a stretch. Inattentive might be a kind way of massaging the subject.
Then there was the discouraging preparation of the food that would be a discredit to any person that cooks Italian meals for their family. What's fair is fair, the 4 of us started off with the special salad of the day which we all admit was very good, if somewhat tastless for the amount of ingrediants to be found within. Then we ordered a plate of Fried Zucchini, this was a mountain of Zucchini, albeit, it was so salty you would think they drowned this dish in a full pound of non-iodized salt! Then for the crowning act of the evening, we ordered one plate of Pasta Pomodoro with Plump Tomato sauce, the Tomatoes tasted like they were poured out of a can and heated and dumped on the Pasta, no flavor and no body, the juice just sank to the bottom of the plate. DUMP IT. For number two dish we tried the Shrimp Parm, again the salt was the only distinguisable taste, all else was bland and tasteless not to mention the Shrimp were rubbery in texture. Being gluttons for punishment we also ordered Veal Parm, again, "THE HEAVY HAND" doused the food with salt, however this time we also encountered more Veal Grizzle and fat tendons then soft tender chewable meat. This was not a good night for us at CARMINE'S 91st , nor was the management at all interested in the facxt we had a disaster of a meal for which we paid $150.00 . Oh! this was the first time I ever encountered wine served in a water glass? What's that all about? Little or no class can be found here. Sorry to have to rate this meal as a "NEVER RETURN"

Favorite Dish: WE WISH WE COULD FIND ONE WORTHY OF PRAISE.

Carmine's is great!! Hardy appetites and good Italian food in the middle of NYC. Remember, don't fall for the temptation for the breadsticks. Since they're so good, you'll fill up on them, and you won't have enough room for the food. Try to get half-size when you can. Good for families and business groups.

Favorite Dish: The Titanic is the best thing in there. It's just a big ice cream sundae, but uses more ice cream and toppings than you'll use in a month. Even a half-size was to big.(It might be the other great food, tough.)

There are two locations for this restaurant. And the Theatre district one has much better food overall than the one on 91st and Broadway. This place is SO busy you need to really plan ahead and not have a large group.

It is a family style restaurant where dishes are delivered for the table and everyone gets some off the main plates. As the orders are truly huge.

I was most recently back to the location on Broadway at 91st street and was for the most part disappointed. The company was fantastic and we had quite the good time but the food itself was hit or miss for me.

Favorite Dish: Highlights of the food here to me are the desserts. The Titanic and the Strawberry Shortcake were good.

I really enjoy the calamari here and the penne ala vodka is good as well.

At least at the 91st street one I'd avoid anything off the grill.

Beautiful and classy place. Location is perfect. The food is amazing, the waiters are very kind to foreigners and the price is very honest comparing to the size of the dishes, which are very big. what makes it so special? Four peaple can order only one dish, like a salad, for example, and will leave completely satisfied.

Favorite Dish: The caesar salad for sure!!!!!!
All pasta are exellent, try the al mare topping.

This is situated just off Time Square and from the outside looks nothing - once inside it is amazing . YOU MUST BOOK in advance at this popular restuarant , otherwise you will end up sat in the Bar ( like we did ) for ages waiting for a table , although this was enjoyable with all the people watching we did
The meals are amazing , but don't make the same mistake we did and order a lasange each , One dish will serve at least 4 people . the food was excellent , the service brilliant and the price was equally good

Would definatley recommend this place to anyone

Favorite Dish: Lasagne and Tiramsu

This restaurant is found just of Time Square. Suprisingly big when you walk throught the door to e greeted by their helpful staff. Downstairs is amazingly Big, I was shocked in fact how big it was, but not overly impressed by its decor. Luckily enough for us it was pretty full and we where ushered up the stairs. Greeted by not less than 4 waiters we were the first to sit in a beautifully italian style decorated restaurant. Nothing at all like downstairs this restaurant was "A la Carte" styled. European in every factor bar the menu being on the wall. The Food was simply fantastic, Served on platter sized plates always ment for two(although each plate could feed three), it was had a real romantic old style to it. Sharing your platter and just taking as much as you dare.

Favorite Dish: Being warned that the Dishes where especially large I of course as the Irish man decided to step up to the plate ! Ordering the house special of the day a Aubergene and bacon pasta, ad to start a Green salad. My eyes nearly fell out when seeing the size of the starters plate... !! As large as the main course dish. It was compiled of fresh Iceberg Lettice, some tasty olives, sliced red onions and some rather strong Tomatos. The dish's size and glory was only stolen by it's fantastic Dressing, full of flavour and every crunch was excentuated by its dressings bite. The main course the house special of the Day (1 of 4 ), truly words can not describe how big this was a meal could have fed a family, shared between me and my beautiful host for the week. I attempted my best to do the chef proud and a glass or two of the house chianti (A most pleasing Italian, not dry or to beefy) later finally gave up. An amazing dinner one no food lover visiting New York should miss !

I don't like to American cookies. Because very oily. i must eat to Middle eastern cookies.

Favorite Dish: My fafavorite cook is 'kuskus'. it's same to turkish foods. ingredients are broth, kuskus, pepper, margarine, chickpea and salt.

Family style portions of Italian dishes come lavishly prepared. Noise level is high as families chatter happily with one another over meals, so expect an atmosphere filled with laughter and talk. Service can be slow at times, but waitstaff makes up for it in friendliness. Celebrated a birthday here once- waitstaff came out with a cupcake and a candle and the whole group sang "happy birthday" with much gusto.

Wait can be long at certain branches, such as the one on 44th Street. Personally, I frequent the one on the upper west side more because it's more convenient and much shorter lines.

Favorite Dish: Chicken Cacciatore is delicious- white wine and chicken stock, with tomatoes and basil. The veal parm is also great.

We liked Carmine's so much we went there twice! We went to both locations, in the Theater District and in the Upper West Side. The wait staff was friendly, but very busy, so don't plan to be checked up on much. But the food definately makes Carmines worth visiting. The Garlic Bread is a must! We had Chicken Parmesean with penne pasta the first time and Lasagna next. Both were very good. And if you like frozen drinks you must try the frozen Cosmopolitans! They were to die for, even at $10.75. The Theater District location also had frozen Appletinis!

The main courses are very large, so plan to share, it's expected.

We did have a wait the first time we went, I would recommend reservations. The second times we did call ahead and sat right down, no wait.

Favorite Dish: Chicken Parmesean

Awesome!!!

Its about 100 metres from The Majestic Theatre. We were strolling the streets looking for a nice place to eat and came across it on the way.

Huge meals. Seriously. Biggest we have seen. The plates were oval, around 40cm by 30cm, and were filled to the edges. We could have eaten the left overs from the people next to us and not even finished that.

The price was standard. We couldnt believe it. On Broadway restaurant with the size and quality of the dishes, it was worth 3 times the price.

I main between 2 is plenty but desiding what to share was too difficult for us so we got 1 each. Ate about 1/3 of the meal each.

Great atmosphere too as its one half restuarant and one half a sports bar. Its a big place with classy wooden features.

If in NYC....GO THERE!!!

Favorite Dish: Chicken Parmigiana - $20US. Enough for 3 and as good as any.

The food was good, but the wait was absolutely horrible!!!! We had reservations for days in advance, and we still ended up waiting for about two hours. BUT we did have a very large party. The dishes are HUGE, you have to share with everyone!!!!!!! The atmosphere of this place was very bustling and alive.

We were lucky enough to meet up with some people we'd met on the Internet and had a fabulous evening here. The place can get very busy and noisy, but I think that adds to the atmosphere.
Lovely cocktails, service was great, and the food brilliant.

Favorite Dish: As I've only been once, I don't have a favourite, but we had Calimari to start and then a pasta dish which was lovely. The portions are HUGE which is why it's advisable to go in a group of 6 or more.

I'm sure there are hundreds of Carmine's recommendations on this website, so I'll keep mine short and hopeful not repetitive.

This family style restaurant caters to groups of three or more..anything less and its not worth going. You'll spend too much and have too much food left over. Not a quiet and romantic place for two!

Make reservations..very important! The food is great and portions are large. Wine is also very good. Its fast paced and vibrant.

There are two that I know of: one off 44th Street (which is purely touristy) and the one on Broadway all the way up near Central Park - 90th & 91st Streets.

My recommendation is to go up to the 90/91 Streets location; you'll

a) get a reservation
b) get more attention
c) able to linger without everyone breathing on you.

Favorite Dish: Everything is my favorite here!!! can't go wrong with any dish!