Aunt Suzie’s Restaurant

This was one of my favourite places in Brooklyn for Italian food. I’m heart-​broken to see it go. Another spot I’ve been going to for well over a decade. You’ll be missed, Aunt Suzie’s.

This place is now closed, but I was grateful to try this place about 2 weeks before they closed. The place is welcoming like having Sunday Brunch at your Aunt’s house. The décor on the walls were very comforting. Family portraits and newspaper clippings about the restaurant.
If you wanted a really good, hearty meal this would be the place. The portions are enough for 3 – 4 people per plate of food. So groups would be good. I do wish that this place stayed open, but whoever moves in has some big shoes to fill.
I am really glad I was able to come here an experience it.

I’m sad to see this place go. Admittedly, the service has gotten more hit & miss over my ten years in the slope, especially after they installed the bar and tried to cater to the party crowd, or whatever their intention was with that. I think they began to lose sight of who they were, and you could see that all over the wait staff’s faces. Everyone started looking very harried and confused towards the end. Even nasty at times.
But I loved the food and the décor, and I’m sincerely going to miss it. I wish everyone there, owners and staff alike, much luck in their future endeavors. It seemed like they all worked really hard.

I JUST CALLED 718 788‑2868 NO ANSWER…
HEARD SUZIE’S CLOSING FOR GOOD.
CAN THIS BE TRUE?

I will miss Aunt Suzie’s. I heard their last day will be on 1÷1÷2012. It’s surreal to think that they were around for 25 whopping years in the Slope. I would be so sad if I grew up eating and dining at Aunt Suzie’s.
Aunt Suzie’s offers reliable, traditional and inexpensive Italian food. The food is good and straightforward. There is nothing fancy about the food, it is just what you expect to get from an old-​school Italian place. Even though the prices are super cheap, the quality doesn’t suffer. I even ordered from them twice via seamless web and they are super quick. My favorite dish is their chicken parmigiana, which is actually from «the really cheap menu,» at $ 11.90 which includes a free side. When you have a meal at the restaurant, you definitely feel like you’re in your comfort zone.

This place gets 5 stars for the brunch. Phenomenal. You get so much for your money including free refills on mimosas and bellinis, and there are crepes. Need I say more? Just go. This is not the fanciest place but the Italian food is more than decent (though I would not say stellar). If you’re looking for a cheap brunch in Park Slope without a long wait, Aunt Suzie’s is always a safe bet.

Its been a years-​long running joke with my sister that I’m too elitist to set foot in Aunt Suzie’s, and I don’t disagree. After all, Aunt Suzie’s is solid neighborhood Italian but one that caters to a particular style that simply isn’t mine. And now I can say with confidence what I suspected for years because our family came here recently for a dinner to celebrate my mom’s birthday.
Aunt Suzie’s dining room is small-​ish, walls painted in warm yellow, dark pressed tin ceiling, wood floors, and simple wood tables and chairs. It is decorated with ornately framed posters and many old black and white photos of people, with some Christmas lights strung about. A large bar is set in the middle of the restaurant. Although there are small tables, this seems to be the sort of restaurant that caters to families and groups, and it became bustling and very noisy pretty early into the evening. Our waitresses were friendly, tried to be available (although they were quite busy with a large party there that night), and overall great.
The laminated, busy menu is filled with classic Italian staples in appetizers, pastas, and entrees. Not too many surprises here. What surprises is that in this neighborhood, you have pasta dishes that run $ 9.90 each and «fancy» pasta dishes that run $ 12.90. And they feature a «very cheap» section also. Portion sizes are decent but not family sized; if ordering appetizers, you may need to double up for more than 4 people if sharing. All pastas offer the option to double up for an extra fee. There were a few specials offered too. Your choice of pastas are spaghetti, fettucine, linguini, and penne. They have a kids menu, and the chicken tenders and fried potatoes was sufficiently appreciated by the toddler in our group.
We got a breadbasket of sesame-​crusted bread, butter, and red pepper purée dipping sauce, a pretty nice start. Plenty of water, iced teas for some and they brought us a pitcher of that later on. For appetizers, we shared crisp, just fried calamari (ok but not fresh squid), sauteed mushrooms (well-​prepared), and a special grilled zucchini with bacon and mozzarella (excellent zucchini but the accompaniments didn’t add much).
Around the table for entrees, we had pasta with proscuitto, peas, onions in vodka sauce (heavily sauced, tasted ok but no depth, and that wasn’t proscuitto), linguini in white clam sauce (the best pasta that night but could still use more flavor), Aunt Suzie’s combo of eggplant, sausage, and meatballs (meh, meatballs so so), chicken parmigiana, and veal parmigiana (both were ok, unmemorable). If I had to summarize, their pastas are not cooked al dente, the ingredients are not high-​quality, and the flavors are fairly one-​dimensional. But the portions are fairly generous, nothing was tasteless (i.e., they used enough salt), and nothing was poorly made.
It comes down to your expectation for this sort of food. Yes, I am elitist and I’ve been spoiled by the flavors and preparations of pasta in places like Marea, Babbo, and Al Di La down the street. But if you’re like my sister, who has been to two of those three and still prefers Aunt Suzie’s simple, hearty style and prices, you’ll like it here.

This place reminds me of going to the Italian grandmothers that I never had. It is decorated with old family photos, white table clothes, and big wooden tables and chairs. You will feel like you are in your families dining room, especially, if your family was in the mafia.
The menu is cheap, there is even a specific section called «the cheap menu». Portions are big, meal is good, and the waiters are friendly. You get a pretty nice bread bowl when you arrive, and I really like bread.
i usually get a glass of wine and a pasta dish. There are a lot of pasta options to choose from, and I have not been let down yet.
The place always is crowded, but I have never had to wait long to get a table. I have also ordered from them and with free delivery, this is a good option as well.

With quite a few cheaper options on the menu as well as some good wine to choose from, you’d think the food would be able to keep up, but alas, it was definitely the weak point in our evening. I think I can find more flavor in the bottom of a jar of Ragu sauce compared to what we found in our entrees.
Margot G. and I came by a few weeks ago for a dinner that would allow me to have pasta because I had a 10K race the next morning. I opted for a fairly simple penne alfredo with broccoli dish and she ended up with a pasta dish (I don’t remember exactly what) with their «special» Grandma’s vodka/​meat sauce. To be perfectly honest, both dishes were pretty bland, and with two very different types of sauces at our table, that’s probably more than just a coincidence. These are the kinds of meals I can easily and quickly make at home using store-​bought sauces and pasta, and I don’t go out to eat in order to get the same quality that I can (and often do) quickly whip up at home.
However, they deliver a generous pour when you order a glass of wine instead of a bottle, and you can find somewhat cheaper items on the menu so as not to break the bank if it’s two days before rent is due. Also, you receive a free basket of bread before your meal arrives, which is always nice.
Certainly not the best I’ve ever had, and I probably won’t be back. But if nothing else in the area catches your eye, then you probably won’t go too wrong here.

I was craving pasta the other day, and decided to do up Aunt Suzie’s. Plenty of room, decent food, and especially decent prices! I had the largest portion of broccoli alfredo, and when I asked for chicken, I didn’t expect the entire chicken the managed to throw on there for me. :)
Appetizers were pretty good and came out quickly, pasta was good and huge portions. Desserts looked delicious, but considering I brought home more of the pasta than I ate, I decided to pass.
I have also been here for their brunch (buffet style and worth it if you are super hungry). They seemed to have a lot of choices, but if you aren’t that hungry, the price for brunch may be a little steep.
Will definitely be back, and it’s a great place to go with groups or really hungry boys.

YUM! Homemade pasta. Made with all the love and care of the old country!
Everything else could use a little refreshing… but you have to love a neighborhood institution that has something very, very right about it.

A bargain Italian restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I had the linguini with white clam sauce. It needed a little red pepper but was outstanding. This place also serves wonderful salads and bread. I love the lasagna and vegetarian dishes here also.

What? … No Sunday Brunch!
Well that’s what the waiter told me when I entered the restaurant on a Sunday mid-​afternoon. That was o.k. with me because I was just looking for some good home cooking!
I’ve been here before, many, many moons ago and for me it was pretty good.
I did enjoyed the complimentary slices of bread with the diced peppers and that red pepper dippy stuff, as I placed my order. I ordered the chicken marsala with pasta (off the really cheap menu) and it was delicious! I was tempted to order dessert, but I was really too full.
Service was very attentive and deco was mix and match dining room furniture! Very cozy and comfortable.

I was very happy with my first trip to Aunt Suzie’s tonight; I had suspected that, as a vegan, I’d have to order spaghetti marinara and call it a day, but I got an excellent pasta primavera plus a side of escarole with garlic and oil. My dining partner got jumbo shrimp, creamed spinach, and a side of linguine.
Service was laid-​back, and the atmosphere is charming. We’re going back next week!

Great Italian food. One of the few remaining restaurants in Park Slope from my childhood especially on 5^th ave. The pasta dishes are inexpensive and delicious. I don’t have a favorite dish to recommend so try anything they’re all good, but my favorite things on the menu are the stuff mushrooms and baked clams.
The one thing I will say that i do not like about Aunt Suzie’s is the bar! I wanna tell the owner to get rid of it. It took away from the home style ambiance that Aunt Suzie’s is known for. At least the old family portraits are still there as well as the tables and chairs that one would fine in someone’s home.

Really wanted to like this place as really amazing friends of mine live close by. Maybe it is because we were here really late but after being seated, nobody came for 20 minutes until I asked the bartender what was up. He said our waitress closed out already and left (???) so we moved to the bar and ordered from neither. Neither my husband or I got what we ordered but it was late and we were hungry and the price was right. But still… come on.

This restaurant has a very authentic and comfortable ambiance. That’s all I can say (positively) about this place. Service was slow. The food was average (at best). The bread and dip that was complimentary wasn’t even good. The dip was thin and not very flavorful. Bread didn’t taste all that fresh either.
Started off with the baked clams. Meh, small and just full of breading. The Spinach & Artichoke dip was okay. As for the mains, I had the turkey sausage with spinach linghuine and broccoli rabe. The pasta was very doughy. Not al dente like how it should be. The flavors were somewhat bland. Honestly, I’ve had better cooked pasta at my friends’ gatherings. My companion’s Chicken stuffed with cheese in mushroom sauce was only ok as well. The side of string bean and potatoes. What was that? Tasted like it was steamed then drenched in unsweetened tomato sauce.
We totally skipped on dessert. Came in for hearty, authentic Italian but we left only half full and disppointed.

Stuffing myself with ridiculous quantities of pasta is basically my reason for getting out of bed in the morning, so this is my kind of place. I usually am even willing to trade up a bit of quality for quantity, but pleasingly enough Aunt Suzie’s offers both in heaping amounts. This ain’t your fancypants, two-​forkfuls-​a-​serving pasta, no; this is down-​home, fat-grandma-pinching-your-cheeks-while-expressing-concern-you’re-not-eating-enough pasta. Room for both in this world, but I know what side my giant unhealthy bread is buttered on.
So let’s review here: Delicious pasta, and a full-​on shit-​ton of it at that. Oh, and not too pricey, either. Yup, sounds like four stars to me. Just be prepared to go up a belt notch afterward.

Many moons ago when I first moved to Park Slope my roommate and I frequented Aunt Suzie’s several times a month. 5^th Avenue was very different than it is now. I had not been to Aunt Suzie’s because a friend of mine who I dined with frequently forbid it as an option when we dined out. We spoke about this recently and he insisted it had something to do with an issue he has with dating waitresses. My recollection was that he said the food was like «ragu».
Anyway with so many changes coming and going in this neck of the woods it is nice to see that Aunt Suzie’s is sticking with the formula that makes them a success: reasonably priced homey, Italian food.
I almost always order the sun-​dried tomato/​peppercorn with vodka sauce but this visit opted for spinach and mushroom crème sauce. They have about 15 sauce options and 6 pasta options-​I am a penne girl myself.
We did not sample from the wine list but most bottles are between 16 – 26 dollars.
I had a cannoli and it was good btu not as great as I remember the shell tasted like the oil it was fried in.
Good place for families and large groups.
A solid 3.5 but not quite a 4.

I’ll start by saying that I am not a big fan of italian food AT ALL.
So when I was invited to dinner at an italian restaurant, I wasn’t particularly thrilled but it was free so I couldn’t’ resist.
Only the Calamari was ordered as an appetizer and it was delish. They served bread also with a tomato based sauce. Not sure if it was due to hunger but I enjoyed the bread and sauce a lot.
For my main meal I went for the Gnocchi in meat sauce. This is my first time EVER eating gnocchi so I wasn’t sure what to expect. My friends ordered a variety of items (shrimp fortunata, chicken garlissimo& some pasta with prosciutto (the proscuitto dish wasn’t well liked by the 2 individuals who ordered it).
As for my gnocchi it was actually good. I think the meat sauce definitely helped a lot. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it if I ordered it with the regular sauce.
Service was fine, nothing spectacular or extraordinary.
Dessert, I went for the hot fudge brownie sundae… YUM. It’s really hard to mess up this great dessert. It went down smoothly… hmmmm.
All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. I prob will not return, not because the food was bad but just because I’m not a fan of italian food. I would however recommend the place to others.
It’s also a good place to go as a group and service wasn’t slow.