Tony’s Di Napoli

Tony’s is back on the Upper East Side– 3^rd Avenue between 63^rd and 64^th Street!

Wow — I can’t belive this place is closed! I was just there a week ago. Called thier number and recording says they are looking for a new location on UES. Damn 2^nd Ave subway contruction killed another business!

THIS PLACE IS CLOSED!!!
Yup, another victim of the 2^nd Avenue Subway bullsh$t. Such a shame, too, because this was a neighborhood goodie and certainly one of the best spots for groups.
But alas, it’s true.

Mama Mia! This place was phenomenal. I walked in with 16 of my closest friends (we just so happen to be together for a birthday gathering at the Met) and even without a reservation on a Saturday night they took good care of us and had us seated within 40 minutes. Now that’s good restaurant management!
The pitchers of sangria kept flowing, with scrumptious fresh fruit floating atop and edged in between the ice cubes, and the guys were cooled off with tall, cold glasses of frothy beer.
The appetizers were delectable! From the fried zucchini to the calamari to the shrimp scampi, everything was mouthwatering. Each couple at the tale ordered one plate to share, and there was still so much left over we just kept passing our dinner plates around.
I personally tried the spaghetti with meatballs (phenomenal!) and the tortellini with vodka sauce and mushrooms (to die for!). i heard the chicken francese was incredible from the couple to my left and considering the chicken parmigiana plate was cleaned off down at the end of the table, I would say that was a hit too.
I would highly recommend this place for a large group of people who want a good authentic Italian meal in a great spot in the city. Perfect for after a day spent at Muesum Mile with the family!
I will definitely be coming back to Tony’s.

We’re regulars in this place since it’s just a minute away from where we live and because we’re fans of pasta.
While the food and the service quality fluctuates, we are usually happy with our meal and the check is never too high.
STAY AWAY of the baked ziti, it tastes much like any Sbarro’s or a microwave dinner. The Rigatoni Vodka is absolutely great. Out of the desserts, our favorite by far is the Very Berry. The other desserts are okay. Their Sangria is pretty good.

Horrible, wannabe Italian food. No depth of flavor and I won’t even go into the baked ziti fiasco.
This place is good for kids or out of towners.
Olive Garden probably tastes better.

It was really really tasty, to be sure – but there were like 16 or 17 of us and we ordered what we’d thought was going to be more than enough food, and it certainly was not. And for the smaller portions that everyone had, we paid quite a bit more money than we’d expected to.
I mean, maybe we just had too many boys at the table, I don’t know – but it wasn’t my favorite family style Italian-​experience.
The service, however, was really lovely and again, the food was pretty good.

Yay! I AM a fan!
Ate here with a group of 12 which seems perfect for ordering just about a sampling of everything on the menu. Now, this is the type of Italian food I like — large portions and good quality food! Remicsent of Macaroni Grill and Buca di Beppo at home where your group always has a good time and it’s fun! Plus, no one feels gipped.
Onto the food:
I am a fan of the rigatoni with vodka and mushroom sauce. Oh so good! The al dente texture of the pasta and the creamy richness of the sauce without being too heavy.
And, I recommend the fettucine alfredo. Such a large amount to feed (it says 2 – 3) maybe a family of 5. Or, at least, 5 small Asians. :)
Also, I liked the stuffed mushrooms. Comes with about 12 – 14 mushrooms. Though, I still think Macaroni Grill’s is better– Tony’s Di Napoli’s measures a close second.
The fried calamari is good as well. Not too oily and the tomato sauce paired with the cheese grating shaker bits on the table makes it delicious!
However, I do not recommend the red sauce pastas of spaghetti with large meatballs or rigatoni with marshmallows. Or, the salad which comes with onions. I hate onions!
The staff is absolutely wonderful and friendly! So pleasant! Wow!!!
This place is historic — famous New Yorkers such as the Yankees baseball player whose names escapes me now and Mayor Giuliani have dined here. If you’re ever on the Upper East Side and in the mood for family-​style Italian quality food, go to Tony’s.

Late lunch/​Early dinner last Saturday for a party of 12. BF had preordered a bunch of things from the party menu since our group was so big (originally supposed to be 20). Here was our menu:
Apps:
+ Calamari (2)
+ Fried Mozzerella (2)
+ Caesar Salad
Pastas:
+ Rigatoni a la Vodka
+ Spaghetti and Shrimp Arriabatta
+ Ravioli Napolitano
Entrees:
+ Eggplant Parm (2) — an my absolute fav
+ Chicken Marsala (2)
+ Shrimp Scampi
Dessert:
+ Cheesecake
+ Canoli
MORE than enough food to feed us all. Service was decent, I wouldn’t give them 5-​stars for it though. Between the apps and entrees was a sizeable weight but the company was enough to keep us all occupied in conversation :)
Highly recommended for parties and great family-​style italian fare.

Three of us ordered from here last night and it was enough food for six.
With two entrees and an appetizer cashing in at $ 75, I was hoping they had also put some gold in the bag for us as well. I was happy to find that the serving sizes were enormous and we had more than enough food and could have doubled the number of people to share it with us.
We ordered the chicken picatta, penne ala vodka with mushrooms and the cold antipasta. The chicken was pretty mediocre, it seemed dry, but I am not a chicken lover unless I have cooked it myself. The penne was awesome, perfectly al dente and the sauce was just the right amounts of cream and tomato. The cold antipasta was exactly that: classic components such as sweet peppers, olives, salami, ect. The dish was huge. Everything was huge.
This is a great place to order from if you want to feed a few people and not have to order millions of smaller dishes or get everyone an individual dish. Keep in mind, it’s pretty expensive for takeout, but the food is pretty decent.
I’m still in search of GREAT italian food in Yorkville, this is close, but not it.

I have been here multiple times since I moved to New York 3 months ago. My cousin took me during my first visit. My goodness the plates are HUGE. Family style all the way! Back in San Jose, there was no good family style Italian places. Buca Dippo, meh! And Maggianos? Even WORSE. Nope, Tony’s is the best I ever had! I never have had a bad dish here when I ordered something. And I always try something new!
So, off the appetizer menu I have tried only the Calamari Fritti. It was normal. Nothing super special that you can’t get anywhere else. Only difference is that it serves 2 – 3 people. You will have left overs.
Off the pasta menu I have tried the tri-​colored Tortellini in an afredo sauce (one of my favorite pasta dishes), Spaghetti w/​Meatballs (the meatballs are HUGE and YUMMY, best MEATBALLS I ever had), and the Rigatoni w/​Vodka &Mushrooms (not any regular pasta dish you can just order at any Italian place, it was creamy and so delicious).
Off the chicken menu, I have tried many with different sauces. Don’t ask me which sauce means what cause I have no idea. Usually, if you ask the waiter, they will describe the sauces to you. I have tried the one with a red sauces with shrimp and mushrooms and another dish with a white sauces. Both were yummy.
Off the «meat» menu, I have tried nothing. I am not a meat person so I have not ordered anything off the veal or beef sections. But I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Off the Seafood menu I have only tried one dish which was a special that night me and my cousin ordered it. It was a talapia with mussels, and grilled shrimp. I dislike shellfish very much and I only eat fish in the seafood category. But here, the shrimp was so good! I ate 3 out of the 6 on the place. They were plump and fantastic. I avoided the mussels, but my cousin enjoyed them. The talapia was made perfectly. So good. I recommend this to everyone.
Moving on to dessert. Yum, yum, yum! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. If you have a good amount of people (3) I highly recommend the strawberry shortcake. I dislike strawberry shortcake VERY VERY much, fruit should never be mixed with cake, BUT Tony’s made me LOVE this dessert. It’s HUGE so make sure you and your party can finish it! I have also tried the brownie sundae. It was good enough to satisfy my craving for chocolate and ice cream, but doesn’t compare to Serendipity of course…
The environment is great. Huge, spacious restaurant. The staff is okay. You might encounter one bad waiter at one time. The wait here on weekends, like all other New York City restaurants can be 45 minutes and maybe up to over an hour. Great place for large groups, especially family.
You will definitely have an enjoyable mean here and Tony’s!

I found my Go To meal from Tony’s…it’s their Ravioli Bolognese. Yummmm.
And I am definitely still a fan of their stuffed mushrooms and tiramisu.
Everything else I’ve tried, pretty standard of an Italian restaurant.
I still think it’s a great spot for large groups, due to their portion size and general loudness that only large groups can withstand when dining indoors. Outdoor dining is definitely a better option in the warmer months. And delivery, though convenient… I can do without the rudeness of the guy who is so-​called in charge of the deliveries.
Other than that, I will still continue to order from them when I am in the mood for some Raviolis and Tiramisu.

Being from SoCal, my experience with large Italian food eateries limited to Olive Garden/Buca/Maggiano’s. Coming to NYC, I was hoping for so much more. Unfortunately, Tony’s Di Napoli is not the best representative of the Italian cuisine in NYC.
We were celebrating my sister’s birthday and Tony Di Napoli was the only place we could get a late reservation in for 8 people on a Saturday evening. The place is clean and well maintained. We were seated at Jorge Posada’s World Series Championship table (woo-​hoo). The server’s name was Dave and he was awesome!
The food on the other hand, was just so blah. Large portions of just extraordinarily ordinary food. Nothing was horrid, but nothing was great. I’m sorry to say that I’ve warmed up frozen Italian food that was better. The Sangria, which seemed out of place, was well received and liked by the whole table.
So if you’re in a pinch to seat a large group of people, who are not gourmands, pick Tony’s.

What Tony’s lacks in finesse, it makes up with quantity. The food here is simple (spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant parm) but it tastes pretty good.
The 3 of us split their rosemary chicken & shrimp (daily special) and the spaghetti and meatballs. The chicken was good — deboned, juicy, and flavorful with a strong but not overpowering aroma of rosemary. The spaghetti was cooked to a perfect al dente and the marinara sauce was tasty. However, the giant meatballs (4 of them) were really dry. We had to slather each bite in sauce to choke them down.
Portions are large and meant for sharing. You need to come with a minimum of 3 big eaters, but preferably 4 so you can share an app and/​or dessert.
So #meatballfail but a good experience overall.

A group of six friends and I went here mostly by accident after we were unable to get into a place down the street. I was extremely skeptical due in part to the fact that a very boisterous member of the staff flagged us down outside (Little Italy style) when we paused for half a second to look at the menu. After about 30 seconds of him sweet-​talking us (very loudly) we gave in and stepped inside.
This is definitely a gathering place. It was loud and full of people. The restaurant in big and so are the tables. I was encouraged that nearly every spot was full of smiling patrons.
As I mentioned we had seven in our group in total. We ordered two pitchers of sangria which were amazing. I don’t think I’ve had better sangria in the last few months. We started with the fried zucchini as an appetizer and it was PHENOMENAL! I mean anything fried automatically has that so-bad-for-me-it’s-good taste but these were truly good.
We had four entrees to split: the veal, ravioli Bolognese, chicken parm, and penne a la vodka. The ravioli was my choice and I could have eaten the entire plate myself. The sauce was perfect. The veal was also great, a surprise since I don’t normally eat veal. I don’t like chicken parm but my friends all loved it. The penne a la vodka was probably my least favorite but not for lack of taste. I just don’t love that sauce.
Our service was ok, our waitress had a bit of an attitude but it was more funny than annoying. At the end of the meal she gave us all complimentary shots so I won’t complain too much.
All in all I loved this place and I plan on taking a group again.

I was introduced to the world of Tony’s Di Napoli the other night. This is the UES’s version of Carmine’s on the UWS. And like Carmine’s, it’s pretty’s good Italian.
Family style can be a pain with only 2 people but my dining companion and i agreed to split an order of Tony’s house special chicken. This is breaded chicken served with some tomatoes, greens and balsamic vinegar. A nice balance between my crappy diet (fried chicken) and her good diet (greens).
Our server was a bit odd, though, so serious. He reminded me of the guy in «Office Space» who worked at Chotchkies and was really into flair. («if you want me to wear 37 pieces of flair, like your pretty boy over there, Brian, why don’t you just make the minimum 37 pieces of flair?»)
Still it was nice to sit outside, have some vino and enjoy a nice Italian meal.

I wanted to like this place. To be fair, I think it was just the wrong group of people to bring here…
I was meeting a group of friends for dinner– some of them knew each other, some of them didn’t. Tony’s was NOT the place for this, because on a Saturday night it sounds more like a gymnasium than a restaurant. It was too loud to even have a conversation.
The food was heavy and bland. We had the chicken parm, fettuccine alfredo and salad– and to be fair, it did feed 5 of us. We also had two bottles of wine, and it came out to only $ 31 each including tip and tax.
I won’t venture back here, though– the food was too mediocre and the atmosphere was not «good for a group» if you actually want to hear what your group has to say.

If you have a big group of people and you want to sit around and have a discussion, Tony’s Di Napoli is the place to go. Family Style Italian food with seating that is often conducive to the things that are important in conversation dynamics such as eye contact. I have never really cared for the appetizers. They aren’t bad, they just don’t stand out. In fact, they should pay you to eat the free bread. But the food is really good, especially the eggplant. Trust me, I am not the, «oh we gonna be eatin egg plant» kinda guy. Its a good time for a good group!

Two key words: Quantity and quality. Guess which one Tony’s is lacking.
Ok, ok. It’s not POOR quality… but it’s… it’s a lot of meh-​grade sauce and cheese. And sauce. And cheese.
To be fair, if you’re a group (at least 4 people), you have similar taste/​diet preferences, and you’re all in the mood for sauce and cheese, Tony’s is a fine option.
Maybe I’m just a little neg on the place because, somehow, it reminds me of Sunday dinners as a kid, which started at 1pm, and during which my Sicilian great-​aunts were always pushing me to eat more meatballs. Bless their good hearts, but I never did like meatballs.

— Good food
— Love the family style environment
— Good service, and 30 minute wait w/​o reservation
— Real good tiramasu
— Bread could be nicer… and warmer
— Loved the mozzarella and tomato
— You must go with 4+ people to get the money’s worth, otherwise you will just have to pick one entrée because 2 will be over the top