LaScala's

LaScala's Restaurant Review:

LaScala's features chef Joe Nocella's Italian comfort cuisine, the kind of food nonna made if you were lucky. Have a drink at the oversize bar, or settle into one of the high-backed banquettes in the dining room decked out in dark wood and exposed brick with family photos of owner Robert LaScala's relatives on the walls. Chef Nocella takes care with everything he prepares from starters such as garlicky broccoli rabe over grilled polenta with sausage and octopus salad with chickpeas to an array of small plates that are hard to resist. We suggest the roasted beet and goat cheese salad. All of the pastas are fresh and right on the money, from the simple spaghetti with ricotta salad and oven-roasted tomatoes to the short rib agnolotti. Or perhaps opt for the veal chop Parm, turkey cutlets with prosciutto or seafood fra diavolo. Homemade cannoli is a must for dessert. Free parking (with server validation) is available in the garage above the restaurant (entrance on 7th Street) Monday through Friday after 3 p.m. and all weekends. It’s a bonus.