Maggiano's Little Italy

Maggiano's Little Italy Restaurant Review:

Turn-of-the-twentieth-century Gaslight Era Italian restaurants that arose in New York City at that time inspire the décor at Maggiano's, with black-and-white photos of Little Italy adorning the walls. Giant-size portions of Italian fare enable one to feed a large gathering. For starters, we like the big-as-an-ocean mound of fried calamari and the crispy onion strings. For entrées, go for eggplant Parmesan or any of the classic pastas. Particularly good is the seafood linguine and the gnocchi with Italian sausage, among the special pastas. The mile-high lasagna is a much-improved dish. We suggest skipping the tilapia, which tastes earthy. As sides dishes, look for sautéed spinach, crisp broccolini, and good garlic (but not too much) mashed potatoes. Tiramisu is downright irresistible, as is the chocolate Sambuca-scented layer cake. Customers looking for gluten-free fare will find appropriate selections. Decent, reasonably priced wines complete the scenario, although we think a better by-the-glass list is warranted.