Carmenta’s — Restaurant in New York

I’ve ordered from this place a lot and have never left them a review, so here it is. The rigatoni here is cooked to PERFECTION and if you really wanna treat yourself, add Calabrian chilis, a side of the moistest most wonderful meatballs, you’ll be so happy! Every now and again I add some garlic bread 🤤. The Caesar salad is very much worth ordering. The buttery crunchy garlic crouton, the right amount of cheese…come to think of it, anytime I’ve ordered a salad on delivery, there’s never enough dressing. That has not happened to me with their Caesar salad. I wish I could tell you about the rest of their menu, but every time I think I want to switch things up, I think about all the deliciousness above! Oh! And I stopped by on NYE because I was making Cacio y Pepe and needed a proper pasta. They have uncooked Setaro bucatini available to purchase for you home chefs looking for the real thing 😉. I’ve always had a nice experience when I go there in person.

*I ordered from them tonight and did not treat myself to Calabrian chilis, Caesar salad, or garlic bread, and the meal...

Forget grace. This is not a church. It’s a hunger. Let yourself be devoured too. By the sauce, the moment, the beautiful person across from you. The one who saw you lick your thumb and didn’t flinch.

Order the eggplant parm it’s a wreck. Sloppy, collapsed, sinful. Oily like lust, like something you shouldn’t eat in public or maybe at all. But you do. It’s the kind of meal that ruins your shirt and your sense of order.

The pasta comes out like a dog flopping into your lap. Enormous and happy to be here. It’s got that bite. Al dente but emotionally, too. Like, don’t forget me it says.

You sit in the window like a fool on a date with someone whose teeth you’ve memorized. You want them to like you. You want them to get it. And then the sauce is all over your face, your fingers, it’s in your laugh and they’re laughing too and it’s over. And you know it.

Eat like it’s the last thing you’ll do and the only thing you ever got right. Like the food knows your name. Like you were born with a fork in your heart and this is...

Carmenta's is my favorite Italian place in the city, and it's one of my favorite neighborhood spots–I don't say that lightly. Everything on the menu is incredible, the perfect mix of simple & flavorful, well-executed, and consistent. I was looking forward to bringing my Italian-American dad, who is notoriously hard to impress & always has some kind of criticism, and he said "I wish you had told me we were coming here so I could have ordered more to go." The bread they use for the sandwiches is perfect, and the housemade pastas are truly the best I've had.

I really don't have enough good things to say about this place. My favorites are the rigatoni a la vodka, the dom g sandwich, and the caesar salad, but you can't go wrong. Their little kitchen can get busy especially during peak times (they do mostly delivery/takeout), so the wait time can vary, but this place deserves five stars for sure....