Tra Di Noi — Restaurant in New York

Based on what I've eaten here, Tra di Noi is probably the most underrated restaurant on Arthur Ave. Well not really, since it's about a block off Arthur Ave next to Egidio's, but you get the point. They've been Michelin recommended--yes, apparently they do make it to the Bronx--for several years. Based on that and bits of positive chatter that I'd heard for awhile, the first time I went I had decided to break from the normal diet of Mario's and Roberto's/089 to try something new. The place is pretty small, having only ~15 tables, one bus boy, one waiter, and an owner or 2 acting as hosts. Except for the bus boy and maybe 1 or 2 guys helping in the kitchen, everything working there was Italian. Regardless of staffing, service was effective, friendly and helpful. Decor is very simple and there were red checkered tablecloths for those that are fans (I am). That would normally imply a much more casual, lower quality establishment. But in the middle of the left wall was all you needed to see to know that the place is serious: a specials menu 15-20 items long. Sure, they have a menu of classic Italian American dishes that you can order and they'll be great. But the specials menu is where your attention really should be.

The biggest negative for Tra di Noi is the lack of a full bar. Wine list looked like it had some good options though, and while it wasn't listed they do offer a house wine. Beer list, like at most Italian places, is thoroughly mediocre. Somebody needs to tell these restaurants that there is good beer in Italy now, and that you can pair it with Italian food. The girl wanted clams, so we got baked clams. The clams were small, tender and flavorful. A bit annoying that we only got 7, but the $10 price point was good. They used a bit too much breadcrumbs for my taste though, and they weren't very crispy either. The sauce underneath the clams seemed to be francese which was an interesting twist.

My red snapper marachiare special was great. The filet was sizable, perfectly cooked and flavorful. The sauce it was in wasn't the kind of marachiare I was used to in that it wasn't cooked with clams; in principle it was still a marechiare, being a mix of the light tomato sauce of a red clam sauce with the white wine and garlic of a white clam sauce, just minus the clams. Technicalities aside, it was subtle, delicious and complemented the fish perfectly. This was $27, and was totally worth it. My girlfriend liked her chicken scarpariello a lot. She got it on the bone and it was a great rendition of this classic, with a sizable portion to boot. I liked how they chopped up and added vinegar peppers while cooking, rather than just throwing them in whole with the dish. The one piece of chicken I got could've been a bit crisper and juicier, but all the right flavors were there. These dishes come with potatoes and whatever greens they have, which ended up being green beans. I usually hate green beans as much as the hiccups--and I hate the hiccups--but these I actually enjoyed. They were just sauteed with a little olive oil and garlic; simple and delicious. The potatoes were just small potatoes that were cut into quarters and baked with a little rosemary. They were crisp and tasty. I wanted to try their base tomato sauce, so we ended up getting a side of linguini with marinara as well. The pasta was perfectly al dente as request, and the tomato sauce--contrary to most of the Italian American places nearby--was fresh and light. Every other meal I've had here has been great as well. Whether you're new to the area or are a veteran, give this place a shot and I doubt you'll be...

I don't like to leave bad reviews. If you look through my profile, you'll see that I've only ever given five star reviews, all to places I've really liked. If I've ever gotten bad service or food somewhere, I just keep it to myself, because I wouldn't want to hurt someone's business. But our waitress was racist to my friends and I (one white, one Asian, one West Indian) yesterday in a way that was hard to ignore; even though we were seated before the tables around us, our waitress gave them menus and water and ignored us (it was not especially busy). We spent about fifteen minutes after they got their menus and water trying to get her attention, and only got them after my friend stood up and called across the restaurant to ask for menus. I asked for water when we got the menus, and the waitress rolled her eyes before bringing it. She was pretty curt with the service throughout our meal, but I won't begrudge her for that; where I draw the line is that when we we paid our check and were getting up to leave, she told us to vacate immediately (as if we had been lingering), because she needed to clear the table for other guests (there were maybe three or four people waiting to be seated).

I think when many white people are racist, especially when it's a customer at their job, they'll express their racism in a way they think is undetectable, or is defensible if someone calls them out for it (I'm already anticipating someone at the restaurant commenting on this review explaining that we misinterpreted the behavior, or did something to justify it). But the truth is, people of color pretty much always know what's going on, we're not stupid, it's all happened to us before, we see how you treat other people versus us and run through the gamut of explanations before we turn to the blatant one. It stands out especially given that I'm a person of color who was born and raised in New York City, and even if a white person serving my food doesn't like me, I'm sure they usually deal with enough people of color on a daily basis that they learn to mask it.

I saw the other review from a person here who said someone was racist to their own party and I ignored it, I guess assuming there might have been some sort of misunderstanding. And to be fair, the male staff member who brought our dishes and helped with our table service throughout was kind, attentive, and charming -- I don't think there's an issue at the restaurant as a whole. I'm only really writing this review to express that we were degraded today, and since this has happened to two parties maybe someone could have a word with the staff about how some of them treat people.

I liked some of the food -- I liked the veal and the gnocchi, and the espresso was great. The orchiette wasn't amazing; I expected better of everything given how highly The Infatuation rated them. If you're a person of color looking to eat in the neighborhood, maybe try Enzo's or Zero Otto...

Party of 2 Dined here for lunch. We arrived for our lunch reservation at 11:50 We were told to wait outside until noon.Hostess could not seat us prior to noon. We waited outside for 10 minutes. We entered the restaurant and were seated promptly. The waitress/hostess immediately came over to take our drink order. She seemed annoyed that we only ordered Pellegrino. Waiter quickly returned with Pellegrino $8 and our menus. Hostess gave us just a few minutes and then she returned to take our order. We explained to her that we had not even opened the menus. Again, she returned just a moment later. And stood there while we looked at the menu. We felt rushed. There was no one else in the restaurant. She never explained the specials. We placed an order of one appetizer and one entree,

We were told they would be a sharing charge $3 . We said that would not be a problem because we did not want to eat such large meals at lunchtime. We were served an appetizer of a house salad, which consisted of iceberg lettuce, three pieces of tomato and red onion $14. Our entrées of one pork chop with just a few jarred peppers was then served. A small plate of vegetables, consisting of roasted potatoes, and string beans was served as a side. . The entrée of one pork chop with sharing charge was $36. No one came to check on us.Bread was not served. Again the same waitress/hostess appeared and asked about dessert. We told her we would not be having dessert today. She just walked away. Did not say a word to us. A waiter came back placed our bill on Table. He did not say thank you. We paid our bill and left. We were very disappointed as we had seen good reviews of this restaurant. The prices seemed high and the service was poor. However, what’s most egregious was We truly felt rushed and unwelcome . Please note there was one other table of patrons when we left. The restaurant was empty. That should say some thing to the owner on what should’ve been a busy Saturday...