My 13 Summers of Red Sauce at Tony's in Atlantic City | Bon Appétit
"Like a scene from a cheesy Italian-American movie, this family-style spot is loud and convivial, full of big groups where the matriarch will reach over and plop a meatball onto someone’s plate. The look and feel are saturated in red—red-rimmed plates, red plastic baskets—and every meal comes with crunchy-on-the-outside, pillowy-on-the-inside Italian bread and white ramekins of grated Parmesan. It feels unchanged since the 1950s: classic mom-and-pop antipasto platters with full rounds of sliced deli salami, two pieces of the whitest provolone, highlighter-bright pepperoncini, and canned black olives that diners fondly place on their fingertips; menu staples include plain pizza (often ordered with “hardly any crust”), spaghetti with clams, and spaghetti and meatballs, all served with the signature red sauce. Small, nostalgic details—lacquered cherrywood tables, an oft-missing “I” in the sign, and family rituals repeated across decades—reinforce its role as a beloved multigenerational tradition." - ByEmily Schultz
