Ortobello's

"The inside of Ortobello’s feels a little like a Roman trattoria, if you snatched it out of Italy and placed it on a corner in Mapleton, Brooklyn, next to a barbershop, and across the street from a restaurant called Pizza Daddy. The food here is very much not Roman trattoria—the spicy vodka chicken parm might utterly confuse a born-and-bred Italian—but for excellent Italian American classics in Brooklyn, there's no better place. In this red-and-white room, decorated with old paintings, photos, and a a papier-mâché nativity scene, Andy Ortobello runs the show, just like his father did so before him. He ambles around in a backwards baseball cap, presenting the handwritten specials board, refilling a carafe of red for the table of 12 taking up half the restaurant, and thanking the couple from New Jersey for making the trip. Every time we come here, we thank ourselves for making the trip too. photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff Ortobello's is the sort of place we want to scream about from the rooftops, and then, once we've finished screaming, bring everyone we know for a big birthday dinner. If there’s spicy vodka chicken parm on special, get it, along with mozzarella in carrozza, and the linguine with clams, which has whole cloves of garlic in it that are just ever-so-slightly crushed. Save room for a massive, jiggling square of citrusy ricotta cheesecake for dessert. Whether it's a special occasion or just a Sunday night, this is the place to come when you want to be warmed by way of cheese, from the inside out. Food Rundown photo credit: Alex Staniloff Mozzarella in Carrozza There's a high chance the people at the table next to you will be talking about how much they've been craving this fried mozzarella since the last time they were here. Order this. You can also ask for it in vodka sauce, which we recommend doing if you're not ordering any else with vodka sauce on it. You must try the vodka sauce at Ortobello's. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Chicken Parm If we used one word to describe this chicken parm, we'd go with hefty. There's nothing thin and pounded about it, and we're glad. Instead, there's a thick layer of breaded chicken, sauced liberally, with an even thicker layer of mozzarella on top. And still, some bites are crispy. What a show-off. Sometimes, you can get it vodka-sauced. Remember the rule: You must put vodka sauce on something. Linguine With Clams If you come with someone who grew up eating garlicky bivalves, they may say something like "this is just how my grandma made it" once they taste this dish with barely crushed whole garlic cloves. It's a nice, lighter way to balance out the chicken parm. photo credit: Ortobello's Ricotta Cheesecake We swear the ricotta cheesecake jiggles, just from someone looking at it. It's a masterpiece." - Willa Moore