Bamonte's Restaurant
Italian restaurant · Williamsburg
32 Withers St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Highlights
Classic red-sauce Italian in retro setting, family-run since 1900.
Classic red-sauce Italian in retro setting, family-run since 1900.
"Bamonte’s is the only restaurant in Williamsburg with a parking lot—and that parking lot is full of SUVs with Jersey plates and fur-coated passengers, three rows deep. Everyone is celebrating something here, just as they’ve been doing since Bamonte’s opened in 1900. Just know that you don’t necessarily come here for the quality of their food, which is pretty solid, standard-practice, red sauce Italian. You come for the giant portions, and a crowd that is so very conducive to drinking about 40% more red wine than you were expecting to." - bryan kim, kenny yang, will hartman
"Is the red-sauce food at Bamonte’s great? Depends on who you ask. Some might say it was great 30 years ago, and others might shrug and say, "Eh, who cares." We fall into the latter camp. A night at this old-school Italian restaurant in Williamsburg is about the overall experience, rather than just the oversized ravioli and platter-engulfing pork chop parmesan. Sit under a chandelier, eavesdrop on some folks wearing fur coats, and drink an exceptionally stiff martini brought to you by a gruff server in a tux." - bryan kim, willa moore
"At Bamonte’s, group dinners averaging one wine bottle per person. The food at this Williamsburg Italian restaurant is not spectacular. But what you eat never really matters. Because by the time a platter of totally okay penne alla vodka lands on your table, Bamonte’s will have already won you over. No restaurant entertains with bow ties and bottles of red quite like this one." - bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah
"Ok, so we'll admit the food at Bamonte’s is not particularly memorable. It might prompt your Williamsburg-born friend—or Mr. Scaglione over at the next table—to say something like “the food here used to be better. ” But none of that matters, because Bamonte’s palatial dining room has been one of the city’s most fantastic places to have a big, festive dinner under a glittering chandelier since 1900. Sure, the martinis taste like rubbing alcohol, and the veal parm is just perfectly alright. But the parking lot is full every night of the week—always with at least one Escalade with New Jersey plates—and after one meal here, you’ll think of it for every big night out, whenever the vibes matter a whole lot more than what’s on your plate." - willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah, neha talreja
"A red-sauce stalwart of Brooklyn, Bamonte’s has been open since 1902 and hasn’t been renovated since the 1950s. It’s said to have been a mobster hangout and still attracts plenty of Williamsburg old-timers. Don’t miss the baked clams or the pork chop topped with peppers, which former Eater critic Robert Sietsema deems “the city’s most perfect evocation of that dish.”" - Melissa McCart
