Nonna Dora's 2nd Avenue
Italian restaurant · Kips Bay ·
Handmade Puglia-style pasta & wine in a mellow locale
Handmade Puglia-style pasta & wine in a mellow locale
"At Nonna Dora’s, there are no dubious claims about bolognese being sourced from a grandma who only exists in a black-and-white stock photo on the wall. The real Nonna Dora comes into her namesake restaurant to make fresh pasta every morning. Everything at this Kips Bay spot looks amazing, and everyone is always claiming that their particular bowl of pillowy carbohydrates is to die for. You’ll see many people order an extra pasta dish to share, and this is a perfectly reasonable move." - bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, tiffany yannetta
"The real-life Nonna Dora comes into her namesake restaurant in Kips Bay to make fresh pasta every morning, and the effort pays off. The move here is to order an extra pasta to share instead of an appetizer. We’d suggest a slab of Dora’s lasagna. The tissue paper layers of pasta are delicate enough for you to save room for the gnocchi with pesto or garganelli with bolognese." - willa moore, bryan kim, neha talreja, carlo mantuano
"Expanding from its Kips Bay origin with a second location at 200 Church Street (between Thomas and Duane streets), the nearly 90-year-old owner Addolorata Marzovilla and her son Nicola Marzovilla signed a 10-year lease to take over the former Tribeca Kitchen; Nicola says the new spot is on track to debut in May. The restaurant, which opened its first location in 2022 to serve her handmade pastas after years of making pasta for Nicola’s now-closed restaurant I Trulli, drew attention when former New York Times critic Pete Wells reviewed the original location that same year and was taken by the wide variety of well-made pastas. Nicola told Eater that, following the review, the restaurant became very popular, “and this location wasn’t built to do these numbers,” he says; the Tribeca site will be larger and will feature the three-course $54 prix fixe as well as the $78 pasta tasting. The Puglia native has been making pastas by hand for 70 years, according to the website, and Nicola says his mother makes pasta at the restaurant from around 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day." - Nadia Chaudhury
"The Deal: $30 Lunch, $60 Dinner With so many great Italian options in NYC, it’s easy to forget about this Kips Bay spot. If you haven’t been yet, come by and eat some pasta made fresh daily by Nonna Dora herself." - bryan kim
"Nonna Dora’s is strictly a pasta bar, so there are no mains to distract you. Chewy, al dente pasta is usually the standard for a satisfying bowl of carbs, but here you can also get silky handmade mezzelune and melty, layered lasagna that feels like velvet. Whether you pre-book or walk into this Kips Bay spot, try to get a seat at the bar where you can watch the bartender make whichever one of the 10 elaborate Negroni varieties you ordered." - willa moore, will hartman, neha talreja, carina finn koeppicus
