Sam's

"Founded in 1930, Sam’s may very well be Cobble Hill’s oldest restaurant. At the very least, it’s the oldest place you’ll find stiff cocktails and spaghetti with meatballs. The basement-level spot has everything you’d want from an old-school red sauce joint: There are checkered tablecloths, red booths, and a brick oven for making pizzas." - Eater Staff

"Don’t come to Sam’s in Cobble Hill if you're in a rush. Sam’s is run by Louis Migliaccio—whose father is Mario, and whose great-uncle is Sam—and Louis is essentially a one-man show, taking orders, retrieving $30 bottles of wine, bussing tables, and pronouncing “mootz-a-rehl” just as you would expect him to. So no, don’t come here 30 minutes before a game at Barclays. But do come to this cash-only restaurant on an evening when you’d like to sit in a booth with some friends for several hours, below a smattering of string lights, in the presence of someone who, when you ask for water, might say something like, “What do I look like, the waterboy too?” (And then laugh, and grab you a pitcher.) Order a pizza, which comes out first—an underrated appetizer—and then veal parm, or the ziti alla Siciliana. photo credit: Willa Moore" - Willa Moore

"Founded in 1930, Sam’s is a longstanding red-sauce Italian icon in the neighborhood. It sports classic red booths and checked tablecloths as part of its old-school charm, which includes very stiff cocktails. In addition to classics like spaghetti and meatballs and cheese ravioli in tomato sauce, it has pizzas made in a brick oven." - Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

"It’s hard to miss the delightfully old-school neon signage for Sam’s, a Court Street classic that’s the oldest restaurant in Cobble Hill, founded in 1930. Pile into a red leather booth for a solid plate of eggplant parm, a veal version that’s curiously flanked by fries instead of pasta (though spaghetti can be swapped), and a chicken iteration with a side of spaghetti, ziti, or fries. All three versions are served in very affordable hero form, too. Like at Bamonte’s, shrimp parm is also on the menu." - Alexandra Ilyashov