Considering all the tourist traps and franchise-type restaurants in Times Sq, it's good for New Yorkers to have a really good Italian restaurant right in the heart of it all. Been here a bunch of times and the food's always been top-notch. I mean, sure it's not the best Italian in the world like when we go to Batali's Babbo, but all the dishes we've ever tried are excellent and the serving sizes are absolutely huge (family-portion or larger!). If you order an appetizer, it's going to be for like 3 or 4 people, no joke. I have a huge appetite, and I always bring home a doggy bag. My faves are the calamari with sauce for appetitzer, and the shrimp diavlo for entree. The shrimp are huge, they must include 15-20 shrimps, and the sauce is perfect...spicy enough to enjoy, but not too hot. Everything else I've gotten has been either very good or great. We always go with other people. The only con might be the noise -its really loud in this place...so dont expect to go here on a romantic date, that would be a bad choice. The service we've gotten has been OK considering how big the place is, and its always packed. Prices are very affordable, absolutely make reservations ahead. Best times to go would be mid-afternoon on a weekend or about 8:00pm on a weekday after the theater crowd has already left to go to their shows. Bottomline...the food's delicious and they give you plenty and price isnt bad. Carmine's... big thumbs up!
Pros: HUMONGOUS portions of delicious Italian food...
Cons: Always noisy
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