"Sharing is a must" at these "convivial" Italian "crowd-pleasers", where "red sauce reigns" as "mobs" "mangia" on "hearty", "garlicky" staples served in "monstrous" family-style portions; "tourists flock" to the "hectic-paced" Theater District "feed hall", while the UWS original is "a little quieter" but still "very social."
Carmine's Restaurant Review:
Mama mia. Get a big party together and share huge platters of inexpensive and garlic-punched pasta and chicken in various red sauces. Carmine's is an old-fashioned, crowded and noisy family-style Southern Italian restaurant. Tourists and locals alike gravitate here, so expect a diverse crowd, while the menu sticks to the classics.
Everything is B-I-G at this family-style mainstay with two locations, on the Upper West Side (the original) and in Times Square. Carmine’s, with a dining room vast enough to deserve its own zip code and massive portions, turns out better pasta and entrees than most 20-table Italian restaurants. I’ve never had pasta here that wasn’t al dente, and the marinara sauce is as good as any I’ve had in...