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Italian cuisine with a crowd-pleasing American bent (salmon, pastas with goat cheese) defines this typically Manhattan spot, packed with families toting young kids and 40-something couples. Dishes aren’t complex, and the kitchen is usually reliable with the basics. Chicken parmigiana is done right: two thin, crispy breaded cutlets smothered in marinara sauce, with mozzarella oozing over the sides. Pasta dishes, including a satisfyingly big bowl of rigatoni alla norcina—with chunks of spicy Italian sausage in tomato sauce—are deservedly popular. Step up to the plate when the chef throws a curve ball, like the grilled skirt steak with tangy Argentinian chimichurri sauce, but be choosy at the antipasti table. (The mozzarella can be grainy and dry; the salami, standard deli-variety.) The space itself is airy, with cashew-colored walls and a colorful painting of the map of France. This is a quintessential neighborhood place, after all, where the mood is don’t-rush-me, and the food is improved simply because it’s around the corner. — Yael Kohen

Rigatoni alla norcina, $12.95; grilled skirt steak, $16.95