81st St. to 100th St., Central Park West to Riverside Dr.
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Gennaro Picone’s industrious enterprise on the upper reaches of Amsterdam Avenue has morphed over time into the de facto Italian neighborhood joint for the entire Upper West Side. This is good, honest food, fairly priced. Be prepared to pay cash for your stinco di agnello (lamb shank braised in red-wine sauce) or your fresh gnocchi drenched in cream and basil, and to smile indulgently as other people’s children roll about under your knees. — Adam Platt
Recommended Dishes
Antipasto, $23.95; lamb shank with couscous, $16.95
My husband and I tried this place after reading positive reviews on menu pages...what a mistake! I am all for cute neighbourhood restaurants but this missed on every mark. We ordered the specials thinking they would be fresh and interesting..... not at all. The pasta was dry and overcooked, and my osso bucco was completely boring with microwave vegetables, a tiny serve and $29.95! (which is double the price of any other entree on the menu) If you want good 'family italian food' go to Bianca, or Carmines (even if it is a bit cheesy). DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AT GENNARO.
After reading the review on nymag.com, I expected this place to be much better than it was. I had the octopus and potato appetizer, which was on the menu, and it was pretty good, but my osso bucco with saffron risotto, a special, was not. It's hard to ruin a risotto, so it was edible, but one of the worse risottos I've had.
The service was terrible. It took them half an hour to get my drink, although the waiter did apologize. Also, the specials are much more expensive that the dishes on the menu, so be careful. Finally, the decor was really quite bad. Thankfully, there are nicer and better places on the Upper West Side.