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When a restaurant is owned by the Dorias, the family behind Grace's Marketplace—and its namesake is a member of the Balducci dynasty—the neighborhood expects certain things: top-notch ingredients, classic Italian recipes, and unthreatening contemporary tweaks to the food. Sure enough, that's what Grace's Trattoria offers, although with a hit-and-miss delivery. In a packed pair of exposed-brick rooms decorated with black-and-white family photographs and a mural of the shop around the corner, chef Joseph Trama serves up classic thin-crust margherita pizza, New York's own comfort food, and a mushroom version with nutty fontina cheese. Given Grace's pedigree, it's a surprise when a dish lets you down, but the best selections, like five plump, sweetly caramelized pan-seared scallops daubed with a tangy lemon aioli, are a definite score. A hearty bowl of not-too-saucy spaghetti, crowned by three baseball-sized meatballs, is hard to finish, though it tastes so good you’ll want to try. — Debbie Koenig

Margherita pizza, $17; spaghetti and meatballs, $19