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For tourists bent on a faux trip to the Old World, Il Palazzo serves up all the desired standards in the decidedly New World of New York. Oil paintings of Italian landscapes and inset wine casks adorn the self-consciously quaint front dining room. A lighter, slightly more elegant enclosed patio is in back. To its credit, Il Palazzo’s menu offers plenty of choices to its clientele of tired sightseers. Starters include a long list of hit-or-miss antipasti, salads, and soups; following that are the expected pastas and risottos, plus standard secondi. Yet the kitchen is limited in its ability to live up to the menu’s ambition. The pasta in the fettuccini con carciofi e gamberoni is homemade but the parsley pesto sauce tastes pre-packaged; salt overwhelms the flavors of the artichokes, shrimp, and sun-dried tomatoes. You’ll quickly gather that people aren’t here for the food alone: The bustling tourist scene enjoyed from the street side tables is as much fun here as anywhere else in Little Italy. — John Vorwald

Spaghetti al chitarra, $13.95; gnocchi alla Napoletana, $15.95