Profile

Like some of the Broadway shows that bring so many of its patrons to its doors, La Rivista, theatrical revue in Italian, can seem a little old-fashioned and scruffy around the edges. That said, this below-street-level restaurant of 20-odd tables still delivers the goods. The surroundings are Old Italian Restaurant 101: Mirrors and old framed prints and posters line the brick- and wood-covered walls, and there's a maître d' in formal attire greeting arrivals. The pan-Italian menu of classics has no truck with anything nouveau or edgy. Although tourists are certainly part of the mix, La Rivista's bread and butter are groups of suburban baby boomers and older adults here as part of a night on the town. Portions here are large—the Gran Antipasto plate is almost completely covered in roasted red pepper, mozzarella, cubes of mortadella, slices of prosciutto, and other eminently noshable bits. The meat dishes, pastas, and risottos, equally generous and full of rich layers of flavor, tend toward the salty. Give careful consideration to the specialties from Bologna, such as the large mound of fettuccine, covered in a rustic and thick meat sauce. — John D. Rambow

Gran antipasto, $10.75; insalata di frutti di mare, $11.75; fettuccine fresche al ragu Bolognese, $19.75