Profile

Nicola's is the type of casual and unpretentious Italian restaurant that becomes a family standby, as it is for many Upper East Siders. Four rows of round tables fill the wood-paneled dining room. Along the main entry wall, autographed book jackets show off the authors who've dined here. Stained glass light boxes enliven an acoustic-tile ceiling, complementing stained glass Italian pastoral scenes along the back wall. Brass railings and planters along the middle of the room recall the eighties. The menu is small, specializing in Northern Italian comfort food. Pastas are followed by short selections of sole and shellfish, chicken, and a longer list of veals and chops. The squid salad stands out among the appetizers, with white wine, capers, and Italian parsley providing seasoning, and thin celery strips making a crispy contrast to the tender shrimp, clams, and squid. The stracciatella, an Italian egg-drop soup, marries strands of fresh spinach with strips of egg in a thin but flavorful broth. Pollo scarpara comes as a huge plate of chicken on the bone, in a tangy brown sauce made of white wine, garlic, lemon, and rosemary. The manicotti is served in two long shells, bursting with cheese and covered in a no-nonsense red sauce that exemplifies the hearty traditional cooking that the regulars here have come to rely on. — Ethan Wolff

Squid salad, $14; cannelloni, $19; shrimp marinara, $28