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If restaurants were people, Parma would be a comfortably set-in-his-ways Italian grandpa. This amiable UES eatery hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1977. Lacquered wood walls wrap around linen-clad tables that sit on somber carpeting; back-lit stained-glass panels feature piazzas; and the red-sauce menu is as old-timey as the silver-haired (and -tongued) waiters, who punctuate their banter with urges to “mangia, mangia!” “This is simple Northern Italian – as it were,” says Claudio the maitre d’. The pastas are handmade and hearty, including the plump potato, egg, and cheese gnocchi tossed in a porcini sauce. The veal and chicken entrees, though, can tend towards bland and pre-assembled, arriving at the table a bit too quickly for comfort. The veal saltimbocca Fiorentina gets a needed kick from salty prosciutto and an aromatic sage and wine sauce. In the end, the regulars flock here because, in this case, familiarity breeds contentment. — AnneLise Sorensen

Gnocchi, $22; veal saltimbocca Fiorentina, $24