Profile

Cosmo Azzollini worked as a waiter at Paul & Jimmy's—then on Irving Place—for many years before buying the homey Gramercy institution from its namesakes in 1968. Today, his son Louis Azzollini owns the restaurant together with his wife Linda (son Greg is the chef), and they and their children carry on in Cosmo's well-polished footsteps at the half-century-old eatery, which relocated around the corner to its current location in the mid-1980s. Like many Italian restaurants, the décor strives for a heavy elegance, with framed posters, faux marble, and dark wood accents. But the neighborhood families and locals who frequent the place come for the food and the cozy, anti-slick ambiance, savoring Paul & Jimmy's interpretations of sumptuous, old-country-style Italian dishes. Sauces are subtle in Italian standards like linguini in clam sauce as well as house specialties like Chicken Scarpariello, and plates come well-stocked. Family members are nearly always around and sometimes don an apron and help out. While not a haunt for celebs or wannabes lounging under modernist waterfalls, Paul & Jimmy's is a solid pick for good food well-prepared—low on pretense and high on home-made, hand-crafted fare. — David Hirschman

The prix-fixe menu, available daily at lunch ($22) and dinner ($30), includes an appetizer, entrée, dessert and coffee.

Lombata con portobello, $30; fegato alla Veneziana, $24; bistecca alla Siciliana, $30