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Its elaborately chintzy décor may leave you screaming “Mamma Mia!” but it’s also a goodly part of this joint’s Brooklynese charm. The cavernous space, a former Russian nightclub, is stocked with hard-to-miss, stereotypical Italian-American signifiers—computerized moving lights, fake flowers, a retractable movie screen for Yankees game, even a stage for crooners come weekends. Thankfully, the food served at the curtained booths (as well as at a second tier of seating overlooking the dance floor) pursues any cultural clichés with decidedly flavored gusto. Appetizers favor classics like calamari and shrimp cocktail while entrées (a simply prepared Grilled Chilean sea bass, an al dente penne al vodka, etc.) are so abundant that you're likely to be shouting "Basta!" by the time the cheesecake arrives. — Timothy Cooper

No sneakers, no baseball caps

Penne vodka, $15.95; grilled Chilean sea bass, $23.95