Elio’s

That classic old-school restaurateur Elio Guaitolini passed from the scene a while back, but the clubby, boisterous, slightly maddening Second Avenue institution that he ran for so many years sails serenely on. Sure, the monied, “Page Six” clientele can seem pushy and entitled on crowded evenings, and the prices of the veal chops and platters of grilled calves’ liver and the many spaghettis on the menu (seven, at last count) border on madness, especially if you wander in off the street from another part of town. But if we had to choose one old standby joint in this red-sauce-mad part of town, a place where the room was always crowded and convivial in an old–New York uptown kind of way, where the food was reliable, and where the waiters barked out our name when we walked in the door and on occasion kept a regular table open in the corner of the room for special occasions, this would be the place.