Park Side Restaurant - Best Italian Restaurant in New York

http://parksiderestaurantny.com/

Correct, best.

I know, I know, I know.  You've been to this restaurant or that, and it's your favorite and you love it and blah blah blah.  But, compared to this place, I'm sure that your place sucks.   Park Side not only has terrific food, good solid American Italian food, but the atmosphere and ambiance to boot.
Here's what your eyes feast on when you first enter:

It feels like there's gonna be a "hit" taking place in the alley out back later.  Fah-get-aboutit!

Old school?  This place is so Old School it makes it feel New again.

Love it, loved it.

We roll in without a reservation on a Wednesday night and the place is packed.  We are lucky enough to get a seat and the first thing that arrives, complimentary I might add, is this basket of bread, AND....

This plate of apps, FREE, everyone gets free stuff!

Sliced cured meats, hand chunked parmesan, bruschetta, wowza wowza!

1/2 carafe of the house wine please.

This was the only disappointment of the night.  It was super sweet and tasted like they just made it yesterday.  They could have listed it as grape juice and it would've been more accurate.

I still drank it all....

Lady hook, not under the table.  Nice.

The app special was octopus sauted in garlic and oil and and other stuff.  I wish there was smell-a-vision on this.  It was incredible.  AND, we didn't need to look around or ask anyone for more bread CAUSE THERE'S A BASKET OF IT ON THE TABLE!!!   Woohooo!

Standard Caesar Salad.  Classic and perfect.

We are sitting back and relaxing and enjoying the slow meal.  The people watching was also pretty epic.  Not only the guests but the staff as well.  It's like we are in a movie.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Over linguini.  Slightly spicy, rich deep marinara flavor, perfectly cooked shrimp.  It was wonderful.

HG had the special, stuffed rigatoni, stuffed with spinach and ricotta.

The first photo doesn't look that great, but it was super good, I helped her with a few bites  :-O

The plates are cleared and more free stuff.

Wow

Homemade biscotti.  Mmmmmmmmm

For desert we had the Tiramisu.  It was really good.  The ratio of cream to cookie was a bit out of balance, but it was a nice finish to a fairly heavy meal.

They had a housemade fig grappa that I really NEEDED to try...  And I loved it.  Not too sweet and didn't have that lighter fluid taste that some lesser quality grappa's can have.  I'd order it again every time.

And, just for the pure journalistic-ness of the event, I needed to try the standard, non-housemade grappa.  Again, good quality, no throat burn, smooth and fairly complex.

What more can I say?

If you are ever in or near Queens NYC you really have to try this place, cause it's the best.

DVA