Best Contemporary Italian Restaurants in East Harlem

Such a great experience, Jo was great and very helpful . His energy was just great definitely would recommend this place.

There were 10 of us & we had made reservations at 5 pm as we had 7 pm theater tickets. Our table was ready for us upon arrival & our waiter was friendly & on point from start to finish. Service was great without feeling rushed & his wine suggestion was perfect. The portions are huge so we started with the calamari & Caesar salad which was plenty for all of us & both very good. We chose 4 dishes, Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Scaloppine, Rigatoni & Broccoli, & Penne alla Vodka & all were delicious. We all commnted that the Penne was the best we’d had as the sauce was not too heavy & perfectly spiced. Although we could have only ordered 3 dishes, we all enjoyed the variety of the 4 choices. We finished off with cappuccinos for the table & made it to the theater with 15 minutes to spare. We couldn’t have picked a better restaurant & the bonus was it was very reasonable. Great job Carmine’s!!

This is my go to place whenever I am in town. The ambience is warm, cozy and charming. The food is amazing and the service is excellent, always. The manager, who is incredibly knowledgeable about wines, makes each diner feel welcome and at home. This special touch is a rarity in New York! Make a reservation days in advance, walk-ins impossible. I’ve tried.

We keep going back and its consistently excellent and attentive!

Absolutely LOVED our first time at Carmines! From the service to the food everything was spectacular. It felt like we were part of the family and not only did Sarah, our sever, make sure we were well taken care of but everyone else who took our plates or tidied our table was so attentive and friendly. Definitely one of those core memory experiences. 10/10 Carmines…we will see you again :)