Italian restaurant?

Any suggestions for a mid-range (~$30-50/pp) Italian restaurant in NYC - preferably near midtown. I%26#39;m not sure where it is, but I%26#39;ve always wanted to try Babbo - is it good, and is a reservation (mid-week) necessary? It got mixed reviews on TA... Doesn%26#39;t need to be fancy - just really good food. Thanks!

Italian restaurant?

I love Italian food and have tried many in the city. Sadly, a lot don%26#39;t live up to the hype. If you want good food, not fancy, cheap and cash only- go to Max%26#39;s in the East Village. Hopefully it will warm up and the garden will be open out back. I also LOVE In Vino, also in the East Village, small restaurant, excellent food, make a reservation.

Italian restaurant?

You might enjoy looking through Menu Pages. Restaurants are listed by location and cuisine. That should give you an idea of pricing too.

Here is the link:

www.menupages.com

Good luck and happy planning! :D

I love Babbo, but it%26#39;s definitely not mid-range, and reservations are absolutely required--you have to make them at 10am one calendar month before you plan to dine. I wrote a little more about Babbo here, if you%26#39;re interested:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k2084623鈥?/a>

The best mid-range Italian place in Midtown is ViceVersa:

http://www.viceversarestaurant.com/index2.htm

But I would probably go somewhere like Lupa (which is also a Mario Batali place, but much cheaper than Babbo):

http://www.luparestaurant.com/

Or Peasant:

http://www.peasantnyc.com/

Thanks for the tips. My client also suggested Max%26#39;s. He also said Esca is good - their menu looks great.

another great one is Po on Cornelia Street.

I could walk out my door and hit 3 decent neighborhood Italians in a 2 block radius - there are a lot of great places here.

Eva--As your soon-to-be neighbor, I%26#39;d like to know which three you%26#39;re talking about :) I assume one of them is Le Zie?

Le Zie is the best one. There%26#39;s also a decent one on the corner of 22nd and 7th (I%26#39;m blanking on the name). And, for a quick brunch (especially with friends who arent foodies and on a budget), Intermezzo and Barbaresca are OK.

I%26#39;ve never eaten there, but my hairstylist, who I trust, raves about the paninis at Veloce%26#39;

None of these are of the Babbo/Po level of course.