Family Style Italian Restaurants

There are numerous "Family Style" Italian Restaurants all over- there is Carmine's in Manhattan (& other locations out of town), Don Pepe's in Queens, La Parma (South Shore & North Shore), Matteo's (North & South Shore & Howard Beach), Piccolo Bussola (Westbury & Syosset), and then there is Mio Posto- a fairly new restaurant owned & operated by "Little Chris" formerly of Matteo's of Roslyn & Long Beach. Mio Posto is located in Oceanside, NY.

It is by far, in my opinion, the best family style place on the Island.

While they have the 'standards' such as Chicken Mio Posto (aka: Chicken Scarpariello) which for those of you who are not familiar, is roasted chicken on the bone, served on a huge platter with sausage, roasted potatoes, peppers, onions & broccoli in a white wine sauce and roasted garlic sauce. There is also Veal Valdestana, and other 'classics', but the best items on the menu are the items the other places do not have.

The Veal Loin is outstanding- a melt in your mouth filet mignon of veal, fork tender served over thinly sliced julienned potatoes topped with a triple mushroom light cream sauce , or the Porcini Mushroom & Veal Risotto, which is the real deal- not the "so called risotto" rice dishes that many places offer- this is real arborio rice- a rich risotto, loaded with large chunks of veal, and chock full of porcini mushrooms.

All the pastas are cooked to order with 8 different sauces and they offer Whole Wheat pasta. For those who want a "No carb" pasta- they have a "Zucchini Linguine" Marinara- thin linguine style strands of zucchini in a fabulous marinara sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes ("the best"). Also on the 'lighter side" are grilled chicken paillard, grilled shrimp, grilled vegetables, and roasted cauliflower, string beans , broccoli, and more!

Among the many hot appetizers are baked clams, a large stuffed artichoke, Mio Posto Meatballs , which are wonderful and their fried zucchini is not the usual thick, limp soggy, greasy ones- they are paper thin crisp strips of zucchini, lightly coated & fried & you can get a full or half order of any of the items.

They also offer a "Sunday Sauce" Dinner which includes their homemade meatballs, (2) Bracciole (2), and Sausages (2) all in their San Marzano plum tomato sauce- also available as a half or full order.

Last night, I had the "special" - a tender filet of red snapper served with clams & shrimp in a light tomato sauce with big cloves of sweet roasted garlic- just mouth watering!

They also have a private room for parties. *reservations are not mandatory but recommended - especially on the weekends. Take the ride- it's worth the trip.