Ballato

• Cuisine(s): Italian
  Hours: Daily 12pm-11pm
  Price: $$$
• Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
  Features: Private Party, Prix Fixe, Vegetarian Friendly
  Serving: Dinner, Lunch
• Alcohol: Beer
  Reservations: Accepted, Recommended for Large Parties
  Parking: No Parking

Description

This ancient Italian beanery has remade itself into a modern restaurant, with romantic flickering candles and a new green-and-buff sandpapered wall treatment. The food is much better than it needs to be, featuring generous appetizers of fried zucchini and red-sauced tripe. Pastas remain the center of the menu, and you need make no apology about treating them as your main course. Best are tagliatelle in a rich porcini sauce and spaghetti alla matriciani, and in the Italian-American manner, there are four other choices featuring spaghetti. Our favorite secondi, hands down, are a stunning eight-chop rack of lamb and a humble platter of plump grilled sausages sided with broccoli rabe.