Across from Yonkers’ Roosevelt High School in a timeworn plaza by Baskin-Robbins lies a family-run restaurant open since 1976. It’s a place where waitresses ask the regulars about their kids, and the sausage and fig appetizer slathered in a Chianti reduction is served in a Martini glass. Families, couples, and cops dine at about 60 wooden tables spaced a few feet apart in two large rooms. Before the dinner crowd streams in, talk radio reaches the dining room from the full bar. No extra décor distracts from the simple look of brick walls facing creamy yellow walls.
Classic mussels marinara and a dramatic plate of browned and crispy spiedini alla Romano sprinkled with capers are a delicious introduction if that Martini glass of sausage and fig doesn’t do it for you. Salads aren’t an afterthought here, showing a bit of inventiveness among all the gooey lasagna and cheese raviolis we expect. There’s the salad with mixed greens, fresh berries, and fig-goat cheese; an avocado-arugula rendition, plus the satisfying Caesar and chef salad standards.
The cappellini carbonara is decadent as it should be, with pancetta, peas, and diced onion mingling in creamy goodness. A Tre Amici special of rosy butterflied shrimp, tender filet mignon, and two saucy pork cutlets reveals the kitchen can cook to order. Their potato croquettes are pleasing little footballs of creamy carbs and cheese with browned, crunchy coating. Here, you’ll get veal those well-known ways: marinara, picatta, Marsala, Francese, capricciosa, and with peppers. Try to hold out for the tiramisù and a frothy, whipped cappuccino. The dessert plating is sloppy, but no matter. Rum-soaked, spongy ladyfingers layered between milky mascarpone cream, flavored with espresso and doused with cocoa powder is a treat to be enjoyed with your eyes closed. Those lids can remain shut to appreciate the airy Italian cheesecake, too.
668 Tuckahoe Rd, Yonkers (914) 793-1458
www.carlosrestaurant.net
