I’ve passed this restaurant about a zillion times (you probably have, too), but have never gone in, mostly because a) if you just walk two blocks East you’re in the middle of Union Square, home to Republic and Coffee Shop, two of my favorite haunts, and b) the exterior says “totally average Italian place where I will be forced to order Caprese because I can find nothing more exciting on the menu, and because Caprese is always good.”
Wrong!
La Carbonara is super cute (brick walls, cozy atmosphere, farmhouse tables), has tons of lovely little touches (like fresh ricotta in olive oil set out on each table with the bread), and serves up house-made pasta like my fettuccine with shrimp and cherry tomatoes (above). A bit loud for groups (I went with a few girlfriends last Friday and we ended up more or less screaming at each other), but perfect for a romantic date.
Oh…and it’s fantastically reasonable: at $14.50, my pasta was one of the most expensive ones, and no dish costs more than $17.95.
