A Review of Anthony's Restaurant in Binghamton

Anthony's Restaurant opened several years ago after Anthony left Marnielle's restaurant which he and his wife (now ex) owned to open his own restaurant. This began our love-hate relationship with Anthony's Restaurant and from the moment it opened we frequented there at least once a week for the first year or two and then less often. The prices are reasonable. You can find a number of entrées under $10.00 complete with soup or salad and a side of pasta. The atmosphere is fun, relaxed and casual with class.

There are two sides to Anthony's (a foreshadowing perhaps of the inconsistency in food?)-the bar side and the dining room side. The dining room side boasts cloth covered tables, linen napkins and candles while the bar side has wooden tables, some higher tables with tall stools and minus the cloth covered tables, the linen napkins and candles are included. On weekends, you can usually hear a band playing at Anthony's. Sometimes Anthony himself who by the way is a heck of a drummer will join in. The music has always been fun but if you do not like loud music, I recommend you not sit next to the band or even in the bar room for that matter. The bar is always hopping regardless of time of night (Anthony's is open until 11 pm for food) and regulars converse over cocktails and the complimentary pizza Anthony puts out. You can often see Anthony mingle with his regular patrons and even join them for a drink or food.

The service is usually good, and refills on drinks are quick and plenty. The food, while often good is also inconsistent. Initially serving a delicious salad comprised only of field greens such as arugula, watercress, radicchio and romaine, in recent years there is only a covering of the good stuff above plain old nutrition-free iceberg. The house Italian however is excellent-a perfect mix of vinegar, oil and herbs and always tests fresh. Anthony's also puts in pepperocini, olives, tomato and cucumber.

The menu is fairly extensive and offers a variety of choices. You can start with an appetizer such as an antipasto, or mozzarella sticks and then move on to a soup of the day or salad with your choice of dressing. Chicken dishes include chicken parmesan, grilled chicken with roasted peppers and potatoes, broccoli and a side of pasta (excellent choice for a lower calorie meal), savory steaks are marinated (usually done correctly to specifications) and served with roasted potato, vegetable and pasta. Veal francaise is among some of the veal dishes offered. The veal comes heavily breaded and is not the light egg battered francaise dish you may expect. The spices in the breading are off-putting to our taste. In addition, a variety of seafood dishes are available. I do not recommend items that are breaded such as the veal or chicken unless you don't mind heavily breaded food and prefer breadcrumb coating to a lighter floured one.

The highlights for me at Anthony's Restaurant are the number of tasty pasta dishes offered on the menu including homemade lasagna (very good), baked ziti (very creamy), fettucine alfredo, pasta arrabiata (good on one occasion and not good on another), sausage cacciatore (a plate spilling over with sausage, potato and assorted vegetables mixed in sauce), and my two favorites, the beans and greens (sauteed greens and cannilin beans over a bed of linguine- I always get extra greens on top as they are delicious) and tortellini paloma (tortellini with proscuitto, peas and roasted red peppers in a creamy pink sauce- be sure to request the tortellini to be cooked al dente otherwise there is a tendency for it to be overdone). The eggplant parmesan is also excellent as is their sauce-not too spicy, not too sweet or salty. They often have eggplant rollatini as a special-eggplant rolled and stuffed with ricotta, which I recommend if you go when it is on special. My fiancée usually gets a steak and while it was overcooked on a number of occasions, after addressing it with a waiter, he was assured it would be cooked to perfection and it was and has been the last few times he has ordered it.

When entering the restaurant, patrons are asked if they would prefer to sit in the dining area or bar and escorted to their seats either way. During the summer months, you can sit outside on the patio and have a meal or drink. Drink orders are usually taken shortly thereafter, silverware and napkins provided and a basket of warm garlic knots placed in the middle of the table. The garlic knots are hit or miss. There have been times when they have been stale or obviously warmed up in the microwave and not hot out of the oven. Once we were told they were out of them and were not offered an alternative, which I found odd. The timing between salad and entrée is typically good as is the overall pace of the restaurant. The wait staff is usually very good. With the exception of one or two waiters and waitresses over the years, they are friendly, attentive, quick to refill drinks and check on patrons without rushing them out the door.

A few years ago, we stopped going to Anthony's and refused to return for one year due to the arrogance of the wait staff and manager when my fiancé ordered a filet and was served a delmonico. When he pointed out the obvious shape of the cut, the connective tissue nd the pieces of fat which make it anything but a filet, the waiter whisked his dish off to the kitchen and returned with comments from the chef that it was not a delmonico. After much discussion, a manager came over and offered no apology or understanding of the fact that the piece of meat was clearly a delmonico, just argument. He was then told that perhaps he should not order steak-"this is an Italian restaurant after all". We had a good laugh about this later on but for the next year, my fiancé refused to return for one year and was true to his word. I however was unable to resist one lunch with my sister (who adores their baked ziti and eggplant sandwiches). He still has not let me live this down!

Lunch at Anthony's Restaurant is very good and affordable. You can select from a number of lunch dishes such as eggplant parmesan sub, pasta dishes, potato and egg frittata on a sub and chicken on a toasted sub. I highly recommend the potato and egg sandwich, which is a traditional Italian dish in my grandmother's home and of which I have never seen offered at any other Italian restaurant. Anthony's is true to its Italian heritage.

Upon returning a year later the food was again delicious and we continued to enjoy Anthony's until the next dining mishap when the food quality became poor, the steaks well overdone and the pasta mushy. We have continued this cycle of on again and off again with Anthony's due to the change in food quality and inconsistency in cooking/cooks. Yet we keep going back which continues to fascinate us. It seems we do not want to give up hope for this restaurant that often has very good Italian food close by in our neighborhood (and also serves late). We also can't help but love watching the regular characters that frequent Anthony's interact. One feels as if they are transported to Brooklyn in a neighborhood Italian kitchen. The walls also are filled with old family photographs and celebrities the family has met over the years.

While one would suggest stopping going altogether, it seems on the last "let's give it one more try", the restaurant ends up reminding us of why we used to like going. When it is good, it is good and when it is horrid, it is not so great. Overall, the restaurant is one to try if you have not. Perhaps however you should only go once lest you find any inconsistencies and end up in a love/hate relationship with Anthony's like us.