Cataldo’s Restaurant
“Best kept secret of my hood and every time I go in I laugh at all the hipsters waiting outside of Chuko :)”
“We could be a bit noisy while eating delicious old school italian and drinking montepulciano (adults!)..”
“The penne was cooked al dente, and the garlic sauce was well balanced and in perfect proportion to the rest of the ingredients.”
Cataldo’s Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Penne alla Vodka is a nostalgic comfort food straight from my Long Island youth that I crave maybe once a month or so. Like pizza, bagels, and a great many other of old school NY staples, the city is flooded with sub par versions, and finding a good one actually winds up being far harder than one would think, and in fact, like with pizza, you are statistically more likely to find a good penne alla vodka in a random LI establishment than a NYC one. This was certainly the case with this dish in this particular neighborhood, where I have been residing for close to a year now. Local pizzerias I have tried, hoping for some homey comfort food in the deepest depths of the brutal winter, each managed to produce some of the worst versions I have tried in my life; soggy and/or watery, and pretty much devoid of flavor.
Happily, thanks is large part to Yelp, I stumbled into this place, which I had passed zillions of time and never thought to go in, for lunch on cold day and was rewarded with a solid, classic rendition of said dish. Creamy and flavorful with chunks of chopped tomatoes and onions thickening it results in the perfect consistency that allowed the sauce to hold to the penne perfectly. The portion size is not huge but still fair for the 12 dollar price. The place also serves the gamut of Italian American standards you would expect, chicken parm was solid if not especially memorable, in a down home luncheonette type setting complete with a steam tray setup at lunch that draws the expected blue collar workers like catnip. Establishments like this are the epitome of old school Italian brooklyn and are still pretty abundant over in Carroll Gardens and the adjoining neighborhoods. I was pleasantly surprised to find it hidden in plain site over here, which to my knowledge was never a predominately Italian neighborhood.
We finally found a good, reasonably priced mom and pop Italian restaurant in the NYC metro and the name is Cataldo's!
After searching the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn and on Yelp for a week looking for a good value, I stumbled upon Cataldo's. It looked promising because one of the featured photos was of a delicious stuffed artichoke (below – $12) just like my grandma used to make … YUM! Unfortunately, they were out when we arrived and were not expecting a produce delivery for two days … DRAT!
When we arrived, we were warmly greeted by Vito (a co-owner with his brother) and his family. Vito and his brother Salvatore are originally from Sicily, just an hour's drive from my wife's hometown in Northwestern Sicily, so they know how good food should be prepared and enjoyed.
The prices are very reasonable, particularly in NYC, with pizzas and pastas in the $10-$14 range and veal (with a side of pasta) running $12 to $16. They offer several wine options in a multitude of colors and varieties with glasses starting at $6 and bottles in the low $20s.
On our first visit, we started with the insalata Mozzarella Caprese ($8), not the "traditional" insalata Caprese with mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, and basil, but a salad with a couple small mozzarella balls and sliced tomato, mostly arugula, and a few olives. I was not overly impressed for the $8 price tag. My wife ordered the Pizza Quattro Formaggio ($13), a wood-fired pie of 12+ inches smothered in four types of cheese (mozzarella, ricotta, gorgonzola and fontina) and baked to a golden brown. The pizza and Caprese are the only reason they will not get my highest rating. The pizza was good, not great, and not on the same level as true pizza Napoletana. I had the Vitello (veal) alla Parmigiana ($12), three good size veal cutlets breaded and fried, then smothered in marinara, topped with mozzarella, and baked to a golden brown. It came with a side of Spaghetti alla Bolognese, their meat sauce, which was as good as any I have had. A bottle of Chianti ($24) brought the tab to around $60 for an excellent meal, about the same price as we paid for garbage at a West Village German restaurant the night before. An excellent value!
We came back a second time two nights later, always a good sign, my wife having the Tortellini alla Panna ($12) instead of pizza and me the Veal Saltimbocca alla Romana ($16) … buonissimo! The tortellini were likely not homemade, but were very good and the cream sauce rich and delicious. The veal saltimbocca was divine, likely the best I have had, including in Rome (hence the name – Romana). Lightly breaded veal cutlets atop a bed of spinach and covered with prosciutto crudo then baked in a light white wine, butter, and lemon sauce infused with rosemary … MAMA MIA! The accompanying spaghetti was topped with the same sauce and with a little freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top, it was exquisite … the best $16 I have spent in a long time!
Being our last night in NYC and Brooklyn, we splurged and shared a piece of cheesecake ($5). Made with ricotta rather than cream cheese, it was typically Italian and not as sweet as its NYC cousin, but very good nonetheless.
I never did get to try the stuffed artichoke, but the food was wonderful, the service and hospitality excellent, the setting quaint and warm, and the value exceptional. We made some new friends and enjoyed the excellent food, surely to return on our next trip to Brooklyn and NYC.
CombatCritic Gives Cataldo's 9 Bombs Out Of 10 As One Of The Best Values (BANG FOR THE BUCK) in NYC and Brooklyn … More Bombs Are Better!
Ate here a couple of nights ago for dinner with a group of 4. I had the linguini with clam sauce; I also tried my friends dish which was the fettuccini Alfredo. The pasta tasted homemade and al dente. Very refreshing to have some tender fresh pasta! The white wine clam sauce was very flavorful and comforting. The Alfredo sauce was rich and creamy- perhaps a bit too rich. Our server was attentive and made good suggestions. Only problem was they sat us by window and this curtain would blow near our table whenever someone came in. Not a huge problem but was a bit distracting. I like this place overall because it feels like you're escaping New York and eating at a cozy homey mom and pop Italian restaurant. Not pretentious at all and prices are decent!
After debating between Cataldo's and two other local joints I went with my gut and chose this one. So glad I did.
I called in an order for the four cheese (quattro formaggio) with tomato sauce. The guy on the phone was nice and told me delivery would take around 30 minutes or so. This was a Saturday night so I was a little skeptical that it would be longer, but nope, they came right on time.
The pizza itself was delicious. Soft, tasty crust, and the cheese…oh my god, the cheese. Creamy, salty, and just so good. I was in pizza heaven and devoured the pizza.
Stumbled in here one Friday night by chance, and was not dissapointed. The family-owned and operated pizza / Italian restaurant is one of the best accidental finds I've encountered in Brooklyn. I was in the mood for veal pizzaiola once we had settled that Italian was happening and my girlfriend got the chicken piccata. When we came in, there was one other table seated. By the time our entrees arrived twenty minutes after we had sat down, the restaurant was nearly packed.
In terms of food, I'd say Cataldo's is a 4. The kitchen produces good dishes, and everything came out to the table hot, tender and ready to be wolfed down. The veal pizzaiola was a major win, from its texture to its taste and was complemented very well with the spaghetti and bolognese sauce it comes with on the side. A house red for $5 to drink it down with and it's a damn good time. The house salad we started off with was honestly just OK…it lacked a certain something and looked just haphazardly thrown together. My girlfriend was happy with the chicken piccata and said it was quite possibly the best she's had in a restaurant. The reason I'll stick the 4 on it is because there's really no originality to the menu; a lot of traditional heavily sauced dishes which I feel like are commonplace and done well elsewhere.
The reason I'll give Cataldo's 5 stars is because it's genuine; there are no cheap attempts to lure you in with false style adjustments. It is what it is. From it's simple (real and not fabricated old-school) decor and it's straight-forward service (some instances of inattentiveness but I'll credit that to the sudden explosion of customers during our meal) to it's more than reasonable price point, this was a great find.
I'll be back for the pizza because that looked like something I wouldn't want to miss either.
My company and I stumbled into here after trying to go to a different place that had a really long line. So, here we were. We got a pizza and a pasta dish to share. By far, the pizza was better than the pasta. But one can get better pizza elsewhere in NYC. The pasta dish was bland. It was suppose to be a garlic olive oil sauce, but it didn't really taste like anything. The vegetables that came with the dish seemed to have been boiled or steamed and then put together with the pasta. It didn't seem cohesive at all.
It is an unpretentious restaurant. There seemed to be particularly a lot of children in the restaurant, so perhaps its a good place to come with kids.
My family and I were visiting my brother in Brookyln and staying at an Air BNB close by, walked over for a take out menu and placed a carry out order at about 6pm. They had a small crowd at the hour but by the time our food was ready (which was very quick actually, around 20 minutes for a large order) they had filled up – a definite good sign in a neighborhood with lots of italian options.
We got an order of the chicken milanese w/pasta, cheese raviolis with meatballs, the chicken sorrentina w/broccoli, and filet livornese w/string beans, as well as an order of fried calamari.
Two of the four dishes were spectacular, the other two were alright. The fish and milanese were excellent, everyone agreed. Chicken sorrentina was over cooked, and otherwise decent, while the raviolis and meatballs were average at best. Both vegetable side dishes were pleasing, though be careful as they had large chunks of garlic (whole cloves) and lots of olive oil in each – if you are put off by those flavors (why are you eating italian?) ask them to take it easy. The fried calamari were somewhat rubbery, with a very heavy amount of breading – the rubber factor could have come from the carryout element, as they might have somewhat "steamed" in the container. Fortunately, the marinara with the calamari was absolutely delicious, probably the best element of the entire meal. Perfectly sweet, acidic, and fishy, with good pops of garlicky tomatoes.
So while the even mix would give this place 3 stars, I'm bumping it to a 4 because the portions, especially for the prices, were gigantic! Everyone got enough food for two meals, they included 3 loaves of fresh italian bread, and the bill was right around $70. For four people in Park Slope? That's really hard to even imagine, let alone beat. I would love to go back and try their pizzas, as they looked fantastic, but would be more than happy to just order more of that amazing fish.
Came to this small Italian restaurant with some friends and enjoyed the experience! The restaurant is very cozy and feels so mom and pop.
One of my friends and I split the veal parm with pasta and pizza. Both servings were huge!! The pasta portion that came with the veal parm was probably enough for dinner.
They also have some options for wine..we all split a bottle. Service was kind of slow because their technology is pretty old school (wrote our check by hand) but the overall restaurant feels cozy and has good food at a decent price so would definitely recommend!