The Parkside, Corona Queens

Now that I have been living in Italy for about 5 years, I have started longing for what was my first introduction to Italian culture: good old down home Italian-American comfort food. You know what I mean: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Fettuccine Alfredo, Eggplant Parmigiana, Fried Calamari with Marinara Sauce all cooked with obscene amounts of garlic. This stuff does not really exist in Italy. Many of today's Italian restaurants in the US feature creative cuisine based on international tastes, a spin on what one might expect to eat in Italy. It is very rare nowadays to get a good old-fashioned Italian restaurant with a big fat smiling man man smoking a cigar grabbing your arm and seating you at a checkered-cloth covered table. Think big trays of food in the window, obnoxious middle-aged waiters, gaudy decorations, and the customary old lady sitting in the corner.

Lucky for me, that craving was soon to be satisfied. My dad told me that he wanted to take the family to the Park Side Lounge in Corona, Queens. His Italian-American friend grew up down the street, and he was kind enough to introduce it to my dad a few years back. Of course, the next thing I do is google it, and it was interesting to find out that the owner is an alleged mobster, but nevertheless very respected in the neighborhood. This place was the real thing, something straight out of Goodfellas. I could hardly wait. My dad told me that it reminded him of the restaurants in Italy. I am not sure in which way, but he was paying, so the family and I took him up on his offer. I was also interested in seeing a part of New York that I have only seen from the window of the 7 train. Corona is supposedly the most ethnically diverse "region" in the world, and there are something like 167 nationalities represented there. I didn't even know that were that many countries! We get to the restaurant and it is packed with people with, well, the kind of people who you would expect a mafia-owned restaurant to be packed with. My dad had an inside tip, and said that you need to "shake hands with Alberto", the host, and slip him a $10 bill in order to reduce your waiting time and get seated in a nice part of the restaurant. Sure enough, one greased palm later, and we were brought up to the "Marilyn Monroe" room. It was nice and quiet, and stocked with round tables, velvet curtains, and the all of the pictures hanging up had, well, Marilyn Monroe in them. The piano music drowned out by thick New York accents in the background. It could not be more perfect. The crowd consisted of fat men in suits, women with way too much make-up, couples out on a date, and us.

Without looking at the menu, I knew that I was going to order Calamari (pronounced "galamad" in New York) with Marinara Sauce and Mozzarella in Carozza. The calamari came with a bucket of marinara sauce, just like grandma used to make. The Mozzarella in Carozza was of course, good. Take a huge chunk of fresh mozzarella and deep fry it, how can that not be good? I then sampled my dining partners' (i.e. mom, dad, brother, and sister) dishes. The stuffed artichokes, which were nothing special, and the Zuppa di Clams, or, Clam Soup (note the interesting combination of Italian and English employed here), was more like clams covered in Marinara sauce, yet very tasty. Then came the old "Italian" specialties that I had missed so dearly, even though I live in Italy. The Penne alla Vodka was rich, creamy, and not too heavy. I thought it was spectacular, and the portion was not nearly as vulgarly large that I expected it to be. Thanks to that I was physically able to move on to the Broiled Short Ribs with Barolo Red Wine Sauce. By the way, the wine list was non-existent. With heavy, rich food like this you would require a similarly robust wine to counter it. I ordered a glass of Cabernet, and besides the fact that I think it actually was pure Cabernet, it was very good. The short ribs dripped off off the bone and required little chewing. And this is America, so I can take a piece of bread and wipe all of the delicious sauce off my plate without worrying about making a "brutta figura" (doing dippy, or, the scarpetta, is a big no-no in Italian restaurants, in Italy). Unfortunately, the short ribs left me too full (not to mentioned satisfied) and I was unable to order dessert. Next time.

Overall Rating: 7 out of 10 (good)
Cost per person: approx. $40 USD with wine & tip
Will I be going back?: Yes, it makes a nice place to go to with dad when I am in town
Contact / Arrival Details: Park Side Restaurant, 107-01 Corona Avenue (bet. 51st Ave. & 108th St.), Corona, NY 11368 USA, 1 718 271 9871 web: www.parksiderestaurant.com.