What did I learn about this restaurant? The portion sizes are huge. They are easily enough to share or to have two meals out of. The menu items are creative and insane. It is almost as if there is an old lady cooking behind the counter and preparing these dishes. The atmosphere is loud and obnoxious. I guess that is going here on weekends, especially on a Sunday, but wow. The lighting is poor. Bad lighting at the bar for dark eating means you are likely to fill up faster. I hate sitting in darkly lit restaurants for this reason. It is why I prefer a Patrizia's because of the easier lighting despite the similar party atmosphere. It is easy to get here by subway. The prices are high, be very careful how much you order. When in doubt, stick to well known dishes like a Marsala, a Parmigiana, or a Francaise. The vodka sauce here is so heavy it will put you to sleep. Be weary of fried food here. It is dangerous. I hope you can apply some of these lessons if you decide you want to come here one evening. read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Matty Guns pasta - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Great food and family atmosphere.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Servers were very friendly and attentive. Best food in the ridge read more

The best Italian in Bay Ridge and honestly probably the best Italian in Brooklyn. You really can't go wrong with the chicken parmesan. If you're feeling extra hungry, get the vodka rigatoni and you'll be full for hours. As other viewers have written, roots is family style, which means the plates are huge prepared to share any dish order with the table. read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Vodka rigatoni - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Brooklyn Roots is an old school Italian restaurant. It is a bare bones operation serving generous portions of decent Italian food. I parked myself at the bar and ordered two of my favorites. Baked Clams, and a side of Broccoli Rabe. This is the typical case of quantity, not quality. My Broccoli Rabe was overcooked, and the Clams had way too much filling. A 3.9% surcharge for my credit card didn't make me any happier. [[HIGHLIGHT]]A good place for some Brooklynites, but not for me.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

I grew up in Corona, Queen,, eating my friend's Nona's cooking. This is "Italian Soul food! The owner and staff treat all like family. Love you guys! read more

I was taking a friend out for her birthday dinner and she wanted to come here. We also came with a couple of other friends. We started off with appetizers of fried artichokes (too much breading), Burrata (with more eggplant than cheese) and shrimp with polenta. We were stunned by the portion size and were concerned since we already ordered our entrées. We checked with our server to make sure it wasn't from the family size portions and he said no. He really should have told us this was an extraordinary amount of food for just the four of us. Unsurprisingly, the entrées easily could have served 3-4 people. My friend I treated got the Chicken Parm, 6 cutlets but there was another one under each!! My other friends got Chicken Francese, which was supposed to be shrimp but he got the order wrong and Shrimp with scallops over white beans, I got the Chicken Scarpariello. The food was all incredibly delicious however it was served so steaming hot I had to wait to eat and when I did, my mouth was on fire. I enjoy ordering very, very spicy foods however I don't know what made those cherry peppers so fiery that I couldn't enjoy it. I took it home and for my next couple of meals I actually had to dilute the sauce and eat bread to make it enjoyable. With those reasons I normally would have given about three stars however this food was beyond incredible I'm willing to look past the waiters errors and the spicy incident. read more

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I can't put into words how obsessed I am with Brooklyn Roots. I chose to celebrate my 30th birthday here with my parents and my parents were gasping with each bite (they're not easy to impress). It's such a cozy, family energy in the restaurant. The photos along the walls, brooklyn decor, and memorabilia are a great touch. The staff is always so funny and kind and it truly feels like they're so happy to be working and helping you. The food... everything is AMAZING! They make sure to emphasize that everything is family style so the portions are absolutely no joke. Don't worry, we basically licked every plate clean; not one drop of sauce went to waste. It's hard to even choose a starter because they're all to die for. The arancini are a must as well as the mozzarella. All the sauces are made perfectly. I tried the Matty Guns Special paste for the first time and wow, now that's proper vodka sauce. Pasta is perfectly al dente and the sausage+meatballs are just *chef's kiss*. I was already planning out my next visit while still sitting at the table. Let's not forget the drinks: limoncello spritz?! Give me 14 of them! Martini was immaculate. Thank you for having us and for never disappointing. PS make sure to call for a reservation. They do get booked out so keep that in mind! read more

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Food is decent/good but quite expensive and I think overhyped. Came with my husband for a date night early evening on a weekday. We didn't make a reservation and luckily had a table available immediately. It was busy and it got more busy as time went on. Pan roasted octopus -quite delicious. Cooked perfectly to a nice and tender consistency. Matty guns special- i came here because of the reviews for this dish. Its a huge plate. It was good but I didn't think it was special. Crispy parmesan potatoes- it was ok and also quite plentiful. It's crispy but that's about it. Nothing special. Overall, I had a decent dinner here. I haven't gone on a date in the LONGEST time so I had high expectations for the place but was a bit underwhelmed. Perhaps I needed.to try the other dishes. read more

Went here with my gf for my bday. I can't even describe the deliciousness, never had such tender chicken franchese Also had the baked clams and stuffed mushrooms, all to die for. And last but not least a complimentary bread pudding for my bday! I love this place and will be back! read more

Best Italian meal I've ever had in Brooklyn. In all of New York City. Ok fine, anywhere on the planet especially Italy. Yeah I said it.... The service was phenomenal. Even the chef checked on us. There were 7 people I saw working and all 7 stopped at our table for one reason or another or answered a question (bartender). If not to chat, it was to make sure we had what we needed. The food. My goodness. Every single thing was delicious. I tried to find something wrong and I failed!!! Even the cherry in the drink was the best sour cherry I've ever had. The salad, baked clams, lobster pasta, linguini with clams, THE BREAD PUDDING???? I almost don't want to post because I don't want to have trouble getting a reservation-which is best btw. Everyone who came into the restaurant were treated as family; hugs and laughs all around. Cannot WAIT to go back. read more

this place has done it again !! there needs to be 100 stars given here.the service here is personal,you are greeted like family.[[HIGHLIGHT]]atmosphere is very chill and fun.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]the food makes you come back over & over read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - these courses were ridiculously delicious and this one was on the top list !! - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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That time, I stepped away from sitting at the bar where the HondaCars be and sit at an actual table and ordered FOOD (I'm a mussels kinda gurl) Food: Y'all know it's not gonna be in order! Lol Caesar Salad: Yes, those are croutons Matty Guns Special: I feel like this has everything, but the Italian abuelita inside this dish. Rigatoni/Vodka sauce/hot & sweet pepperss/Meatballs/Whipped ricotta/Fresh Mozzarella; Shrimp Parmigiana & Penne al Vodka: I got it because I couldn't envision chicken parm but using shrimp! Mozzarella in Carrozza: This is like a grilled cheese samwhich w/a white wine sauce (I think) made q/cappers and garlic As always, the food was delicious, and so was the company, read more

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I Love coming to Brooklyn roots! The food and service is always incredible! I highly recommend making a reservation. This time, we ordered the clam linguine and it was incredible, so many clams and the sauce was delicious. We ordered the mussels in white wine as an appetizer and the sauce was perfectly balanced. The vibes are friendly and homey! It's always a treat to eat at Brooklyn roots! read more

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My family and I made reservations here for dinner last night. My cousin who is a local says he comes to this place quite frequently. They sat us right away and our waitress gave us two menus (one was a regular menu and one was family style). She was very sweet and had a lot of patience for the large party. We ordered some baked clams and meatballs for starters. Then we all ordered our own dishes for dinner. The dishes were so big and they were delicious! The rigatoni vodka was my favorite!!!!! read more

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The food is freaking amazing, the service is a great team lead by a charming chef, loud, jumping joint. We'll be back! read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Delicious crab cakes - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Very nice place , not big but comfy. Nice menu with a lot of selections . In the pricey side for sure but portions are big. We did Ala carte as opposed to family style . Appetizers of grilled octopus was delicious very nice done , as were stuffed mushrooms. Everyone got pasta and they really liked the dishes, pasta alla Norma, pasta with a whole lobster and bucatini amatriciana. Very tasty. My veal parmigiana was just ok don't think I would order that again, I'd get another pasta. Good service and nice drinks . read more

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First time there. Food was on point. The server was attentive, and the music and decor was on point. To open we had meatballs and mozzarella carrozza in vodka sauce. Then i had veal parmigiana in a spicy vodka sauce and the sunday sauce and pumpkin ravioli. Definitely would recommend read more

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My first time here but most definitely not my last! Seriously Best Italian Food I've EVER Had!! Lobster Pasta was Everythinggggg and the Portions are Massive‼ Key lime pie is perfection Place is booked up every day so don't wait till last min to make those reservations. The Chef walks around and makes sure everyone's enjoying their dish (you can trully he puts soo much love into each dish). Ps. Also Try The Matty Guns Special & thank me later read more

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To start the waiter was excellent. [[HIGHLIGHT]]We sat right by the front door last weekend and it was freezing everytime the door was opened. A partition would help.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] We were a table of 9 so we were only able to order family style. Because of this I wouldn't go back with a bigger group. Food was very good and way too much but limited to the family style menu. read more

** Disclaimer: This review is not JUST for Brooklyn Roots itself, but for their esteemed and highly favored staff member KATE ** To say that Kate is DOING her thang is the understatement of the century. Yes, we all know the food is delicious. Yes, we all know Brooklyn Roots is the hottest spot in town. But what often goes underappreciated is their wonderful staff. And the literal queen pin herself, Kate, is running it like like like a circus (Britney Spears voice). So if you're gonna call her "waitress" put SUPERSTAR in front of it. Thank you, Brooklyn Roots, for blessing us with incredible pasta, and more importantly-- the order running, night managing, global ambassador, diva herself... Kate!!! read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I really don't like putting a restaurant down. They weren't very good. The drinks were terrible. [[HIGHLIGHT]]It was very crowded and very loud.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

This restaurant maintains its standards every single time. The workers here are cordial yet constantly aware. Whatever else happens, the food stays consistently excellent. Every meal demonstrates superior execution. Taste it yourself before making judgments. read more

I can finally join in on the hype train! This place might be small, but the flavors are NOT! So happy to have finally gotten here on a much needed girls night out last Thursday! I would strongly suggest making reservations in advance like my girlfriend did, to make sure you're not standing outside waiting. The pacing for dinner here is Italian style, so there is no rushing you out the door here. We started out with a glass of pinot grigio and opted to have their summer antipasto with peaches, buffalo mozzarella and tri-colored tomatoes that was very fresh and light. Great way to open the palette and get the taste buds into crazy overdrive! Great presentation, and beautiful to share. The porkchop special was really a highlight of the meal, and Marilyn R. raved about the porkchop she had here last time, but with a different twist. Our waiter had me at Marsala sauce, and we fully committed to share. The lobster pasta was a no brainer, and a highly recommended dish and fan favorite, so that was a must as well. The portions might not look grand at first, but they are more that suitable for sharing and allowing you to savor every last bite that lingers on the tongue. Marvelous is the only words I have for our dinner. The wait stuff was very pleasant and came around to us often to make sure we were taken care of and seen; very nice bonus. Looking forward to bringing hubby here next time! read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Pork chop stuffed with cheese and prosciutto in a Marsala sauce - divine!! - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Great food. Great service. I've eaten her multiple times and never been disappointed. read more

Uhm, help? Why is this food SO good?!? No, like, we actually have an emergency on our hands because Brooklyn Roots has awakened my tastebuds to what food SHOULD taste like. I could literally eat their pasta as every meal for the rest of my life. I actually want to inject it into my veins. It's to the point that if I ever found myself on death row I would literally request the Matty Gun's Special as my last meal on this Earth. KATE is iconic. She SERVED (literally) with such professionalism and is always on top of anything we may need. "Wait, where did my empty cup I just finished go? Oh, Kate's already refilling it..." PERIOD! She's so Lana Del Rey-coded, like she just floats around the restaurant making sure everyone is taken care of in such a graceful way. It's giving matriarchal backbone. Like, that's mother. Great service all around and delicious food. Come here at your own risk because you will never look at pasta the same. I'm not kidding. Even the bread and basil olive oil they bring out in the beginning is to die for. I'm going to need their cooks to relax because they're outdoing themselves day after day, and that must be tiring. Props to the owner who put this place together because they truly manifested a fantastic dining experience. Make sure you get a reservation, because the word is out and all the people want Brooklyn Roots! You'll love it, your kids will love it, your partner will love it--even your curmudgeonly Aunt Betty who swears nothing beats her great, great Nonna's manicotti (we all know the secret ingredient is 'love,' shut up Betty)! xo WE LOVE YOU BROOKLYN ROOTS read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

First off, can I say the food is just incredible. Never had anything in the menu that was a disappointment. Please please please try their specials! I highly recommend the seafood gumbo & Kate's special pasta ;) Special shoutout to our server Ricarrrrrdo who was so amazing- he explained the dishes so explicitly and also checked in to make sure that our dinner experience was top notch. Thank you Brooklyn Roots! read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Seafood gumbo & Kate's pasta - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Being a Rhode Island transplant (via NH) to Brooklyn, I have searched for over 20 years without success for Italian food as good as in RI. Some restaurants have come close but tonight my search ended in success at Brooklyn Roots! This small, relaxed and friendly restaurant has earned its reputation for superb Italian food served in large portions. We ordered chicken Francese and chicken parm with a side of spaghetti ~ two of the three standard dishes by which we measure Italian restaurants (eggplant parm being the third and is on our list for our next visit). The sauces were spot on in flavor and texture and our chicken was succulent and tender. The atmosphere was very welcoming. Kudos to our server, Riggly (sp?) and the entire staff (and thank you for letting us try the decadent bread pudding!). The only hiccup was that the chicken Francese arrived about 10 minutes before the chicken parm but since we were splitting the dishes, it worked out fine. My one suggestion is to warm the bread (which was authentic Italian bread not French bread being passed off as Italian) before serving it. Thank you Brooklyn Roots for bringing my taste buds back to Federal Hill in Providence in the 1960 & 70's!!! read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Huge portion ~ every bit delicious! - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

After long anticipated wait finally got myself here. Inside is old school Italian vibe. Service was great! The bread for the table and the olive oil were good. The octopus app might have been one of the best I have ever had. Also the arugula salad was very fresh and very flavorful. If you had ever ordered from their old location in sunset park the entre's were similar. I was expecting a little more based on all the hype. They were good yes. But nothing too special. we had the vodka rogatoni and chicken parm. read more

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I go to Roots only because my friends go there. Every time I go, this place gives me another reason to dislike it. This time, it was the eggplant parmigiana. The ABSOLUTE WORST eggplant parm I have ever had. Very tough, eggplant cut way too thin, dry between the slices, over breaded and over cooked. I have had much better supermarket frozen eggplant parm. To earn the one star I have rated Roots, I will say they do good salads. The service is OK. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The ambiance is loud and busy, but, to be fair, that's what one should expect at a family-style restaurant.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

Willie the bartender was top notch. Food was delicious! Definitely recommend the bread pudding ! Great atmosphere! They have televisions throughout the restaurant so you don't miss out on your favorite sporting event. read more

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Good old fashioned red sauce Italian restaurant.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Huge quantities of great food. Be careful not to over order.

Make sure you have a reservation because it will be full during dinner service! Lucky enough, my party and I got there before the busy dinner service and we were able to get a table. Serving size of food is huge! We were all so satisfied and stuffed from the 2 apps, pasta dish and side of artichoke. EVERYTHING was great and delicious! We definitely needed a nap after this meal. Service was great, waiter/waitress was attentive. If you're looking for an intimate dinner, I wouldn't recommend coming here because every party around us were enjoying their yummy food, sharing stories (amongst themselves of course), the restaurant was just buzzing of noise and music in the background. Can't wait to visit again! read more

As a resident of Bay Ridge i have been fortunate enough to try some of the owner and chef Tommy Perone has in my area. 1st if you ever met Tommy you would know why so many people truly love this man. If you watch him teach other cooks or joke around with his staff, then I am sure you can understand the light vibe his resturants has. The FOOD, its delicious and served family style. I was really surprised trying several of the apps and one was better then the next. My table even were amazed how nice the Cesar salad was. We tried several entrees and again everything was a hit. My personal fav is the chicken parm. The SERVICE? Just amazing. We had the most friendly waitress and almost felt a part of our dinner by the end. I will be back Tommy and thank you again for being so nice to introduce yourself to my friends from Manhattan. They are food snobs and all said they had a great time. See you soon Brooklyn Roots! Keep up the great work! read more

God bless this place! One of the best Italian foods are made from here! My sister stumbled upon this place randomly & one day decided to order the Matty Guns special pasta & that was when the addiction started! Whenever we are craving italian pasta, we always come here to eat. So far, I have tried their Matty Guns special pasta, Linguini w/ white clam sauce, Eggplant parm, Chicken parm. All were so delicious & fresh! Matty Guns special pasta - I highly recommend this pasta! One of my favorites that I always order every single damn time! It is basically delicioooous rigatoni marinated in vodka sauce, hot & sweet sausage, meatballs, whipped ricotta & fresh mozzarella. This item is truly divine! Love this item so much! I highly highly recommend this! Linguini w/ white clam sauce - Super delicious as well! It is basically linguini w/ little neck clams, toasted garlic & herbs. Pasta al dente & there is always so much little neck clams in it. Sauce is amazingg!! Love this item too! I highly recommend this! Eggplant parm (eggplants, fresh mozzarella, pecorino romano) - SOOOOO Delicious! The eggplant parm was divine as well! I lOVVVEEE THIS item after matty guns special. So savory, cheesy & everything good! Highly highly recommended this! Chicken parm (chicken w/ blended tomato sauce & fresh mozzarella) - this item was also delicious, meaty, savory & cheesy! I liked this but I would choose that eggplant parm! Portions were abundant & the quality of the food was exceptional! Staff were super friendly and nice. Highly highly recommended! *Sorry, I always forget to take a photo of the foods. I just go straight to eating right away every single time I come here. read more

This restaurant came highly recommended. Yesterday I called and spoke to the manager and made a reservation for 12. Celebrating my son's 20th bday with grandparents and friends. I was so happy to find a great Italian family style restaurant. Today I got confirmation text about my reservation but it was for 2. You could imagine I was confused. After calling the restaurant I was told they had other party's and did not have room for us. So, I was out of luck. The young lady asked if I could hold while she put the manager on. Turns out it was the same person I had spoken with when I made the reservation. He insisted he read back the amount of people for the reservation. Although he also remembered us discussing how my son was back from college and the family was getting together for dinner. There was no apology, I felt I did not matter. It's too bad. I had to struggle to find a new restaurant for the next day. We are human and we can make mistakes. That's understandable but not taking accountability that's we should draw the line. My parents are elderly they live in DC, my son flew in from college. Toni's, this was a big deal and I was let down. read more

First off- not that's it's the restaurants fault but parking in bay ridge is a nightmare esp on the weekend. I wish they were open for lunch- it might be a better situation - it's hard to get a reservation. It's a small place. There's a ton of amazing hype about this place. It's small. Noise level is high - starter crispy polenta. Amazing and truly crispy surrounded in an incredible sauce - Matty Guns - pasta with amazing sausage and meatballs in a vodka sauce. This dish was incredible - only thing was that the vodka sauce was so rich that in 4 bites I was stuffed !! - chicken cutlet parm- again an amazing red sauce. The portion could feed 6 - decaf cappuccino- excellent - tartuffo- what could be bad!! Great service. read more

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Wow- when you just want to keep your kitchen clean and not lift a finger for Sunday Sauce! Brooklyn Roots has you covered, you will leave feeling like family and it's a giant dinning room with little room for anything but giants plates of pasta and delicious homemade nonna style Italian food. Needed to catch up with my cousin, crossed the bridge from Staten and found parking with luck in front. Hospitality was as comforting as the fried zucchini and homemade sangria- hidden on the wine menu. Forgot to take picture of glass was consumed among arrival. Looking forward to going back and staying for dessert at the request of the owner chef who was hustling in the back and front of the house!! Reservations recommended, it was was full house ! read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Zucchini - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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For such a small place, it offer great service and amazing food. Also for family style menu, you definitely get more than enough food to eat with plenty to take home. Definitely make reservations or you may be disappointed read more

I came to Brooklyn knowing I'd eat well, and wasn't let down. If you want a dining experience similar to a Sunday dinner experience, bring some friends and come through. We got a bunch of apps like the the rice balls (fresh mozz inside pulled the rice and outer fried coating together perfectly), meatballs (made I believe with sirloin beef), and octopus (tender and they give a LOT of octopus). Also got burrata with some fried eggplant strips. Burrata was fresh and fried eggplant strips were a nice addition, didn't taste the eggplant too much though, was a bit more breading - just a minor callout but still was great. I got chicken parm as my main. I know it's basic, but if a place can do the essentials right, that says a lot. The chicken cutlets were nice and thin, basil on top was fresh, mozzarella was fresh, sauce/gravy in all cases was fresh, full-bodied and flavorful. From what I understood the only pasta they make fresh on premises is the cavatelli, but unfortunately were out that night, so I got the rigatoni instead. Even the rigatoni was great - nice and Al dente, nowhere near overcooked. The star of the show to me was the steak piziole (pretty sure I spelled that wrong), which was either sirloin or flank steak and the sauce was amazing - red sauce with cherry peppers gave it nice little kick to it. Steak was tender. I barely got a pic of the chicken parm to attach, everything else was demolished before any pics were taken. Staff were friendly and helpful, and the owner/chef is very passionate about his work. Overall great, home-y experience in terms of tasty, flavorful southern Italian-American food and ambiance that felt like you were somewhere familiar. Large portions for reasonable prices, you'll likely have leftovers. There is a fee for using a credit card which to me, given the popularity and volume of this place isn't necessary, but I didn't ding a star given the rest of the experience. There's a bar up front also, and cool decor. read more

Brooklyn Roots Italian - Chicken parm - Italian Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The food was amazingly delicious. The portion size was over the moon. The service and hospitality was stellar. I highly recommend this restaurant. read more