MERGED: New Restaurant on Vandy: Cataldo's
Comments
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Just had a veal parm sub from Cataldo's, and it was excellent. Way better than the alternatives in the neighborhood (Antonio's, Michael's.) Also, the people working there were very friendly and gave me a lot of attention (mostly because I was the only person in the restaurant at the time). In any case, it's recommended.
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ginsbera113 wrote: ... I was a bit shocked to see fried calamari at nearly $12 (or maybe $11) a plate as an appetizer, but the other dishes were a bit more reasonable.
I shared that “appetizer” with 3 other people. If I was by myself I could order that with some bread as a meal.
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I tried this place tonight, and it wasn't bad for a place squarely in the "red sauce Italian" vein. Portions are huge and prices are reasonable. The pasta is not overcooked, the veal parmesan is serviceable, the chicken francaise is surprisingly tasty, and the staff is amazingly friendly. It's no Franny's, but 3 of us ate for less than the price we would usually pay per person at Franny's (no doubt in part because they don't have a liquor license yet). I would definitely return for a casual weeknight dinner.
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Is this more pizza/take out kinda of place or a sit down waiter-service place?
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Whatchuwant wrote: Is this more pizza/take out kinda of place or a sit down waiter-service place?
It's got waiter service and more tables than most pizzerias and the decor is a bit nicer. The lighting is bright like a pizzeria. I'd call it a "casual dining" spot. There were a lot of people eating there (sit down) last night.
Also, for people with kids, it would be a good place to bring them. -
Got a decent write-up in the Voice. Check out the fried-calamari sandwich!
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/archives/2009/01/the_early_word_17.php -
Damn, that looks good.
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The portions are so big that I still have my leftovers from Sunday in the fridge. And everyone who knows me knows that I'm a big eater.
And no, the place is NOT open late. -
Subject: Cataldo's
If you're want great pizza check out Cataldo's on 554 Vanderbilt & Dean. We ordered two last night and loved them. It's rare that someone gets the crust right but Cataldo's knows how to do a proper thin crust. They're also far more generous with their toppings than Amorinda. -
They got a total rave from Sietsema in the VV
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/archives/2009/01/the_early_word_17.php -
Ordered 2 pizzas for delivery from Cataldo's last night and I will agree with the above posters that this place rocks!
Had the Pugliese pizza with sausage, mozzarella and broccoli rabe which was divine and also the Quattro Stagione with mozzarella, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and olives which was equally delicious. This will definitely be my go to delivery pizza place from now on.
Three cheers for great pizza in a one block radius from my house!!! -
I had a chicken parm on a roll for lunch the other day, it was solid.
They deliver right? Wanna try a pizza. -
My wife and I got take-out from here tonight and loved it. We had the pizza with sausage and broccoli rabe - delicious. I also had the chicken soup, which was very tasty, with pasta and vegetables. I spoke to the counter guy, who said that they are open until 10PM, but might consider staying open later, depending on business. The place was crowded and there were plenty of take-out orders lined up. Between Cornelius and thsi place, it seems that the northern end of Vanderbilt is taking off. So much for the recession...
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I feel bad in writing this, I wanted to like Cataldo's, but the food, well it won't be luring me back anytime soon. We ordered two pizza's one with sausage and broccoli rabe, the other with artichokes, mushrooms, olives and more. Neither were good, not even close to good. The most disappointing was the mushroom, artichoke, olive pie. First take away, canned mushrooms not only have no place on a pizza, but they have no place in a restaurant (unless they are marinated porcini's and even then...). How cheap are mushrooms, a few bucks a lb wholesale, why buy canned? Anyway, it was tasteless. The broccoli rabe and sausage looked like a star, but again fell short. For the $13 I'd rather have Amorina, Franny's or even slices from Antonio's...which is something I thought I'd never say. Oh well.
I hope the place gets better and I hope they do well. It was busy, the service was, for the most part, nice and responsive and the neighborhood seems to be embracing it. Good luck to them.
I did go to Cornelius and the bar is great, more drinks than anyone will know what to do with. -
ginsbera113 wrote: I feel bad in writing this, I wanted to like Cataldo's, but the food, well it won't be luring me back anytime soon. We ordered two pizza's one with sausage and broccoli rabe, the other with artichokes, mushrooms, olives and more. Neither were good, not even close to good. The most disappointing was the mushroom, artichoke, olive pie. First take away, canned mushrooms not only have no place on a pizza, but they have no place in a restaurant (unless they are marinated porcini's and even then...). How cheap are mushrooms, a few bucks a lb wholesale, why buy canned? Anyway, it was tasteless. The broccoli rabe and sausage looked like a star, but again fell short. For the $13 I'd rather have Amorina, Franny's or even slices from Antonio's...which is something I thought I'd never say. Oh well.
Wow- you're just the Negative Food Nelly today, aren't you? I have to say though that you're problem lies in the fact that you ordered artichokes on your pizza. Ick poo. [-X and broccoli rabe! For a red sauce kinda place, they're not gonna do California style pizza. That's not what you go to that kinda place for. If you want yer fancy pants, "marinated porcini's" then go down the street to the other places you suggested.
I hope the place gets better and I hope they do well. It was busy, the service was, for the most part, nice and responsive and the neighborhood seems to be embracing it. Good luck to them.
I did go to Cornelius and the bar is great, more drinks than anyone will know what to do with. -
Artichokes okay, but broccoli rabe is actually pretty standard at most red sauce joints, especially with sausage. Sorry if I come off harsh, not my intention, but I was just vastly disappointed. I'm glad to see others enjoy it as it's a tough time for all restaurants now to see any success. It's one thing to say Amorina is better, very different style, but if an Antonio's slice is more appealing then that's not a good sign. Oh well!
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Mushrooms and broccoli rabe is pretty common here. It's really a no brainer. I can't believe they have canned mushrooms those are disgusting!
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Mamacita wrote: Mushrooms and broccoli rabe is pretty common here. It's really a no brainer. I can't believe they have canned mushrooms those are disgusting!
Marinated porcini's are not common "around here" and (not that I've been looking, admittedly), but I haven't seen broccoli rabe sitting on any pies in any of the local spots either. Not that I'd use any of the pizza places as a gauge for real traditional red sauce pizza. Two places for pizza in my mind: Billyburg (hate to admit it) and Bay Ridge. -
Mamacita, thank you for sharing my disgust with canned mushrooms! I was shocked to see them on a pizza or in a restaurant at all!
Go to the low-end (Gino's and Antonio's) and the high-end (Franny's and Amorina) and you will find broccili rabe. Same goes for any red sauce spot in Park Slope, throughout Manhattan and in New Jersey and Westchester. Marinated Porcini's are not common, no one said they were. But those are the only acceptable versions of canned mushrooms in my opinion. -
ginsbera113 wrote: Same goes for any red sauce spot in Park Slope, throughout Manhattan and in New Jersey and Westchester.
Anyone who eats pizza in Jersey deserves what they get. -
haha, touche.
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sorry to hear about ginsbera's bad pizza. trying to reconcile that with the positive voice review. maybe it was because the voice writer had a margherita and ginsbera tried one that was out of their range. i think artichoke's a great pizza topping and would have gone for that myself.
we went last night for the first time, rushing off to bam and wanting something fairly quick. i had the calimari hero, which was nothing fancy but quite good. mrs. joe had the shrimp hero, which was pretty good but not as tasty as the calimari, mainly because the shrimp tasted like your average frozen shrimp, not gone bad but long past fresh.
but overall, not al di la but not bad by any means. byo (so far) made it quite reasonable.
also, i'd read the complaints about the bright lighting and it didn't seem bad in there last night. not romantic dark but not dunkin-donuts flourescent either. maybe they got the message and toned it down?
anyway, we'll be back. we still have al di la for an epicurean splurge but a solid, family-style red-sauce joint is a welcome addition to the hood. -
Ordered a few pizzas from Cataldo's this weekend- I asked for pepperoni and was told they didn't have that- but they did have sopressatta- it was AWESOME.
We ordered take-out from them later that evening- bf moving in, place is a shambles- and they got the order correct, the calamari was very good, the sauce on the heros was good and my chicken parm was great. The owners are family and they were super friendly. We like them! :cheers: -
Perhaps I'd have a different opinion if I ordered a plain pie, very true Smokin Joe. Problem is, even the standard ingredients were faulty in my opinion. The sauce tasted canned and the crust was just limp. On well, maybe a safer bet is a chicken parm, which for the most part I get from Antonio's and that is never great.
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We went for our second visit to Cataldo's at lunchtime today. We were left kind of unimpressed by our first visit (margherita pizza, just OK, same for the veal parm sandwich). But our son wanted pizza, and we wanted a nicer place to sit than Antonio's, so back we went. We were MUCH more impressed this time - ordered the "filetto" pizza which has cherry tomatoes in lieu of sauce, and parmesan in addition to the mozzarella. It was delicious! My husband also had the mussels in tomato sauce, which he enjoyed tremendously.
The place was cavernously empty at noon, though, so I thought I'd spread the word that it is an enjoyable lunchtime meal. The steam tables were loaded with yummy-looking entrees, and the waitress said they were hoping to get a brunch crowd. -
My wife and I went back a second time and were, unfortunately, disappointed. Her chicken parmesan was dry due to insufficient tomato sauce and the roll was subpar. My penne a la vodka was bland and the sauce was thin with very little cream. Still, we loved the pizzas the first time around and have found the staff to be wonderful. I'll give 'em another try, though it seems to be hit or miss with the food.
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also back for second time, and for the most part, still happy with it. started with a calamari appetizer, shared by two of us, probably could have been dinner, excellent. side of broccoli rabe, excellent. went for the quattro stagione pizza and have to agree with ginsbera - what would it cost to have fresh mushrooms? the artichokes and olives were fine (although marinated artichokes instead of canned would have kicked it up a notch), crust very good, sauce fine. with the artichokes and olives already dripping citric acid brine, fresh mushrooms would have made a huge difference. i'm not paying al di la prices so i'm not expecting the world. love it that you can still bring a bottle of wine. but canned mushrooms are a mistake.
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We ordered pizza from Cataldo's the other night and it was really good. I was actually surprised after reading all the reviews.
The pizza was great and not too expensive.
Once I try a second time, I'll let you know. -
Are the pizzas large enough to share, or are they smaller, individual sizes?
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