Old School Italian at Angela's

Angela's Ristorante is so old school I could not find an official website or Facebook page. Maybe it doesn't matter. On a Friday night the place filled quickly with regular patrons generating a neighborhood camaraderie that testifies to Angela's staying power.

The decor is a bit dated. It looks like it was established primarily as a pizza and pasta joint and then ventured out to other traditional Italian dishes. Our wonderfully capable and affable waitress told us that the kitchen had been expanded a few years ago.

Welcome to Angela's

The bar/hostess station contains all the basics and generous Manhattans were served to our table. We received menus and were immediately overwhelmed. Pages of offerings and a separate page of specials. We kept looking over the veal selections.

Angela's also features a small wine list. Generally, I find that traditional Italian places have a mediocre wine list with low-end Chiantis and Montepulciano's at sky-high prices. Not here. We had some decent choices from California at prices we could live with.

From some of the dishes served up at other tables we knew portions were large, so we did not order an appetizer. We finally decided upon the Veal Pizzaiola, which was served with a choice of pasta. I chose angel hair tossed with garlic and olive oil.

So here is the thing that really impressed me. Our waitress noticed we had only gotten through half of our Manhattans when we put in our order. She asked if we wanted to have the kitchen wait 5-10 minutes before cooking our meal. We immediately said yes! Such a delight to experience that attention to detail.

We finished our cocktails at a leisurely pace before dinner arrived.

And wow! did dinner arrive. The Veal Pizzaiola was huge. Tender cutlets smothered in a crushed tomato marinara with melted mozzarella. The side of pasta was a generous serving, too, and reeked of garlic in a good way. The dish was everything that I expected: over-the-top and yummy.

A generous serving of Veal Pizzaiola

Italian comfort food with lovely service and delicious leftovers for another night. Being old school has its joys.

Angela's is located at 425 N. Ridge Rd. in the Tuckahoe Shopping Center.