Anthony’s

This was «our place». Me and my boyfriend loved Anthony’s and wish to see it make a triumphant return! We always measure every restaurant to Anthony’s «the gold standard» to quote my boyfriend Dave and yet we can’t find one that comes close in the impeccable service, consistent food quality and romantic atmosphere. They had the best chicken piccata that I’ve ever had-​a smooth thick sauce brimming with capers and garlic smothering the tender white meat chicken that just melted in my mouth. They always had rotating specials and would even tailor a dish if you asked them too. The staff was so friendly and treated us like family. Joe the owner always checked in on our dining experience and he knew how to pick the right staff. We miss Ryan, Omar, Marvin, Chris and the gang. We especially loved the garden outside. I cherish the memories that me and Dave created there, many happy times that forever live on in my heart. I pray for them to re-​open since the restaurant that took its place went out of business after just a year.

I am sad to report that Anthony’s is no more.
It’s under new ownership and the name is now «Amira’s.» The pizza is mediocre. I loved Anthony’s because you could tell that the crust was made from scratch, that the cheese was farm-​fresh, that an actual Chef prepared it for you… now it’s just meh.

As a Brooklyn raised gal, I had my share of pizzas. That said, Anthony’s pizza does not disappoint. Fresh and tasty.

So, this review is long overdue. Anthony’s catered our wedding and we go there at least once a month. Joe, the manager, was a superstar for us, as the point person at our reception, and whenever we’re in, if he’s working, he always comes by to say hello.
My husband and I love that we have a place in the neighborhood where we can go where we feel welcome. Many of the staff worked at our wedding, and are very friendly when we come in. (We got lots of positive reviews from our guests on the food, by the way.)
The food is great. We usually go with the pasta dishes, actually, though I’ve had the pizza, and it’s solid as well. Good bread before dinner, especially when it’s fresh.
The staff work hard, and though their waitstaff has gone through some turnover since we started coming about a year ago, I recognize many of the bartenders and bussers as having been around for a while, and they really hump it to get the job done, refill drinks, clear plates.
Pretty affordable, and they have a nice, cozy interior dining room. Lovely back garden, which you should try to enjoy while the weather’s still nice. Most nights, there’s not too much of a wait, though we do tend to roll in pretty early for that reason. Earlier does skew toward families, but later has a nice romantic vibe.
If you’re looking for pleasing Italian food, not too fussy or pricey, and great service, try Anthony’s.

We generally order delivery when in the mood for pizza, but we had some family in town who wanted a «New York pizza» dining experience. They wanted to stay in our neighborhood, and embarrassingly I realized we do not have a go-​to dine-​IN pizza place. For shame! So to the Unilocal I went and found Anthony’s. And it was a success! We sat out on back patio, which was lovely (until a couple families with young kids came in and the place got noisy — but we were eating an early dinner and, well, it IS Park Slope after all, so I digress on that one…) We ordered a couple different types/​styles of pies and there were thumbs up all around.

I’ve eaten here many times over the years. I remember the pizza being good. That said, last week I ordered the pasta primavera, usually a simple and fresh dish. But sadly Anthony’s served me a dish of food that tasted like bad Chinese food. The pasta was under a pile of cooked carrot sticks and broccoli and in a peppery, dull sauce. All the aspects of spring were lost in this dish, ‘primavera’ meaning spring, is intended to be a light, fresh meal, not a plate full of winter vegetables in a weird sauce.
The other dish delivered to mutable was the special of the night, salmon. It wasn’t mentioned that the salmon would arrive on a bed of shrimp. Unfortunately there was no redemption to be found in the flavors of this «special.» Just plain, yuck.
And one last point. It’s the summer, finally there are good tomatoes available. Does the mozzarella with tomato and basil really need to come with crunchy, unripe tomatoes?
I’d suggest working on cooking things that actually taste good.
Maybe I should have tried the *marinara*.
On the upside the staff is friendly.

I know you don’t have the time to read my other reviews and therefore develop some context as to why I would give this place five stars.
So…let me tell you!
I have niches of food my happiness orbits around. Definitive dishes, if you will, that I try everywhere and which I judge a restaurant. Reubens, Filets, Eggs Benedict, Oysters, etc. More importantly, though, it is the constituent parts that matter most, let alone the actual restaurant type you are at.
You go to a seafood place and complain about the steak, you deserve it. Go to Italian place and get a pizza and are unhappy, you deserve it (look up the history of pizza and compare it to your preconceived notions of what a good pizza should be. Pizza Margherita… look it up). And so on.
Not to mention Eggs Benedict with a chalky, asinine sauce is akin to frozen, microwaved fish sticks. A Reuben with overly greasy bread or soggy sauerkraut is worse than your parents walking in on your first time and mistaking it for you weeping cause you just got some really bad news.
It is the sauce that binds us, as my mother would say.
And with Italian food, there is NO yardstick, NOTHING comparable, NONpareil… to the quality of the restaurant’s red sauce. You know… the marina.
That is how I judge an Italian place. Or judge Hollandaise for a breakfast joint. Or judge Bearnaise at a chop house. Or ponzu at a sushi bar.
I cannot express to you theirs.
Just thick enough, just acidic enough, just sweet enough, just herbal enough, just umami enough, just warm enough. Garlic.
Their marina is the Hemingway of marina. Understated in it’s delivery, yet the depth comes out the more you savor it. I have no higher praise for food than to compare it to Hem.
But moving on. I should mention we had the manicoti. And this is where it gets dicey. It is a given in my mind that pasta should be perfectly cooked (you over cook pasta in my house is as much a sin as over cooking the rice (being Hawaii’in and all)) and the filling be perfect as a baseline. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here writing about it, or giving a much lower score regardless of the Sauce.
But much like the elation you might feel if you won the lottery, so did I when I found the pasta and the filling perfect.
So, you combine the sauce PLUS the service PLUS the pasta PLUS the décor PLUS the atmosphere PLUS the price point… and you have a five star restaurant in my opinion.
As an aside, since obviously need to make this review longer, I have to say something. When I ate here for the first time, I was left with an odd feeling I couldn’t quite place. I now realize what it is.
It reminds me of when I lived in Japan for a summer a few years back and had sashimi for the first time (in Japan. Been loving it for years here). I felt like that even though I had had it many times, it was something brand new I had never experienced.
Same feeling eating at Anthony’s. I never knew Italian food could be this good.

After the Tropfest at Prospect Park, my friends wanted to grab dinner so I stumbled onto Anthony’s through Unilocal.We sat in the Garden which is towards the back of the restaurant. It was an intimate and cute atmosphere.
Me and one of my friends went to use the restroom first then came back to our table. Our server kept coming to our table to see if we were ready to order. Too attentive is annoying!
I wanted to eat something light so I shared a Margherita pizza with Sausage topping with one of my friends and washed it down with Peroni Draft Beer… a tall glass for $ 5 is pretty cheap I guess… I am not an alcoholic lol My friend got the House Red Wine and it was good except the after taste.
My other friend got the Lasagna and felt it was quite salty. She took the rest in a doggy bag. Overall it was a nice dining experience.
I might come back if I am ever in the neighborhood.

Solid, unpretentious, non-​overreaching italian dining.
Good ingredient quality, nice, semi-​traditional menu that won’t break your wallet.
Recommendations:
* Penne with sausage and broccoli rabe
* Linguini with white clam sauce
* Good ‘olé spaghetti with meatballs
* Sunday leftovers special

Hmmm. Disappointing. We had the old fashioned square pie with mushrooms (which were fresh, for anyone who prefers them over the canned variety) and while it was fine, it was nothing special. Crust was actually a little too thin, so the interior pieces were super soggy. Also had the fried artichokes, which we were hoping would be a pile of crispy crunchy goodness. Alas, they were three breaded whole hearts — more like shake n bake than like their better Roman equivalent.
I can honestly say we make far better pizza at home, so we are unlikely to return. Prices were fine, place was clean, staff was friendly, but that’s really about where it all ends. If you are looking for great Sicilian style pizza, head to Spumoni Gardens — worth the extra schlep!

I had a dinner date here last week and had a lovely time. It wasn’t too crowded and the waitstaff was amazing. The restaurant was dimly lit and there were mostly couples in the place.
We shared the scallops which came with veggies in a lemony garlic sauce. There were AMAZING.
We stuck with the penne vodka with prosciutto as an entrée. And shared a bottle of Cabernet.
Great date spot.

We went to Anthony’s tonight for a casual meal, and were extremely disappointed with the food! I got the manicotti, and it was completely burned with some sauce thrown on top to cover up the black marks. We also got the gnocchi, which tasted closer to a pretzel then potato pasta. Again, covered up with a sauce that tasted like the stock tomato sauce bought from Sysco. The wait staff was nice and replaced the burned meal (and the two flat sodas we had to send back), but then charged us an outrageous amount for a small salad with a little chicken. Decent service, but the food left a LOT to be desired!

Anthony’s is great. It is a cozy, warm space with brick walls. There can be a wait on weekends, but it’s worth it. I’ve been here a few times with my mom and her friends for lunch and dinner. Mom loves the eggplant here. Their sauce is delicious, the owner’s wife comes in and makes it herself. The manicotti is creamy goodness. Meatballs tell you a lot about a chef and these are on the money.
Just had lunch there the other day with my best friend. We we the early and there were only two other tables full, so the chef was kind enough to fry our calamari appetizer (normally it’s served grilled), it was cooked perfectly. We also split a pizza, half meatball, half white with spinach. I felt the meatballs were a little too crispy from the wood oven but the white spinach side was out of this world.
I am definitely going back to try other dishes. I totally recommend this place.

Recently renovated. Pizza tasted good however it was watery and soggy. Nice open back yard seating however there was only 1 waiter who seldom came to the back, service was slow.

I’ve not tried any of the non-​pizza dishes here, so take that for what it’s worth. On the upside, Anthony’s has (apparently) remodeled recently and the results look nice. Then again, it doesn’t really feel like a place with any character either. It lacks the grit and dive-​y appeal of by-​the-​slice joints and doesn’t have the warmth and charm of a legit italian/​pizza place. The outdoor space behind the restaurant is nice enough but, overall, it’s just not a space that does it for me.
As for the pies, they are decent but nothing special. For delivery, I much prefer Peppinos which uses higher quality ingredients, has a better sauce, and makes a far superior crust. For dine-​in, you just can’t touch Giuseppina’s or Toby’s, there’s no question that those two restaurants offer the best pies in the area.

Three stars for the pizza, which is pricey but quite good. The pasta, however, is another story. Bland, flavorless, quite yucky. We’ve tried it twice and both times left a bunch behind. It’s just not worth the calories to eat such mediocre food. One reviewer said that the lasagna was so icky it was like something they would make at home. I would say that anything I make at home would be loads better than any pastas from here.
Go for the pizza, but steer clear of the pasta.

Great neighborhood joint. Simple menu, but with enough variety to satisfy most. Thoughtful beer selection.
Pizza is wonderful, nice crust… very thin and crispy. Great toppings. I got a Vesuvio and it was awesome. Omar the waiter was great.
Glad to have this place in the hood.

The décor is lovely. The outdoor space is quite nice. The service is prompt and friendly. But the Lasagna… oh boy. l’m no cook, but dammit, I can make better. I couldn’t finish it. And I’m like Mikey… I’ll eat anything.
Since I’m only looking for a couple of slices of pizza at most, all these pizza restaurants in Park Slope are lost on me. I was so disappointed with such a pasta basic, I’m not willing to try anything else here, sorry to say.

Great little treasure.
Never a wait and always great pizza
I only come here if im in the mood for a romatic night out of pizza, great atmosphere to have a pizza pie with your honey.
If you would like a salad to start– i recoomend the mother in law.
love it! with some shaved Parm Cheese.

I had heard great things about Anthony’s and, man, did I want to love it. And I tried. I really, truly did. But after having dinner recently, I’m really starting to question the tastes of those who led me here.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve had Italian food throughout my years, but I can tell you it’s been more than any other type of cuisine, including American. Specifically Southern Italian, mind you — so I guess you can say I’ve a good taste for the Neapolitan fare Anthony’s is offering. It pains me to say that this was some of the most boring and least flavorful Italian I’ve ever had.
The mozzarella and tomato appetizer was not fresh, and both linguini dishes (my girlfriend’s with white clam sauce and mine, a special, in pesto) were bland and watered-​down. The pasta, which, to their credit, was cooked fine, appeared to almost have no sauce on it, until I found thin, soupy dregs at the bottom of my bowl once I was done. I typically respect restaurants with basic menus like Anthony’s, as it is a good indication that they have perfected this selected set of recipes. But this was not the case. Sure, I ordered a special, but my girlfriend’s dish — let’s just say I’ve had bolder clam sauce from a can. Oh, and where was the salt? I had to add a healthy amount on my own because I literally didn’t taste any, which is just unheard of.
Let me take a step back. I am partially to blame. I should’ve ordered something in red sauce, something meaty, or a pizza — this is true. I should’ve known better and if I find myself at Anthony’s again, I promise to right my wrong. But, unfortunately, that can’t excuse them for what I was served. A restaurant is only as strong as its weakest dish. For Anthony’s sake, let’s hope that was the dish I ordered.