Kenny’s Trattoria

I LOVE KENNY’S SO MUCH !!!
Now now, I am an extremely broke college student making a tad bit over a
minimum wage. With that being said, I love coupons and deals and all of that. But Kenny’s is one of the few places that even though a coupon brought me there, I continue to come back even without a deal for here. BUT I AM VERY SAD that me and the boy BOTH missed the recent groupon they offered :’(
Came here with a
certificate last summer. A nice woman told us they no longer honor these anymore but they still took it for us. I was really excited about this place. Very cozy feel to it also. It was a perfect day out and there was even a fair down the block! Their Gnocchi Gorgonzola was delicious. I never tried anything like it before. We gobbled it down quickly but after awhile the heaviness of it started to hit us. I loved it though. I would definitely try it again. On to the pizza, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE PETER’S FAVORITE. It’s arugula, parm cheese and prosciutto. Words can’t express how good this tastes. Now me and the boy love to try different places offering this (or similar to this) combination on pizza. And we love them all. And Kenny’s is the reason why.
We have tried some of their other pastas and they have been good. Also try their Brick oven shrimp. Total party in your mouth. If i remember correctly, they also have a really good chocolate cake for dessert. The service is always great too.
Give this place a shot, definitely worth it.

Ok place… slow service. Calamari was over salted but the spicy marinara sauce was good.
Warning…they do NOT take cards here. Cash only. Someone needs to update the listing here.

Went here using a Groupon deal. Twas a good deal, but the restaurant — as Unilocal would say — was merely A-​OK.
The pizza was excellent, and if I go back this will be my order. It was a white pie with mozz, ricotta, mushrooms, and truffle oil. DAMN good. My girlfriend and I shared some shrimp fra diavolo with linguine. It was bland as hell, I can’t put it any other way. The chocolate cake dessert was decidedly from a box.
That pizza was really good, but everything else was really regular.

This place is more like a 4.5 almost 5 stars! I’ll update after I try the pizza :)
Came here with my cousin the other night, we both ordered the Gemelli Primavera, she had the marinara sauce and I had the fantastic light cream sauce. The pasta is all homemade very tender, fresh — outstanding! The vegetables the dish came with were perfect — if I were given a list of veggies to choose from those would have been exactly it! Artichokes, mushrooms and yellow squash YUMMM!!! All went beautifully together with the sauce and noodles. My cousin also loved her food.
We were given a plate full of warm delicious, lightly oiled and seasoned bread, the kind you can’t resist — good thing they were generous about bringing seconds. Apparently they make their pizzas on this freshly made dough — I CANNOT WAIT to go back and try their pizza! I was even surprised how much I enjoyed the glass of wine I ordered, my cousin had a nice cold Peroni.
The place is pretty hidden as mentioned in other reviews, the inside is intimate without the frills (paper napkins, cheap silverware) but cute décor — you couldn’t feel more comfortable, our waitress was very sweet and the gentleman we spoke with (might be the owner?) was so friendly!

Read good reviews on Unilocal for this place and I now know why! It was one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve been to. My friend and I split a pizza and pasta dish, I don’t know what was better. The price was very reasonable. I can’t say enough good.
Real Brooklyn Italian food. Yum!

I’ve passed by Kenny’s a number of times and always thought the place looked interesting and that I should try it. but never got around to it. When I saw they had a groupon, I decided it was time.
We ordered the Brick Oven Shrimp to start, Gnocchi Gorgonzola (with truffle oil) and Tartufo Bianco (goat cheese pizza with mushrooms and truffle oil) for the meal. Everything was excellent. The gnocchi had a good texture and the gorgonzola sauce was super rich and set off well by the truffle flavor. The pizza crust was great, the toppings melted together just right.
I’m glad I finally got to Kenny’s, and will definitely be going back.

My dad bought me a groupon for Kenny’s Trattoria, but, honestly, I had passed it and wasn’t in a hurry to use it. But, my roommate and I were being cheap, so I figured why not?
And, it was amazing. Pizza was around $ 12 — we each got our own pie which is about 8″ and they both were tasty. We obviously stuffed our faces and ate the whole thing, but I would have been really full with 3 of the 4 slices.
My roomie got a red pizza with prosciutto, argula and parm on it. Excellent — the red sauce was a little sweet and it went really nice with everything. I got broccoli rabe with ricotta — mmm… tasty.
I would def. recommend anyone around here to get some pizza here.

Walked in here on a Tuesday night with a large group. It’s a small place, but there was only one other table so there was no wait at all.
It’s sort of off the beaten path so you can easily miss it if you’re not looking. Since we came with a big party we ordered a lot of food so I got to try several things and I have to say it was all super. Prices are very reasonable as well.
Highlights included:
Gnocchi in an insane cheesy truffle oil sauce
Shrimp wrapped in prosciutto
Cavatelli with sausage & broccoli rabe
Pizzamakers Pizza — goat cheese, olives, eggplant
They only offer 2 red wines but both were very good. #Win

Tried this for the first time tonight. The hubs had read really great reviews and turns out it is just as good as all you Unilocal!ers say!
The incredibly brief wine and beer list is honestly a welcome change to the pages and pages of mediocre bottles. 2 good reds, a few beers, fine by me.
We had calamari w/​fra d’avalo sauce to start, then shared Chicken Milanese & Tartufo Bianco pizza. Everything was great. The calamari was nice and crispy, not too greasy, and the sauce was a little sweet and a little spicy. Likes it. The chicken was a little on the small side, but really really tasty. Perfectly cooked with lots of arugula — I approve. The only bummer that isn’t really a bummer is that the Tartufo Bianco, a white pie with mushrooms, only had Cremini mushrooms. A mushroom variety would’ve been nice. I enjoyed the truffle oil it’s finished with.
To get to the point, the food was good, the service was good, we’ll go back sooner than later.

I’ve come here many times and always loved it. The ravioli of the day is handmade, fresh and amazing. The brick oven pizzas have been a great addition to the menu — they are the real deal. I like simple wine selection, too.
The crowd is pleasantly unpretentious, which is a real plus around these parts.

First of all, DO NOT click on that
link that’s being advertized at the top of this page. I bought this certificate a while ago, and finally decided to use it and check out this neighborhood joint. Much to our dismay, the owner (is he Kenny?) told us he ended his run on
9 months or so ago but they continue to put his restaurant on their website even after telling them not to. So our certificates are now useless. However, he was a nice dude, even though he looked a bit grumpy before we even got there. He offered us free glasses of wine to make it up to us, which I thought was super nice of him even though this clearly wasn’t his fault.
I love me a good pizza; and after reading someone’s Unilocal review about how Kenny’s kicks Motorino’s ass, I knew I had to check it out (I wasn’t crazy about Motorino’s). This truly felt like a place that existed in williamsburg before all the hipsters moved in. The décor leaves much to be desired. It’s a small area with a few tables, dark, kind of a weird musky smell, and the walls were decorated with pictures that were obviously downloaded from the internet. If you’re someone who cannot have a good ‘dining experience’ unless you’re in some kind of amazing ambience, then this is obviously not the place for you. Fortunately, I’m not this person.
I ordered the Tartufo Bianco (mozzarella, goat cheese, wild mushrooms, truffle oil) pizza, simply because I will eat an old leather shoe if you smother it in truffle oil. My guy ordered the Jillie’s special (sausage with sundried tomatoes pizza). The crust was just perfect in its thinness and crispiness. The truffle oil and wild mushrooms made my pizza so earthy and delicious; but I wondered if it would have been better without the goat cheese. My guy loved his pizza so much, he wouldn’t even do the ‘eat half and swap with your partner’ thing that couples do. He just grunted at me while stuffing his face and told me to stick to our own pizzas.
I don’t normally like comparing restaurants… but Kenny’s to me is a small notch above Motorino’s since it was perfectly seasoned and cooked; whereas my Motorino’s pizza was slightly bland. The two pizzas have completely different feels to me though. Motorino’s is the new, hip attempt at an old classic. Kenny’s is the old classic.

I like many others have walked by Kenny’s many a times and not stepped inside. During the summer the sound of the garden in the back sounded enticing but yet I just couldn’t commit.
Finally I went last night and dove in.
There was just one other group in there throughout the whole meal and it felt a little too quiet. BUT it was a dreary rainy night and I completely appreciated the fast seating and the fast service.
There wine list is one bottle of red and probably one bottle of white too. Makes it easy to decide on what you’d like.
I was very happy with my mushroom pizza selection. Thin crust, real nice mozzarella chesse and a delicious red sauce. I ate half and stuffed the rest in my bag for later.
Definitely coming back and you should check it out too.

I must admit that I have passed this place tons (probably hundreds) of times in the three years that I have been living in the area & I never knew that it was a restaurant. From the street, and this is on a odd place of a street, it sort of looks like a deli/​bodega since the front door is a step or two off the street making it difficult to see inside. After scoping some Unilocal reviews, I decided to give it a try.
Before getting into the details, I will say that I am a huge fan of Motorino, so any reviews that compare the two seem to be a little off base as their dining experiences are very different. Yes, the pizza here is pretty fantastic, and our pasta (cavatelli w/​sausage & broccoli rabe), though a bit al dente for my taste was solid. We started with a wonderful salad that had prosciutto wrapped shrimp — divine. The «pizzamakers» pie was topped with chunks of tomato, olive, goat cheese, and eggplant — yum! The dough had a nice crunch, but was not too bready or dull. At $ 12, I can see how one would compare this to either Motorino, Robertas, or Fornino. I’d put it right behind Motorino.
The seating area inside is very plain, a few printed and framed photos adorn the walls, and the radio plays fairly loudly. We had the good fortune of 70’s night on the stereo.
My girl and I were one of 2 couples in the place, Kenny was obviously bummed that it was slow «due to a ballgame», but our server was quite nice and we were offered some specials on wine ($ 4/​glass) due to the slow night.
Honestly, I’d like to give Kenny’s 4 stars, and yes, I will be back, but it was just a little odd listening to Cher in what is positioned as a family-​run Italian spot. Cash only, when a location serves alcohol, is also reason for a star deduction. Still, try it out if you’ve been to some of the other neighborhood standards and are looking to try something new.

Dear Kenny’s Trattoria,
As my plane landed last night I wept. I haven’t been home in 9 months and I’m prone to getting emotional over seeing things like Brooklyn and Queens from high up above. After all, I used to joke about having an umbilical-​like attachment to the NYC skyline.
As I exited LAG, I first kissed the sidewalk. I jest. Instead, I got in my brother’s car and immediately headed your way. You see, I had not eaten all day in anticipation for having the appetite to eat an entire Wild Mushroom Pizza that I normally can only manage half of.
I took my first slice and folded it with much love. I savored the first bite, the second and the third. But after that it’s all a blur.
And yes, I ate the whole damn thing!

I love you Kenny’s!
My boyfriend and I passed this little place while on a walk and decided to give it a try – now I make sure to tell everyone about this off the beaten path (well, kinda) gem.
We were seated in the beautiful back patio, and because it was one of the last days of fall it was pretty empty, and we got to swing on the lovely rocking bench (what are these really called? i am stumped) while waiting for our food.
We started off with a bottle of a moderately priced red, maybe their montepulciano (i think? it was a while ago) which was great! After a pretty quick wait, out came the fried calamari. oh my. so crispy! so delicious! i dream about you, my little friends from the sea…
We both ordered pasta dishes and stuffed our faces like the little piglets we are – they offered a nice heap of fancy parm at the table which was a great addition, and the pasta was fresh and amazing– I had the gemelli in a creamy mushroom sauce and the boy had Chicken Milanese. Everything was cooked to perfection, perfect pasta to sauce ratio, and seasoned just the way I like – not too heavy or in your face, but nothing close to bland either.
Il Passatore (which is also phenomenal) used to be my favorite place for Italian in the neighborhood but Kenny’s is my new love, and definitely the best around Williamsburg.
Can’t wait to try the pizza!

Possibly one of New York City’s best kept secrets.
They now have amazing brick oven pizza ala Napoli’s Pizza Vera. Great simple traditional Italian dishes made with fresh ingredients. The back yard takes you right out of the city.
Motorino has nothing on this place, but I hope those people who eat there stay away from here.

3.5 stars…
I like that there’s a clean and friendly mom and pop place like this were you can get real homemade Italian dishes at reasonable prices. (I just wish the food was a little better so I could give them a solid 4 or 5 star rating).
The night I went there was no waitress so the chef (Kenny?), who despite looking like a high school janitor was incredibly friendly and pleasant, was the one helping us as well as making the food (impressive). I was a little disappointed that there were a couple dishes I couldn’t order because they were out of certain ingredients. My shrimp and spaghetti dish was pretty decent but nothing outstanding. I also tried the classic spaghetti and tomato sauce which tasted very fresh but was incredibly watery and I would probably have given Kenny’s 3 stars had I ordered the dish myself. The homemade ravioli and pizza looked very good though. I’ll most likely be back at some point to try something else on the menu, including what I originally wanted which was a pork tenderloin with a red wine reduction and a potato croquette.
Update: I came back and got the pork dish and was also able to try the pizza, both were fresh and homemade, they weren’t outstanding but they were still good and priced just right.
I also got a chance to take a look at the bathroom which unfortunately was pretty disgusting and saw a couple silverfish while I was washing my hands.

I liked this place. I go to OLMC every Sunday and always felt obligated to go. After watching the Godfather it was a lock… I just needed to go italian and it was super close.
It’s a nice and friendly atmosphere. I ordered Cavatelli and my fiancée ordered the gemelli bolognese. The only criticism I had was that my pasta wasn’t salted enough during cooking. At home I like to cook my pastas in near dead sea like salt water. It was an odd night thought because there were all Asian diners… Japanese I think.
Anyway this place is nice!

Last night I came back here with a group of friends: an old professor, his talented artist wife, and three of us former (one soon to be) graduate students. So you can imagine the sophistication — but there was a bottle of wine involved (pretty good pinot noir) — and amid the conversation about the Situationists and the «Goog» (Guggenheim Museum), on the topic of a woman choosing not to get married, there was:
«Why have a pig at home when all you want is the sausage???» Hahaha — you know, the woman’s equivalent to «Why buy the cow when you can have the milk for free?» But I digress. Our group may be really loud, but they love us, and it would advised that you come in here not looking for a frigid, quiet meal.
This place is like heaven to me; it has so much character. During the summer, it has an inviting and carefree atmosphere, especially with the backyard garden, and yesterday in the cold, it now has an even warmer one. This time, Kenny finally has a brick oven for his fabled authentic brick oven pizza.
While waiting to order and defrost, our bread basket consisted of thin, sliced crust drizzled in olive oil, a preview of what the aforementioned pizza crust will taste like. I split the tartufo bianco pizza (it’s an 8-​inch, four-​sliced individual pizza) with my friend, and of course the unparalleled ravioli.
The tartufo bianco pizza was like eating a dream! Delicately thin crust, mozzarella and goat cheeses, wild mushrooms, and truffle oil. OMG. But restraint teaches me to NOT inhale my food this time, since each bite promises you to LIVE IN THE MOMENT, with good truffle oil!!!
The ravioli is never a let down, and for my friend, it was her first time, so I had to take a reluctant pause from eating, to take a mental picture of her first bite. Amazing huh? The ingredients are freshly prepared — and believe me, I know fresh; I take public transportation — the tomato sauce, the dough, oh yes, fresh.
Kenny himself is a character. He has a default expression of Annoyed, which adds to his charm because he can surprise you. Sometimes he’ll surprise us with cannoli, this time, it was chocolate cake, one of which had a match stuck in it, «sorry, I don’t have a candle» for my friend who completed her master’s. Too funny. And the cake was decadent, not too sweet, homemade, topped off with some confectioner’s sugar.
All in all, a dining experience that surpasses any other, and is certainly more than simply a meal.

Pizza is back!!!
Kenny’s has always been the go to for good Italian food. But… Finally… He’s got his pizza oven back!!!
Kenny’s pizza rocks. We’ve missed it so…