Gargiulo's

Gargiulo's opened in Coney Island in 1907, moved to West 15th Street in 1930, and has belonged to the Russo family since 1965, who marked its centennial in 2007. The main dining room, up a short flight of stairs from the bar, is the grand old kind: very high ceilings, chandeliers, arched mirrored windows and a large cherub keeping watch, with waiters in tuxedos working a room that has hosted generations of weddings, christenings and Sunday dinners.

The house pasta is penne Pasqualina, with zucchini, onion, prosciutto, fresh tomato and cream, a 1980s creation that never left the menu. Start with baked clams or a stuffed artichoke, then red snapper or chicken scarpariello, and finish with cannoli piped to order. Then comes the tombola: at the end of the meal, tables of eight or fewer may draw a die from a red plastic pineapple holding ninety numbers, and if yours comes up, dinner — not drinks, tax or tip — is on the house.