Saggio

Saggio opened on West 181st Street in 2010 and quietly became the Heights' default answer to "somewhere nice tonight" — a narrow, warm room of exposed brick and low light near Fort Washington Avenue, serving handmade pasta, Italian-leaning cocktails, and an all-Italian wine list at neighborhood prices.

It is the rare uptown restaurant that works equally well for a weekend brunch, a second date, and a parents-in-town dinner. Pair it with a late-afternoon walk in Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters mile; the restaurant sits right on the way home.