“From brunch to dinner, this stylish and sophisticated Italian restaurant brings small plates of Venetian taste to the Lower East Side.”
Everyone has a go-to Italian restaurant, and for passersby like Ly Ngo, Sam Giordano, Laura Brown, and Caitlin McMullen, that restaurant is Bacaro. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Division Street restaurant has proven its staying power in a city of amazing eateries.
Bacaro’s wine bar and small plates (“cichetti”) are modeled after the “bacaros” of Venice—workingmen’s pubs that serve snacks and small glasses of wine.Some of the reliable favorites on its dinner menu include baccala mantecato (codfish with polenta) and pollo alla milanese (fried chicken cutlets).
“Bacaro is the kind of sultry setting that pairs well with any of the Italian wines stored in the restaurant’s wine cellar. Customers can find an escape from the bustling streets of the Lower East Side to this rustic basement scene.”
Owner, Kama Geary, has now been running Bacaro for ten years and is still as enthusiastic and welcoming to her customers as ever, which makes it no surprise as to why customers keep on coming back.
Bring a date and enjoy the candlelit European feel of the restaurant, where the windows open during the summer and the nights gets more intimate in its underground labyrinth.
Visit BACARO at 136 DIVISION St, New York, NY 10002.
Words by Jessica Jacolbe