The best Restaurants On Arthur Avenue--The True Little Italy In The Bronx

"What hits you first behind every restaurant door on Arthur Avenue is the aroma--each one different, perhaps the smell of long-cooked tomato sauce, or the smoky smell of pizza coming out of the oven or the perfume of basil floating in the air atop gnocchi al pesto --not to mention the baked bread and sweet cookies in the bakeries."

"ENZO'S ( 2339 Arthur Avenue; 718-733-4455). Enzo's is one of the larger restaurants on the avenue and has the loveliest outdoor tables nine months of the year. They do a creditable pizza you may enjoy at the bar counter, but the real draw are the pastas like potato gnocchi in a verdant pesto and the Roman rigatoni alla carbonara made with egg and Pecorino cheese studded with crisp guancialebacon. Chicken alla calabrese with sausages, onions, mushrooms and plenty of garlic is outstanding."

"ROBERTO'S ( 603 Crescent Avenue; 718-733-9503). Along with Zero Otto Nove ( below), Roberto Paciullo owns this handsome trattoria with the most wide-ranging menu of specialties based on the cooking of his native Salerno, with the best dishes listed on a blackboard menu each day, like the warm shrimp with creamy cool burrata, the radiatore pasta with porcini, cherry tomatoes and breadcrumbs steamed inside tin foil ( in cartoccio), a plate of tubettini with clams, octopus and fava beans. Roberto's makes its own desserts--the cannoli are terrific--and also has the area"

Arthur Avenue and East 187th Street in the Belmont section of the Bronx form a historic Little Italy distinguished by powerful kitchen aromas and abundant bakeries. The neighborhood began with Southern Italian immigrants who worked on local landmarks and later expanded with Eastern European arrivals serving Slovenian, Albanian and Croatian foods. Restaurants emphasize traditional Italian specialties such as long-cooked tomato sauces, pizzas, gnocchi al pesto and Roman carbonara. Notable establishments include Enzo's, celebrated for outdoor seating, pizzas and pastas, and Roberto's, known for Salerno-based specialties, seafood plates and house-made desserts like cannoli.

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