La Mela Ristorante
http://www.lamelarestaurant.com/
167 Mulberry St
New York, NY 10013
Meh. But a fun meh.
Imagine that Saturday Night Live made a parody of Italian restaurants
like they did of that Cheeboorger place. Now imagine someone made a
parody of *that*. That's La Mela. Pictures of celebrities, red and
white plastic tablecloths, a guy who only knows three chords singing
Sinatra, the whole bit. They even have a specialty feature for
bachelorette parties involving a salami and light bulbs.
Unfortunately,
most of the food was terrible. The salad was the star of the show. A
basic iceberg lettuce with tomatoes; they pick a nice oil and vinegar
though, so it's good. My tortellini came out a bag and was topped with
sauce from a jar. The bolognaise was better but not by much. The wine
was plonk.
You'll laugh a lot, though, and it's cheap by Little Italy standards. You're probably not in little Italy for the food anyways.
