The Best Meatballs in New York Are...

My mother's! They're just timelessly delicious, made with old-world dedication and a hint of parmesan.

But the second best meatballs in town are at Bar Stuzzichini (928 Broadway), and believe me, I've tried every single one in town!

You know I never do restaurant recommendations, so this place has to be pretty special to get me out of my curry hovels and three-salads-for-$7.99 joints near Bloomingdale's. There's just something so, I don't know, zingy and yummy and adorable about the meatballs at Stuzzichini (a name that comes from the Italian for "to pick," by the way. And you do pick--a lot!). You just want to take them home and adopt them, but you're too busy wolfing them down like a porco.

And all the other stuff excelled too, like the fried artichokes and some zesty smoked cheese thing I had. End of food criticism. Back to my meatballs. Oink oink.