Joeys Restaurant, Utica NY (long)

[Mike in Rhinebeck]

My wife, son, and I were visiting my daughter at Family Weekend at Hamilton College this weekend and drove to Utica for Friday night dinner. Based upon a recommendation from a Hamilton student who grew up in the area, we chose Joey's Restaurant ("fine Italian dining" as per their web site at www.joeysrestaurant.com). Joey's is an unassuming neighborhood family restaurant in a mainly residential area of Utica. Upon entering at about 6:30 pm we were greeted warmly and promptly, and seated at table in the back room (the front room, which had a small bar, was full except for a 6-top). The back room filled up rapidly and by the time we left, there was a line waiting for tables. and for good reason.

We decided to skip the many specials so we could try some of the dishes unique to the Utica-Rome area. For appetizers, we ordered Italian Greens ($6.95), a mixture of escarole, onions, other geens, and bread crumbs that had been sauteed in oil and garlic, as well as Deep-Fried Calamari ($7.95), which is not unique to Utica but is one of our favorite appetizers. Both were delicious and while we were able to finish the calamari (served with a superior cocktail sauce that nicely blended sweet marinara with horseradish), by the time the Greens came, we had finished our tossed salads and consumed too much of the garlic bread (both hot garlic bread and salad come with every entree). So we left about 1/3 of the greens on the plate, not because we did not like it but because we wanted to save room for what was coming.

And were glad that we did! As the meals were laid before us, we realized that each plate could easily have fed two of us. All the pasta is homemade (I assume on the premises), and it was cooked perfectly. My Chicken Riggies ($8.95 - rigatoni with cubed chicken breast meat, sweet green peppers, and hot cherry peppers in a slightly creamy vodka-like sauce) was superb, chock full of chicken with the riggies cooked al dente. Daughter's Hats with Broccoli ($8.95 - slightly doughy - in a good way! pasta with an indentation that held the intensely garlicky sauce) was likewise out of this world. The broccoli was done perfectly - neither underdone nor too limp. Son's Spaghetti with Meat Sauce ($5.95) plus two homemade meatballs ($1.50) was an enormous plate of pasta with two huge but fluffy meatballs that were easily sliced, chewed, and swallowed with much gusto. Wife's Cavetelli ($7.95) was ordered with meat sauce but came with marinara, which was quite bland compared to the other sauces. The cavetelli, however, were tender and delicious. Despite the high quality of the food, the quantity was so large that we could not finish any of these dishes! And as I surveyed the other tables, it appeared that everybody was taking home nicely wrapped doggie bags. The waitress even surrounded each take-out box with lots of clear plastic wrap to prevent sauce leaking or spilling out during the trip home.

Service was exemplary and our waitress took her time to explain te local dishes to us. We will definitely return to Joeys as we anticipate several trips each year to see our daughter. For those travelling through the area, Joeys is no more than 10-15 minutes (maximum) from the NYS Thruway exit. Directions are available at the web site.