New Restaurant on Upper West Side: Deans

After watching boy 1 and his hockey team beat the dreaded "Sweden" team, the lovely wife headed off to the theater and boy 1 and I were left to our own devices. Boy 2, in case you were wondering, had slipped off to Fire Island with our uptown friends. After a trip to Game Stop, we noticed that there was a new restaurant on the Upper West Side! We were hungry, they promised pizza and pasta, and we sat down.

The restaurant is called Dean's and it just opened Monday (215 W 85th Street, NY, NY 10024 [Broadway/Amsterdam]: 212-875-1100). They are the second Dean's restaurant, the first being located at 801 2nd Avenue.

When we sat down, I did not yet know about the other Dean's. But I was soon thinking that the owner's of Dean's must know something about running a restaurant: despite the lack of menus (no table was getting more than one per two guests), the service was quick and professional. Although it merely looks large on first inspection, in fact the place is huge, with a "dog leg
full of seating hidden from view. The menu (you can look at the East Side Dean's Menu here) includes both "family size" as well as individual portions: most of the standard Southern Italian favorites are listed. They also sell wood burning pizza.

The food was quite tasty, in a familiar family kind of way. The Cesar salad had fresh lettuce, and plenty of croûtons and cheese. I ordered the pasta e fagioli, which, while not the best I ever had, was really quite good (I like mine with more beans and less pasta). Boy 1 had chicken parmesean, which we both liked but I thought was a rather skimpy portion. I had linguine with red clam sauce, which I liked so much I would have again. They use Manila clams, but this is understandable in Manhattan for a $12.50 dish.

I am definitely going to return to Deans with boy 2 and the lovely wife: in fact I would take a whole variety of boys, teams and families. I am curious as to how large the family sized entree are and I would like to try to the pizza and some of the other pasta dishes. My curiosity alone should make you try this place.