STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Nothing screams “Staten Island cuisine” quite like pasta.
For our third Best of Staten Island category of 2024, we asked our readers to tell us where we can find the best pasta dishes on Staten Island.
After 39 spots were nominated on our social pages, the voting began and our winners were determined.
The top three vote-getters were Violette’s Cellar in Grant City, Rustic Pizza & Pasteria in Grant City and Top Tomato in Great Kills.
The Advance/SILive.com recently visited each spot to find out what makes them the best on the Island.
Violette’s Cellar, 2271 Hylan Blvd., Grant City, 718-650-5050
Another Best Of contest, another top-three finish for chef and restaurateur Peter Botros.
“It’s great to be recognized by so many of our loyal customers,” Botros said, whose other restaurant, Rustic Pizza & Pasteria, also finished in the top three of our reader poll. “Both of our restaurants make such excellent, hand-made pasta.
“But I think Violette’s, overall, has the best food you can find at a restaurant on Staten Island.”
Botros said he and his staff tinker with the menu at Violette’s three to four times per yer, but these three pasta dishes always pop up as “must haves” for his customers.
“We offer a lot of different types of cuisine and elevated flavors at Violette’s,” Botros said. “From Latin flavors to Asian flavors, our tapas and sides — all of it is rich and diverse.
“But our Italian pasta dishes really have captured the hearts of our customers.”
Those amazing pasta dishes include the “Shrimp and Crab Tagliolini,” “House-made Ricotta Cavatelli” and “Spicy Vodka Rigatoni.”
“These are your traditional Italian dishes, taken to the next level,” Botros said.
Botros said that Violette’s Cellar — which will be rebranding to “Violette’s” in the coming weeks and focusing on contemporary American and authentic Italian dishes — will keep drawing hungry eaters back in after they try these pasta dishes.
“We want to thank everyone who has tried these and voted,” he said. “But if you haven’t yet, come down here and I promise you’ll be hooked.”
Rustic Pizza & Pasteria, 97 Lincoln Ave., Grant City, 212-425-2623
Oh, what a surprise — it’s Pete Botros again!
We won’t go too in-depth on all of the great Italian food Rustic Pizza & Pasteria has to offer this time; we already covered most of that when it won last year for our Best of Vodka Pizza contest.
Instead, let’s just get right down to what makes the pasta so great at this Grant City eatery.
“It’s all about making your own homemade pasta,” Botros said. “That plays a huge roll on the pasta’s bite, mouthfeel and how it joins with the homemade sauces.”
Botros made sure to feature what he believes are the three best pasta dishes: “Gemelli Spicy Vodka,” “Housemade Parppardelle Bolognese” and “Mushroom Royale Cavatelli.”
“Our main focus is always high-quality ingredients and effort,” Botros said. “You can tell the difference between other types of flour, dough and the way they’re prepared.”
Botros said Rustic goes through about “five gallons of vodka sauce” per day, with customers using it on their pastas, as well as their pizzas, sandwiches and to-go orders for home recipes.
“Any pasta you get here, you’re going to be able to taste the quality,” he said. “But our vodka dish is definitely a huge seller.”
When asked how his restaurants keep landing in our top three, Botros said it’s from the incredible, dedicated support of all his restaurant-goers.
“Thank you to everyone, from Rustic to Violette’s, from Sofia’s to Stone House,” he said. “I appreciate all of your votes and all of you for backing our food.”
Top Tomato Superstore, 4045 Amboy Road, Great Kills, 718-605-3200
Store manager Tom DeBiase, who has worked for Top Tomato since he was 14 year olds, made it a point to object to anyone who may have slighted the popular supermarket for finishing top three in our Best of Pasta contest.
“What I think a lot of people don’t know is that we do a ton of catering orders for our pasta,” DeBiase said. “Every week we’re flooded with orders.”
And that’s not surprising after the Top Tomato team laid out a spread of its typical pasta catering orders, prepared by the tray.
“It’s great knowing that everyone likes our pasta orders,” he said. “And I think the taste really speaks for itself.”
The pasta featured at Top Tomato in Great Kills included the “Rigatoni with Broccoli Rabe,” “Tortellini Alfredo with Imported Prosciutto” and “Penne Vodka.”
“We use real vodka, unlike some places,” he said. “That’s a key difference that you can taste.”
DeBiase said that all of its pasta is made in-house and it even offers a wide variety of to-go, individual containers daily.
“I really just want to say thank you to everyone who appreciates our pasta,” he said. “We’re a small-town store that is always here to help for any type of order you need.”
HOW BEST OF STATEN ISLAND WORKS
We like to keep it pretty simple for Best of Staten Island. Over the course of the year, we will feature seven different “Best Of” categories.
For each category, there will be one week of nominations, one week of voting and two weeks that will focus on the top winners as chosen by our readers. Only brick-and-mortar businesses are considered, unless otherwise noted.
The top three Best of Staten Island winners in each category receive individual coverage on the Advance/SILive.com’s social media platforms and a collective feature in the Staten Island Advance.
This year, we’ve already featured the best sandwiches and best dance schools on Staten Island.
In 2023, we featured the best bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches, best dance schools, best sushi spots, best nails salons, best margaritas, best wings, best coffee shops and best vodka pizza on the Island. Take a look at our ultimate guides for a closer look at each of these establishments.
