La Famiglia in Smithtown reopens after 14-month renovation
Linguine with seafood in a red sauce at La Famiglia in Smithtown, which has reopened after a 14-month total renovation. Credit: La Famiglia
Some makeovers are relatively quick and painless. Others take time, yielding more dramatic results. For Smithtown’s 16-year-old La Famiglia, a total face-lift took over a year.
Fourteen months after owner John Cracchiolo closed the restaurant and took the place down to the studs, La Famiglia has reopened with a sleek new facade and dining room, a patio, a larger bar dressed in dark-wood tones and a raft of new drinks and dishes, the latter offered in half sizes as well as full, family-sized portions.
While some of the menu’s cornerstones have not changed — such as eggplant parmigiana — the kitchen has also rolled out dishes such as mussels in a cognac cream reduction (small $14, large $24), Italian egg rolls filled with broccoli rabe, sausage and ricotta ($14, $22) and spaghetti cacio e pepe ($15, $23).
La Famiglia’s bar now has six beers on tap, including the Italian lager Birra Moretti. A handful of new cocktails — such as a gin-basil smash and a cucumber Collins — cost between $10 and $12.
La Famiglia‘s two other locations are in Babylon and Plainview, and the chainlet is run by three Cracchiolo brothers (John, Salvatore and Rosario Jr.). Each features dishes plucked from the Cracchiolos’ Sicilian and Napolese roots, with a semiretired Rosario Sr. overseeing the culinary side of things.
La Famiglia serves lunch and dinner Tuesday to Sunday, and is closed on Mondays.
La Famiglia, 250 Main St., Smithtown. 631-382-9454. lafamigliany.com.
