Yesterday was National Meatball Day #nationalmeatballday so we are highlighting one of your favorite Italian restaurants in NYC QUEEN RISTORANTE in Brooklyn Heights.

Queen Ristorante is a second-generation family owned Italian restaurant, which was founded in 1958. When we photographed the restaurant in 2011 for our book, "New York Nights", we also interviewed the second generation owner, Vincent Vitiello. Here is an excerpt from the full interview which appears in our book.
"This neighborhood has changed drastically since we opened. It once had a very large Italian population and the area south of here on President Street and Union Street was almost exclusively Italian. Now of course, it’s very mixed and gentrified and also has gotten pretty expensive. Our customer base has not really changed because we have always been a neighborhood restaurant, which thrives on repeat customer business. Our customers are special to us and we try hard to make them feel that this is like a home to them. Even though there is a neighborhood feel to our restaurant, we try to keep the food at a world-class level but with a neighborhood sensibility. The fact that we have been in business over 50 years with consistently high ratings from the critics attests to the fact that we are one of the best Italian restaurants in Brooklyn and the top in all of New York City."