Emilio’s Ballato

John Ballato opened this Nolita fixture in 1956; Emilio Vitolo took it over in 1989 and still runs it today with his three sons, one of whom mans the table just inside the door most nights. There's no way to reserve or call ahead, not even to put your name in and step out for a drink, so a table on East Houston means waiting outside, sometimes for hours. The kitchen holds to red-sauce basics: veal in vodka sauce with crisped prosciutto, a pasta bolognese with more cream in it than the name lets on.