Since Steve’s Piccola Bussola opened in 1991, we have been enjoying their food. At home, whenever the family gets together and no one feels like cooking, we call in an order to the restaurant. We always order the same dishes. A must-have is chicken campagnola—pieces of chicken (we get it with bone-in), sautéed with wine, garlic and lemon, and pumped up with lots of sausage, peppers, mushrooms, potatoes and onions. With it we have the house salad of arugula, iceberg lettuce, radicchio and endive, combined with roasted peppers and sliced onions in a dressing that uses balsamic and red vinegar. The vinegary salad is a perfect balance to the rich campagnola.
Additionally we get shrimp oreganato (a perfect sauce to sop up with bread), linguini filetto and penne with broccoli for our vegetarian. We’re not crazy about the bread but we slather it with oil and crushed garlic and put it in the broiled for garlic bread. Everyone is happy. We get lots of good food in generous portions. And the leftovers the next day are terrific.
It’s nice to dine there as well. The restaurant offers straightforward Italian food. Until recently everything was family style, with each dish enough for two. “That was the original concept to make it more affordable for people,” says Joe Vaccaro, who owns the restaurant with his father, Steve. But now they are also offering half orders to accommodate to the preferences of younger diners. “They think they have to come in with a crowd,” says Joe. “Half orders make it more feasible for a couple.”
The menu takes from both southern and northern Italy, with spedino Romano high on the list of favorite appetizers. This is a kind of savory French toast—a sandwich of white bread and mozzarella is dipped in egg and deep-fried. It is served with anchovies, capers and a light brown sauce.
“Everyone goes nuts over the fried calamari,” says Joe. The baked clams are also a hit.
A popular entrée is chicken scarpariello. Pieces of chicken are sautéed with white wine, garlic, oil and a little lemon. Other popular dishes include veal marsala and red snapper Marechiaro with garlic, oil, white wine and tomatoes.
“Nothing is prepared in advance except the stuffed artichokes,” says Joe.
Most of the desserts are made on the premises, including cannoli, which are filled fresh with each order. There’s Italian cheesecake, tiramisu and a very rich chocolate cake.
The wine list features a nice assortment of Italian and California wines. By the glass there are seven reds and five whites.
The menu remains the same throughout for lunch and dinner and the restaurant is open all day long. It is a popular place for business lunches (“We can get people in and out in an hour, if they want,” says Joe), with a large bright room in the front and a smaller more private space in the back.
There are many regulars at Steve’s Piccola Bussola. In addition to the food, a draw is the consistency of the kitchen and the friendly wait staff who have been there a long time.
Steve’s Piccolo Bussola is at 649 Old Country Rd in Westbury. Visit http://stevespiccolabussola.com or call 516-333-1335 for more information.
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