I love Italian food. I’m a picky eater, but I can always find something delicious on the menu when I’m at an Italian restaurant. And my favorite Italian restaurants are the old school Italian restaurants where you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. And a lot of those old school restaurants have been around forever and still serve great Italian food.

I remember as a kid growing up in the Newburgh area, my parents had two favorite Italian restaurants. For a more casual meal we would go to the Grandstand where the owner, whose name was Mushy, would often sit with us for a while and shoot the breeze with my parents. The food was great and it felt like it was all about family. For fancy meals we went to Lasini’s. I remember lots of delicious food and laughter. We’d dress up to go to Lasini’s, but it was never stuffy.

We’re lucky here in the Hudson Valley. We have lots of Italian restaurants, and many of them are the old school kind that I’ve been talking about. I can think of a couple very close to my Poughkeepsie neighborhood, a favorite in lower Dutchess County, and a few fine ones on the west side of the Hudson River. Just writing about these restaurants is making me hungry, but as a service to those who, like me, love a great old school Italian restaurant, here are 6 of the best in the Hudson Valley.

6 Amazing Old School Italian Restaurants in the Hudson Valley

Love Old School Italian? You've Got to Get to These H. V. Restaurants

That’s really just the tip of the iceberg. We have other great Italian restaurants like Savona’s with 4 Hudson Valley locations, Coppola’s in Hyde Park, Villa Nigrelli in Hopewell Junction, Lia's Mountain View in Pine Plains, Frank Guido's Little Italy in Kingston and Dominick’s in Poughkeepsie just to name a few. What’s your favorite? We’d love to add to the list.

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