If one thing could be said about Little Venice, it’s that it encompasses everything Restaurant Week is about. It’s a small, family-owned business that has taken pride in its food and authenticity since 1946. In everything from its decor to its cuisine, Little Venice provides its patrons with a slice of culture in the city of Binghamton.

As for the cuisine, Little Venice’s Restaurant Week menu includes the usual appetizer (referred to as ‘antipasti’), main course (‘secondo’) and dessert (‘dolci’), featuring a variety of dishes that are sure to appeal to everyone.

For the antipasti course, we sampled the chicken alfredo Italian egg rolls and the caprese. The presentation of these two dishes gave off an upscale restaurant vibe, which was more than justified by their taste. The egg rolls come as a pair, sliced into four equal parts, and filled with chicken before being served with a side of creamy house-made Alfredo sauce. The caprese features seasoned tomatoes and mozzarella topped with a basil leaf. It’s a suitable and delicious alternative for vegetarian customers to enjoy.

For the secondo, we tried the shrimp scampi dish as well as the rigatoni with house-made vodka sauce and pancetta, a Restaurant Week-only dish. The shrimp dish features house-made linguini with garlic and butter. So while the dish itself was very delicious and the buttered shrimp is perfectly cooked and seasoned, it may not be suitable for those who are expecting their Italian food to come with a savory red sauce. If customers are looking for such a dish, they’ll be satisfied by the rigatoni with vodka sauce. The pasta, which is also made in-house daily, was not your boxed and boiled pasta; something freshly made like this is hard to find. Paired with a creamy vodka sauce and pancetta, an Italian bacon made of pork belly meat, it’s no wonder why they save this dish for Restaurant Week.

Although the two dishes we sampled contained meat, vegetarians have the option of the ravioli dish, which features ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese along with house-made pasta sauce. Although we weren’t able to sample the ravioli, co-owner Gina Minichino shared that it is her favorite pasta dish at the restaurant.

For the dolci, we had two more Restaurant Week-only specials, the spiced carrot cake and the brownie sundae. The carrot cake, which doesn’t include nuts or raisins, was topped with a dollop of cream cheese frosting, and served just a little colder than expected. However, it was still as satisfying as it was moist and sweet. The frosting was quite literally the icing on the cake for this dish. The brownie sundae, which consisted of chocolate chip fudge brownies served over vanilla gelato, is definitely a dessert that will satisfy those looking for something frozen and sweet. The presentation of these dishes is stylistically minimalist and altogether classy, bringing the meal to a satisfying ending.

If you’re looking for a place to eat this Restaurant Week, or if you just want to try some of the different tastes offered in Binghamton, then Little Venice is the place for you. You’ll enjoy high-quality, authentic and homemade Italian food along with the kindness and hospitality of the employees.