Celeste: Our go-to Italian place UWS, NYC

Everyone one in NYC has their favorite neighborhood go-to restaurant (please send your suggestions our way in the comment section!) where the food is consistently good and the prices are so reasonable that you can afford to regularly dine there.  Our go-to place when our fridge is empty or we tire of leftovers is Celeste, a small, often-crowded, tight Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side.

With crunchy thin-crust pizzas made in their wood-burning oven and homemade pastas, Celeste features traditional Italian fare for significantly under $20/dish.

Homemade Tagliatelle with shrimp, cabbage, and pecorino cheese ($9.50):  Who could pass up homemade egg pasta for under $10?  The shaved cabbage added a different texture to the dish, and though the dominant flavor was the pecorino cheese, we could easily taste the eggy pasta.

The other pasta option we were eyeing was the Vermicelli with open baby clams ($10.50).  Our neighboring tables all ordered this dish and it looked really good (all plates were left empty).  We opted for the tagliatelle, however, because we wanted their daily homemade pasta versus the vermicelli which was dried pasta from Italy. 

Quattro Stagioni pizza ($13):  This is really 4 pizzas in one pie.  Clockwise from the top, this crispy, thin-crust pizza had prosicutto di parma, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, and artichoke.  Not only do we get a variety of slices, but having only one quarter of the pizza in cheese allowed the other sections to remain extra-crispy. 

We were split on our favorites - I loved the earthy mushrooms and the sweet melted mozzarella slices while my husband's preference for salty foods was reflected in his favorite slice - the Prosicutto di Parma slice.

To end our meal on a high note, we always get the Tartufo al Limoncello ($6).  It's bright, refreshing, and lemony.  It is a lemon-flavored hybrid of sorbet and gelato with the limoncello infused into it, all enclosed with a frozen sponge cake crust.  It's the perfect palette cleanser.

The food as always was wonderful and for 2 entrees, 1 dessert, and 1 glass of wine, we spent less than $50 (after tax and tip) for the two of us.

Celeste is located at 502 Amsterdam Ave (btwn W84th and W85th Sts) in NYC.  Please note that the restaurant is cash only and that they do not take reservations.