Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni awards two stars to Mia Dona (pictured), the best rating that a somewhat casual place like this could hope for: “The food is robust, often rustic and sometimes proudly unsubtle, hammering away at its intended effect.” The East 58th Street Italian restaurant is a remix of Michael Psilakis and Donatella Arpaia’s shuttered restaurant Dona, and compared to Anthos, Psilakis’s haute Greek place, Mia Dona rolls like “a Buick, a more matter-of-fact restaurant suited to a budget- conscious time.” But still a sweet ride for Bruni.

Peter Meehan, the Times’s $25-and-under scout, hails the Queens Greek restaurant Philoxenia, which has reopened at a new location after a hiatus. His homage to the proudly unpretentious old place, where the cook smoked in the kitchen and hairspray cans cluttered the bathroom, makes for a fun read, and he says the new iteration, while classy and grander, still charms. Also in Queens, Robert Sietsema, writing for the Village Voice, sings the praises of Portuguese restaurant Arcos, which specializes in charcoal-grilled meats and seafood: “Don't miss the rubbery chourico sausage of Ron Jeremy length that arrives flaming with cachaca rather than the traditional brandy.”

Danyelle Freeman does her take on Merkato 55, the pan-African brasserie in the Meatpacking District, and reports that “there's a lot of territory to cover on this vast culinary road map, and it can make for an exciting night out.” And the Village Voice’s Sarah DiGregorio has a funny, salt of the earth story about the blue collar eateries clustered around the Hunts Point food-distribution center in the South Bronx, which is the largest wholesale food market in the world.

Photo of Mia Dona by Ryan Charles.