Founded in 1919 as a pizza parlor, Mario’s is the oldest restaurant in the Bronx’s Belmont neighborhood (aka Arthur Avenue, or the Bronx’s Little Italy). It’s a sprawling palace of shabby elegance that will send you back through the decades: Oil paintings darkened by age line the walls, Michelangelo statuettes pose at intervals between the paintings, and white ionic columns are intended to suggest the glory that was ancient Rome. The menu calls itself Neapolitan, but has a wider geographical span with dishes such as linguine with red clam sauce and Roman spiedini, as well as Italian-American hits like chicken giambotta and veal marsala. For dessert, the waiter wheels over a trolley of outsize desserts, though it’s perhaps better to opt for an espresso “corrected” with complimentary anisette.

Rao’s is the oldest restaurant on this list — established in 1896 — and without question the most exclusive. This is the hardest reservation to score in New York City, because regulars have weekly, monthly, or quarterly reserved tables that only they can gift out. Of course, the ubiquitous jarred pasta sauce line gives a taste to outsiders of the red-sauce joint dishes such as meatballs or lemon chicken. In terms of actually eating there, though, best of luck getting someone to answer the phone — first-timers are more likely to try working connections or being forced to the Las Vegas or Los Angeles locations.

The waiters dress in dapper red jackets and black bowties at this 1973 Italian-American restaurant deep in the heart of Astoria. Quoth former Times critic Frank Bruni: “If you’re after a certain kind of red-sauce outer-borough cliché, it’s the best of the bunch I’ve tried.” Go for the pasta e fagioli, three-cheese ravioli, or veal chop Sorrento style with eggplant, prosciutto, and mozzarella.

Since 1918, this classic spot favored by NYU staff and students has been feeding Villagers abundant servings of minestrone, bread-crumbed baked artichokes, stuffed manicotti, and veal pizzaiola (with mushrooms and peppers). The walk-down premises shows every year of its age, and the menu is a tad too ambitious, so stick with the Italian-American standards.

This thoroughly old-school Italian joint, open since 1956, has been a celebrity fixture for years, feeding the likes of Rihanna, David Bowie, and Barack Obama. Chef-owner Emilio Vitolo is a big draw here, as is the housemade tagliatelle bolognese and huge meatballs. Don’t skip the wine list, on which the dead-pan servers are well-trained.

Forlini’s has been open since 1943, mainly catering to the judge-and-jury crowd from the nearby courthouse as well as to Italian-American regulars. Pink banquettes make for a distinctive look alongside a menu of old-school favorites, from chicken marsala to baked ziti. More recently, the restaurant has seen a resurgence in customers from the fashion crowd, who flock here ever since Vogue hosted a pre-Met Gala party in the space in spring 2018.

There’s no place quite as much fun as Bamonte’s. Founded in 1902, it shows every year of its venerable age and is the setting for numerous TV episodes and films. Tuxedo’ed waiters are all old-timers, and will gladly talk diners through the menu’s complicated list of selections. The menu is the perfect evocation of Italian-American cuisine, including a spaghetti with meat sauce and meatballs and a pork chop with sweet or hot peppers. The baked clams and chicken francese are don’t-miss dishes.

Michael’s is a youngster in Italian-American restaurant years, having been founded in 1964 in Marine Park. The exterior is faced in rusticated stone, looking like some hilltop fortress, while the interior is more like a Frank Sinatra movie with the main room bedecked in chandeliers and paneled in warm woods. The menu hits all the old Italian-American classics with some newfangled stuff thrown in, mainly on the specials menu, which often features wild boar stew, arugula and orange salad, and burrata. Other more standard fare includes a hulking veal chop of the tenderest meat, flattened and breaded, as well as linguine with clams and spumoni cake.

This cavernous 1907 hall miraculously persists, nearly the same vintage as nearby Totonno’s, and now given over mainly to banquets. Anything featuring clams is recommended, and all the stand-bys are on the menu such as rigatoni in meat sauce, veal marsala, and filet of sole.