Sauce

This Lower East Side Italian restaurant lets you watch your food being prepared in an open kitchen. While that's pretty typical at other restaurants around town, you can't watch big slabs of meat being butchered while you dine at those humdrum places. Sauce doubles as a butcher shop: Neighborhood residents can pick up chops and sausages to go (or grab some on your way out after trying the fare at dinner), and the chopping is done in full view of the diners. It's a casual joint (the owners also run Little Frankies and Supper), so they know how to create a cozy vibe as they dish out the pasta. Located where Cambodian resto Kampuchea used to be, it's a sizeable space that can seat about a hundred diners. If the slabs of meat coming from the butcher aren't up your alley, check out other dishes like pastas and mozzarella made in-house.

See more: Lower East Side restaurants, Italian restaurants