My Cousin Vinny's

Most restaurants this close to the Falls can coast on the foot traffic — a short menu of crowd-pleasers, the location doing the work. My Cousin Vinny's runs the other way. Its Main Street dining room seats four hundred, books live entertainment seven nights a week, and anchors all of it in an Italian-Canadian menu deep enough that a table of eight rarely lands on the same order twice: antipasti and arancini, baked pasta, parmigiana mains, steaks off the grill, a full pizza list, a junior menu for the kids, and a lunch service that runs every afternoon from eleven to five.

The surest order is the Chicken Parmesan — a hand-breaded breast under mozzarella and a bright tomato sauce, set beside spaghetti pomodoro — the plate most diners reach for first and the one the kitchen has plainly built around. Behind it is a baked-pasta bench with real range: Lasagna Villagio, layered Calabria-style with ricotta, meat, mozzarella, and fresh pasta; Tortellini Al Forno baked golden; Mushroom Ravioli and Penne Arrabbiata for the lighter and the sharper ends of the pasta list. The seafood plates pull their weight too — Fettuccine Pescatore, Risotto di Mare — and the griglia section offers a New York Striploin for the table that wants a steak rather than a bowl of pasta. Starters set the tone early, from Calamari Fritti to Arancini Pizzaiola to Nonna's Giant Meatball.