Randazzo’s Clam Bar, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

For Father’s Day dinner, we headed to one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Brooklyn: Randazzo’s in Sheepshead Bay. Randazzo’s has been serving seafood covered in their signature marinara sauce for four generations, and they are consistently wonderful. Even Anthony Bourdain professed his love for the place on the last episode of “No Reservations.”

What to order
We started with fried zucchini and fried mozzarella for appetizers — both classic starters done right. Then we moved on to chicken parm and pasta with shrimp sauce (chopped shrimp in marinara) for our main courses. Everything was as perfect as it has always been. If you’re new to Randazzo’s, the marinara is the thing to build your order around — it’s the through-line connecting nearly everything on the menu, and it’s the reason people keep coming back across generations.

A Sheepshead Bay institution
I have a long history with Randazzo’s, going back to the night of the 1977 blackout, where we had clams shucked by candlelight. That’s the kind of place this is — the sort of spot that becomes part of your own family’s story, not just a place you eat.

Good to know before you go

• Best for: Special occasions, family dinners, or anyone who wants a taste of old-school Sheepshead Bay Italian-seafood tradition.
• Signature move: Lean into the marinara-based dishes — that sauce is the restaurant’s calling card.
• Nearby: Sheepshead Bay is worth the trip on its own if you haven’t explored the waterfront in this part of Brooklyn.
• Reservations: Worth calling ahead, especially around holidays like Father’s Day when it draws a crowd.