Forgive me, my memories of the original Astro's/Felice's are fuzzy. I hung out at the Stephen Talkhouse during the jukebox days and worked briefly at Snuggler's Cove. I was the worst waitress of all time and got fired after two weeks. Times have changed, and now Astro's is a spruced up, tidy white, brightly lit, noisy establishment.
Earlier this summer I had heard it was having growing pains: raw dough under the pizza toppings, somewhat rude staff, blah blah blah, Yelp Yelp Yelp.
On a recent visit with three friends we found Astro's to be a wonderful addition to Amagansett's dining scene, especially as a family restaurant. Astro's is small, with a wall of banquettes to the left, a few photos on the wall (the ubiquitous Italian beach poster), and a tiny bar in the back. There are wooden tables, comfortable chairs, and cotton bistro-style napkins in red and white to match the menus and China plates. High chairs abound.
We went early on an August weekday evening but they were out of quite a few dishes and the wines-by-the-bottle list had been entirely decimated.
We began our meal with the Sicilian sashimi, chopped salad, and Caesar salad. The Sicilian sashimi was very good. On this night it was slices of fluke, tuna, and a sea scallop topped with lemon juice and olive oil, lots of chopped capers, shallots, and parsley.
The chopped salad wasn't exactly a chopped salad, it was more like big pieces of iceberg lettuce with toasted sliced almonds, oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, slivers of red onion, little cubes of ricotta salata, and tiny yellow teardrop shaped peppers called sweety drops. These are Biquinho peppers grown in Peru and sold pickled in jars. They are slightly sweet and spicy, similar to Peppadews. I am a fan of under-utilized ricotta salata; it is firm like feta but not quite as salty. We all enjoyed this creative salad and sweety drops are definitely on my shopping list. The Caesar salad was good but not particularly lemony, garlicky, or anchovy-ish. It was a stack of Romaine and/or Little Gem lettuce leaves layered with toasted bread crumbs, grated Parmesan, and a creamy dressing.
For entrees we ordered the meaty pizza, spaghetti with clams, a slice of spicy honey pepperoni pizza, and the "share" portion of eggplant Parmigiana. The pizzas are large and square (like Grandma's style) on foccacia-like dough. They also offer gluten-free options which are thinner round pizzas. We all enjoyed the meaty version, it didn't have gobs of meat on it, more like a judicious sprinkling of sausage and pepperoni, good tomato sauce, and the expected oil slick over all. It was crunchy, crisp, and of medium thickness. The pieces of pizza sold by the slice are small and priced accordingly, a mere $5 and $6. The spicy honey pepperoni was delicious.
The spaghetti with clams was also tasty, with a very rich and creamy rather than buttery broth. There were plenty of clam bits, lots of garlic and parsley, and it was topped with toasted breadcrumbs. The eggplant Parmigiana dish, listed under the share plates part of the menu, wasn't a particularly large shareable portion. It was more like a serving for one and a half people. It was excellent, though, with tender layers of eggplant with basil pesto, a zesty light marinara sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, no breading, and not greasy.
There are three desserts on the menu and two are sundaes so we just tried the housemade Astro's square cheesecake. It was fresh as can be, dense, with plenty of vanilla essence, and had a good graham cracker crust.
The service on the night of our visit was very good. Our waitress Tiffany was professional and friendly. We never spied a manager or hostess and quite a few tables remained empty so I'm guessing they were serving only as many guests as they could handle. There were many large, multigenerational family groups there, or as we call it, "diapers to Depends." The prices are moderate. Starters are $17 to $25, pizzas are $25 to $34, slices $5 and $6, pastas and sandwiches are $16 to $28, shares are $25 to $29, and desserts are $9 and $10.
I frequently ponder "do we really need another Italian restaurant out here?" But as the one guest who lives in Amagansett remarked, "Astro's is a real asset to Amagansett," and she is right. And people DO love their noodles and dough.
Were there flaws and errors during our dining experience? Well, there was an air conditioner vent that dripped on my head occasionally -- very startling! The spaghetti with clams was lukewarm on the bottom and hot and dry on top, a possible indication that it had overstayed its welcome under the salamander.
If you want chic and sophisticated Italian food, then step two feet to the left for Il Buco. If you want good pizza and salads with your family, then Astro's is a place you will appreciate and enjoy.
