It took me a while to figure this out, but there are actually two restaurants in one here. “Mangia Bene” (Italian for “Good Eats”) is a regular pizzeria with bright lights and a casual decor, while “La Bottega” (Italian for “The Shop”) is a fine dining experience next door, with dim lighting and tasteful decor (with the possible exception of the rather tacky chef chalkboard where the specials are written). This was the configuration of the original Italian restaurant, Scotto’s, which occupied this space for over 40 years and was a legend in Great Neck (the Scotto Brothers have since gone on to bigger things, opening catering venues like Fox Hollow and Chateau Briand). We decided to visit La Bottega, using the Groupon I posted here a few weeks ago. In all honesty, most of the time I use Groupons I just take the deal and never come back. But this is once of the first times that I will definitely be back. The food and service were that good. I’ll be honest, one of the reasons I really can’t stand (or trust) Yelp very much anymore is that a few “elites” from the City tend to swoop in on…
