I dined at Carbone, the Italian restaurant beloved by Rihanna and the Kardashians, and I get why it's a celebrity hot spot

As a New Yorker and generally just a person who pays attention to what's popular in the national dining scene, I've known about the legend of Carbone for years.

It's a favorite for celebrities who visit or live in the city, it's a place to see and be seen, and I've heard rave reviews about the spicy rigatoni from TikTokers and non-industry friends.

The Italian-American red-sauce joint has a Michelin star and its namesake founder, Mario Carbone, has an enviable culinary pedigree.

Throughout the years, Carbone has been the backdrop of many celebrity paparazzi photos.

Icons like Rihanna, many of the Kardashian-Jenner family members, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Jennifer Affleck, and more have all eaten at the restaurant, according to Harper's Bazaar.

The restaurant — which now has satellite locations in Las Vegas, Miami, Dallas, and Hong Kong — got its start in the West Village on Thompson Street between West Houston and Bleeker Street.

I made my way to the neighborhood and walked through the bustling streets for my Monday evening reservation.

Past the red velvet curtains that hang in the windows and the doorway, guests can relax in one of three cramped but comfortable dining rooms.

Deep blues and reds cover the walls and seating, while areas like the bar and dessert stand feature dark-colored wood. The rich colors make it all feel luxurious.

I was seated in the main dining room just inside the front door, but there was another under an archway to the left and a third that sat in the back accessible through a dark brick hallway.

The bar was small and did not have any stools offering seating. Instead, it was cluttered with water pitchers, cocktail accoutrements, and an ice bucket that held wine bottles.

The hanging glassware, carved wood, and Tiffany-style lamp made me feel like I was inside someone's private club.

It was giving off that mid-century vibe, especially as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra played through the speakers.

When I arrived, I was led to my table where a server dressed in a deep-red tuxedo pulled out my chair and helped me get seated.

The tablecloth and napkins were thick, white linens — the kind that when you drop something on them it feels extra permanent.

Our service throughout the night was pleasant, helpful, and had some personality to it as well, which I appreciated. Between the second and third course, an employee came around with a sparkling silver crumber to clear the table of the ridiculous mess I inevitably made.

I was there to try three main things: the spicy rigatoni vodka ($33), veal parmesan ($89), and Mario's meatballs ($27). The meatballs weren't actually on the menu, but they were listed by our server as if they were a special. To my knowledge, they're always on offer.

Once I looked over the menu, a few other items caught my eye, and I wondered what these mainstays that I usually get at my more everyday red-sauce joint would be like at this Michelin-starred hot spot. So I added in an order of baked clams ($35) and a side of broccoli rabe ($18) to test it out.

I think this may have been my favorite part of the whole meal.

Typically, a restaurant might deliver a complimentary bread basket and maybe even some olives to go with it. But at Carbone, the antipasto is enough to qualify as an appetizer, in my opinion.

There were three varieties of bread — a saucy focaccia type, a plain crusty loaf, and a toasted garlic bread — plus a dish of salumi folded into a beautiful display, and a bowl of pickled cauliflower.

Then, the most mouthwatering part came out: A team member carrying a broken-down wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano walked over and broke off a hunk of cheese for my plate. I truly felt blessed.

I thought all three bread options were great, but the garlic toast really hooked me. It was hard and crunchy outside, soft inside, perfectly salted, super garlicky, and very oily. The salumi was extra soft and had a little spice to it, which I enjoyed.

The pickled cauliflower was an impressive addition here. It was lemony, had a touch of heat seemingly from red pepper flakes, and really delivered on the vinegar taste. I loved that the veggie stayed firm, light, and tasted refreshing. It was a great way to wake up my palate for the rest of the heavy meal.

(Antipasto can vary depending on your visit — a friend went a couple of months before me and she was served fresh mozzarella instead of parm.)

Whenever I'm at an Italian-American restaurant I order clams oreganata. The dish I'm used to is clams on the half-shell topped with breadcrumbs, oregano, and sometimes other seasonings, which are then baked and served in a lemony broth.

So when I saw there was a version of this on the Carbone menu, I had to give it a try. This dish came with baked clams done three ways: classic oreganata, the chef's take on clams casino, and an uni-topped variety.

I loved the oreganata. The breadcrumbs were crunchy — even the wet ones closest to the clam meat — and it had a slight buttery taste overall. One small squeeze of lemon brought out the brightness in the butter and in the actual flavor of the shellfish.

The uni was an interesting flavor combination that I appreciated. It was more savory and unctuous than the oreganata, and the texture combination of creamy uni with a plump clam was cool to experience. I thought the flavors worked well together.

Carbone's version of clams casino blew me away. They were spicy, smoky, and meaty all at the same time. The breadcrumbs were, again, evenly crunchy, but the thin layer of lardo on top added a silky richness to each bite that I hadn't experienced before in a baked clam. It hugged the nooks and crannies created by the toasty breadcrumbs and delivered on savory flavors.

The apparent consideration that went into this appetizer was a sign, to me, of a Michelin-star kitchen. I understood it. But sadly, I didn't think anything else lived up to that hype.

Throughout my three-hour dining experience, I saw spicy rigatoni and meatballs on every other table around me. I was excited to finally try this famous pasta I had heard people rave about and that so many try to replicate at home.

While I understand the concept of pasta with meatballs, I didn't think these two dishes necessarily went together enough for them to be purposefully delivered at the same time. I was told they should be eaten together, but the differences in sauces and flavors made me want to do otherwise.

I dove into the rigatoni first, which was noticeably al dente. The sauce was thick but not gloopy, which made it very enjoyable. It definitely had a spicy kick, but it was more delayed and tasted fruity like fresh Calabrian chilies had been used rather than dried red pepper flakes. There's no denying this dish was good, but I didn't think it was exceptional.

Then I tried the meatballs, which came with three in an order. They were nearly the size of my fist and were served in classic, thin, sweet and acidic marinara sauce. Inside, I could see chunks of bread — on a "Today" show appearance, Carbone said he uses bread chunks instead of crumbs because he believes it makes the meat moister — and when I bit into them, I could feel their softness. I felt like it added too much inconsistent wetness to the dish, but these meatballs definitely weren't dry. Other than the occasional fennel seed I detected, there wasn't anything special about the flavors. It was simply a good meatball, in my opinion.

This was the most disappointing dish of the bunch, in my opinion.

Any time I've heard tall tales of people's meals at Carbone, the stories include the spicy rigatoni and the veal parmesan. (Chicken parmesan isn't on the menu and you have to request it in advance when you make your booking if you want the poultry instead.)

Back in 2014, this dish cost $55, according to an Eater review. Now, it's nearly twice as much at $89. Because of the price tag, the hype, and the fact that this restaurant has a Michelin star, I did have high expectations for the dish.

It came to the table in a beautiful presentation — it looked like a small pizza — and the bone was cooked and on the plate, but separated from the pounded piece of meat. A team member came over with a pizza cutter to divide this dish tableside, which added to the theatre of it all.

However, none of the pomp and circumstance could distract me from the fact that it just wasn't that good, in my opinion. I thought it was relatively bland, and the veal was pounded so thin that, at times, I couldn't distinguish the meat from the breadcrumbs — the ratio was 1-to-1 and I couldn't appreciate the veal.

The part that really got me, though, was that the breadcrumbs on the bottom — not the part touching the thin layer of sauce or melted cheese — were soggy, in my experience. I don't want soggy breadcrumbs on a $20 veal parm — let alone a $90 dish.

For $18, I got a generous portion of well-cooked and well-seasoned broccoli rabe.

It was bitter and firm at the stalks while being softer at the head. There was a slight acidity to it and a really nice heat that came from spicy toasted breadcrumbs on top.

The veggie offered a nice texture variation from the mostly mushy veal that I thought was both needed and appreciated.

It's easy for veggies to feel like an afterthought when you're paying so much for a meal — I even thought initially, "Eh, I don't need to spend on that" — but in this case, it was definitely a smart call.

I'll rarely turn down a free cookie — that goes against my nature. So of course I appreciated this sweet end to the dining experience.

But I also love rainbow cookies — the ones you find in Italian bakeries sitting in a case waiting to be weighed and purchased by the pound. They have a thin-ish layer of chocolate on either end, three layers of colored cake-like cookies that sometimes taste like almond paste, and there's almost always a thin layer of jelly in between each one. They're moist, delicious, and a real treat.

So when these cookies had no jelly and were kind of dry, I wasn't thrilled. But I wasn't really annoyed either. They were OK, and I was OK with that.

My takeaway from this first Carbone experience is really that the food is good, it's just not all great. There are plenty of eateries that serve up good food and have a wonderful atmosphere to make up for the lack of awesomeness, and I think that's what's happening here.

If I'm spending money at a Michelin-starred restaurant with prices like Carbone's, then I'm expecting the meal of a lifetime. But the food I ordered didn't live up to those expectations — especially given all the added hype surrounding the rigatoni and veal parm.

However, I am well aware that I didn't try everything on the menu and maybe there are some really wonderful dishes with the thoughtfulness level of the baked clams that I'd be more satisfied with.

But for the rich and famous, I get it. If the $300 check for two doesn't feel like a lot to you, I could totally see why you'd visit again and again.

The great thing about Carbone is the atmosphere. It feels like it's been around for a century, but it only opened nine years ago — and I think that's the point. Maybe Carbone isn't an NYC dining giant because of the food. People want to go there because they want to feel like they're in it. They want to nonchalantly dine next to Rihanna or a Kardashian or, in my case, Kathy, Nicky, and Rick Hilton.

So if that's your thing, sure, try your best to get a reservation and get all dressed up for what will surely be an entertaining evening. Just don't expect too much from the food.