"Garlic/loving crowd don't mind the weights" at this Southern Italian family-style stuff/yourself "extravaganzas" where "mammoth" portions of "wonderful Italian soul food" are ideal for outings with a "mob"; a few fuss budgets term them "too crowded and noisy", but for the most the "tumult" is part of the fun.

by Zagat Review

"....People come here to eat the real thing, and they enjoy each bite as if they were in their own dining rooms on a Sunday afternoon. The napkin in the collar, the laughter in the air and the aroma of everything from scratch brings 75 percent of La Parma's customers back three and four times a week -- every week....

If exceptional Southern Italian fare and family-style dining are on your list of favorites, this restaurant could become your second home. You would not be the first by a long shot. Take your friends..Take your family. Everybody else does....."

by Jacqualyn Coletta Hession, NightLife Magazine

"....One doesn't come to La Parma for niceties, for subtleties, for the perfectly peeled tomato. Still, people do come; They line up outside the restaurant for an hour and more during prime time. they come for robust foods served in chunks, not silvers; they come for spices strong enough to clear sinuses; they come for an authentic atmosphere -- a place of noise and liveliness and fun and, above all sensational Neapolitan cookery...."

by Mike McGrady, Newsday

"An unusual operation has been thriving for more than two years in Williston Park, a New York city suburb. La Parma puts any notion of grazing or sampling completely out of the question, and it also ignores the northern Italian or authentic regional Italian cuisines that have become popular in the last decade.

Two partners--chef Dominic Gregorio and manager Tony Gralto, who runs the front-of-the-house--turn their 90 seats at least there times every evening, serving 300 or more dinners to customers who willingly line up in the parking lot, waiting for table. That is the case even on weekdays, when the competition in the area has trouble filling its seats once....

The Operation also has the good-natured noise and bustle of success. It is an atmosphere of people havinga good time. The cheerfully efficient waiters who dish up the double portions at the table enhance the conviviality.

And just as most of the food is prepared freshly and with care, so the tables are covered with white linen and napkins are cloth. simple blonde of wood and cane chairs, a few hanging plants and a greenhouse extension along one side of the building are the sum total of decorative effects. The dress is decidedly casual and appropriately so. Gregorio and Gralto have even dispensed with printed menus, posting a pair of large boards listing the available dishes on the wall. Only one of them has prices on it, something of an inconvenience since it is not clearly visible from all parts of the room..."

almost from day one

”...when Tony and Dominic opened their family-style restaurant - we were there almost the day one. And it was love at first bite. That first bite was and still is garlic and just about anything. We dined there at least once a week - sometimes two - and we are embarrassed to admit, even three times on occasion. We’re hooked on that robust, Neopolitan cooking. I’m salivating as I write this.”

by Sid Kallner

“...My favorite food when I go there is pasta ala vodka. The ala vodka is the sauce that covers the hot steamy pasta. That is a red orange color. Another food they have is linguini with white clam sauce and much, much more. My parents usually get the salads. They are delicious too! La Parma is my favorite place because I like the people and the food.”