Any New Yorker who likes old-school Italian food should eat at Laico’s in Jersey City. The neighborhood mainstay has been serving big platters of eggplant rollatini and chicken francese on the outskirts of Jersey City since the 1970s, and it remains a great place for red sauce Italian and sub-$10 red wine, filled right up to the brim. There’s a front room with a long bar where you can watch a game and eat some baked clams, and a windowless brick-walled back dining room where you should fill a table up with people. That eggplant rollatini is a must, as is the broccoli rabe with provolone-filled sausage, and at least one platter of sauce-slathered chicken—dealer’s choice—with a side of spaghetti. As you leave, take a look at the framed proclamation by the front door. It’s from 1991, when the councilman of Rutherford declared February 9th Lou Laico day, in recognition of the original Laico.