Entertainment

Ray Romano: My New York

Ray Romano spent the first 38 years of his life in Queens — mostly Forest Hills, where his parents did, indeed, live with his NYPD sergeant brother. (Romano himself didn’t move out until he was 29.) “I grew up in a neighborhood where you knew your neighbor, you knew the guys on this block, you didn’t like the guys on the other block and everybody met at the school yard. On Saturday, Romano — who recently joined the cast of NBC’s “Parenthood” — arrives back in town to perform at the “Garden of Laughs” show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, benefitting the Garden of Dreams Foundation, which creates once-in-a-lifetime experiences for underprivileged children. He’ll appear with some of his oldest comedian friends, including Darrell Hammond and Wanda Sykes, who were also regulars on the New York stand-up comedy circuit. This is his New York.

PHOTOS: RAY ROMANO’S FAVORITE NEW YORK SPOTS

1. Comedy Cellar, 117 MacDougal St., at Third Street

“It’s where I started stand-up. You go downstairs, and it’s kind of funky and cool. It’s got a little bit of everything: your New York crowd, your Jersey crowd, your tourist crowd, your trendy Village crowd. It’s a great place to learn how to be a stand-up, because it’s very intimate — there’s no hiding. If you can make it and be a regular and get laughs there, you’re really a true comedian. I’ll probably [drop in for a set] while I’m here. It all depends on how much my wife doesn’t want me to go.”

2. Olive Tree Cafe & Bar, 117 MacDougal St., upstairs from the Comedy Cellar

“It’s Middle Eastern food — great falafel and chicken kabob. I go back now with my kids. I’ll do a set downstairs, and then we go upstairs and get the chicken wings, because they are without a doubt the best wings I’ve ever had. They’re juicy, plump. The sauce has a bit of bite to it. When I’m done eating them I’m sad, because I know I’m going back to LA, and I’m not gonna get them for a while.”

3. Cafe Wha?, 115 MacDougal St., between Third and Bleecker streets

“It used to be owned by the same people who owned the Cellar. There’s this cool house band, the Cafe Wha? Band, that’s just great. They play cover songs. Comedians used to go hang out down there after doing a set. I loved that band so much that on my 50th birthday, my wife had a surprise party for me here in LA, and she flew them in to play at my birthday party.”

4. Dylan’s Candy Bar, 1011 Third Ave., at 60th Street

“We always make a trip there and load up on stuff. [Most of] my kids are a little older, but I still have a 14-year-old. When you go there, they ask celebs to make their own candy mix. So I’m up on the wall with my own little candy mix. I threw some Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in there, and maybe some assorted fudges. Fudge is a funny word. Also, maybe some jelly or gummy fish.”

5. Juniper Valley Park, Juniper Boulevard at 80th Street, Middle Village, Queens

“After I got married I moved to Middle Village, and Juniper Park became this activity center for me because it was where I brought my kids to play and do their thing. It was also where I went to go jogging, and you could also hit golf balls because they had huge grass areas. So it became a nice place for me to try not to get too fat.”

6. White Castle, 43-02 Queens Blvd., Sunnyside

“After a night out, we might also end up at White Castle. Hamburgers were 15 cents then. For $5, we’d get 30 of ’em. I don’t think I’ve ever been there before 3 in the morning — or sober.”

7. Lillian Pizzeria, 9601 69th Ave., Forest Hills, Queens

“This was my neighborhood pizza place. It’s five blocks from where I grew up. I’ve been going there since I was 15 and the same people, Tony and Lillian, own it now, 40 years later. It’s great New York pizza. Here’s how long ago I started going there: My mother would give me a dollar. The slices were a quarter, so I would get three slices of pizza and then a Coke for 15 cents, and I’d still have a dime for the jukebox. Lillian and Tony knew everybody in the neighborhood, and you were kind of a family.”

8. Pastrami King, formerly at 124- 24 Queens Blvd., Kew Gardens. Now 196 Merrick Rd., Long Isand

“We would go there late at night, after the bars close. We would just get their French fries, because they were very thick and very long — the size of nunchucks.”

9. Marine Park Golf Course, 2880 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn

“You had to take a hammer sometimes to get your tee in the ground, but as a beginning golfer you were just happy to be out there on an 18-hole course, and it didn’t cost much. My kids are taking up golf and I keep telling them how spoiled they are, playing at clubs where everything is pristine. We played right off the Belt Parkway, where if you hit a bad shot, you had a chance of hitting a truck. Or the Verrazano Bridge.”