Vanessa H.
Yelp
I'm so happy Abruzzo's is back. I've lived in Oak Cliff for a long time, and when this place first opened it became a happy hour favorite for yummy appetizers and good wine. They no longer have a bar, but our server was fine with my husband and I just sipping drinks at our table while we waited on our friends to arrive. The staff is so friendly, I think they would be fine with it if you just wanted to have drinks. ATMOSPHERE: It's a very small place, but that's part of its charm; it's in a small wooden house-like building with a peaked ceiling/loft and only two rooms. It has a rustic, old-world European feel, with exposed wood and built in wine racks that go to the ceiling, and nice windows onto a cute pocket of the Bishop Arts area. We love the atmosphere. There's a fireplace in the back, and strings of lights in the colors of the Italian flag on the ceiling give the room a festive touch. Discrete screens show videos of lush European locations (a refreshing change from news or sports, which ruins the mood for us when we want a nice, romantic evening out). Tasteful mood music adds just the right touch. There's outdoor seating, too, which we look forward to enjoying as it warms up. Now for the FOOD! Absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS. Our dinner salads were cold and fresh, which lots of veggies -- and we highly recommend the homemade gorgonzola basil dressing (some of the best salad dressing I've ever had). The garlic bread is on point: flavorful, buttery, and just the right amount of crispness -- obviously made to order and served warm, right out of the oven. Our friends enjoyed their chicken parmesan: crisp and not dry, with a side of piquant marinara pasta. I tend to shy away from angel hair pasta at restaurants because it's almost always overcooked. I took a risk last night, and I'm so glad I did: the pasta was perfectly al dente. I added grilled shrimp to the delicate caper/butter sauce it comes with, and it was a magical combo. My husband's fettucine w/marinara and a meatball was so hearty, be barely finished it. He considered taking some home, but it was so delicious he finished it off. Although we were all stuffed at the end, we still shared a connoli. COST: a great valuable for the excellence of the food and service. We've paid twice as much for Italian that is nowhere near this good. SERVICE: warm, welcoming, the perfect balance between timely and not rushing us, consistently professional. (Thank you, Katrina!). We'll definitely be making this a local haunt again. Try it out: you won't regret it.