Martin J.
Google
Thus place has been showing up on my news feed for a while now, so we decided to stop in for dinner, of course with no reservation, on a Friday night. Highly recommend you make reservations, you can call or on the web. I will definitely do this next time. But we got lucky and got bar seats, the bar is first come first serve. And, the bartenders were great! Fast service, very attentive, definitely more entertaining than a table.
The ladies started out with a classic cocktail a Tom Collins. The original hard lemonade! They were excellent. My daughter had never had one, and said it was her new favorite. We will see about that, LOL
The complimentary house made bread with EVOO and baslamic vinegar. The bread was warm and soft with a hint of garlic butter flavor. But for me the highlight was the balsamic in the high quality EVOO. First the EVOO was nearly clear, like water nearly, but the baslamic was sweet and tangy. So Good!!
We started with an appetizer of fried Calamari with sauce. It had a sprinkle of parsley and had a light golden brown cook. This was excellent, no heavy fishy smell, the texture was firm but not to chewy. The sauce was good with a light, sweet, tomato flavor.
The wife had the Gnocchi with Meatballs in the mama's sauce, with mozzarella cheese melted over it. A little back note, my wife's grandmother was from Sicily so she grew up with the homemade sauces and Meatballs. And she loved this! Said it was some of the best she has ever had.
My daughter had the Lasagna with meat sauce. She said it was awesome! Highlight praise from her. I got one bite, and she was right, awesome! The noodles were just right, firm not hard, with layers of yumminess. The meat sauce was robust, great punchy flavor, deep read color, landed with bits of meat throughout.
I had the Ziti with Meatballs in the Mama's sauce. This is my go to Ziti carries loads of sauce, and to me the Ziti flavor is lighter than say spaghetti or angle hair. It was cooked perfectly, a bit of firmness, not soft or mushy, no pasta water sitting around the sauce. Like I said i get Ziti so I can taste the sauce, and boy was it worth it. It has a bright red color, so you know it was cooked long and slow. There were large pieces of basil leaf, again showing it was made in house with fresh ingredients. And the flavor was delicate, smooth, and creamy. I think the mixed in ricotta added to the creamy texture, and gave it the unique flavor profile that me and the wife loved.
We both got Meatballs as our protein, and let me tell you they were so good. Dense, and solid, but the fork just went right through. Again the cook on these were spot on. A light sear on the outside and done all the way through, no pink. They are roughly the size of a cutie or tangerine, larger than a golf ball, smaller than an orange, which makes them the perfect size. And the flavor is only complemented by the sauce, it is spiced just right with a light Italian seasoning hint. Not overpowering, but rich and a hearty meaty flavor, not greasy, or heavy. I know Mama's is known for thier sauce, and rightfully so, but to me they were the star of the dish.
Now, food this good, this we'll prepared, this freshness, is not cheap. But, like my grandmother would say, you get what you pay for. With that said, I didn't think the final bill was out of line. Great service that was enhanced by spectacular food, in a old world style atmosphere. With drinks it was just over $40 a person. Again, I thought it was well worth it, and I will be going back. That chicken parm and fried ravioli is calling my name.
