I was actually happy to see The Continental close this past summer. In its final months, the service had greatly deteriorated, and I was never impressed by the menu. The succeeding establishment is Veranda Restaurant and Wine Bar, which comes with street cred since owners Nick and Rose Marie Schiavo had done a great job at the now-closed Cafe Continental downtown.
My assessment after Veranda’s first six months of operation is that it ranks between The Continental and Cafe Continental as a restaurant, meaning that it’s good but could be better. Plus, many of the dishes are overpriced.
Pasta dishes like the Penne a la Vodka ($10; add chicken, shrimp or Italian sausage for $3) were delicious–this one being rich in flavor. Veranda evens adds a bit of Asian flavor with a Cold Sesame Soba Noodles dish ($9), though I didn’t try it.
The flatbreads are another great choice, despite their price. We ordered the basic one with fresh Roma tomatoes and fresh mozzarella ($11, add sausage or pepperoni for $1). In this case a dining companion didn’t want the tomato sauce on it, but our waitress said none of the flatbreads had sauce. Of course, she brought out the dish with tomato sauce in it and said she was wrong, yet she still didn’t do anything about it. Still, this flatbread had a nice crisp crust and plenty of toppings. Others, like the Fontina, Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Onion, will set you back $14 (a lot for basically a small-sized pizza).
There are numerous small plates on the menu, though I’m not sure how many you can order since they cost as much as $24 each. One that wasn’t satisfying was the bulgogi-style Grilled Short Ribs ($12), as there was barely any meat on the endless bones. Another was Rose Marie’s Original Spiedini ($14). The four tiny rolls of breaded sirloin and two pieces of mozzarella–while all very tasty–should have been half the price.
I guess a good time to come would be happy hour, when appetizers are $2 off and drinks are $1 off. Otherwise, Veranda is open for lunch every day, dinner Mon-Sat and brunch on the weekends.
Tags: Fitchburg, Mediterranean
