D’Vino has some good things going for it, and I look forward to dining in some time and seeing the atmosphere of what used to be Opus. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Italian’
D’Vino
Sunday, June 21st, 2020Pizza Di Roma
Sunday, August 13th, 2017New York-style pizza-by-the-slice is available outside of downtown, now that Pizza Di Roma has opened a location where Legends used to be.
The space is much brighter than Legends ever was but has an awkward set-up, primarily because it’s a counter-service restaurant integrated into a former sports bar.
In all the years I’ve eaten at the downtown location of Pizza Di Roma, I’ve never ordered anything but pizza, so in recent visits to the west side location, I explored the rest of the menu, which turned out to be bigger than expected.
A few appetizers lead off. The breaded cheese ravioli ($6.95) is massively breaded, but at least a lot of ricotta cheese greets you inside. You also can order chicken wings ($8.95) and fried calamari ($9.95).
You have lots of pasta dishes, including staples such as lasagna and tortellini, from which to choose. Among the more unique was the spaghetti putanesca ($9.95; should be spelled with two Ts). The black olive flavor is most prevalent, while the carrot shavings added an unwelcome texture. There were just a few pieces of anchovies, which were not overly salty.
Similar to the pasta dishes, the entrees will take 5-10 min. to prepare. The chicken arrabbiata ($10.95) sports an assortment of peppers, including jalapenos. The marinara sauce was average, the noodles were similar to sub-par ones found in a diner and the two thin chicken breasts were pretty tough.
Other entrees include shrimp marinara ($12.95) and eggplant parmesan ($11.95).
Among the subs, I got the sausage and peppers ($7.95). The slices of Italian sausage and strips of green peppers are topped with marinara sauce and cheese, then stuffed inside a huge roll. It’s a lot of bread, which turned out to be necessary to hold all the ingredients together.
The west side location of Pizza Di Roma is open for lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday.
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See more photos in our Pizza Di Roma Flickr album.
Nonno’s Ristorante Italiano
Sunday, June 1st, 2014At the end of 2013, the owners of Cancun Mexican Restaurant shut down the operation and opened Nonno’s Ristorante Italiano in its place on the highly visible corner of Whitney Way and Odana Road. I like the menu and the decor, and other than a few glitches in service I experienced, I’d say it’s worth dining here.
This being an Italian restaurant, I had to try the spaghetti alle polpette (spaghetti and meatballs, $10), which turned out to be my favorite dish. The noodles were perfectly al dente, the meatballs had a nice, soft texture and the marinara sauce wasn’t overly liquidy like so many bad sauces.
From spaghetti and meatballs I moved onto another classic, pizza. The capricciosa ($10) is topped with mushrooms, black olives, artichoke hearts (too many), prosciutto, anchovies (too few) and oregano. Not surprisingly, the taste leans on the salty side, but nonetheless it’s a well-crafted pie for two to share. Note that the crust is actually closer to hand-tossed instead of thin as written on the menu.
Let’s look at some of the other entrees, of which there are many. I don’t recommend the penne e pollo alla genovese ($10), only because there was barely any chicken in it. On the flip side, I enjoyed the big portions of flaky fish in the tilapia al limone ($12).
I did try one salad, the innamorate ($8), which comes with strawberries, feta and toasted almonds; however, it was the fennel that gave this salad its signature flavor. I also enjoyed the golden brown calamari fritti ($8) with the spicy marinara, which is just marinara and crushed red pepper.
While the dark-toned restaurant has a small bar, it unfortunately under-utilizes it. I could see a strong happy hour being done here, but alas, the bar is an after-thought to the owners. Another area that could use some improvement is staffing; on my visits, I’ve felt it’s been under-staffed. I’ve had good servers, but they’ve been so busy that they’ve failed at simple things, like bringing menus (even upon request) and bringing the check in a timely manner (one time took nine min.).
Nonno’s serves lunch, dinner and carryout every day.
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See more photos in our Nonno’s Ristorante Italiano Flickr album.
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