Via on Shrewsbury Street Restaurant Review
The company that already creates delicious steaks (111 Chophouse) and seafood (Sole Proprietor) has now turned their attention to Italian Food. They have taken an old brick mill building on Shrewsbury Street - right next door to the 111 Chophouse - and turned it into an upscale but casual Italian eatery.The Shrewsbury Street side looks very quiet - but drive around to the back street and they have gorgeous landscaping and (gasp) a TON of parking!! Talk about Eden on this street which normally has no parking at all. That one trait alone makes it worth it to come back repeatedly.
But the fun doesn't stop there. The inside has lovely tile floors, wood walls and the most fantastic ceiling light fixtures. They have regular lights below, shining down, but on top it looks like there is a long ledge of ivory candles. I imagine for fire code reasons they are LED lit, but the effect is spectacular. It's like you're eating in a medieval Italian villa.
It's an intriguing mix of casual and expensive here. A glass of wine can cost $9, and a main dish - without salad - is $19. They do have pizza, as well as appetizers like fried calamari for $9. On the other hand, the 'menu' is just a paper placemat. They have a variety of fun named cocktails like "Da Vinci's Code" and "The Euro". They offer fresh bread daily - it was one big bun, slightly scored, that you ripped pieces off of. It wasn't warm-out-of-the-oven, but it was definitely same-day fresh.
I had a glass of 1999 Poggio Chianti for $8 which went very nicely with my meal. My friend asked for a glass of Moscato Italian sparkling wine. They served it in a regular goblet, which lets all the bubbles dissipate quickly, and it was a tiny pour in that goblet. She complained about paying $7 for such a tiny amount. The waitress apologized and said that was normal for a "sweet wine". Actually, I'm a wine writer, and the issue is that *sparkling* wines go bad quickly once the bottle is opened so normally restaurants don't even serve sparkling wine by the glass. If they do, they have to charge a premium. I understand that - but one, they should explain that when asked, and two, if you're paying a premium, you should at least be served in a flute! That way you can enjoy the sparkling wine, it doesn't look like 1" of wine and has a better visual appeal to the customer. To the waitress' credit, she did go back and have them add more sparkling wine to her glass, still in that large goblet.
When we ordered, the waitress was clear that a side salad would be an extra $4, which I appreciated greatly. Often waitresses try to foist extra food on you without mentioning it's not included in the price.
We had the fried calamari, which was very fresh and tasty. The salad was also delicious and very fresh. For the main dish my friend had the meat lasagne and I had the risotto with duck. My dinner was *delicious* and large enough in size that I brought some home for my boyfriend. He loved it as well, and he's quite a good cook. My friend was OK with the meat lasagne, but it had no cheese at all. She was expecting at least some cheese in a lasagne. When the waitress asked how the meal was, my friend commented on this in a friendly way, and the waitress offered a free dessert. They really do try to please here!
They make their own homemade gelato here, which was very tasty. They have dessert items such as apple pie, Expresso brownie sundae, chocolate ricotta pie and more. All are $8 each.
While the service was very friendly and helpful while she was there, we did go for long stretches without water refills or requests about wine, which made eating the main dish a little challenging at times. They can definitely do a little more to keep track of that during the meal.
I've eaten here several times, with multiple people each time, and they've always raved about the ambiance and the food they received. The lights specifically get noticed and commented on every single time.
In general this is a gorgeous facility, with delicious food, and you are paying a bit of a premium for it. Still, if you don't mind spending that much, I highly recommend it - you're getting a much better experience and much higher quality food than at most other Italian restaurants in this region!
Final note - it's good to make reservations. They can have up to a 2 hour wait!
Menu: Traditional Italian fare including pizza
Wine List: Interesting by the glass selections
Dress: Jeans and casual wear are fine
Staff: Generally quite friendly if not always prompt with refills
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