Bellissimo just opened at the site of the former Amore’s in Chinchilla. It holds itself out as a pizza and pasta house. It is large – two dining rooms, one on two levels – plus a bar with lots more seating. Although it has the traditional checkered table clothes in the main dining room, the architectural ornaments are something else. They make you feel as though you are on a movie set, with Juliet about to come out on the balcony and Romeo set to climb the battlements. The service is great, and there is a lot of professionalism – I think they are trying to compete with the chains like Olive Garden.
They have – among lots of other choices on the menu – pasta and meatballs. The evening we were there the pasta wasn’t spaghetti, but fettucine. The meatballs (three of them) were superb. Bread consisted of small (obviously home-cooked) rolls, and they were also great. Salad was merely okay, but the wine was better. Price for the spaghetti was $7.99, which was a good deal, and the wine was $6.00, a bit more.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Olive Garden, Rt 6, Dickson City, PA
Olive Garden is an upscale chain restaurant, which is very well-appointed with a number of rooms. It has a look of expense, but the wait-staff is very friendly and helpful, and the clientele is middle class.
The bread was a garlic bread stick - about 8” long and 1” in diameter with a soft crust. No butter provided, but it doesn’t need it. A Caesar salad included, which was excellent with croutons, tomato and onion - a very large portion.
The pasta was al dente and excellent. It wasn’t an overly large portion, but came on a large, very hot plate. The sauce was tasty - not a great deal of it, but extra on the side, According to the menu, the meat sauce was made with pan-grilled beans and sausage. But it was not a heavy sauce, and it didn’t smother the pasta. They grate the cheese for you, so presumably it is fresh. The meatballs were excellent - firm & meaty & tasty and didn’t fall apart and were not real bready.
The wine was your usual Chianti, with a little tang to it - not the best.
Price – $8.95 for the spaghetti, $15.50 wwith the wine.
Style/ambience ****
Food ****
The bread was a garlic bread stick - about 8” long and 1” in diameter with a soft crust. No butter provided, but it doesn’t need it. A Caesar salad included, which was excellent with croutons, tomato and onion - a very large portion.
The pasta was al dente and excellent. It wasn’t an overly large portion, but came on a large, very hot plate. The sauce was tasty - not a great deal of it, but extra on the side, According to the menu, the meat sauce was made with pan-grilled beans and sausage. But it was not a heavy sauce, and it didn’t smother the pasta. They grate the cheese for you, so presumably it is fresh. The meatballs were excellent - firm & meaty & tasty and didn’t fall apart and were not real bready.
The wine was your usual Chianti, with a little tang to it - not the best.
Price – $8.95 for the spaghetti, $15.50 wwith the wine.
Style/ambience ****
Food ****
La Faccia Luna, Main St, West Scranton, PA
La Faccia Luna is housed in a former bank built in the 19th century. It is imaginatively and tastefully decorated, with a two story atrium, tables in the balcony and booths and a bar on the first floor. It has understated lighting, and avant garde photos on the walls. A great place, well done.
The main attraction is the pizza, but there are a number of other Italian attractions on the menu. Spaghetti and meatballs are not on the menu, but they do offer homemade meatballs with angelhair and their special Napolitan sauce. I opted to substitute fettucine for the angel hair. The pasta was pretty good, but the sauce was outstanding. I’m not sure what went into it, but it had a real spicy bite. The meatballs were another treat. Advertised as homemade, they were tightly packed and very meaty – the way I like them. The salad was just three types of lettuce and crotons – minimalistically great. The price = $11.95 for the pasta, $4.75 for the Chianti for a total of $16.70.
Style/ambience ****
Food ****
The main attraction is the pizza, but there are a number of other Italian attractions on the menu. Spaghetti and meatballs are not on the menu, but they do offer homemade meatballs with angelhair and their special Napolitan sauce. I opted to substitute fettucine for the angel hair. The pasta was pretty good, but the sauce was outstanding. I’m not sure what went into it, but it had a real spicy bite. The meatballs were another treat. Advertised as homemade, they were tightly packed and very meaty – the way I like them. The salad was just three types of lettuce and crotons – minimalistically great. The price = $11.95 for the pasta, $4.75 for the Chianti for a total of $16.70.
Style/ambience ****
Food ****
Jhon’s, Main St., Old Forge, PA
Jhon’s used to be in an old house on Prospect Ave. in South Scranton. It was very popular, and always seemed to be expanding. I ate there regularly, and it had a great upscale Italian menu, but I hadn’t been there in a while. Somehow in the interim they moved to Old Forge. This seems to be a daunting move – moving an Italian restaurant into the Italian town of Old Forge. The new place is quite different. Instead of an old house which was always crowded and intimate, it is now a large room with rows of about 15 booths and a fifty foot bar, with small tables in an alcove around the corner. And it is new – lots of formica and paneling, high ceilings, and not at all intimate. It didn’t help that I was there on a weeknight and just about the only person in the place – but there were three helpful and friendly waitresses. The menu seemed identical to the one at the old place – and it all looked good – and 100% Italian.
The extra was a carry over from the old place – an hors d’oeurve of cold pasta swirls, with some spinach and white beans and who knows what else – very tasty. The salad was great. Three kinds of fresh lettuce and olives - but that’s all - and the house dressing was a balsamic vinaigrette – very spicy with a real bite. The highlight was the bread. It was just Italian, sliced pretty thick. The delight was when you tasted it. It couldn’t have been fresher and more tender and softer – like just out of the oven. It reminded me of a French restaurant I was once at in Quebec. We had to wait in line by the door in front of where they kept the bread. They would bring loaves of French bread from the oven, and the waitresses would deliver them to the tables as needed. After about twenty minutes, they would remove all the unused bread and bring a new load from the oven, and start over. Apparently, anything over 20 minutes was stale. Now that is fresh bread!
Jhon's didn’t offer spaghetti and meatballs on the menu, but instead pasta and meatballs. I asked for spaghetti (without making a point of it), but what I got was a flat fettucini, I think. However it was good and appropriately cooked – but not as good as spaghetti. The sauce was thick - but not too thick - and very tomato-ish and flavorful. The meatballs were the disappointing part. They were medium-sized, but soft and doughy, and no real spicy bite to them.
The price $10.50 plus $5.00 for the wine, for a total of $15.50.
Style/ambience ****
Food ****
The extra was a carry over from the old place – an hors d’oeurve of cold pasta swirls, with some spinach and white beans and who knows what else – very tasty. The salad was great. Three kinds of fresh lettuce and olives - but that’s all - and the house dressing was a balsamic vinaigrette – very spicy with a real bite. The highlight was the bread. It was just Italian, sliced pretty thick. The delight was when you tasted it. It couldn’t have been fresher and more tender and softer – like just out of the oven. It reminded me of a French restaurant I was once at in Quebec. We had to wait in line by the door in front of where they kept the bread. They would bring loaves of French bread from the oven, and the waitresses would deliver them to the tables as needed. After about twenty minutes, they would remove all the unused bread and bring a new load from the oven, and start over. Apparently, anything over 20 minutes was stale. Now that is fresh bread!
Jhon's didn’t offer spaghetti and meatballs on the menu, but instead pasta and meatballs. I asked for spaghetti (without making a point of it), but what I got was a flat fettucini, I think. However it was good and appropriately cooked – but not as good as spaghetti. The sauce was thick - but not too thick - and very tomato-ish and flavorful. The meatballs were the disappointing part. They were medium-sized, but soft and doughy, and no real spicy bite to them.
The price $10.50 plus $5.00 for the wine, for a total of $15.50.
Style/ambience ****
Food ****
Brutico’s, Main St., Old Forge, PA
Brutico’s is a venerable restaurant in the Italian village of Old Forge, carrying with it not only a reputation for fine Italian food, but also a reputation for being the favorite watering hole of some of the leading members of prominent Italian ‘families’. However, that was years ago. Today, Brutico’s has changed hands from the Brutico family; has remodeled extensively; and is attracting a wide variety of folks. The new décor features a granite-topped bar; funeral home-like window drapes; and original paintings of Italian scenes that look like they were painted in a Chinese painting factory.
The food started favorably. A complimentary offering of pizza was great. A side salad with house dressing of oil and vinegar with a touch of garlic was okay. A foot-long toasted Italian roll was wonderful. Although the extensive menu did not feature spaghetti and meatballs, they offered a choice of at least half-dozen pastas – I chose homemade macaroni to go with my red sauce and meatballs. The macaroni was a bit overdone – but okay – and the sauce was fine. But the meatballs were undercooked. When the waitress asked me how everything was, I told her the meatballs were undercooked. She told me not to eat them, and offered me new meatballs. I declined. When the bill came, I was charged $14 for the pasta, $3 for the meatballs and $6 for the Chianti – not a customer-friendly move on their part, I felt.
Style/ambience ****
Food ***
The food started favorably. A complimentary offering of pizza was great. A side salad with house dressing of oil and vinegar with a touch of garlic was okay. A foot-long toasted Italian roll was wonderful. Although the extensive menu did not feature spaghetti and meatballs, they offered a choice of at least half-dozen pastas – I chose homemade macaroni to go with my red sauce and meatballs. The macaroni was a bit overdone – but okay – and the sauce was fine. But the meatballs were undercooked. When the waitress asked me how everything was, I told her the meatballs were undercooked. She told me not to eat them, and offered me new meatballs. I declined. When the bill came, I was charged $14 for the pasta, $3 for the meatballs and $6 for the Chianti – not a customer-friendly move on their part, I felt.
Style/ambience ****
Food ***
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Two Brothers, Blakely St., Dunmore, PA
Two Brothers is one step-up from a diner. It has a formica-covered bar (with two televisions blaring) and twelve stools, adjoining by the pizza take-out counter. Behind the bar are such things as a plastic American flag; Pitt and Penn State emblems; a NASCAR/Bud light sign; a plastic Harley Davidson model; a cartoon of a guy with a big beer belly; and lots of beer signs. Behind a divider is a separate wood-paneled room with about twelve tables. The place is a step below blue-collar (red-neck?). It is filled with a wide range of ages, and everyone seemed to know one another and they all seemed to be related, perhaps distantly.
I passed on the Special of the night – spaghetti with one meatball and a salad for $7.95. I just ordered the standard spaghetti and meatballs, which came with a salad and which gave me two meatballs instead of one. The pasta was good – well-cooked, firm and lots of it. The homemade meat sauce was unexceptional – it had ketchup consistency with no particular flavor, other than tomatoes. The meatballs were good – firm and meaty, but with no great taste.
The salad had lots of stuff in it – purple onion rings, cucumbers, an olive, a tomato triangle, some lettuce, some croutons, probably some more stuff, all in an olive oil dressing. It was eminently edible. The wine was Chianti – I’m not so sure the the waitress had ever had poured wine before – it was right to the brim. But it was OK.
The price was $7.50 for the pasta, $2.50 for the meatballs and $4.25 for the wine.
Style/Ambience *
Food **
I passed on the Special of the night – spaghetti with one meatball and a salad for $7.95. I just ordered the standard spaghetti and meatballs, which came with a salad and which gave me two meatballs instead of one. The pasta was good – well-cooked, firm and lots of it. The homemade meat sauce was unexceptional – it had ketchup consistency with no particular flavor, other than tomatoes. The meatballs were good – firm and meaty, but with no great taste.
The salad had lots of stuff in it – purple onion rings, cucumbers, an olive, a tomato triangle, some lettuce, some croutons, probably some more stuff, all in an olive oil dressing. It was eminently edible. The wine was Chianti – I’m not so sure the the waitress had ever had poured wine before – it was right to the brim. But it was OK.
The price was $7.50 for the pasta, $2.50 for the meatballs and $4.25 for the wine.
Style/Ambience *
Food **
Marino’s, Church St., Jessup, PA
Marino’s Cucina is an Italian family restaurant on the main drag in Jessup in the upper valley. It has a pleasant, well-appointed dining room with a separate bar. It has daily specials – mostly Italian – and a wide ranging menu. I had spaghetti & meatballs, even though not on the menu. Instead, on the menu was homemade macaroni with meatballs, obviously a house specialty. The spaghetti was fine - buttery even - and I loved the sauce. It was a marinara, and the combination caused me to forget to add the Parmesan cheese. The meatballs weren’t quite as good – a little tasteless and a bit bready. The salad was good, nice and crisp and a few Tuscan beans thrown in with the croutons. The bread was nice and soft. The Chianti was disappointing – it tasted okay, but I saw it come out of a jug, even though I saw a nice open bottle of Chianti Classico behind the bar. Price - $9.95 for the pasta, $2.50 for the meatballs and $4.50 for the wine.
Style/ambience ***
Food ***
Style/ambience ***
Food ***
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