Category Archives: Italian

Mama Louise

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**** (4 stars)

This space has been an Italian restaurant for three decades, and it used to be quite popular. But the landlord raised the rent, the original tenant moved, and things went into a slow decline.

Now Mama Louise has arrived to start a new era. The interior has been freshened and is now airy and even–dare I say–almost trendy. Service has definitely been amped up since the last incarnation. And the food has improved, too.

A group of us went for lunch, and sat in the enlarged outside dining area. The lunch menu offers a nice variety, and at about $8 is reasonably priced. Even pizza toppings, usually the deal killer, are just 25 cents.

And the pizza is good, with a nice slightly chewy but crisp crust, and good toppings. Salads are also good; my Caesar salad was actually outstanding. In fact the only dish that wasn’t a solid win was an Alfredo pasta that was just okay.

The dinner menu looks to be mostly pasta, and judging by the prices, probably fairly large servings of it. I’ll probably stick with lunch, though.

Mama Louise
7600 Dr Phillips Blvd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 345-1000
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mama-louise-orlando

Pizza @ Artegon

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**** (4 stars)

I’ve been to this mall many times over the past fifteen years, and it has always been deserted. But I hadn’t been there since it changed to Artagon, so I was surprised to find… that it’s still deserted.

Be that as it may, this is an excellent pizza spot. You place your order at the counter and supervise as they assemble your pizza and run it though a conveyor oven, a process that only takes a few minutes.

The resulting pizza is on a thin, tasty crust. What’s really nice is that for about $8 you can put up to six ingredients on. Usually extra ingredients are ridiculously expensive, so I love this build your own approach.

That said, I decided to go with one of their featured recipes, the”Goofy Foot.” I’m not sure what a sauceless seafood pizza has to do with where you put your feet on a skateboard, but it was delicious. The combination of cheeses, mahi, shrimp, basil and chili oil really went together. My only complaint was that for some reason–probably the amount of moist ingredients–condensation immediately began to form under the crust, and I had to keep moving it around to keep it from dissolving. I’d like to experiment with ingredients and see if there’s a way to get a truly crispy crust.

Everyone in our group absolutely loved their pizzas, and said they’d like to return. That shouldn’t be a problem, as there will likely be no lines.

Pizza @ Artegon
5250 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 480-5008
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pizza-artegon-orlando

Giordano’s

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*** (3 stars)

I’ve never been a fan of deep dish pizza, so there’s that. I find the crust tastes like saltine crackers, and there’s just too much filling.

Plus, it takes about 40 minutes to cook, which is tool long for lunch hour. So it’s unfortunate that the only pizza lunch specials at Giordano’s involve deep dish pizza (what they called stuffed).

Still, they offer regular pizza and even an extra thin version. Unfortunately they have that same weird dough. Not my favorite.

That said, their Caesar salad is excellent. And the service at this Giordano’s is excellent. So if deep dish is your thing, by all means check it out.

Giordano’s
6203 W Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 377-0022
http://www.yelp.com/biz/giordanos-orlando-3

Cuvee Destin

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**** (4 stars)

Cuvee, as you might expect, offers an excellent wine list. The list is oddly divided into two parts, essentially the cheap part and the expensive part. Pricing varies, but seems to be about double retail. For me the highlight was the two pages of half bottles, something you don’t see a lot of anymore.

I thought the food was good, but there weren’t really any home runs. We tried the portobello mushroom, fried green tomatoes (which were more about crawfish), and the pecan crusted grouper (be sure to get the very sweet sauce on the side).

Our server was excellent, and we liked the quiet back corner of the back room, as the bar can get quite boisterous.

Cuvee Destin
36120 Emerald Coast Pkwy
Destin, FL 32541
(850) 650-8900
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cuvee-destin-destin-2

Cielo

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**** (4 stars)

Great service is the highlight of this elegant restaurant that overlooks the Four Seasons pool and the Gateway Arch.

The menu offers some Italian classic dishes, well prepared. I enjoyed the branzino entree, but the highlight was the flexibility to select a starter plate of high quality meats and cheeses, and especially the large selection of house-made gelatos. This was a good choice for hotel dining.

Cielo
Four Seasons Hotel
999 N 2nd St
Saint Louis, MO 63102
(314) 881-5759
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cielo-saint-louis-2

437 Rush Restaurant

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**** (4 stars)

This Italian steakhouse offers great service and excellent food in an environment that differentiates it from the other steakhouses in town. It’s lighter and more open (less “clubby”) than the dark wood red leather booth places.

We had the Prix Fixe menu, which included our choice in each of four courses. Many of the starters and second courses had an Italian slant, but I wouldn’t really describe it as traditional Italian cuisine. Steakhouse staples such as shrimp cocktail were also offered.

Both the filet mignon entree and the ahi tuna entree were really excellent: tender, perfectly cooked, and full of flavor. We finished with an excellent tira misu.

There is a nice wine list with some reasonably priced selections.

437 Rush Restaurant
437 N Rush St
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 222-0101
http://www.yelp.com/biz/437-rush-restaurant-chicago

Romano’s Macaroni Grill

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*** (3 stars)

Poor Romano’s. It just can’t seem to get any respect. I’m not sure why, because the decor–especially at this location–is really nice, evoking an old Italian country house. And the service is always friendly.

The food isn’t bad either. I particularly like the bruscetta appetizer, where you apply your own diced tomato and garlic topping to the crusty bread. The pizza service is nice too, with a hand shaped oval pizza served with a personal pizza cutter and a bowl of spicy sauce, so you can finish it off any way you like.

There are also some great lunch deals, including a three course lunch for ten bucks, or a seven dollar lunch served in seven minutes. If you haven’t tried Romano’s lately–at least for lunch–it might be worth a second look.

Romano’s Macaroni Grill
3143 Daniels Rd
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 654-0351
http://www.yelp.com/biz/romanos-macaroni-grill-winter-garden

Quartino

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**** (4 stars)

There is an overabundance of Italian restaurants in Chicago, and many have little to recommend them. Quartino is different, though, in that it takes a tapas approach to Italian food, emphasizing small plates of antipasti.

The best way to experience this is through their Salumeria Tasting, which lets you choose seven items to your taste, including veggies, cheeses and meat, all accompanied by several additional sides.

Everything I tried was tasty and delicious, and it was a good way to experience a broad range of offerings.

Of course they also offer pizza, other entrees, and an extensive dessert list, and they brag that they have wine that is cheaper than water.

My server was very friendly, and I enjoyed a relaxed meal in one of their spacious dining rooms. There is also a large outside dining area.

Quartino
626 N State St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 698-5000
http://www.yelp.com/biz/quartino-chicago

Siena Tavern

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**** (4 stars)

Despite its name, Siena Tavern doesn’t really come across as either Italian or a tavern. True, there is a list of pizzas, and they serve drinks, but it seems more like  a Hillstone concept to me.

The decor is open and modern, with a few too many hard surfaces to control the noise level when it’s busy (which seems to be most of the time).

We went for Sunday brunch/lunch, and I was pleased to find that while there were some very tasty looking brunch items, there were also lots of non-breakfast choices.

The chopped salad was an interesting conglomeration of vegetables, cheese and meat, and had enough juice from the artichoke hearts and other veggies that it didn’t really need the accompanying honey mustard dressing, so I’m glad I had that on the side.

The “burnt crust” pepperoni pizza wasn’t quite as charred as I would have liked, but it did have a very thin crust and good flavor.

Service was efficient, a necessity given how busy they were.

I’m not sure what would draw me back for a revisit (maybe some of the breakfast items, which looked really delicious and really bad for you) but my visit was fine.

Siena Tavern
51 W Kinzie St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 595-1322
http://www.yelp.com/biz/siena-tavern-chicago