Tag Archive | italian

Italian in Savannah GA #FoodieFriday

This Foodie Friday is about a restaurant in Savannah GA.

Cuoco Pazzo
Cucina Italiana
606 Abercorn Str , Savannah GA

To be honest, the only reason why we pick this Italian restaurant in Savannah was because it was in walking distance from our bread and breakfast inn and we were hungry. We looked at their menu before hand. Hubs wanted spaghetti and meatballs and that should’ve been simple. I did not see simple spaghetti plate on the menu and Hubs pointed it out.

I said, “What Italian restaurant does not serve simple spaghetti with meat sauce? That is like Italian 101.”

Well I got my answer.
Cuoco Pazzo does not serve spaghetti and meat sauce or meatballs for dinner. They serve it at lunch, but not for dinner.
Talk about being annoyed.

I asked if we could order a side of spaghetti and a side of meat sauce. They only had marinara sauce. Not meat. Yeah, Hubs would not go for that.
I asked if they had angel hair pasta. The only two pasta options they had were spaghetti and pappardelle.

“Do we need more time before we order?” asked the server.

Absolutely. While my mind was still reeling from the fact that they do not have spaghetti and meatballs, we decided to order Capricciosa flatbread. This had tomato sauce, ham, artichoke, mushroom, and mozzarella cheese. Also to be noted, this was the only flat bread with meat.

At this point, the mood and our table was not good. Neither of us ordered what we really wanted and we were too hungry to go elsewhere.

We had an added complication: it was 7 PM on Christmas Eve. If we got in our car and drove around downtown Savannah who is to say anything else would even be open?

The server told us at the flatbread was “excellent” and “out of this world “. He even said it was the best he ever had because it was cooked in a brick oven.

The reality was that it was not that impressive to me. The middle of both of our flatbreads was soggy. Hubs ate the toppings only. I ate two of the four pieces, leaving some of the crust because it was too soggy and tasted like raw dough. The server asked if Hubs did not like his flatbread, and I told him the crust was soggy.

They offered to make a new flat bread for us to take. We said we did not want it, but they insisted.

TOW Final word: A lot of people were very satisfied with the food, but we wish we had had another option. I wish the kitchen could have been more flexible or at least offered more than the limited options for dinner. Service was great though. Check out their menu online and if it appeals to you EXACTLY as written, you will probably like this place.

Amerigo’s

Jan1

Amerigo’s
Nashville, TN
Italian

While visiting my bestie Nashville, we all went to Amerigo’s because their menu looked delicious and we were hungry for Italian food.

First item that caught my eye was the cheese fritter. There was a blurb on the menu saying that they were given an award by Bon Appetit for their cheese fritters. I had to try these to see what all the fuss was about. About the size of a large hush puppy, it was fried cheddar cheese served with marinara and honey mustard sauce. I like cheese and I like fried foods, but this was a little too rich for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was good but I don’t know if I will order that again. It was kind of heavy as an appetizer.

On the other hand, the crab cake appetizer was TO DIE FOR. I can describe it is two words: No Filler. It was pure chunks of tender, flakey crab meat in the center of a some sort of salad with corn, white beans, and other stuff. I loved the crab cake.

For my main course I ordered Gemilli and Sausage in vodka tomato cream sauce. Instead of gemilli pasta, I substituted angel hair. The dish contained ground sausage, peppers, onions, and asiago cheese. I topped with a mountain of Parmesan cheese. YUM

I love angel hair spaghetti and this sauce was cheesy deliciousness. There was so much sausage, it seemed that every bit had a piece in it.
Some Italian restaurants serve dishes with sauces that are kind of bland, but that is not the case with Amerigo’s. This entrée was full of flavor from the tomatoes, peppers and onions while the sausage provided hearty, meaty goodness.

And even though I did not have any room, I ordered dessert. I had been told that their tiramisu was really good. That analysis was correct. The ladyfingers were not totally soaked but moist enough to provide texture to the dessert. The mascarpone cheese had a hint of sweetness that complimented the chocolate sauce that was on the plate. I so full from dinner that I ended up taking most of it in a to-go box but it was gone by morning. After having a dream about it, I woke up during the night to finish it off. IT. WAS. THAT. GOOD.

Overall: Go to Amerigos for dinner (and possibly a crab cake) but make sure to save room for tiramisu.

Filippi Pizza Grotto – Napa CA

Dec9

Filippi Pizza Grotto is an Italian food restaurant with 14 locations throughout California. We chose the Napa location because we were going to Oxbow Market across the street but wanted more filling food than a taco. And we did not want something as ordinary as a hamburger. Filippi was across the street and we decided to give it a try after looking at their menu and prices. Their prices are comparable to Olive Garden, but the food tastes way better. The amount of food that they give is also a bargain. They are serving family size dishes here. There is enough food for two especially if you do not want to have a carry out box of leftovers.

We shared the spaghetti with marinara sauce and sausage ($9.45). All the pasta dishes came with Italian rolls. The Italian roll was about the size of a hoagie roll, crusty exterior with soft white bread on the inside. They brought it to the table warm and I ate two slices before I had a chance to butter the bread. It was that good. I am a sucker for good bread.

They make their own sausage and I could taste the effort that was put into it. The casing was a little chewy, but the meat inside was well seasoned and tender. The marinara sauce was thick and chunky with a lot of tomato pieces.

Overall: This was a hearty Italian meal served with friendly service at an affordable price.

Filippi Pizza Grotto 645 First Str Napa CA

707-254-9700

Post Corner Pizza and Restaurant

Dec5

I chose this restaurant because it was walking distance from the hotel where I was staying in Clearwater Beach. This place serves diner food with some Greek and Italian dishes that cost just a little bit above regular diner prices. I suppose location is the reason for the slightly higher prices because it is located on Gulfview directly across from the beach.

I ordered Gyro platter which consisted of Gyro, French fries, and a small Greek salad. It cost $12.25. That was more than I wanted to pay, but I was hungry and did not feel like driving anywhere. The gyro was standard. I was not overly impressed but I was not disappointed either. Of all the varieties of French fries, my least favorite is the steak fry cut. And this is what they served. Needless to say, I ate them but I did not ENJOY them. The Greek salad was good mainly because of the Feta cheese. Love Feta.

I ordered cheesecake ($5.25/slice) for dessert. The cheesecake was rich and creamy as it is supposed to be. I was happy about that because it was a satisfying end to my meal.

Overall: This is a good diner choice if you are staying in Clearwater Beach. I don’t know if I would make a special trip for it.

Post Corner Pizza and Restaurant

431 Gulfview Blvd Clearwater Beach FL

Open 7 days 8:00 am – 11:00pm

****sorry no pictures****

Milanos Greek and Italian – Pelzer SC

Nov28

I went to Milano’s because there was no other restaurant around and I was hungry. There were no cars in the parking lot and I had low expectations of the place. I expected it to be a dive with mediocre food. Since they serve Italian and Greek food, I figured that there was not too much that they could mess up with that. Spaghetti is usually easy to cook. With enough hot sauce, I could make the marinara sauce palatable if I needed to do so.

The menu looked good, but keep in mind I was hungry too.

I ordered the Slovaki (know I spelled that incorrectly) chicken, steamed vegetables, pita bread with a Greek side salad topped with blue cheese dressing. Might as well live on the edge and try something different. It was so good. The chicken tasted as if it had been marinating for days in the liquid seasoning. The seasoning was heavy, but not overpowering, on Mediterranean spices. The Greek salad was mainly iceberg lettuce with 2 black olives and a pepperonicini. I would have preferred more olives but that is because I like their briny flavor. I had the option to get the steamed veggies or the greek potatoes. I am glad went with the veggies because I think that the potatoes and the pita bread would have been too much starch for one meal. The veggies tastes as if they might have been cooked in the same marinade as the chicken so they were full of flavor too.

The plate serving was more than enough food for me. I had to fight the urge to overstuff myself because the food was so appetizing.

Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant. Do not let the empty parking lot fool you. Their food is awesome.

Milanos Greek and Italian

508 Highway 8 East Pelzer, SC 29669