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| - 3.5 stars rating
I was excited to try North, and by reading other reviews on Yelp, I knew what to avoid. We arrived on a Friday at about 6PM, just under the wire to order a few drinks and an appetizer from the happy hour menu. The wine recommendation was great and the bruschetta with crescenza cheese, asparagus, prosciutto di Parma was very good. The bruschetta melted in our mouths. The only thing that could have made the bruschetta better would have been a little acid on the asparagus, maybe a little lemon.
I ordered the short rib "osso buco" with polenta and root vegetables. Now I knew it wasn't real osso buco going in, but that didn't matter because it was fabulous. The polenta was so creamy and delicious. Some of the root vegetables were a little carmelized, which made them sweet and yummy. There was also braised kale which was very good and not bitter at all. Overall, a very good dish that I recommend and would order again.
My husband's dish is why I gave a 3.5 star rating. He ordered the baked ziti bolognese with spinach, ricotta and mozzarella cheese. My husband asked for sausage to be added to the dish and also asked if they could spice it up a little, like add an arrabiata sauce. The waiter said it would be no problem. We both figured they would add some dried peperoncino (italian red pepper flakes). Instead they added fresh sliced jalapeno. Are you kidding me? Jalapenos in italian food? It seemed very strange. The sausage was also extremely dry. We realized that the dish would have been better as is, so it may be partly our fault. But the problem is that the waiters at North constantly try to upsell you by suggesting that you make additions to the dishes. I noticed that at other tables and in past reviews on yelp. They suggest that you add chicken, shrimp, etc. The dishes shouldn't need additions, they should stand up on their own.
In conclusion, the food was good, service nice, but I won't stray from the menu, and I'll go in knowing that the waiter will probably try to up-sell me.
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