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| - I went to this place to try somewhere different, as had found excellent reviews on another site. It was quite a trip for us, but overall, well worth it.
It is situated in a newer strip mall, nothing fancy but not old and dirty either. It has a pretty open layout, and you can see right into the kitchen from the dining area, which is nice. The place is extremely clean, nicely decorated, and has at least 3 flat screen TV's. It is very noisy inside with the TV's blasting out sports, a somewhat cramped dining area, and the din of the kitchen. This is not the place for a quiet romantic dinner, but a good place to take friends and people who like watching the game while they eat.
We didn't call ahead or make reservations, but it seems that is a good idea because they can be very busy. Even though we didn't make reservations, the owner, Tom, was able to seat the four of us at the last open table right away. He also introduced us to his brother, who was serving tables and was obviously a Lakers fan, he was wearing a sleeveless jersey, and had the Celtics - Lakers game at full blast. I don't mind the casualness, but seeing a guy's pits while he's serving food is pretty gross (one star knocked off for that), luckily he wasn't serving our table.
Our server was very friendly, but didn't make any recommendations. Our party of four started with the unadvertised "Around the World", where you get to sample different appetizers for about as long as you like. I only knew about the Around the World from reading other reviews. We had the grilled artichoke hearts, Rolled NY - thin NY steak wrapped around asparagus and provolone, sweet chile & bacon prawns - my favorite, and pesto garlic bread.
For our entrees we ordered the Chicken & Artichokes, Chicken Saltimbocca, Spaghetti Squash and Chef Al's Special Pork Chops. I also ordered an entree of Chicken Fettuccine to go for the kid at home. We got house salads with all of them. The balsamic vinaigrette had a touch of honey in it, and was excellent. The entree portion sizes were decent for all of the entrees, except the serving with the Pork Chops was huge! Two very large chops, enough for two or three people. Luckily my daughter's boyfriend has a hollow leg, and finished the entire plate by himself. All in all, everyone raved about their dishes. I also expected to receive Chef Al's Potato Pie with my order, but instead got roasted potatoes. When I asked Tom about it, he said he had too many complaints about the Potato Pie (being unhealthy) and was taking them off the menu. He whipped up a special plate of them for us. They were delicious: mashed potatoes, with cheese and Prosciutto mixed in. Awesome stuff, it would be a shame if he took them off the menu. As an extra treat, during our meal Tom's brother made an appetizer of garlic bread, pesto, grilled peppers, onions, garlic and provolone and grilled it to a crisp. He made enough for the entire house and went around giving them to everyone for free. Now how often does that happen?
The only "mistake" made during the night was that our server switched me from Pinot Grigio to Sauvignon Blanc. But, she left me the extra half glass that was left over, so I wasn't complaining. We were also treated to a slice of cheesecake to share, and by that point in the night, that's all I had room for.
Our tab, not including taxes or tip, came to $214.
PROS: Superb food, super friendly owners and staff who treat you like a friend
CONS: noisy, maybe a little bit too casual at times
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