It pains we to give independent restaurants a bad review but have to be honest...that's the whole point of Yelp. Not sure where to start. This space does have one of the best views in town so just look outside, because just adding canvas photographs of Italy and ill-fitting red/white checkerboard tablecloths to the beautiful decor of upscale restaurants past, simply doesn't work. The tablecloths sliding all over the table really just makes it all annoying.
I'm not sure what made my think the "flash fried zucchini" would be fresh vegetables with maybe a light breading, but it wasn't...just standard sports bar fried discs. The menu is really too much- I love creative dishes but I can't imagine anyone actually ordering/eating some of these pizzas. I chose a calzone. Because I didn't see a description on the menu and because of some of the weird pizzas, I confirmed with our server that it came stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella and I just needed to pick other toppings. I added Chicago sausage and green peppers. Never thought I'd say this..but the crust was too thick- thinking back, it was more like a stuffed pizza than a calzone. They put their thick sauce inside and out, the cheeses were practically non-existent and then they melt cheddar on top?!? With the menu full of references to the owner's Sicilian heritage...who does that? Do they even know what cheddar cheese is in Italy?
The pepperoni kids pizza was great and I really liked the wooden paddles for serving dishes/plates. Also, the cards were fun, except the annoyance of the tablecloths again.
We'll go to Amaro's if we want to stay in the neighborhood.