I really wanted to love Aiello's and there were definitely parts that were top notch. The atmosphere was warm and intimate, the service was great and the chef/owner so hospitable!
Started off my meal with the stuffed artichoke hearts. I didn't know what to expect but they appeared to be deep fried and a little heavier than I liked. I found them a little bland but my fiance loved them. He ate half of them, plus his appetizer of eggplant rolatini. I sampled that and it was good but not great.
For entrees, I had the cavatelli with Sunday gravy and my fiance had the linguini scungelli. I found the gravy a little bland for my taste. However when I took the leftovers home and doctored it up with some more garlic and oregano and yum! The pasta was delicious and the meatball and sausage outstanding. But in the restaurant, the sausage was on the cold side.
The star of the show was my fiance's linguini dish. The menu describes the conch as tender slices and they were absolutely correct. The "lightly peppered" pomodoro sauce was spicy but so good. This is a dish I would return to Aiello's to have again.
We didn't indulge in dessert because we had tickets for a show and had to leave.
All in all, I think I'd like to give Aiello's another try and sample some other things. Like I said, I wanted to love it!