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| - 4-1/2 stars for food . . . 2 stars for service.
I had no idea this place even existed . . . it is tucked away in a shopping center behind Pinnacle Peak in the Troon North area. I am so glad our friends recommended that we have dinner there. First of all, the dining room is really pretty. It reminded me of an old style Italian restaurant from back East in so many ways . . . and you would never know it from the outside.
The offered a summer special menu of $34.95 for a starter (appetizer, salad or soup), entree, dessert, and coffee -- a true bargain if you were to add everything up separately.
For starters, we all ordered something different . . . calamari fritti, mixed green salad with Gorgonzola, Prosciutto di Parma over fresh seasonal melon, and the beef carpaccio. All were a hit except my salad was pretty unremarkable and ordinary.
Entrees were AMAZING! All entrees (except pasta) come with a choice of side, either pasta or the daily veggie (green beans that night). Hubby had the Veal Martini (Veal cutlet breaded with parmesan cheese, sautéed in brown sauce and topped with asparagus). I had the Veal Parmigiana, as did one of our friends. The veal was so incredibly tender you could cut it with only your fork -- heavenly. For me, the veal parm hearkened back to the old days in the late 1960s and early 1970s when I was a kid in Pittsburgh, PA. We had a favorite restaurant that my family went to every Sunday called the Park Schenley. Perhaps I have romanticized my experience of it, but I always compare any veal parm to the one there, and Gianfranco didn't disappoint! BRAVO!! My other friend (another Yelper) had the Scampi Classico (I hope she will write a review too). The shrimp were huge and looked really succulent, but we were so busy chatting away, I didn't get a chance to ask her how it tasted. I am assuming because she finished it with no complaints that she was very pleased.
For dessert, hubby had the Tiramisu. It was a very hefty portion and he made no excuse for orgasmically moaning how delicious it was. I had the cannoli . . . it was just okay. The filling was a little too creamy for my taste. I like my cannoli heavy on the ricotta texture. Coffee was delicioso! I forgot to ask what kind they serve.
Service was a downer, to say the least. S-L-O-W. Our server apologized for the slow service and blamed it on the fact that the restaurant was closing for two weeks for summer vacation and everyone decided to come in that night . . . they weren't prepared for such a crowd. I have to wonder how that could be when we were one of the first tables seated and we were the last to leave, why that was . . . Believe me, we were not lingering . . . It seems that this is not unusual based on other reviewers comments.
Even still, the food (and the company) more than made up for the lack of service. We will definitely be regulars here, but we will make sure that if we are pressed for time (which fortunately we were not this particular night), we will let them know in advance.
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