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| - That's Italian!
It's difficult to find a really good Italian restaurant in the Valley. This is probably one of things that has hit me the hardest about moving out here from San Francisco--I went from a place where great Italian cuisine abounds, to a place where the great ones are like landmarks on barren terrain. Barzini's is one of those landmarks.
The greatest outrage of them all that you will see at one of the inferior joints is what I refer to as the "Italian Scam"--this is when you get a few cups of pasta or 5 ravioli in a low-grade tomato or other sauce and they charge you $15-$20. It's noodles and sauce. The noodles are off the shelf, and the ingredients in the sauce (if it isn't canned or jarred) are mixed from supermarket ingredients. Even if it's Nonna's recipe that she took with her when she came over from Tuscany or Palermo in 1902, that doesn't give anybody clearance to charge a customer that much for a simple dish.
There are no scams at Barzini's. The pasta plates are a decent size, for a decent price, and the taste is superior. My daughter loved her cheese ravioli--and she's picky about quality. My wife's tortellini was redolent with peas and a tomato cream sauce--it actually resembled an Indian red curry dish at first appearance. However, its taste and aroma was all Italian--my wife was all smiles. A lot of love goes into the preparation here and you get your food with friendly, helpful service. The pizza that they serve reminds me somewhat of the incredible pie that I ate when I visited Naples with my father back in 2004--yes, this is a spot for authentic taste. They even have extremely fresh vegetarian, vegan, and non-gluten options if that's what you're looking for. May I recommend the Rigatoni Primavera?
It ain't a fancy, dress-up establishment. Barzini's is a simple, walk-in place where all you have to do is go to the counter, order, and have a seat.
They deliver too--yet another reason to set your Italian food compass to this landmark, and keep coming back.
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