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| - I was really surprised to see this very well appointed restaurant and bar so empty, although that made it very easy for our small group to get a table.
The food all sounded delicious, plenty of inviting pasta options, but since this was my second dinner of the night (yes, 2nd) I went with the beet salad. It was very good. I tried a bite of the caramelized gnocchi as well as the orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe and they were also very good. The desert was the best I've had in a while. I had the lemon semifreddo with blackberries, it was fantastic.
The service was fairly good. It definitely got better as the night went on. At first, it really seemed like we had thrown our waiter off somehow, as if we snuck up on him. By the end of the meal he was cracking jokes and had redeemed himself.
Aria is a very pretty restaurant. It's slightly below street level, with a warm inviting glow off the white leather covering all the chairs and benches. There is a large window looking into the kitchen, which gave us something to look at while savoring our food.
I'm told Aria is pricey as Charlotte restaurants go, but I thought the prices mirrored the quality and size of the dishes perfectly. Maybe more expensive than other restaurants in the area, but worth every penny.
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