Amerigo Italian restaurant
Overall GrubGrade A-
The Breakdown:
Atmosphere: Grade A-: After our knockout first evening in Nashville at Burger Republic, we were pretty excited to try some Italian food. Katina chose Amerigo Italian Restaurant, and she hit it out of the park. When we arrived, Amerigo’s wasn’t too busy, and we were sat in a table near the back of the restaurant. That allowed us to get a nice look at the décor of the restaurant on our way through. With the muted lighting and the dark wood paneling, Amerigo’s had a nice romantic vibe going. Add to that our server with her European accent, and we starting to border on exotic. There were no other diner’s in the area where we were sitting, so we felt as if we had the restaurant to ourselves. We found Amerigo Italian Restaurant to be very nice and bordering on the upscale, but it was just missing that something that made you feel like you were going to have an awesome dining experience.
High marks: Almost everything
Low marks: Pretty much nothing
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Service: Grade B+: We dined at Amerigo’s a little over 2 months ago. Unfortunately, we don’t remember anything specific about the dinner service except that our server had a lovely accent. The fact that we do not remember the service means two things: there was nothing wrong with the service and there was nothing special about it, either.
High marks: Nothing wrong with service
Low marks: Nothing overly special or memorable about service
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Food/Spirits: Grade A-: Katina behaved herself on this occasion and just ordered iced tea to drink. I, on the other hand, selected the Turtle Anarchy Portly Stout for my beverage. It was dark and creamy with a slight bitter finish. I found the beer to be very sessionable and found it to be one of the better new beers I’ve samples recently. For an appetizer, Katina and I shared an order of calamari. The calamari was lightly breaded and served with an excellent pesto dipping sauce. Amerigo’s was the first restaurant we’ve been to in months to nail the calamari. I also ordered the soup of the day, which happened to be homemade chicken noodle soup. Katina tasted the soup as well, and then proceeded to help me finish it. The soup was an excellent and unexpected surprise. The soup had an almost rustic flavor with an excellent broth and a ton of shredded chicken. It wasn’t thick, but it tasted thick (if that makes sense). The soup would have been perfect if there were a few more homemade noodles in it. But this was one of the best soups either of us have had, and definitely the BEST chicken noodle soup we’ve ever tasted. For entrees, Katina ordered the veal marsala and I ordered the 5-layer lasagna. Katina felt like the veal marsala had really good flavor. The veal marsala was nice and saucy (just like she prefers it) and she really enjoyed the homemade noodles. The noodles had a thicker texture and were almost dumpling-like. The marsala sauce had a great flavor with a real heartiness to it. Katina did feel like she could have used more noodles in the dish, but otherwise it was an excellent dish. The 5-layer lasagna wasn’t the best lasagna I’ve ever had. It was good, though. I found it to be a little too soupy for lasagna, but my real issue with the dish was how hot (temperature-wise) it was served. I could have gotten a similar experience eating a spoonful of lava. I do not understand how any normal human being could have been expected to eat that dish without lighting their mouth on fire. It would have been a little more tolerable if the lasagna would have been cooked 10 minutes before the rest of the food.
High marks: Noodles were excellent, excellent beer, spot on calamari, best chicken noodle soup ever
Low marks: Lasagna was more like lava than pasta
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Value: Grade B+: We didn’t have to take out a third mortgage to pay for our dinner, and the quality for most of the meal was above our expectations. If you live in Nashville, or you plan on visiting, Amerigo Italian Restaurant should be at the top of your list, especially if you have a craving for some pasta.
High marks: Superior quality
Low marks: Not the cheapest meal around (but worth it)
grubgraders 