Report Card: Bravo Cucina Italiana

http://www.bravoitalian.com/index.html

Overall Grade A-

 

The Breakdown:

Atmosphere:  Grade B:  Once upon a time, we considered Bravo Cucina Italiana the benchmark for Italian restaurants.  I remember taking Katina to Bravo’s when we first started dating, when we were both young and naïve, and thinking how amazing the food tasted.  We returned recently to Bravo with the intent of grading it and as soon as we walked in the door, it hit us – Bravo Cucina Italiana looks exactly the same as it did 15 years ago when we first visited it.  On the surface, that sounds like a negative comment, and while we won’t argue that the décor of Bravo could use a touch of updating, it was and still is a really nice restaurant.  Despite the age of the interior, Bravo is still well maintained and clean.  Tables are spaced appropriately, and we visited during non-peak hours, so there were few diners and little noise.

High marks:  Clean, nice décor

Low marks:   Could use some updating

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Service:  Grade A-:  Over the years, we’ve been to Bravo Cucina Italiana many, many times.  On this occasion, as with all of the previous occasions, we received very good service.  The service is always straight forward and competent.  Food and drinks move at very nice pace, and rarely do you need to ask for anything twice.  Bravo gets an “A-“ on this occasion (which is slightly higher than I would normally give it) because our server went the extra mile in getting Katina her Veal Marsala.  The Veal Marsala used to be on the menu, and now it is gone, but our server was able to still get it for Katina.  That extra little effort lifted Bravo’s grade.  Well done.

High marks:  Server obtained dish no longer on menu for Katina

Low marks:   Service really good – not spectacular

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Food/Spirits:  Grade A:  We are finding excellent Italian food harder and harder to find.  Brava Cucina Italiana has really good Italian food.  While we might no longer consider it the gold standard for Italian cuisine, you won’t find many places slinging better pasta.  Katina had Sangria for her drink and I once again settled for a Guinness.  We’ve done both of these drinks before, so there’s really no reason to keep flogging that dead horse.  As previously mentioned, Katina ordered the veal marsala.  Katina has always maintained that Bravo’s veal marsala was the best she’s had.  This held true for on this visit as well.  The veal was tender and was pounded nice and thin.  The sauce had a really good flavor, and there was plenty of it.  The herbed pasta that came with the veal marsala was cooked to perfection as well.  I settled on the sausage tortelloni, which was really well prepared.  The Italian sausage had just enough kick without overwhelming the rest of the dish.  The sauce had HUGE chunks of tomato in it.  While I am a fan of the flavor of tomato, I am not really in love with its texture.  So, I usually prefer any tomato in a dish to be diced or chopped into tiny pieces.  I know…how old am I?  My biggest complaint, though,  was definitely not Bravo giving me too much of a good thing.  Portion size on the sausage tortelloni was small.  I never like leaving a restaurant feeling as hungry as I did when I entered it.  Maybe the massive chunks of tomato were supposed to be a filler.  So, even though I enjoyed the taste, I was overall disappointed with the dish.  However, because the veal marsala gave Katina joy, and based on previous performance, we settled on a food/spirits grade of “A.”

High marks:  Still the best veal marsala out there, according to Katina

Low marks:  Portion size on sausage tortelloni too small

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Value:  Grade B:  Portion size is what kept Bravo Cucina Italiana from scoring an A in this category.  While Katina left with a doggie bag, I felt I had only eaten a few bites of my dish when I realized my dish was done.  Food is of really good quality and price is not overwhelming.  If Bravo can get the portion size more consistent, we can bring the grade up to “A.”

High marks:  Really good food at a reasonable price

Low marks:  Inconsistent portion size

Report Card: Claudiana Italian

www.ClaudianaRestaurant.com

Overall GrubGrade B+

The Breakdown:

Atmosphere: Grade B:  Outside, the décor is easily overlooked.  But once we opened the door, we were pleasantly surprised.  The dining room is small, but it feels quaint and cozy instead of cramped.  The dining area was not plagued by a bunch of wall hangings or knick knacks that are distracting.  Tables were adequately spaced apart to provide some privacy for dinner conversation, and the background noise was quiet enough to remind you of your high school study hall.  The dining area appeared very clean and well maintained.

High marks: Understated but pleasant décor, fairly quiet, clean and well maintained

Low marks: Small dining room is just one rectangular room, minimal décor could be boring
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Service: Grade B-:  The service we received what pretty much what you would expect from a restaurant in this price range.  While our server did not blow us away with enthusiasm like a high school cheerleader, she was attentive to our needs.  Waiting for food and drink was minimal, and overall the meal flowed very well.  Our meal seemed relaxed and not rushed even though the food arrived promptly.  Our server may have been the new kid at school as she seemed to struggle with drink descriptions as well as ingredient pronunciations.

High marks: Attentive server, minimal wait for both food and drinks

Low marks: Server not very familiar with menu, had trouble pronouncing dish ingredients

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Food/Spirits:  Grade A-:  There was quite a variety of dishes on the menu.  Both of us were pleasantly surprised.  Beer selection was a tad stingy, but not many Italian restaurants have a robust beer selection in my opinion.  The cocktail menu had more selections than we anticipated, and both Katina and myself chose the Moscato spritzer.  We found it flavorful and quite refreshing.  If you are a fan of Moscato, you’re going to want to check this drink out.  The wine list was modest but not exhaustive, and lets face it, with Italian restaurants, wine is the class president.  We ordered the fried calamari for our appetizer.  This is a tradition with us, because it the calamari is bad, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the meal.  This calamari was very well prepared.  It had a nice, light breading and was cooked to a nice crispness without being overdone.  The marinara and aioli sauces were good, but were pretty standard fare for calamari.  Katina chose the chicken marsala for her entrée.  She describes the chicken breast as perfectly cooked, juicy and of the perfect thickness.  She found the marsala sauce rich and flavorful.  The chicken marsala at Claudiana Italian comes with pasta alfredo, which Katina found to be a nice twist on the dish.  The alfredo sauce lent a nice, creamy texture to the dish.  Portion size was on the generous side.  I had the Lamb Chops Mediterranean for my entrée.  The lamb was cooked perfectly, and it was really nice to order a medium well piece of meat and receive a medium well piece of meat.  The lamb was tender and juicy.  The accompanying Mediterranean risotto was also a delight.  If you’re as much of a fan of lamb as me (sorry Mary and Little Bo Peep), you will want to try these chops.  Portion size was adequate.

High marks: Good variety on menu, food cooked as ordered and well prepared

Low marks: Beer selection limited (but not unexpected), sauces for calamari ordinary and lacked pizzazz

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Value: Grade B+:  We found the quality of the food to be on par or slightly above what is expected for dishes in the price range.  Portion size was adequate to generous.  Overall, a very pleasant experience.  We will be going back to explore more of the menu — we suggest you do the same.