Put Amicci's on Your Restaurant List

Not the easiest place to find, but Amicci's is well worth the effort. (Paul thought he could find it easily enough without a map since Little Italy is, well, little.) We (I) stopped and asked a group of young people on the street, but they shrugged and apologized. Two more blocks featured an older Italian-looking man on his front stoop, standing there as if waiting for someone. He knew exactly. "Turna right at the stoppa sign and go halfa blocka. Iss onna yer righta."





Most of the restaurants in Little Italy are old rowhomes. They have "great bones" and lots of character, much better than modern chain restaurants any day. I loved the rich hardwood floors, the high ceilings, the gorgeous staircase, and the hominess of the many small dining rooms.





As for the noise level, it was perfect for our family. We were ushered to the very back dining (through twisty-turny halls--very cool) and were one of four large parties there. Thankfully! I sure didn't want our table to be the loud oddball. A quartet of college girls sat nearest us, laughing and carrying on. A family larger than ours sat on the opposite wall, with a boy about Joel's age. A party of 8 was having an obvious good time at the fourth table.





Though I prefer linen tablecloths, I was okay with the vinyl. At least they had cloth napkins. To Joel's chagrin, I took the opportunity to teach him (again) how to place it and use it.





We started off with fried calamari, garlic cheese bread, and two large house salads to share. The calamari was just okay; tasted like skinny French fries to me. The bread was scarfed by the others. Joel left me a crusty morsel, so I have no real comment on the bread. However, the salad was amazing. (I need a better adjective; wearing that one out, but it fits.) Fresh romaine, crisp and sweet onions, juicy Roma tomatoes and pitless black olives (which I always bite into very carefully after breaking a tooth on one last summer.) The dressing made it. I don't know what it was, but all of us commented several times how good it tasted.





The menu was simple but didn't make for an easy choice. It was so hard to choose between alfredo and a marinara dish. I love them all! I wanted shrimp and pasta, but they have plenty of choices to suit that combo of passions. Sarah was having an equally hard time deciding, so we ended up agreeing to share two different ones: the Carlo and the Shrimp with Broccoli Alfredo. Ben ordered Penny's Tortellini, Stephen chose the Tortellin Roma , Paul had the Chicken Lorenzo, and Joel piped up enthusiastically for the penne with meatsauce.

All of us loved what we ordered. That's saying a lot in a group of six who aren't prone to casual compliments. Usually there's a so-so vote or someone eyeing the other's so much you feel guilted into trading. But not this time. Even Sarah and I were so enamored of our choices that neither of wanted to trade after all. Joel said of his meal, "This is the best of the best! It's like ravioli without the ravioli !" I would have to said, though, that Paul's was the best of the six. Lightly breaded chicken, tender mushrooms, tasty provolone, roasted red peppers, perfect zucchini, all marinated in a wonderful wine sauce, what's not to like? When I tasted a bite of his, I wondered if I could possible duplicate the recipe at home. It was beyond good.

Service was very good. Our friendly server kept the drinks refilled, the plain bread coming, and talked us into dessert. We shared two cannoli and I had half a decaf coffee. Would've liked the whole thing, but my family doesn't know how to linger after the last bite. Either that or I don't know how to enjoy dessert without coffee. But I'm willing to learn, if it means another dinner at Amicci's!