Italian Restaurants

Tony’s Pizza

WT Harris Blvd
1530 Overland Park Lane Suite 1/104
Charlotte, NC 28262
All Tony’s Photos Here

Well it was about time to expand upon the very limited exposure to Pizza in Charlotte I have had. The goal of any pizza mission and the aspects of a good pizza “joint” are as follows. Keep in mind the goal is to find a great affordable weekly place that you can reward yourself and the kids with. A Pizza “joint” of choice will become familiar like a glove to you as you are a part of a neighborhood and a good pizza place is a important part as well.

1. Should be affordable with good coupons to be found regularly.
2. Should make great Pizza the way you like it.
3. Should have friendly Italian or New York accented staff or owners.
4. Should have the smell and feel of flour on the floor, red vinyl booths, red pepper shakes and the bell behind the door when you walk in. If you have a pizza joint you love then you understand this feeling that is exclusive to pizza places.
5. Should be good enough in variety of foods to provide alternatives equal to the pizza they make (ie: calzones, meatball subs)

Well off to Tony’s for the first time and to this newly opened Tony’s location on WT Harris. This is another anchor storefront in this new apartment neighborhood just past Harris Teeter and near RT 85.

Addressing this in a systematic way using the above bullets Tony’s hits and misses on some key points. All in all you will se we were pleased with the stop and thankful for their friendly staff.

Firstly, looking at the pricing it is a bit high though comparable to other real hand tossed pizza in the area. With mediums at about $13 for a cheese that’s a bit more than one would like to drop everyweek as it comes to 17+ with toppings. Keep in mind that a medium here (like DaVincis) is much larger than a normal medium and can be viewed as almost a large. I hate to grip about a few bucks but the place is 2-3$ higher than ideal though not out of the ordinary for a restaurant of this type.

We next think about the overall taste and how well this pizza sat with our crew at home. The Pizza is very comparable to DaVincis in Davis Lake,which is popular with alot of people. You can see a nice close up of the Pizza we had right here which was with mushroom, ham and sausage. The pizza was a slight shade thicker than DaVincis which i enjoyed. If you see an old post of ours we complain about this “pursuit of thin” that many restaurants are on. “Thin” isn’t the answer to “good” and a nice “bready” crust is sometimes a much better pie. I liked the pizza slightly thicker than DaVincis though it lacked spice for my taste and agreed on by all that had it. A little garlic in the sauce and black pepper would have gone a long way to making this a great pizza. Keep in mind that we had somewhat bland ingredients, but the sausage was a bit bland as well. After eating a second slice we had wished we got pepperoni on the pie as it was a bit plain tasting. All in all its was good, perfect thick and folding but perhaps needed a bit more flavor and we will get onions and pepperoni next time to remedy this.

Third aspect above is the ownership. The owner or manager who spoke to us while we waited was friendly and cool, we thank him for being so. He is originally from Sicily, is prepared to address you order in English, Italian and Spanish and was about my age friendly and about what you would hope for.

A pizza “joint” is chatty and social like a barbershop, and if you don’t like the people its hard to make it the “place”. So props to a cool staff and taking the time to talk with us.

Aspect #4 which is the way a pizza place is in your mind was a real hit for me. The black and red Vinyl booths, rows of red pepper and framed sayings and whatnots all over the walls was right on target. After work or a game this place excelled in the way it felt to take a load off. Better than DaVincis, which we use as a measuring stick it seems, I liked the layout and casual “80’s Pizza Hut” feel of this location. If you are on lunch this is a nice place to get a seat and a slice.

The final aspect which is the variety of the menu was another strong mark for Tony’s. Tony’s has alot of the New York favorites that you just can’t get too many places. Enjoy ground beef topping, green olive topping, subs, salads, calzones and most impressively white pizza and thick style pies. White pizza is such a great changeup that a real place you call your “own” really needs to make it well. The addition of thick crust pies like up north also makes for some great crusts you can dip and eat too. The menu has a great variety, better than DaVincis, and should provide endless lunch and dinner change-ups if you live nearby.

Well that covers a good time out with my girl grabbing our first Tony’s from WT Harris. We like the layout alot and the comfortable feel of this location. The pizza looked great, was a bit plain less than extraordinary, but pretty good. I know everyone has opinions on Pizza, but if this had a few shakes of garlic and onion pwder and perhaps black pepper in the sauce it woulda hit home perfectly.

The variety of the menu was impressive and had every old favorite you could want. This nice looking menu was also a huge plus. This morning I was enjoying the cold slices from our good sized medium pie and really wished I had gotten onions on it.

I think its safe to say I will make time to try another one from this friendly place with decent pie and a nice huge menu of choices. If the Stromboli turns out to be great it could qualify as the “joint” for me.

Olive Garden Northlake Location

8225 Northlake Commons Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28216
704-494-4473
www.olivegarden.com
(No Pictures from the meal as my camera konked out on me, sorry about that)

Olive Garden? how can a person actually write a review about the Olive Garden?

The Olive Garden and the public view of it has always eluded and confused me. I see people and critics using it as a measuring stick of who to dis, or a restaurant with about as much street credibility as Kevin Federline in Harlem.

But why the dis, what’s the problem, and what is the source of this lack of credibility. I find the answer is generally linked back to the “hate the establishment mentality that is everywhere in society. people hat Wal-Mart, but love to save, people laugh at McDonald’s but their fries taste better than any caviar on the planet, and lastly patrons mock Olive garden as being a “Wonder bread wop” (quote Tony Soprano), but the fact is they have the best bread and salad you will get at any level.

I have long entered this restaurant looking forward to dipping those salty hot breadsticks in some Alfredo sauce as the highlight of all eating out trips. Any critic that denies the amazing breadsticks at the ‘OG’ is lying to themselves and trying to make themselves feel superior. This place excels at the pre-meal warm-up.

If you go in and get the Alfredo dipping sauce, salad and spinach artichoke dip you will every time be lying if you don’t love it. The question I have long had is why do people lie about their love for it?

IM TELLING YOU NOW: Its ok to love a chain, its ok to admit they do a pretty good job even though they are the McDonalds of Italian food.

Now with this all said, I have to laugh as this latest trip to the ‘OG’ newly built in Northlake was a bit disappointing.

If you haven’t been to Olive Garden recently, there are a few changes that are for better and worse. The decor has changed in the last 5 years with high ceiling better lit and featuring a bar on the agenda. The new look for Olive garden is brighter and more to the lunch crowd in my belief. Long gone are the ’80s with the fake Italian paintings and low light for after prom dates.

The new look is nice, and if you want to grab a drink or two the bar is much more useful than in the past.

The next change that I notice is the price increase across the board. Everything on the menu seemed 2-3$ higher than just 9 months ago. The best tasting treats on the menu (Chicken Alfredo Pizza - YUM) went from $6.95 (a steal) to $9.95. This is still cheap, but they did finally figure out what a great bargain I had been getting away with.

All menu items used to range from $8.99 to $14.99 and seem to have shifted to about $9.99 to $18.99. I know this is still pretty cheap eating, but the change is significant and you will notice it too.

We went on a weekday around dinner, and got seated way in the back again. The manager apologized for the slight disarray of the back area, but I honestly didn’t see any issues. Keep in mind this was coincidence, since nobody recognizes what I am up to until after the meal when I’m taking photos and leaving.

Our waiter was there on his day off, was friendly and as attentive as we could have hoped. The service here is always standard fare to good, I have never had an issue.

Out comes the best part of any ‘OG’ visit, the breadsticks and salads, and what a let down this was. Not fresh like normal and the waiter pulled an oops I forgot to offer grated cheese. The salad looked as un-fresh as the bread was, I was surprised as it is usually so good here.

My Wife had the new dish Portabella and steak Alfredo, I went for the Seafood Alfredo with Shrimp, Mussels and scallops. If you don’t know I am addicted to scallops after eating at Golden Taipei so I always order them up now.

Our meals we’re very slow to reach the table. The waiter apologized for the long wait twice and once averted his eyes in embarrassment as to our wait.

After the long delay without the normal fresh bread to get us by the meals cam out and looked great on the table. This great look was half deceiving unfortunately.

My wife was happy with the steak and portabella and recommends it. The steak was soft and the plate was huge and filling. The leftover made it to the next day from her meal.

The seafood Alfredo was very lacking. The dish was almost exact in taste to the Vampire Killer Pasta I invented and wrote about 1 week ago. The difference is that my pasta had about 25 shrimp and only cost me $5 to make. The taste of this dish was so simple and lacking any reason to want it again. I essentially had a plate of pasta with butter and garlic mixed with a few bits of seafood, very disappointing. This marks the first time my wife has out ordered me in a restaurant.

If you go to the ‘OG’ just get the standard dishes is the lesson today. Get the chicken Alfredo pizza and let those who roll their eyes at your lack of sophistication go take a flying leap. The fact is the ‘OG’ makes great breadsticks(usually), has great salad with pepperocinis (usually fresh) and makes great standard food items like lasagna and Portabella Ravioli. I just will be a bit more cautious with ordering off the norm as they may be trying to hard to charge more and name dishes uniquely and have forgotten to do the little things I still think they have in them.

I will give this location one more try as I assume this weak outing was a fluke from what is normally a good franchise with great pre-meal food. If they fall short again, I am more than happy with eating Mexican food instead.

Ciros Italian Restaurant

8927 J M Keynes Dr
Charlotte, NC 28262
(704) 510-0012
Photos Of Ciros

Here is another old review that got misplaced. This restaurant gets raves in alot of fake publications hat do “adver-reviews”, but the fact that youll overpay for just ok is very obvious to a real diner here.

Here I am freshly returned from trying Ciro’s Italian Restaurant in Charlotte
by UNCC in University City.

This restaurant has one of the best locations you could ask for. Ciro’s is
tucked into the plaza by the Hilton and by the pond where there is a great boardwalk
and you can rent paddleboats for $10 for 30 minutes.

Ciro’s has a corner location, which has very nice outdoor seating giving you
a view of the action at Boardwalk Billy’s Raw Bar as well as the countless folks
there for the boardwalk ambience.

A small note for those with kids or toddlers who stop in for lunch or a nice
Saturday meal, Ciro’s is one of the least handicap and stroller accessible restaurants
I have ever seen. This corner location features about 10 steep steps and no
other way to the dining area, coupled with 4 more steps to most of the tables.

When you enter there is a small bar right at the entrance and a nice entryway
to greet you. The rest of the dining atmosphere is borderline at best in style
and true authentic class. Ciro’s reminds me of a living room and dining room
that might be back at your Italian friends house. This is not to say it is authentic,
but to stress how it seems like the actual restaurant is trying hard to look
fancy to help justify the high menu prices. The truth of the fact is, people
can pretend its so nice or unique, but Macaroni Grill is far nicer and more
relaxing inside, and the price is 5$ less per plate.

All in all, the restaurant looks like a 8-10$ a plate establishment, but charges
like a 15-20$ one. The restaurant is somewhat cramped, with one too many tables
in every area of the eating sections. I always felt like two waiters at the
same time would fill the entire aisle. The service way not bad, the hostess
was somewhat impatient, but the waiter was very friendly and not over-stretched,
so always available.

The menu has you basic assortment of steaks, pasta and traditional chicken
dishes that you may expect at any other "better priced" restaurant.
The dishes range from about $13 to $27 a plate, with the bulk of the traditional
items at $17 or $18. But when you go add another couple of bucks since you’ll
pay exactly $2 for a coke. Keep in mind I’m not complaining about paying
the check at a nice restaurant, that’s not a big deal; it’s when
the restaurant is not as nice as it tries to be.

I will say, if you do make the choice to try Ciro’s, the dish Tortellini Bella
Rosa, was fantastic, and will make the entire trip worth it, not matter how
much you get overcharged. The salad was also very large and fresh, but the bread
was nothing special, and as I have mentioned in the past, an Italian restaurant
serving sub par bread is just a crime.

I have read allot of reviews raving about Ciro’s, and have concluded that most
of them must be employees or someone else with an interest in the establishment.
I cannot imagine how Ciro’s is viewed by anyone as a "great" restaurant.
While there is nothing wrong, and the food was fine, some of it very good, the
fact that it is just a mediocre looking and feeling place that charges more
than countless other better options, ends the argument. Value is important,
and Ciro’s strikes out very badly in this regard.

If you do go to the Hilton Plaza and the boardwalk for a date, go to the excellent
Zapata’s
Mexican Cantina next door, and save you money. Please don’t overpay
for Ciro’s when for $4 less per plate you can eat some of the best Mexican in
town

Amalfi’s Pizza n Pasta

8542 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28213
704 547-8651
02/02/06

Here is an old review that got lost in the website updates. This is one I wont go back again so I need to use the one review I have to avoid spending my $20 to get another 2 star meal.

So I received an ad with pictures of Amalfi’s Pizza ‘n Pasta
food and then went on to read the raves from all the member reviews on citysearch.com,
but I dont know which restaurant these people were going to.

The place is extremely small, and pretty much look like a larger than normal
dining room at an Italian women’s home. This is fine and a very welcome decor
for what I am looking to do, which is eat a hearty italian authentic meal. The
establishment welcomes you with a chalkboard saying please seat yourself, and
the looks we received looked like we were interupting something, or the staff
was flipping coins for who would have to go greet us.

All in all, the service was extremely lacking, and gave the feeling that nobody
really wanted to be there or make sure the customers would be back. As my wife
put it, the greetings and feeling you are given is part of the reason we goto
restaurants. Amalfi’s failed in this friendly atmosphere in a serious way.

Next comes our meal which was tasty in all and pretty fresh ingredients across
the board, but better to look at all of the important elements of an italian
meal.

The salad and bread are extremely important and this is what can set a restaurant
apart. Goto Sopranos in Clearwater/Largo, Florida if you want to see a restaurant
that puts every element together.

Amalfi’s was serving a prepackaged tossed salad, with very dry "bought
it at the supermarket" bread. Even a franchise like Olive Garden knows
how important good bread is too a meal, and this was a major let-down, and I would have preferred some buttered wonder bread.

A dry
loaf and a scoop of whipped buitter in a to go cup do not demand the prices this
menu was asking.

The wife had the Chicken stuffed ravioli from the baked item menu, and I the
Stromboli with sauage. The raviolis were overpriced at $8.99 for three, and
the stromboli was $6.25 which is a good price, but wasnt big enough to fill
me, or even to be a warm-up.

The actually menu prices for meals was around $6 for some to about $11.99 for most menu items, which again seemed hefty considering the poor service and plastic table clothes.

Couple this all with $1.65 cokes and charging for every refill, and you have something bordering on gauging for a deli-style atmonsphere.

The stromboli had great ingredients and nicely thin sliced sausage and peppers
but again was pretty much the smallest I had ever been served. I recommend you
goto DaVincis Pizza in the new Shoppes at Davis Lake for a real stromboli that
is only $5.75 and is twice as big.

Total bill was about $25 with tip and I left hungry still.

To leave an italian restaurant still hungry is not a very authentic
feeling.

Keeping in mind that the staff was friendly, though not attentive at all, and
the food tasted good, though was cleary overpriced for such a small mom/pop
location, I cant say I will be back, but the tiny serving I
did have tasted good enough.

Amalfi Pasta ‘n Pizza
8542 University City Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28213-3579
(704) 547-8651

Pane E Vino
2 Stars

By: Diana Reis
13016 Eastfield Road suite 300
Huntersville 28078
704-947-8900
Menu Features: Pizza and Pasta

Restaurant Review For Pane E Vino

It was a Sunday night and we were uncertain where to Eat so we drove around to find something new to try .

We had an Idea thet we wanted Italian and we passed a few places before arriving here. As we stood outside reading over the menu they had posted by the door a gentleman opened the door and handed us two menus and smiled and said Hello.

We decided to go in and give it a try as when the door came open the smell of the sauce was delicious. We were seated and handed our menus by this gentleman. Who I assume was one of the Owners. A few moments later a waitress came with some bread and took our drink orders. When she brought our drinks I asked for some more butter for the bread. About 15 minutes later we got our Pizza , it had great sauce and cheese and the toppings were good but the crust was TOO thin. Almost overcooked. We never saw the waitress again , she never checked on us, never brought the butter I asked for.

I was a bit surprised as there were only two other couples there and three waitresses. OH she did come back with the check and I asked for a box for the Pizza and some more water.

This is a place that could make it . There are some things worth trying again. But I will make sure its during the week when mabie better staff is on duty.

Davincis Pizza Davis Lake

 4 stars

Charlotte Critic
Davis Lake Plaza
Charlotte 28269
Menu Features: slices,pizza,brick oven by the slice

Restaurant Review For Davincis Pizza Davis Lake
Davincis Pizza makes new york style pizza in authentic brick ovens. This is one of the new stores to open in the brand new Shoppes at Davis Lake in Charlotte. DaVincis owner is from New York, and has opened pizzerias all over th country. he is not new to the business and the food is authenitc Italian from New York. Italian is openly spoken by almost every employee in this father/son establishment, as the cook is from Sicily as well. The pizza defies all problems with getting true New York style Pizza, and also breaks the boxes with its incredible size. I witness one cutomer receiving his small pizza asking if he had received the wrong order, since it appeared to be a large to him and to me looking on. The large I ordered on 3 occasions now had to have the edges folded to fit in the extra arge box it is packed in. The pizza itself is excellent thin style pie. The crust is slightly crisp and folds perfectly. My guests for pizza commented on how “thats perfect new yourk style” when he saw how it folded and eats perfectly. The dough is absolutley how I remeber it from my 20+ years in New York as well. This location is pretty new and does not have too much decor yet. They sadly lack televisions and music to make it an afternoon hangout, but the outside courtyard makes it great for summer nights. The location also doesnt offer delivery, and the owner tells me he doesnt plan to. The goal is a sit down simple place with excellent food and authentic service. I have been 3 times now and must say it is the best Pizza NC has to offer for the hungry shopper looking for New York Style Pie. If you want simple, authentic, and not BS pizza yhou get so many other places I highly recommend you stop into DaVincis Pizza Charlotte at the Shoppes at Davis lake and get one of their double large pies to sit in the courtyard and stuff yourself. The sounds of italian New York, and the taste of Italian New York is exactly what will be overflowing from your paper plates.

Bravo Cucina Italiana Northlake

Charlotte 28269
1-704-597-1455
 
Finally tried the new Bravo Cucina Italiana North Lake Mall Location that just opened about 1 month ago, as this is yet another new restaurant in a growing area of North Charlotte.

The North Lake Mall is a major disappointment so far, and sorry to say the main anchor restaurant that decorates the main entrance fountain area, is equally so on our first visit.

The restaurant is very roman in design, and really is a step above any of the competitors in decoration. If the Bravo Cucina Italiana North Lake Mall was designed to compete with Carabas and Macaroni grill, then they succeeded in creating an atmosphere, which is clearly more sophisticated and refined. It really is a nice place inside, and will impress any date or make for an extra special feeling a night out with the wife.

This was the intention for myself that fell short. The menu has a nice assortment with a good amount of all meats, seafood, pizza, and flatbreads. This can make for a very nice wine sipping meal with excellent music throughout the great layout of the establishment. BUT Here comes the but, about halfway through our meal at 6:15 pm on a Monday the manager apparently forgot to pay his electric bill or has canine blood and eyesight, as they dimmed the lights far beyond what would be viewed as romantic.

I believe they did so to keep you from getting a look at the somewhat steep prices on the menu.

While we sat there in near blackness struggling to read the menu, and see that the average plate is about -19, which is a good price for the plate, but not the food on the plate. This is to say, they provided a huge plate with food neatly filling the middle 15% of the plate.

While this may just be viewed as sophistication, in Italian food this appears that someone ate half my food before it arrived.

I view Italian eating a filling large impressive plate, save the fancy half empty look for French food.

BREAD: the big question with any Italian meal…Small very dry, and may have come out of a bag, not going to make me cry, nor make me return.

The wife ate pasta alfredo with chicken which she tells me was very good, but this fell on deaf ears as with what happened with my meal. I ordered the House special grilled pork chops. When they arrived I was pointing out how incredibly soft the chops were and thinking what a great job of cooking the pork tender. I was eager and dying to dive in to a great looking 1 1/2 inch chops.

Too bad the chops were completely pink in the middle. Not to say the pork was a “bit raw”, but more to the point that it still had a curly tail and was uncooked to the point of health risk.

I cut them both in half and sure enough they were ice cold raw in the middle. I informed the waitress and sent them back. She apologized about 15 times, perhaps realizing what I thought having eaten a bite of a raw pork chop.

She offered to put it on a separate plate and take it back to be cooked right, when I just gave here the entire plate since the entire thing was 1 inch from bleeding. So back went my $`18 pork chops to be re-thrown on the grill, which will surely lock in that great flavor.

Offering to start from scratch seemed more fitting when a customer just chewed on “Disney’s babe” the uncooked chop.

After my wife had finished her entire meal and I still sat staring at the empty breadbasket, I called the waitress over and said she could keep the chops, bring me the check. I was of course not charged, and I checked to see if “cooking was extra” but that wasn’t what happened.

The place is nice and will impress most anyone, and the waitress was polite and attentive, the prices were too much to justify eating there again for what we received.

Really considering the bread was bland, dry and very small (4 pieces the size of melba toast), I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t just save and go to Olive Garden. perhaps it isn’t so “phony-Sheik”, but at least you get the breadsticks and a cooked piece of meat every time. This establishment was definitely a bit to fancy for its own patrons or neighborhoods good. We all know we like Olive Garden, but we just never want to admit it.

I would personally stick with that example of a better meal at a lower less pretentious price.