Caffe Italia

Love this place, old world but new world food.   And this is silly, but an awesome bathroom.   Can't wait to go back. Even a boring salad was made special..

This is our 3rd time dining here... Every time it has gone further and further downhill :-( I will make this review short and not so sweet as currently both myself and my boyfriend seem to be experiencing symptoms of food poisoning!

The service was horribly slow. There was a cold draft that forced (no exaggeration) half the diners to eat in full winter garb. Portion size is laughable -especially in a neighborhood that caters to Italian dining. Cost is truly not worth it -$6 for 3 minuscule slivers of bread on the bruschetta. My "homemade lasagna" tasted like Stoufers frozen lasagna (no joke). Martini was terrible. Water and bread were never refilled. Dirty plates were never removed. And the best part of the night was that the OWNER was sitting by the bar drinking with not a care in the world! Just watching his ship go down...

Leave it to snow flurries and a ton of traffic for my coworker to ditch the commute back to the burbs and park us a couple blocks from Caffe Italia. Though I had heard about this spot, it's a first for me.

I must admit, the decor was more about the roast-ability of coffee as opposed to chowing down. Still, I was looking forward to being dazzled by yet another Italian port in any snow storm.

Our hostess/server got us going with drinks right away; we thought she was great. My friend ordered the calamari appetizer and I went with the grilled eggplant. Both sounded pretty good. As we waited, this little place began to fill up. Our "insalata" arrived and to me it reminded me of true tapas portions.

I really enjoyed my eggplant; it had a nice cilantro kick. By the time I looked up to ask how the calamari was ... it was gone. Well, okay, I guess he taught classes without a lunch break today?

Our server was on top of everything and we appreciated that. My friend opted out of the salad, but I ordered the Caprese and shared it. It was a little watery, but the tomato and basil were super fresh and they used a halfway decent olive oil.

Although I sort of felt I was dining alone, my colleague perked up after deciding on the tomato and shrimp linguine. Sounded fine, but give me some kick in the hopeful form of the red pepper rapini pasta dish with alio e oli. Both of these little "tapas" entrees were tasty but they ranged in cost from 15 to 18 bucks. No major complaints.

Caffe Italia boasts great cafe'. Well, they had great cafe'. Nice.

For a first time, I somehow feel my experience was all over the place. Maybe it had less to do with the food and more to do with my dining companion. Still, no matter the traffic or precipitation, I most likely will try Caffe Italia again and see what happens.