Interesting I didn’t realize it was almost 2 years to the day since I first tried Gragiulo’s on their opening night. Sadly the first night had a couple bumps but obviously due to covid my return was delayed.
Called at 7pm for a potential reservation at 8pm on a Saturday night and they were able to accommodate. We showed up at 8pm and the place was jumping, honestly I have no idea for a small place where they were putting everyone which convened me for distance with indoor dining, I don’t want to be packed in a small room. (BTW they have a large outdoor tent which on a nice night makes a decent option as well)
After a 10 min wait our table was surprisingly ready, and upstairs we went. Pleasantly surprised to find the tables we spaced and we had a nice 4 top for the 2 of us. Greeted drinks ordered and a nice loaf of decent Italian bread was brought.
Service slightly slow but it’s a busy Saturday night the server was pleasant and it was just nice to be out, no strikes for service it was fine for a leisurely dinner.
Salads: pear for the Mrs and Ceasare for me. She liked the pear as did I with the Ceasare. It’s a traditional oil and egg fresh made Ceasare not a mayo based dressing. Not my personal favorite but that’s not to say it’s bad, it’s very good. Just a very old school traditional version you don’t see often anymore.
Entree: sole oreganatto and pork chop with Gorgonzola cheese, side of broccoli rabe. Both entrees were good, we both enjoyed, the broccoli rabe, like the salad is old school. This is bitter broccoli prepared the way they made it off the boat. Not for the casual broccoli rabe eater, not my favorite version but it’s a purest rendition and I appreciated it.
Late reservations with a leisurely paced meal made it time to go without any coffee or dessert. The valet parking situation is what would best be described as organized chaos at it’s finest.
Long story short, Jimmy’s is my barometer of great red sauce Italian place. This isn’t in the same category for me but that shouldn’t reflect badly on Gargiulo’s, I’ll definitely be back and I promise it won’t take another two years.
