Obviously the answer is yes they do, but why? If you are an Italian who really knows about homemade Italian cooking, my bet is you have never found a restaurant whose food is better than what your mother makes at home. Am I right? Of course I am on this one. You think Olive Garden is really Italian? It may be good food, but is it really Italian like the Italians cook? Growing up in our house lasagna was always the big treat. It was the best and when we had company over for dinner, that was the dish to serve. I have never ever had lasagna at any restaurant that even tasted near as good as my mom’s. However, there are places that know how to do it right, but you will not find them as a main chain.
Here are a few criteria I would suggest when judging a restaurant on a first visit:
1. Do you see other Italians eating there? If there are, and it’s very dark, empty except for a few in the back smoking cigars… run like he**.
2. Is the chef Italian? Sounds obvious but when a Chinese man takes over the Italian deli down the street (yes this did happen in my neighborhood) you just have to wonder…
3. Do they offer “simple” dishes? Many Italians will tell you, the Italians do not put in loads of salt, more salt and additional salt to make it taste good. They use simple ingredients and herbs to make their food taste magnifico.
4. Is the main chef/owner/manager a “B.S.er”? If so, you’re in a real Italian restaurant. Just remember not to return your dish if you don’t like it, you might have it brought back out with someones missing finger on the side.
Trust me, I’m not against Italian Restaurants. My wedding rehearsal dinner was at an Italian restaurant in Bethesda, MD called Alfio’s. My husband was very wary about eating at any Italian place (especially if his out of town family were to come) that my parents said, “Fine. Go check it out first and then report back.” So we did and Alfio’s passed with flying colors. The rehearsal dinner was excellent and everyone was happy. In fact, the following year, my husband and I went back to celebrate our 1st anniversary there. It was just as good as the first time.
In summary, don’t write off Italian restaurants if you are Italian or married to an Italian. They may not taste 100% percent like homemade, but take precautions and use common sense as stated above. If the joint is the happenin’ place for teens… sorry, I doubt you’ll be satisfied. On the other hand, if you find a good place you enjoy, tell the owner, it would probably mean a lot to them and who knows, maybe you’ll get a free cannoli out of it too!
Check back soon for my next related blog where I share 2 experiences where the resturants were run by Italians, yet they will not find us back there again and why.
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