eat2winraleigh » Italian

Bella Monica

eat2winraleigh — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:00:01 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Bella Monica 3121 Edwards Mill Road, Raleigh
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We ate at Bella Monica last Wednesday on a whim. We were planning on eating at either Champa or Los Tres, our go-to weeknight restaurant favorites, and at the last minute decided to try Bella Monica. Bella Monica has been on our list to try for awhile, because of recent recommendations by good friends and we had heard it was some of the best Italian in Raleigh. Bella Monica didn’t disappoint! We got to the restaurant at 7:30 on a Wednesday night and the place was slammed; we knew it was gonna be good then!

Bella Monica is located on Edwards Mill in the Olde Raleigh Village shopping center. The restaurant is small, but with a cozy upscale atmosphere and while we did have to wait 20 minutes, the service was excellent–we never felt forgotten!

On another note, Bella Monica does have a gluten-free menu for those looking for it.

After we sat down and ordered excellent glasses of red wine, they brought out bread.

We ordered a Crab flatbread appetizer on the host’s recommendation.

And then we had Caeser Salad (came with the entrées we ordered).

And for our entrées we ordered Bella Monica’s house specialty, Baked Ziti, and Chicken Balsamico.

Chicken Balsamico

Baked Ziti

The Raleigh-ite: Bella Monica is one of my new favorite restaurants! All of the dishes we saw in the restaurant looked outstanding. I don’t normally like red sauce pasta dishes, and I loved the Baked Ziti. It really is phenomenal. The service was excellent, the atmosphere cozy, the wine delicious and the food tasty. Can’t wait to go back!

The New-Yorker: When we arrived, and we were looking around at the food on the other patrons’ tables, I noticed the Baked Ziti served in the dish it was baked in. I love that. I also loved that the Baked Ziti was really cooked on top, almost burned. To me, that really amps up the flavor. Our waitress told us that the Baked Ziti recipe has been passed down from one of the owners grandmothers. It’s listed as one of the favorites from Nana’s kitchen. We had a good time with the manager, Trevor. He sat with us and talked about the restaurant, and I love that. Bella Monica was a great experience.

Do Over? Definitely. Can’t wait to go back.

We visited Bella Monica 1/12/2011 and ordered 2 glasses of wine, the Crab Flatbread appetizer, Baked Ziti, meatballs, and Chicken Balsamico. Our total was $69.57.

Bella Italia Restaurant Review

Cafe Tiramisu

eat2winraleigh — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:35:20 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Cafe Tiramisu 6196 Falls of Neuse Rd, Raleigh
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Cafe Tiramisu is located in North Raleigh off Falls of the Neuse road in the Northridge shopping center. The entrance is a little weird, it’s about 4 feet away from the bar next door’s entrance.

We bought a Raleigh restaurant groupon to Cafe Tiramisu so we ate here last Saturday night. The restaurant was small, we thought it would be packed since the only reservation we could get was at 5:30, but it wasn’t.

We ordered The Stacker appetizer, which was a breaded eggplant with fresh mozzarella, tomato and olive oil. It was really good.

The Stacker appetizer

We ordered Chicken Piccata and the Rigatoni as entrees.

Cafe Tiramisu's Chicken Piccata

Cafe Tiramisu Rigatoni

Cafe Tiramisu's Tiramisu

The Raleigh-ite: The Stacker appetizer and the Chicken Piccata were definitely really good. Cafe Tiramisu’s Chicken Piccata had more flavor than the chicken dishes I have gotten at Mambo Italiano, Daniels, or Anna’s Pizza. Cafe Tiramisu itself was a little weird though, in that we called for reservations two nights in a row, and were told the only one we could have was Saturday night at 5:30. And yet, the whole time we were eating and when we left, the restaurant was mostly empty. The tiramisu dessert though was really good, and worth ordering.

The New Yorker- I thought Cafe Tiramisu would be my new favorite Italian restaurant in Raleigh, based on the menu and the fact that we had a hard time getting a reservation. But, while the appetizer and Chicken Piccata were tasty, the Rigatoni with Bolognese sauce lacked flavor. The red sauce wasn’t anything special.

Do Over? We probably won’t eat at Cafe Tiramisu again, unless there is a great deal.

Mambo Italiano

eat2winraleigh — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:16:14 +0000

The Apex Italian restaurant Mambo Italiano is located on West Williams street in the old Cinelli’s space.

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Mambo Italiano 770 W. Williams Street, Apex
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We first stopped into Mambo Italiano as part of our never ending mission to find the best Italian restaurant in Cary, a restaurant that has good Italian food like you can get in New York. We stopped in in the afternoon and met the owners; they are a couple from Long Island. Mambo Italiano has a family style menu and we ordered a couple of appetizers to bring with us to our friends’ house on Saturday night. We ordered the cold antipasto appetizer, the hot antipasto appetizer and the fried zucchini. The hot antipasto appetizer has eggplant rolletini, baked clams and stuffed mushrooms (wouldn’t recommend the clams but the other two were good).

We have since visited Mambo Italiano for dinner, and it’s a great place for a meal with friends or family. On the weekends, sometimes, they have live music. On our most recent dinner visit we took pictures to share with eat2winraleigh.

We ordered the Veal Milanese and the Chicken Marsala individual portion entrees. Mambo Italiano has family style and individual portion entrees on the menu.

Veal Milanese

Chicken Marsala

And for dessert, we had the made in- house cannoli.

Cannoli

The Raleigh-ite: I have ordered the eggplant parmesan and the chicken marsala at Mambo and they are both good meals. The highlight for me though, hands down, is the house red wine. Wow, its outstanding. A fruity wine, but still has a deep red texture. Mmmm. And its cheap. The brocoli rabe, and the freshly prepared cannoli are yummy also.

The NYer- Mambo Italiano is tied with Daniel’s Italian restaurant as one of my favorite places to go for Italian food in the Cary area. The Italian food is fresh home cooking; the owner’s wife is the chef. She makes very fresh cannoli’s; who doesn’t love cannoli’s ? Very busy restaurant with live music.

Do Over? We go to Mambo’s frequently because it is close to where we live in Cary and the NYer likes their red sauce. Also, because they have Restaurant.com coupons to make the meal cheaper than a lot of restaurants in Raleigh!

Bella Italia Restaurant Review

eat2winraleigh — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:22:01 +0000

Bella Italia is located in a shopping center near the intersection of Falls of the Neuse and Durant road in North Raleigh, close to Wake Forest.

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Bella Italia 10630 Durant Rd, Raleigh
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The New Yorker- I ordered the Chicken Parmesan. The chicken was tender but I didn’t like the red sauce. Good hot bread served before the meal. Mediocre salads come with the meal. The Pasta Fagioli soup was loose and liquidy. The pizza looked and smelled good but we didn’t get a chance to try it.

The Raleigh-ite- I ordered the Italian Wedding soup and the Chicken Saltimbocca. I really enjoyed the soup; it had 3 medium sized meatballs and great flavor. The pasta and the sauce on the Chicken Saltimbocca was good, the sauce was a thin, light, lemon sauce. The chicken with proscuitto tasted rubbery and kinda bland. The green beans on the side tasted like they had been frozen.

Do over? Bella Italia is a 20 minute drive for us from where we live in Cary, and we won’t be driving to North Raleigh again just to eat at this Italian restaurant. If we are in the area, we could be tempted to stop by and try the pizza. We would prefer to eat at Daniel’s or Mambo Italiano.

9/07/09- We ordered 1 diet pepsi, 1bowl Italian Wedding soup, 1 bowl Pasta e FaFagioli, 1 Chicken Parmesan, 1 Chicken Saltimbocca. Total: $44.53

Bella Italia Chicken Parmesean

Bella Italia Chicken Saltimbocca

Cameron Bar & Grill Review

eat2winraleigh — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:32:59 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Cameron Bar & Grill 2018 Clark Ave, Raleigh
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Cameron Bar & Grill is located in the Cameron Village shopping center in Raleigh. There is a Cameron Bar & Grill coupon available on Restaurant.com.

The New Yorker- We ordered the grilled shrimp cocktail–light coleslaw with 5 grilled shrimp on a skewer. Perfect app, great seasoning on the shrimp. I ordered Chicken Parmesan with linguine and red sauce. The chicken was lightly breaded, not too fried, good flavor. Good portion for lunch–1 breast of chicken, if it was a dinner portion it would have been a little small.

The Raleigh-ite- We ate at Cameron Bar & Grill for lunch today. Great outdoor seating– very comfortable, nice outdoor furniture. Clean, simple but comfortable look to the inside. Upscale-ish menu. I ordered the Caprese salad. It was 3 tomatoes with mozzerella, balsamic vinigrette and a side of greens. It was a perfect, light lunch (if I was more hungry, this would have been too small). The balsamic has some interesting seasoning and was very good on the tomatoes.

Do over ? We will definitely be back to Cameron Bar & Grill; not a terribly exciting meal but good nonetheless.

*Tip*- Cameron Bar & Grill is currently listed on Restaurant.com. You can buy restaurant “gift certificates” or coupons to make your meal here a lot cheaper!

If you like Cameron Bar & Grill try Ruckus or the Carolina Ale House.

8/19/2009 – We ordered: 1 grilled shrimp cocktail, 1 caprese salad, 1 chicken parmigiana, 1 diet coke. Total : $29.47

9/29/2009- We ordered: 2 glasses of Merlot, 1 hlf lb shrimp appetizer, 1 cup vegetable soup, 1 caprese salad, 1 caesar side salad, 1 80z filet. Total: $62.26 ( We had a restaurant.com $25 off coupon so the total with the coupon was $37.26)

Grilled Shrimp appetizer

Caprese Salad

Chicken Parmesan

8 oz filet

Daniel’s

eat2winraleigh — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:49:15 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Daniel’s 1430 NC Hwy 55 W, Apex
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Daniel’s is located in Apex right off Hwy 55. Daniels is a freestanding building with inside and outside dining areas. They have a sister restaurant in Fuquay-Varina.

We ate here for the first time last night. Daniel, the owner, was there and we met him. Dan wanted to talk NY with him, of course, and he told us he moved down here in 1992.

The New Yorker – Chicken Parmesan was very close to what you get in NY. Best salad I have had down here (Greek salad). We will be back. They serve bread at the beginning of the meal with a side of red sauce. I LOVE that. Probably, because I’m obsessed with red sauce. Daniel’s is my favorite Cary pizza and my favorite Italian restaurant in the Cary area.

The Raleigh-ite – I didn’t love my entree (penne alla casa), but I did LOVE the salad I ordered (it was on the specials menu, fresh white corn summer salad). The sauce on the entree was very rich, making it hard to eat very much. The salad had such a great flavor, white corn, tomatoes and an awesome dressing.

Antipasti salad, in my opinion, is not nearly as good as the corn summer salad, but it was still a decent salad. Good sized, fresh greens, nice light dressing. Chicken Piccatta has a very light wine sauce–kinda runny but tasty. I like that you can order the dishes with vegetables instead of pasta to cut down on the calories/carbs.

Do over? The New Yorker is willing to drive to Apex (15 minutes from where we live in Cary ) for Daniels, the Raleigh-ite is not (well, at least not without the summer salad).

7/11/2009- We ordered: 2 glasses of Riesling, 1 glass of Merlot, Greek Salad, Special Salad, Penne alla Casa, Chicken Parmesan, Side Meat Balls, Tiramisu. Total : $73.76

7/15/2009- We ordered (takeout): Greek Salad, Antipasti Salad, Chicken Parmesean with Broccoli (instead of pasta) , Chicken Piccata with Broccoli, 1 side of sausage. Total: $50.59

San Carlo

eat2winraleigh — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:38:48 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
San Carlo 9660 Falls of Neuse road #145, Raleigh
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San Carlo is located on Falls of the Neuse road near the 540 interchange.

Danny- I ate the chicken Parmesan at San Carlo ; it was very good. Didn’t need a knife to cut it because the chicken was very tender. Best Italian restaurant in North Raleigh yet. Great garlic bread.

Jessica- San Carlo is a quiet place in a shopping center. Small, limited seating. I had the Caprese salad for lunch and it was just OK.

Do over? We would eat at San Carlo again if we were in North Raleigh, but it’s a little far from where we live on the edge of Cary. Other Raleigh-Cary area Italian restaurants we like are Daniels and Mambo Italiano.

Vic’s Ristorante Italiano Restaurant Review

eat2winraleigh — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:22:35 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Vic’s Ristorante Italiano 209 E Willaims St, Apex
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Vic’s Ristorante Italiano is located in the City Market area in downtown Raleigh. Small place with a few tables outside.

The New Yorker- Terrible Italian. I won’t eat at Vic’s again. Bland. The red Sauce is not what I’m looking for. I could taste the oil/grease from where they cooked my chicken.

The Raleigh-ite – Antipasto appetizer was good–nice selection of cheese, meat and olives Didn’t like my meal here. I had Chicken Picatta and I didn’t enjoy it. Vic’s has a nice atmosphere for experiencing downtown City Market area at night. Eating outside here is very pleasant (minus the food).

Do over? Would visit Vic’s Ristorante Italiano again to sit outside and have a glass of wine & cheese because of its location in downtown Raleigh.

Anna’s Pizza

eat2winraleigh — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:00:48 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Anna’s Pizza 100 N. Salem St., Apex
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Anna’s Pizza is located on the corner of Salem street and Chatham street in Apex.

The New Yorker – The owner of Anna’s pizza is from NY. Very close to the Italian food that I’m looking for. The chicken parmigiana is very tender.

The Raleigh-ite – For me, Anna’s is nothing special. I had 2 slices of pizza that were good. I’m not in a rush to go back.

Do over? Anna’s Pizza is a good restaurant for a quick, casual Italian meal in Apex.

Ruckus Pizza Review

eat2winraleigh — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:28:09 +0000

Raleigh Restaurant Review
Ruckus Pizza 8111 Tryon Woods Drive, Cary
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The original Ruckus Pizza is located in the Mission Valley shopping center in Raleigh near NCSU. The newer Ruckus, that we visit, is located in the Tryon Village shopping center in Cary on the corner of Walnut street and Tryon road.

Ruckus Cary location

Ruckus pizza slices

Ruckus Sandwich

The New Yorker – Ruckus has a great variety. Great wraps. The Pizza–better than average. Don’t love the red sauce compared to NY.

Overall great place for lunch or dinner.

The Raleigh-ite – I love eating lunch at Ruckus; it’s the perfect lunch spot. Always get a delicious meal. LOVE the ranch bacon chicken wrap; it’s probably my favorite wrap ever. Also great place to go for a beer.

Ruckus Garlic Knots

I used to be really in to Ruckus, but they keep messing up my takeout orders. I emailed them about them getting wrong like 10 takeout orders in a row, and they never emailed me back. So I’m not so into Ruckus anymore UPDATE: I have gotten over my annoyance with Ruckus, because I miss it, and now I just don’t order takeout from them, its dine-in only for this chica!

Do over? The Ruckus in Cary has slowly become one of the places we head to frequently for a quick weeknight dinner.

12/21/11- We went to Ruckus for lunch and ordered 1 diet coke, 2 slices of pizza. Total: $5.84

1/11/11- We went to Ruckus and ordered 1 diet coke, 2 slices of pizza, 1 Turkey BLT, and 1 Key Lime Pie. Total : $17.63