Since our
plan was to attend the musical Hamilton
at St. Louis’s Fox Theatre and since we knew that parking and crowds would definitely
be a challenge, we opted to eat early. We
parked near the theatre and we left plenty of time for a leisurely dinner.
This is
Vito’s Sicilian Pizzeria and Ristorante.
It’s located close to the Fox Theatre and even more important from a business
point of view, Vito’s is adjacent to the campus of St. Louis University.
This is
the bar and part of the dining area in Vito’s. All in all it’s
a comfortable environment. I’m sure that
the bar does a great business Monday – Friday from 3 PM to 6 PM during happy
hour. They offer $2.00 pints of beer,
$3.00 ‘well’ cocktails and $5.00 glasses of wine.
The
dining area was cozy and warm. Molly,
who was our server, was efficient. She
handled all of our needs and perhaps unusual requests without hesitation and
she was very knowledgeable as regarded the varied items on the menu…
We’ve
eaten in many, many Italian restaurants but for some reason I’d never convinced
myself to try the Arancini. ($8.00) I decided that the time had come! Arancini are risotto balls stuffed with Bolognese
sauce, peas and mozzarella. Then they
are coated with bread crumbs and fried.
By the
time I remembered my camera, only one arancini ‘ball’ was left on the
plate. Everyone wanted to try it because
they’d never had it either. I’m glad I
tried it and while it was nice…I thought it lacked authority from a ‘flavor’
point of view. I’m sure that it was a
very competent order of arancini (3) but it didn’t tip the scales as one of my
favorite appetizers.
We were also
partly through this order of Calamari Fritti before I took a photo… ($10.00)
This order of flash fried calamari with marinara and lemon aioli was very
nice. The calamari was tender and the
breading wasn’t too heavy.
Bill
ordered a Caprese Salad…with tomato, mozzarella, basil and a balsamic glaze. ($7.00)
He was happy. If the cheese and tomato
are a good quality, this is a nice start to any Italian meal.
The ladies
weren’t particularly hungry. They
decided to split a Panzanella Salad. ($8.00) The photo shows a half salad…tasty
and more than enough for our wives. The
salad consisted of mixed greens, red onion, tomato, olives, cucumber, mozzarella
cheese, croutons and a white balsamic vinaigrette.
Laurie
and Bonnie continued their dining trend…splitting an order of Lobster Ravioli
between them. ($22.00) The photo shows Laurie’s half order. This was a special on the menu for the evening. The ladies did enjoy their meals…the ravioli
was very good.
For his entrée,
Bill ordered a Shrimp and Pasta special.
I can’t tell you the cost as it was removed from our bill. It was supposed to come with shrimp,
asparagus and pasta in a cream sauce. It
actually came to the table with green beans in the place of the asparagus. The kitchen had failed to tell the wait staff
that they were out of asparagus and they just gambled and substituted the green
beans...
It was
not a professional move by the kitchen, that’s for sure. Bill wasn’t happy but our waitress didn’t
hesitate to remove it from the bill… She didn’t have to be asked either. Kudos to Molly!
Laurie took this photo of Bonnie and Bill at Vito's. It was pretty nice so I decided to publish it! Dinner and the theater were all part of Bonnie's birthday celebration...and our anniversary too!
For my entrée,
I ordered the Beef Tortellini. ($18.00) The tortellini came with cream sauce, prosciutto
and peas. While it wasn’t distinctive,
it was pretty good and very filling.
It must
be hard to operate a successful Italian Restaurant in St. Louis. The area has a plethora of top notch Italian
eateries many of which we’ve dined at over the years. While Vito’s was OK…other than Bill’s entrée…from
our perspective, it just didn’t stand out in the competitive St. Louis market.
Vito’s
Sicilian Pizzeria and Ristorante is located at 3515 Lindell Boulevard in St.
Louis Missouri. Phone:
314-534-8486. Website: http://vitosstl.com/.
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them… Sorry about the partially consumed
items!
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit…
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
I would not have been happy with green beans either
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