On Saturday, August 17, 2013, my lovely girlfriend and I had our first date night since things have settled down for us after purchasing a home in South Philly. I knew that she wanted to go to Fond or Le Virtu, but those places are impossible to get a same day reservation on a Saturday night, especially when you don't think of the idea until mid day. So I scrambled for a bit, even called Fond and tried to sweet talk/bribe my way in for a table there that night, but with small restaurants that is hard to accomplish. So I tucked my tail between my legs and got us a reservation kiddie corner from Fond at Chiarella's Ristorante.
Before making the reservation I bounced between Chiarella's and a few other places before finally deciding to pull the trigger on Chiarella's. The reviews were good, mostly 4 stars on Open Table, and the people took the time to write a review along with giving a star rating. The reviews were consistent, and after my visit I will say they were accurate. Before I talk about the food/atmosphere/hospitality let me disclose that I did have a few adult beverages before going out for the evening (what do you want for me, I couldn't deliver on the 2 restaurants on the top of my girlfriends list I needed a drink to take the edge off, and you know you can't stop with just one), but that didn't sway my judgement of Chiarella's in any way.
I thought the place was terrific for the start of the weekly date night. It didn't set the bar to high or to low for future places, but since it was the first place we went to, all other places will be compared to it, whether that is fair or not. The food was great, but the portion sizes were a little small. We started with the bruschetta, but it wasn't your typical bruschetta. I can't remember what they put on top of it, but after the first bit my mouth was salivating for the 2nd. My girlfriend didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but she said that was probably because she was expecting something different, no problem for me just meant I didn't have to share the 3rd piece. Small portion, only 3 pieces in total.
For dinner I had the chicken parmesan, and my girlfriend ordered one of the specials, it was a crab meat and shrimp farfalla. I can't remember what kind of sauce it was in, but it was delicious. My chicken parmesan was good, but I would've like a bit more pasta than what was provided to me. The good thing about not getting enough pasta was that I had plenty of room left over to eat her leftover farfalla. The shrimp and crab meat were fantastic. For desert we each had a cannoli, which was also amazing and the perfect ending to a delicious meal.
Now the one thing that could've made the experience better would've been service. The service wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. They had 1 server in the area we were sitting for about 10 tables. Way to many for 1 person to handle. Now the bar tender/guy that seated us/I think he was the owner or manager also pitched in and took orders, but he wasn't very helpful at all. If anything I would say that he was constantly judging us, probably because we were dressed up (I wore shirt and tie, she was in skirt and heels) and everyone else was casually dressed.
I would eat there again, and with expectations lowered I'm sure I will have an amazing time. Next date night dinner is at the Victor Cafe.
I'm just one man, and this is my opinion. Thanks for reading.
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