ISO The Best Italian Food in San Antonio

[tupac17616]

I am on a search to find the best Italian food in San Antonio. I am looking for any and all suggestions, from tiny hole-in-the-wall red sauce joints and pizzerias to the the fanciest three- or four-star restaurants. My current favorites in San Antonio are Little Italy and Aldo's. Can anybody help me out with some other great Italian food recommendations for San Antonio? Any and all help is appreciated.

[Raynickben]

And please post your picks by the end of July when I'm traveling there

Tupac17616:

Can you describe Little Italy and Aldo for me? What do you like about these places?

[tupac17616]

Sure, here's a quick run-down:

Little Italy: I have been to this place many times, yet I always find myself going back for more. I absolutely love their pizza, and it is the best pizza I have tried in this city (although there are many many other places I need to try). The atmosphere is very casual. Some of the waiters have been around about as long as the restaurant itself (20+ years), and it really has a nice family-owned feel to it, which I enjoy. I have gotten something different each time I have been, and have usually been impressed. Here are some things I remember being particularly good, in no specific order: chicken parmesan, seafood soup (cioppino), spaghetti pomodoro, gnocchi, fritto misto appetizer, charcoal chicken with lemon butter mushroom sauce, cheese ravioli....the list goes on and on But as you can see, it is basically your "typical" Italian kind of place. Good old fashioned food at prices that won't break the bank.

Aldo's: I have only had the pleasure of going to this restaurant once, a few months ago, but I will undoubtedly be back soon. My family and I decided to try it one night, so we walked in, and were promptly seated (in a private room, no less! Lucky us!!). The service was top-notch, as was the food. It is a bit pricier than your typical San Antonio Italian restaurant, but it was well worth it. Now onto the food: The meal starts off with some excellent crusty bread with some great olive oil and fresh cracked pepper. I think sometimes the simplest things like that can be the best way to begin a meal. After having plenty of bread, we ordered fried calamari appetizer with a spicy marinara. They were perfectly light and crispy and very flavorful. We had a second appetizer that I remember everyone liked, but for some reason, I can’t remember exactly what it was. For my main course I had a wonderful marinated grilled quail dish served over wild mushrooms, and polenta with a tomato saffron sauce. Nice flavor, especially with the polenta and mushrooms. Yum. Perfect combination. My mom and sister both got shrimp scampi served over pasta with a cream sauce. They were both quite satisfied. My dad got a pasta dish with shrimp and vegetables, which was also good. My brother got chicken piccata with mushrooms and artichoke hearts, a dish that was good, but not great. All the portions were quite substantial, and we were all completely stuffed after that food, so we didn’t even consider dessert. So I am not sure what kind of dessert they may have. But after a nice meal like that, dessert is an afterthought in my opinion. Overall, good food, good service, can’t wait to go back.

Sorry for the long descriptions…..I tend to ramble when talking about food I like

[spoonbread]

Honestly, the places you have mentioned are the best I know of now, Luna Note was the best before it closed.

[bobdavis]

Can anybody help me out with some other great Italian food recommendations for San Antonio? Any and all help is appreciated.

My favorite here is Ciao Lavanderia. It's chef/owner is the same guy who has Bistro Vatel - in fact, it's practically next door. It's off the Olmos Circle - turn off the East spur, or right if you're heading north on McCullough.

Great food, very cheap (most entres are either $6 or $9, with a few specials coming in at $12). We eat there pretty often - and I'm very picky. My mom is Italian, so I'm a little spoiled. :)

[tupac17616]

My family and I actually tried Ciao Lavanderia a few weeks ago, and we left with mixed reviews of the food. The prices were all very good as you mentioned. I remember I had the lobster risotto special which was pretty good, but the tuna tartare appetizer we all shared was fairly flavorless in my opinion. The rest of my family thought it was good, but not great. I might go back there and give them another chance eventually, but I don't know if I can say the same for my family.

Thanks for the suggestion, though. Keep em coming!

Edited June 25, 2004 by tupac17616 (log)

[Timo]

oh no.... not to be the pessimist in the bunch; but - good italian in san antonio? this is a challenge!

well, i happen to really like REGGIANO'S, in stone oak. it is a neighborhood joint (atleast for those of us in stone oak) and is also a family run business. for the most part, it is very 'refined italian' and even i will admit that they have their on/off days. but, when they are on, they are really, really on. i almost always get the prosciutto and arugula pizza, but their quail salad is great. of course, any of the pasta dishes are great to exceptional. the menu changes seasonally and if they have something special (particularly seafood) that sounds good, order it - the chef does an excellent job sourcing. the crowd Reggiano's attracts is confusing - sometimes it will be retirees; sometimes barbies and their sugar daddies. other times it will be mobbed with yuppies, but they mostly gravitate towards the bar or drool at the plasma screen, so they won't get in the way of a very enjoyable meal.

ok, and since a good slice can be just as soul-satisfying as any quail salad, i also have to say i really like FLORIO'S PIZZERIA. when i moved here from the east coast, it seemed as if san antonio is where pizza went to die. but - my search for the perfect slice ended at florio's. it is the quintessential joint, paper plates included.

[bobdavis]

well, i happen to really like  REGGIANO'S, in stone oak.

Reggiano's is a very good place. I've eaten there. Another one that I forgot about is Caparelli's on Main St (just up from La Fonda at 2524 N Main). Nice food.

ok, and since a good slice can be just as soul-satisfying as any quail salad, i also have to say i really like FLORIO'S PIZZERIA.

Florios is my favorite pizza. My parents are from the NYC area (Red Bank, NJ, really), so that's the kind of pie I always knew to be the good stuff. They're the real deal. I love that pizza. They even pass the "does the plain cheese pie taste good" test.

Edited July 1, 2004 by bobdavis (log)

[tupac17616]

Definitely sounds like I need to give Florio's Pizzeria a try

[tupac17616]

I have found another good San Antonio pizza spot. I gave Big Lou's Pizza, on South W W White road, a try twice now....excellent chewy crust, nicely fold-able, just the way I like it. Not overly greasy. I thought it was very good overall. I would recommend it to any eGullet-ers looking for a good pizza here in SA.

[tupac17616]

Well, seems like this thread is hanging on, well, by a thread , but I will update what's been going on recently. Gave a few more places a try. A few weeks ago I tried Ristorante Grissini over on Fredericksberg Road. Never have I received such unbelievably rude treatment when being greeted upon entering a restaurant. The hostess (who I found out later was the MANAGER of the place) greeted us with a stone cold stare, no "Hi", no "Hello", no "Party of four?", no nothing. Just a stare. Then she proceeded to hand my sister and her boyfriend a menu, saying "Take a look at this. We don't serve spaghetti and meatballs here." Unbelievable. We should've just got up and left at that point, after the extremely condescending greeting, but I really wanted to try the place, so we stayed.

The bad part is, all of the dishes we had were very good. I had a pasta dish with turkey, broccoli, and a gorgonzola sauce, while my dinner companions had two spicy penne dishes and a pasta dish with meat and mushroom ragu. We also shared beef carpaccio for appetizer, and capped off the meal with strrawberries with mascarpone and profiteroles for dessert. We all loved the food, but the service really left us with a bad taste for the restaurant. At this point, I really don't know if we will be returning there again anytime soon.

Also, I gave Naples Pizza a try. Located on Huebner Road near Northwest Military, this little place has pizza, pasta, some chicken dishes, salads, etc, the works. All we tried was the pizza, but everyone liked it a lot. Being a huge huge fan of NYC-style pizza, this place was really awesome in my opinion. And I definitely have a new favorite pizza place while I am here in San Antonio.

Anyway, that is all I have for now. The next place I have my radar set on is Lorenzo's, which is also on Fredericksburg Road, near Medical Drive I believe. Once I try the place, I will give the full report here.

As always, any and all Italian food recommendations for San Antonio or the San Antonio area would be greatly appreciated. So, please people, gimme all ya got I am all ears.

[maxwellh]

I just saw an article in the Current this past week declaring that Big Lou's on WWWhite was good pizza. I'm curious if this can be confirmed. I've also heard good things about Goombah's. I hate to admit it, but I kind of like Rome's, even though I realize it's not "real pizza." I've been up and down on Florio's. I've had some truly horrible pizza at Fralo's in Leon Springs.

What I'm reaaly looking for is a good cheese pizza: A pizza that uses good cheese and with a crust that has a little chew. At a place where they're making the dough in house and shaping it by hand and they're using a sauce that tastes like tomatoes, not like a sweet, herbal pot pourri sauce. A pizza that folds without the crust shattering like a cracker(frequently a problem with Florio's).

Can anyone point me in the right direction?