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Chianti's Restaurant Review
Once upon a time in a place called Geneva, on a scenic and busy street they called Third, there was a wonderful little Italian restaurant: Ristorante Chianti. The food was always good; the service was just fine and the prices were just right. Enter an omnipresent developer/builder and things rapidly took a turn in a different direction. What followed can only be described as a slow-motion train wreck. The place got bigger... and so did the check average. For me the story gets a bit murky after that. There were several different owners, chefs, managers and menu changes; along the way, the only real enhancement was to the check at the end of the meal. Finally, sadly, the Italian restaurant had its doors closed and it sat. Cold, vacant, sad...
But somewhere in the dust of the train wreck... arose the little engine that could. You see, just around the corner a little take-out place was started. Oddly -- well, not really -- its name was Chianti To Go. And it claimed to be using the original recipes of the original Chianti. I never took the time to try it, and I will accept full responsibility for that error. Just a day two ago however -- on a suggestion from Lauren -- we made a trip to Geneva to try out Chianti's. As it turns out, the take-out place had an opportunity to expand, taking occupancy of an empty store (likely a result of the other train wreck -- the economic one) just around the corner... and back on Third Street, using the original recipes. And oh, how the little engine did perform! The digs are smallish, with two rooms (the front one with floor to ceiling windows and views of 3rd Street; the back one more cozy with a fireplace) and a total of perhaps fifteen to twenty tables; the decor was simple yet warm and inviting. Tables were fairly austere with the obligatory white paper covering white table cloths, a water glass with several sealed packets of thin breadsticks and cloth napkin-wrapped silverware; a candle burned brightly in the middle of the table. Strains of Dean Martin favorites wafted softly throughout the restaurant -- you know the disc, it seems everyone has a copy -- and shortly we were greeted by our server, who asked if we cared for something from the bar. Of course we did, and enjoyed a glass of wine (Chianti's does not have a full liquor license yet) while we munched on breadsticks and perused the menu.
We skipped ordering an appetizer and chose the Chianti House Salad instead. For dinner, Lauren wanted the Eggplant Parmesan (7.95 for a "lunch size" and 12.95 for the "dinner size". Most items on the menu offered this two-portion/two-price option): golden fried eggplant topped with marinara sauce a bed of linguine & baked with asiago. I was tempted by several menu items -- most notably my favorite, Chicken Parmesan, as well as an intriguing entrée called Santa Fe Pasta. I ended up ordering Sausage & Peppers (8.95/13.95): Italian sausage sautéed with sweet peppers, onions & red sauce over mostaciolli sprinkled with asiago. Check their website to see all of the menu choices; just Google Chianti's in Geneva. I'll keep this one short and sweet: The timing of the service was fairly good, the wait-staff was uniformed and smiling, the plating was simple but the portion sizes were large, the food was excellent and served piping hot (warm fresh bread was brought out just before dinner was served) and the prices were really reasonable. Imagine dinner for two that included salads, entrées, warm bread and a glass of wine for under $50... including tax and gratuity! That's a difficult act to beat. The only thing that I didn't like (and don't like in any restaurant) was the individually-wrapped butter packets. But hey, I understand that times are tough, and this is one way to help hold down costs. It was nice, too, to see the original train that used to chug along around the outside of the original Chianti's dining room, oh so many years ago... was now proudly, and quite noiselessly, chugging around the outside of the "new" Chianti's. It was a nice touch that added to a very nice evening. If you haven't been there yet, you owe it to yourself to go. Chianti's -- the little Italian engine that could... and did -- is a very solid Three-and-a-Half Zins. Your Table is Waiting...
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