Inside My Table #66 | Restaurant listings
Ciao Down/Italian Restaurants
Area diners have become more sophisticated during the last 15 years and are more receptive to regional Italian cuisine. Thankfully, we have restaurants that can oblige. Much of Northern Italy and Sardinia are well represented in this regard. Below are restaurants where you can eat Italian food that has a decent level of authenticity coupled with some real proficiency in the kitchen.
ARCODORO, 5000 Westheimer at Post Oak Blvd., 713-621-6888. The restaurant is very attractive and stylish, and the food from the long-neglected Italian outpost of Sardinia will be novel to most diners while being readily enjoyable. Excellent dishes such as sa fregula (a type of couscous with clams in saffron) and gnochetti Sardi al cinghiale (Sardinian-style dumplings with a ragu of wild boar) aren’t even found in Manhattan. $$-$$$
CARMELO’S, 14795 Memorial Dr. west of Dairy Ashford, 281-531-0696. The Sicilian-infused continental and Italian-American dishes can be quite good here. Much of the menu and presentation follows a time-worn model, but the kitchen is very adept and can shine with its more soulful Southern Italian creations. A lunch special of an eggplant stuffed with quickly sauteed seafood then baked seemed straight from a fine ristorante in the mezzogiono and even excited a diner from Northern Italy, one not prone to praise things Sicilian. $$
DA MARCO, 1520 Westheimer bet. Waugh & Dunlavy, 713-807-8857. In a small house on Westheimer, Da Marco serves truly excellent food that represents the best of the Northern Italian regions with more than a dash of creativity and talent. It is interesting and sometimes eclectic, but always flavorful and sometimes sublime. Along with the cuisine, the wine list is strictly Italian. The prices are in line with the quality. $$$
DIVINO, 1830 West Alabama bet. Shepherd & Dunlavy, 713-807-1123. This is a comfortable eatery and wine bar in the osteria and enoteca traditions that features a small menu of items mostly from the Emilia-Romagna, where the executive chef trained. Though not terribly ambitious you will find straightforward and usually satisfying renditions of dishes from this region, which is the favorite among many Italian gastronomes. $-$$
FRATELLI’S, 10989 Highway 290 (on the south side at the 34th St. exit), 713-957-1150. This value-oriented option provides Italian cuisine rooted in Ravenna, home of one of the owners, modified for local palates. Sharing a neighborhood with Olive Garden makes the menu less ambitious than the owners would like, but many dishes are interesting and very good. Though no longer boasting an Italian chef, it keeps a link to Italy with visiting chefs from Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna twice a year. $-$$
FRENCHIE’S, 1041 NASA Road One at El Camino Real, 281-486-7144. During the day Frenchie’s is a counter-service restaurant that dishes up very good value Southern Italian-American basics with more complexity and deftness than might be expected not just in Clear Lake, but almost anywhere. At night it is table service and a more ambitious and truly Italian menu that has been satisfying local diners since 1979. $-$$
LA MORA, 912 Lovett just east of Montrose, 713-522-7412. Located in a charming and romantic setting in Montrose La Mora aims to present the best of the hearty straightforward Tuscan cuisine with such entrees as arista di maiale (roasted pork) and tagliata di manzo (sliced beef over arugula). A favorite among local diners for about 15 years, Lynette Hawkins’ menu features a cuisine from a different region each month. $$-$$$
LA TRATTORIA, 6504 Westheimer bet. Fountain View & Voss, 713-782-1324. Carlo Molinaro, originally from Verona, serves classic Northern Italian fare that can often be as good and served just like you will find in a proficient trattoria or ristorante in the Veneto or Emilia-Romagna. Expertly made stuffed homemade pastas such as house-made tortellini with a Bolognese ragu or in a sauce of wild mushrooms can be quite tasty. $$
LUIGI’S RISTORANTE ITALIANO, 2328 Strand Blvd., Galveston, 409-763-6500. Sicilian-born Luigi Ferre cooks up mostly Italian-American favorites but with a good amount of personality and skill. There are also more fanciful dishes like a smoked pork loin served with an apple liqueur reduction and lasagna filled with a variety of mushrooms. Situated in an attractive 19th-century building on the Strand in Galveston, this is a good stop while visiting the island. $$
NUNDINI FOOD STORE, 500 N. Shepherd just north of I-10, 713-861-6331. Though also a store for Italian and Mediterranean ingredients and a sandwich shop, Nundini Food Store’s greatest attraction is as a factory for excellent gelato, Italy’s version of ice cream. In fact they supply most area restaurants that serve it. Nundini offers cold and grilled Italian sandwiches, including a very good one with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella that itself is worthy of a stop before your scoop of gelato. $
PERBACCO, 700 Milam at Capitol in the Pennzoil Towers, 713-224-2422. Owner Vittorio Preteroti, a native of Capri, creates dishes that are lighter and much more flavorful than can be expected from the fairly modest setting. Excepting the ragu and another sauce, everything is cooked to order, and the food exhibits Neapolitan soul adapted to local tastes. Here you can experience how satisfying a simple pasta dish with a salad can be. $-$$
SIMPOSIO, 5591 Richmond at Chimney Rock, 713-532-7712. Featuring menu selections inspired by the cuisines of Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan and Bologna, chef Alberto Baffoni is excellent with both traditional and more creative dishes built on local and Italian ingredients. You might be wise to put yourself in his hands for a multi-course tasting menu. Just don’t expect to find any Italian-American favorites in the comfortable dining rooms here. $$-$$$
VILLA CAPRI, 3713 NASA Road One, Seabrook, 281-326-2373. Situated in a large house on Clear Lake, this is the prettier sister to Frenchie’s, which is further up NASA Road One. It serves classic Neapolitan and Southern Italian fare. In a testament to its quality and authenticity, Italy’s president at the time dined here on his visit to the Houston area in 1996. $$
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