The first was Sette Luna in Easton (see my last review), and last night we dined at Olio in Bethlehem. Filled at this point with calamari, caesar salads, and pizzas (or pizze), I'm going to take this opportunity to do a little comparison of Lehigh Valley's Italian restaurants.
The following is a scale in which I'm just going to rate what I think is worth mentioning at each of these restaurants. Considering none duck below 4/5 in any category, I stand behind recommending all of them, for different reasons. Read on.
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| http://www.setteluna.com/ |
Sette Luna: My absolute winner in the atmosphere category.
Also some of the most innovative Italian food I've ever had.
5/5 Atmosphere. To recap my last review, which you can read in full (click here) or scroll down,
there's something comfortable and classy about the place. It appears to be a historic building of sorts: wide wood planked floors, pretty glass windows, lighting that gives the experience a golden aura.
5/5 Food. Excellent pizza, yummy fig appetizer, interesting Tre Colore salad, but my friend's octopus salad was a bit weak. I would like to try more things on their menu. Great list of specials. Really just read my other review. Overall, as I just commented on Twitter (find me @imanihamilton), Sette Luna serves lighter fare as far as Italian is concerned and it is delicious.
http://www.setteluna.com/
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| http://olioristorante.com/ |
Olio: Very conducive to groups gathering for a good meal.
5/5 Service. An honest waitress makes all the difference and are too hard to come by. She was prompt, was incredibly helpful in answering our questions, and made some great recommendations. For example, she helped me decide if the chicken caesar salad appetizer would be sufficient for a meal (she said it definitely would, and it definitely did!). I know service was actually one of the main points of contention that deterred a lot of people from becoming regular patrons when Olio opened last spring, but I think they've tried to respond to that.
5/5 Atmosphere. Awesome decor. Wine bottles everywhere, high ceilings, vodka sauce colored walls and pretty metallic and blue-like tilings on the bars, counters, fireplace. A major plus is that Olio is also very well lit so won't put you to sleep when you finish your heavy Italian meal. This place is great for big groups too.
4/5 Food. Not earth-shattering but definitely a good meal. GREAT pre-meal bread. One of the best Chicken Caesar Salads I've had in a while. I don't necessarily do much Caesar Salad but I know a good one when it meets my criteria of having more than three ingredients: lettuce, dressing, and croutons.
Friends who ordered pizze were happy. I thought the pizzes were less inventive and ingredient-laden than Sette Luna pizze. Less inventive perhaps but similarly basic and Italian. I would have preferred more basil than came on my friend's Margherita pizza though. The veggie pizza looked fabulous: lots of fresh ingredients like mushrooms, etc. and the personal pizza is a good size that everyone took home leftovers. All of it is also very reasonably priced.
http://olioristorante.com/
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| http://media.lehighvalleylive.com |
Mama Nina's: I probably crave the meal I get there at least once a week.
Will schedule around beating the crowds.
5/5 Food. Probably mostly due to my two favorite items on the menu: the Garden salad which is not a cop-out like I find most restaurants' garden salads often are and the Soup di Mussels appetizer stewed in a white wine marinara sauce. Could bathe in it. I also like Mama Nina's because whoever is cooking back there is not afraid to use garlic. Lot's of it, and none of this finely minced business. I respect that.
4/5 Service, but only because it's so popular that it's often impossible to get a table without a wait. Start taking reservations! In fact, we opted for Olio because a table of six at 7pm on a Thursday at Mama Nina's is nothing short of a joke.
4/5 Atmosphere. Probably my favorite place in town for outdoor dining, I wish it were tolerable year-round. I find the inside decor to be amusing, but perfect for the wandering eye. 4/5 mostly because I don't like the interior as much as Sette Luna's or Olio's.
http://www.mamanina.com/
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| http://findlocal.mcall.com |
Sal's: Standard. Predictable. Good.
4/5 Atmosphere. The place is too darn tiny for the number of people trying to get into it. Sal's suffers from the same problem that Mama Nina's does, the high demand for their limited seating means that I often opt out of even trying at peak hours.
Also, can't leave the place without smelling, no, reeking of Sal's. It's laughable how many people I know can sniff out someone who has been to Sal's, mostly because they've been there themselves. Don't plan on going places after Sal's unless you have the support group of others who can share your misery and awkward looks directed at the clear source of out-of-place intense Italian aromas.
My visits to Sal's have dropped off because of the presence of the three restaurants above and there's not a specific item on the menu that I'm willing to survive a 30 minute wait for, but it's still a perfect crowd-pleaser for your local Italian restaurant.
4/5 Food. Would recommend the Chicken Fantasy. For Italian food, I like it just fine. It's predictable and consistent and definitely a more classic Americanized heavier Italian meal. Sal's is not nearly as delicate and inventive as Sette Luna, for example. I can see why people love both though. It depends what you're looking for.
http://www.thelvmenus.com/restaurants.php?restaurantid=201
The end. I don't think any of this is blasphemy and I welcome any disagreement coupled with reasons to make all of these categories 5/5. Specific menu suggestions, favorite events pertaining to any of these restaurants, etc., a.k.a. excuses to return! Twist my arm.
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