Bilotti's Review

Webster’s New World Dictionary defines an expectation as “a thing looked forward to.” Expectations have been a recurring theme for me lately, and while I tend to keep them to nothing when eating out, it has been hard.

Whether you are a critic or not, how do you put out of your mind previous experiences or the words of others – all of us prejudge on some level. While driving through the Loop, in search of some glimmers of hope beyond Popeye’s I remembered Bilotti’s at the corner of Old Government and Airport Boulevard.

Yet, all of my history with them was not pleasant. Botched meals, amazing testimony from waitresses and disappointment reigned. But it had been years since those days and they are still in business. So there must be something right! I would enter like a simpleton with clear mind, open to a new day.

Bilotti’s has the most enviable location in town. Plenty of traffic goes by and the building is attractive both inside and out, oozing with charm. But you know what they say about judging a book by its …, oh remove that thought.

It is quite pleasant. Soaring off-cream colored walls with an airy ceiling, wide open space that narrows at one end. Real tile floors, not stick on black and white plastic from a big box store, wide bulb lighting strung across the room. The setting is relaxing, typical and what you would envision an Italian restaurant to be, and it works.

I was a few minutes late meeting a friend, who was already seated and had been served his drink. The room was crowded, with two or three large parties in addition to other smaller groups. This is usually a good sign. There appeared to be three waitresses for the room. It took a while for me to get a drink and another menu – but the waitress was personable, knowledgeable and on the go.

The wait time for food was a bit more than I would like for lunch, and I appreciated her telling us that pizzas might take a bit more because there were so many backed up in the kitchen. The menu was the same as I remembered – overly ambitious, lengthy and hard to choose from.

When she came back with my water I blurted out an order for the Italian sampler appetizer platter ($7.95). Selected from the “starters” this plate includes two medallions (sweet Italian sausage, wrapped in pastry, baked and coated with honey, served with marinara) – plump, but slightly mealy in a nondescript pastry with little taste of honey mustard; two stuffed mushrooms (stuffed with “seafood” and topped with mozzarella) with no seafood apparent, mainly breading and cheese. It also came with two bruschetta, toasted French bread with pesto-marinated roma tomatoes and Parmesan. This was primarily olive oil soaked bread with a smattering of pesto with a tomato top and a spit of Parmesan. The sampler finished out with two cheese sticks, which were very good.

I was already disappointed, especially since the last time I came this was the only good thing I ate.

While we waited, two platters of “fauxcaccia” arrived, triangle cut soft bread sprinkled with something that tasted like nothing. Not a good sign, not a bad one.

Should you desire a pizza, they come in individual, medium and large sizes. You can get just about anything on one with several typical specials such as a pesto, all meat, veggie and the like. They have a “rajun Cajun” with etouffee sauce, crawfish, shrimp and sausage that is different.

The lunch menu does have many of the items found on the dinner menu, sans sandwiches. Maybe I should have gotten a sandwich but I wanted to tell you about something that could be gotten either time. I saw a Monte Cristo ($8.95) that looked pretty good come by the table. I thought about ordering the Italian loaf ($7.95, layers of salami, ham, provolone and mozzarella, oven melted and topped with sautéed onions and peppers) or the chicken cordon bleu ($7.95) – all sandwiches are served with those seasoned battered fries. Several typical salads such as chef, Caesar, grilled chicken (made as a salad with walnuts, grapes and celery) or tuna are also found.

I relied on the waitress. They have”create your own” pasta with four pasta type selections, three sauces and meat/shrimp selections. This is where I went wrong in the past – I should have remembered the pesto as unmemorable from that previous time.

The waitress suggested the eggplant Parmigiana ($7.95) for me. I love eggplant Parmesan and it does not have to be fancy for me to like it. I have had it haute and had it hot. The eggplant slices were heavily breaded, hard fried and there was little eggplant to be tasted. The marinara tasted canned, but good canned.

Here is where the rubber meets the road – I have never gotten the impression that much, if anything, here has been made in house. You may not have a problem with it, and my dish was not bad, just mediocre. My friend chose the pasta bilotti ($8.95), which I actually liked a great deal. Sautéed artichoke hearts and fresh mushrooms were paired in a white wine cream sauce that was not heavy on the wine and is served over angel hair pasta. IF you go, get this.

No, this is not a good review. I went in hopeful and came out disappointed. I will go ahead and say that if you are dying to go to the Olive Garden for your next birthday and you cannot get in, Bilotti’s is the place for you. They are trying I guess, and people are eating there. But people also pack into Barnhill’s on a daily basis as well.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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