ie - Italian Eatery
| Address: | 4724 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55407, USA |
| Phone: | +1 612-223-8504 |
| Site: | italianeatery.com |
| Rating: | 4.6 |
| Working: | 4–11PM 4–11PM 4–11PM 4–11PM 4PM–12AM 10AM–2PM 10AM–2PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
CL
Claire Dawson
So, went to Italian Eatery last night with my husband and a friend. It was...fine, but a bit of a disappointment. The standout, by far, was the garganelli with wild boar meatballs, taleggio and fontina. It was spectacular - perfect red sauce, beautifully balanced meatballs, great texture. The rest of the meal was ok, but not particularly memorable, and sometimes involved actual missteps. I did appreciate the ability to order smaller portions of pasta, which allowed us to try a lot of different things, treating it all family-style. We had the prosciutto and burrata for an app, which was very nice, but not something that I attribute much skill to the kitchen for. For the rest of the meal, aside from the aforementioned garganelli, we also had the gemelli with sorrel pesto, ricotta, and pancetta - that was the second-best dish. Nice, but not groundbreaking, and the pancetta overwhelmed the pesto a bit. Also, though the waiter mentioned that the pasta was al dente and, "some people arent used to that," I AM used to that, and this pasta was under - needed another minute or so. Still, it was tasty. Then we went for a couple of simple pastas to round it out - spaghetti with tomato and mascarpone, which was kind of bland and really needed something to bring up the flavors - acid? herbs? - and cavatelli with Bolognese, which was the worst dish of the night. It reminded me a little of Chef Boyardee, honestly, which is harsh, but true. Weird texture to the meat, too sweet, and not nearly enough acid. My homemade Bolognese is a lot better. Also added a couple of side dishes - grilled carrots with herb mascarpone - underdone and underwhelming, and asparagus with saffron romesco - kind of a disaster, as the romesco overwhelmed the flavor of the asparagus completely. Also, if there was saffron in it, I sure didnt taste it. Service was lacking, in that the waiter seemed overextended, though nice enough, and both the appetizer and the meal itself took 30 minutes or so to arrive, each. The waiter apologized for the wait, but didnt actually do anything about it (we didnt ask, as we were enjoying the company). He also left a dish off the initial order and had to be reminded that it wasnt delivered. Nothing completely damning, but far from impressive. Also, other tables got bread and butter and what looked like roasted chickpeas, which all failed to appear at our table. The space itself was clearly well thought-out - lots of attention to detail - but as with every new restaurant lately, it was very loud and a little hard to hold a conversation. Also, seemed sort of aesthetically cold and not particularly welcoming. Partly due to the service, I suppose, but I felt a little stressed at the end of the evening, rather than relaxed. So, overall, I dont think wed go back. As I said above, a couple of dishes were quite nice, but they dont seem to be putting out consistent food, and theyre not doing it particularly well. I want to experiment with trying to reproduce the red sauce on the garganelli at home, though, so they did make an impression there.
TI
Timothy Buendorf
Very excited about this new restaurant in our neighborhood. Our first impressions, though, are concerning. Upon arrival, there were many open tables and we were immediately seated in an out-of-the-way corner at a high-top table. There were a number of open booths/tables that would have been more comfortable and inviting. Most of those tables/booths did not fill while we were there. Our server did not know the menu and seemed confused about basic questions. Further, she seemed more interested in pushing us into ordering than taking time to answer questions about the offerings. There were 3 of us, so three different entrees. I have the spaghetti carbonara and liked it very much. Just the right size and lots of flavor in what could have easily been a very cloying dish. My son had the steak and enjoyed it very much along with the fingerling potatoes. The salsa verde was more of a green anchovy sauce than a green salsa - anchovy was very overpowering - good thing it was served on the side. My wife had the wild boar meatballs. The pasta was well-prepared with a fine sauce, however the meatballs themselves were not heated through - nearly cold in the center. We informed our server, who only said she would tell the kitchen, but made no offer to do anything about it. The same happened when the manager came by the table. His only comment was that the they needed to "improve procedures" but made no effort to correct the situation for us. We were still charged full price. Excellent wine selection, although again our server didnt have a real grasp of the offerings. We remain hopeful that this will be a great addition to the neighborhood, but at those price points, the experience needs to be top-notch.
PI
pinkladyvader
We had reservations at Italian Eatery to celebrate not one, but TWO birthdays, and even called to confirm the reservation the day of our event. When we showed up, the hostess apologized because the reservation before us had not yet vacated the table. Fine, no problem, they cant control if the other group chooses not to leave in a reasonable amount of time. However, they then offered us a much smaller table (for 7 people), which we passed on when they told us "if youre willing to wait another 5 minutes, the larger table is starting to clear." After nearly an hour of waiting, with the previous reservation still not leaving, we inquired whether they were willing to provide any complimentary appetizers or beverages if we continued to wait. The manager very unsympathetically stated "Nope, but well serve your appetizers as soon as youre seated." Which could have been another full hour... thanks for nothing. We finally left and walked across the street to Carbones, which was delicious, sat us right away, and treated us with much more courtesy than Italian Eatery. I only gave this restaurant 1 star because 0 isnt an option. They provided us with no food, no drinks, no courtesy, wasted 1 hour of our evening (which pushed other plans back and resulted in the cancellation of other birthday plans), and ultimately provided nothing but frustration to two very disappointed patrons on their birthdays.
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Bryan Entzel
Our third visit and we are more and more impressed with every visit. The food and atmosphere are top notch. The staff goes out of their way to be polite, peppy and personable. We were there for a friends birthday and unknown to us, his mother-in-law called the restaurant from FL to treat him and his wife to dinner. The staff was so funny how they played it out and helped make it happen. Had the snapper last time and the squid fettuccini this time. Both great! Also have tried the gnocchi and the mushroom tortellini, and those are next on my list. Also, I have a dairy limitation and an alert to peppers and the staff has been above and beyond helpful talking to the kitchen to see what the chef recommended at our first visit. Honestly everything Ive had has caused me zero issues. Very clean eating. Love it! Couple Of dishes are smaller portions. That would be my only heads up.
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Neil Ryan
We had 8 oclock reservations on a Friday and it was packed! We waited until 8:15 to be seated which was fine. They have a large bar area with excellent craft cocktails along with a huge selection of wine and beer. The decor is so beautiful youll want to take people here for dates or birthdays or just to impress! Our service was top notch and the food was excellent. We started with the goat milk ricatta with grilled bread which I am still dreaming about. For entrees we tried the rustic gemelli and the mushroom cappelletti. Both were outstanding. I cant wait to try other dishes on the menu! Tip, go for the larger size entrees. Definitely worth it. I cant wait to come back and try brunch. One of the best restaurant experiences Ive ever had.
