Born and raised in NY, I take my Italian food seriously. When I walked through the front door of Venezia Restaurant, the first thing I noticed was the aroma. It smelled like “real” Italian, which is always a treat outside NY. I know I sound like the arrogant New Yorker who thinks everything about NY is so great, but come on—-when it comes to pizza and Italian food, nowhere else does it better…at least in this country.
Anyway, sitting in Venezia, enjoying the fine aroma of fresh tomatoes and garlic, and sipping on my tasty Peroni (a light, refreshing beer imported from Italy), I was extremely excited for the meal. As always, my girlfriend and I ordered a few dishes to share: to start, a stuffed artichoke, followed by chicken parmigiana and pork osso buco. The spaghetti and meatballs looked really good, so we ordered a side of meatballs to go with our sides of pasta.
After my favorable first impression, I had really high expectations for the food; but to be honest, the food fell a little short. The chicken parm was awesome—-good quality chicken, breaded and fried perfectly, with delicious marinara sauce (I’m very picky about my sauce!) It was one of the best chicken parms I’ve ever had, period. The meatballs were also very good–tender, juicy, well-seasoned. On the other hand, however, the stuffed artichoke and pork osso buco were sub par. The artichoke was actually cold when our server brought it out; and the osso buco, though cooked well, was bland and unseasoned.
When I weigh all aspects of Venezia, the overall dining experience was pretty good—-a little disappointing, but still good. I would hesitate before ordering a dish that didn’t include their excellent marinara sauce; but I would definitely go back for the ambiance, chicken parm, meatballs and Peroni.
Contact Info:
134 N. Carrollton Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70119
(504) 488-7991
photo courtesy of zero-g, used under this Creative Commons license
photo courtesy of eliazar, used under this Creative Commons license
