Bravo! Cucina Italiana Dinner Review

As you have possibly read in one of my previous posts, Brad and I try to visit a new restaurant once a week.  This hasn't happened a lot lately just due to our schedules, but a month or so ago we did get to visit a new restaurant at our outdoor mall.  It is called Bravo Italian.  It has been here for a few months now, but we wanted to let the newness wear off a bit before giving it a try.  Bravo was so crowded, at first, a reservation was required to eat there during lunch if you wanted to avoid a long wait.  

I secured a reservation the week before for dinner on Saturday night at 6 pm.  We arrived about 10 minutes early and were seated right away.  The table setup was very similar to a Macaroni Grill.  They did have white linen table clothes, but they were covered in white butcher paper.  Below is the menu:

Our waitress arrived promptly to take our drink orders.  Brad had his usual coke while I tried the Strawberry Fresca with a water.  My drink was only $7.50 and was served in a martini glass.  It was really nice and refreshing.  The price actually isn't too bad since I pay nearly $5 for a Freckled Lemonade now at Red Robin.  Granted I do get free refills at Red Robin, but the added alcohol for only $2.50 more can be worth it at Bravo.

After placing our dinner order, we received a bread basket.  It contained four breadsticks and some oil with herbs for dipping.  Before the night was over, we had two of these baskets.  The bread was really good.  It was full of different herbs itself, so there was nothing standard and bland about it.  I really enjoyed it, especially since we did not order any appetizers.

For dinner Brad had the lobster ravioli.  I tried a bite of it, and it was good.  I am not a huge pasta person, so I would not order it myself, but I think Brad really enjoyed it and would have it again.  I believe it was about 8 raviolis and each seemed to be pretty full of lobster.  I think it was so filling, Brad struggled to finish it.

I ordered the crab cakes.  Let me start with the vegetables.  They were really great.  It was a mixtures of sliced baked potatoes and mixed veggies (broccoli, snap peas, and carrots).  I finished them all except the carrots.  I love raw carrots, but I hate cooked ones.  Unfortunately Brad was too full to finish them for me!  The main dish, crab cakes, were amazing.  It wasn't your typical crab cake either.  Most crab cakes tend to be really flat, full of bread crumbs, and contain very little crab meat.  There were huge lumps of crap through the cake.  The crap cakes also fell apart at the touch.  They were cooked perfectly and the sauce they use was also great.  I am not sure I can ever go back and not get the crab cakes!

So while we were both extremely full, Brad really wanted to try the tiramisu.  He loves tiramisu, and I hate it.  So whenever we go somewhere that has it, it is his opportunity to get it.  I ordered the special which was the white chocolate bread pudding.  Brad enjoyed his tiramisu.  His only complaint was that it was fairly small for $7, but I am not sure he could have eaten anything bigger.  The bread pudding was really good.  It isn't something I must have again, but I loved that they did not use a whiskey sauce in it (or if they did you could not taste it).  All the fruit was also a nice touch.

Our overall bill was $71.31 before tip.  I would definitely come back here or recommend it to anyone.  However, this is not going to become a regular spot for us simply because of the price.  The average entrée was at least $20.  Even at lunch,  it is really expensive.  I could see this becoming a nice date night place, however.  My only complaint throughout the night was our waitress.  While she was extremely attentive at first, she grew worse and worse throughout the night.  When we left, there were also quite a few people waiting for tables, so maybe she just got really busy.