Last night, I headed to Artisanal for another restaurant week dinner with my Mom, Aunt, and cousin. When we arrived, there was a sign on the door. The air conditioner was broken. It was about 85 degrees outside, and it did not feel any better on the inside. They left a message on my mom's home machine at 6:20, just 40 minutes before our reservation. She had left the house before then, so we did not get the message. When we arrived, we decided that eating dinner in a room without AC sounded like a terrible idea. Only one couple braved the indoor heat, but most diners that walked in, quickly walked out.
Now, we are on 32nd and Park. It is time for dinner. And it is hot, so we do not want to wander around looking for food. I ate brunch Saturday at La Giara, an Italian restaurant on 34th and 3rd, and knew that it was reasonably priced and cool inside, so we walked over.
La Giara is a cute little Italian restaurant. I went two years ago for brunch, and went in 2009 for Valentine's Day, with an unworthy date who did not seem to know the differences between the kinds of pastas on the menu. As you guys know, I don't go to a lot of restaurants twice. But lately, I have been craving returns to some of my favorite restaurants. Whenever I go out to eat, I usually decide between two dishes. Now, I want to go back and get that second dish left behind.
When we arrived at La Giara, we learned that Mondays are $9 pasta night. All of the pastas that are usually between $14-$16 are $9. Sweet! And there are several bottles of wine under $35. So we ordered a bottle of red and a bottle of white. The bread plate arrived with nice white bread and this tomato, cheese, focaccia bread which was incredible.
We ordered spiced pork skewers and grilled calamari to start. The grilled calamari is so light, with nice tomatoes on the side. It was heavenly. The spiced pork skewers were incredible. They came with fried zucchini. I could have just had that for dinner!
We all ordered pasta for dinner. I should note that they time the dishes nicely. There was a good break between the bread and the apps, and the apps and the dinner. I like that, especially with pasta.
I got a tagliatelle with shrimp and scallops. It was really tasty. For $9, it was really REALLY tasty. And to have leftovers, SO TASTY!
La Giara is a relaxed Italian restaurant, and a nice place to enjoy your evening. Check out the website - they literally redid it this weekend. I know because I checked out the menu last week.
If brunch is what you are looking for, La Giara is affordable and boozy. Most brunch dishes are between $8-$11, and the portions are pretty big. Even better is the bread basket of assorted breads and mini muffins! The deal here is that if you buy one $6.50 mimosa, you get the rest unlimited and free. You take two sips, and they fill you up. I really like this all-you-can-drink deal because as opposed to a prix-fixe, or having to decide whether you want to do all-you-can-drink, you can simply order a mimosa and decide how many more you want. And if you want to order one and drink a bunch, and your friend doesn't, that is fine too! They are SUPER generous with the mimosas. I was there for 3.5 hours. True story.
So if the AC breaks at your restaurant, or you are just looking for a foot stomping good time with some pasta or mini muffins, try La Giara!
Have a delicious day!
NYC Menu Girl
0 comments:
Post a Comment