Monday, January 30, 2012

Saviano's Italian ~ Euless, Texas


Latest visit: Jan 2012

First visit: Sep 2006

I tend to forget about Saviano's when thinking of Italian restaurants in NE Tarrant. I had just mentioned a few days ago about restaurants that we frequent the most, and that we're struggling to settle on a great Italian joint in the area. I don't think Saviano's necessarily solves that dilemma, but they're definitely part of the equation. One potential reason we don't think of them is their location at the far southeastern edge of our primary coverage area. By being situated on Euless Main and 183, Saviano's is further for us than many places in Ft. Worth proper or Arlington even. No matter, as Saviano's has proven to be very popular with the locals and was again packed to the rafters on this particular evening. Incidentally, it was on our way here that we first discovered the Mexican Inn in Bedford had shut down.

Saviano's has recently opened a second location in downtown Ft. Worth, that has also proven to be very popular. And why not really, as Saviano's is truly old school Italian, something that isn't as common in DFW as you might think. St. Louis, Chicago and Philadelphia we are not. And speaking of which, Saviano's originally came to DFW with a 20 year resume of cooking in Long Island, New York where food like this can be found on every corner - or so it seems.

All the meals come with garlic knots and salads. The latter is a simple mix of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, celery and a delicious red wine vinaigrette dressing. The garlic knots are very chewy, buttery, garlicky and subsequently very tasty. The dishes here have a focus on the southern Italian regions, but they also have a wide variety of other entrees to choose from including Cacciatore, Alfredo, Marsala, etc... I appreciate their baked dishes, as the meals come out in those heavy duty "blackened" dishes (I love those), with bubbling cheese holding down the sizzling red sauce (and their sauce is delicious). Bury a homemade meatball or sausage in there for extra enjoyment. On this visit, the ziti was a little overcooked, so that's a bozo no-no. I'll let it slide, as everything else was well executed. These places need to learn how to cook al dente pasta earlier in the day. We passed on dessert as is our custom.

Saviano's is not BYOB, so we bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for a little under $20.

We've been coming to Saviano's since about 2005 or so, but it's been a few years since we last visited. Since that time, they've made the place more welcoming with dimmer lights throughout, as well as adding a full bar with a large flat screen to enjoy some sports. Parking is hard to come by up front, so you may need to pull around to the back. Dinner is traditional dining and served by a wait staff. It used to be that lunch was counter service. It appears that might still be the case, but I'm not certain. On our last visit in 2008, it was. But that was a long time ago.

Have a hankering for some Old School Italian? Try Saviano's.

9/4/06; 1/30/12 (new entry)

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