DeGidio's - We'll be back!

Our dog-sitter is going to be very busy this summer with summer school and his "real" job (I guess we don't count as a real job) so we needed to make sure we had an alternative to board the kids.  Cabby has been boarded at Warren's Dog Stop many times and she LOVES, yes LOVES, it.  Cider's always been at home with our dog-sitter.  We needed to know that he would be ok at Warren's too so tonight was a "test run".  Based on the pictures posted by Warren on Facebook, Cider's doing just fine.  Of course he hasn't tried to get Cider in a crate for the night yet!

Since we had a night where we didn't have a ticking dog clock, we decided to try some place new for dinner.  We'd been on West 7th in St. Paul last week and noticed a place called DeGidio's.  We checked out their website and it looked pretty good so we decided to try it.

After quite a bit of time trying to find a parking space (their parking lot is, well, interesting) we made it to dinner.

We weren't sure what to expect from the outside.  The building is pretty plain and appeared to be recently updated.  Inside we found a very comfortable restaurant that, like Mancini's, seems to take you back in time a little.  We picked a booth in the corner of the dining room from which we could watch the action.  The booths are dark leather and comfortable.  It looks like maybe the inside has been renovated fairly recently too, but not so much that it loses it's "supper club" charm.

Our waitress, Janet, was adorable and provided great service.  She made some recommendations on dinner and wine and was attentive.

The menu is simple, appetizers, salads, Italian entrees and "American Classics".  We were at an Italian restaurant, we weren't going to order walleye!

We ordered a bottle of Cabernet and started with the Crostini Plate.  It was a  trio of olive tapenade, bruschetta and goat cheese served with perfectly toasted French bread.  It was way more than enough for two, certainly enough for four!  The bruschetta topping was to die for.  The goat cheese and tapenade were also delicious.  We almost finished it all, the whole time saying "we shouldn't eat anymore we won't eat our dinner".

We put a good dent in it and I took the goat cheese home!

For dinner Dave ordered the "Combo" dip.  Two housemade meatballs and a spicy sausage link served over mostaccioli with the house red sauce.  I ordered the Spicy Penne Arrabiata which was spiced chicken, roasted mushrooms, onions and roma tomatoes tossed with crushed peppers and a splash of cream with roasted peppers and baked mozzarella.  Both dishes were delicous.

The Combo Dip

The Spicy Penne Arribiata

You know how at most restaurants when your order pasta with a protein in it there's lots of pasta and just a few pieces of protein?  You're digging around in the pasta looking for that last piece of shrimp or chicken?  Not so at DeGidio's!  There was at least an equal amount of protein as pasta in each dish.

The arrabiata was delicicous.  I love spicy red sauces.  But....

I tasted one of Dave's meatballs.  Oh my god it was my Grandma Cicero's recipe!  It was amazing.  It brought back so many great memories.  I tasted the house red sauce.  Oh my god, it was almost exactly my grandmother's recipe too.  I couldn't believe it.  We will go back and I'm getting spaghetti and meatballs!

We have LOTS of left overs.  The "dip" was proabably not "splittable" but the arribiata was definately enough for two if you're in the mood to split.  We did our best to finish them... hardly looks like I put a dent in mine.

There was absolutely no room for dessert so we decided next time we go we'll skip the appetizer and get dinner and a dessert.  Their Moscato Berry Tiramisu sounded really good.

The entire bill, including the second-most expensive bottle of wine on the menu, appetizers and dinner that we couldn't hope to finish, was $58!

We'll definitely be back.  There are no (or so we thought) good Italian restaurants in our "neighborhood", now we've found one!  And we're going to try and go on Wednesdays.  That's when Janet works!  And I'll be adding a link to DeGidio's under my favorite places.

It was very odd to come home to a quiet house.  No dogs greeting us acting like we'd been gone days, not hours.  No dogs wondering if what was in the to-go boxes was for them.  They'll be home tomorrow!