A pleasant Saturday night found us at Nestico’s on Route 11 in North Syracuse. Reservations for less than five are not available, but several empty parking spaces made us confident that we would be seated without a wait. We waited a few minutes for a booth, but we could have had immediate seating at a table. Nicely decorated with shades of tan and peach and large paintings by a local artist, Nestico’s is a welcoming, comfortable place with a fireplace often roaring. Tables are set with attractive plastic tablecloths and cloth napkins. The service is friendly and helpful; Julie, the owner, constantly roams the floor.
We began with a bottle of the house red, Foxhorn California Merlot, for a very reasonable $17. It was a light red merlot lacking body, but still quite pleasant. Warm garlic bread and whipped butter arrived with an aroma that was truly appetizing. Having eaten here several times in the past, we can attest to the quality of Nestico’s fried calamari appetizer ($9 for enough to feed four) with hot pepper sauce on the side ($3). Though it is the best in the area, we decided to try something new. The Utica greens ($7.50) was enough to share and was properly bitter and garlicy, but there was no sign of the cherry peppers mentioned in the menu.
We also shared a large antipasto salad ($9) which was a large serving bowl of mixed greens topped with tomatoes, provolone, capicolla, salami, artichoke hearts and olives. The homemade balsamic dressing on the side was a welcome touch and helps keep leftovers fresh. Our waitress boxed all the leftovers in the kitchen and even supplied a bag to take it all home.
The Italian entrees, which range from $11-16, include Julie’s Pasta Pie ($13) and seafood manicotti ($14). Chicken is available in six varieties and veal in four, including the night’s special of veal rollatini, as well as steaks and seafood ($13-26). She ordered Seafood Pasta Chioppino ($16), which was a heaping bowl of linguine, topped with scallops, clams, and lots of shrimp in a slightly spicy red sauce. It was delicious, with the seafood cooked perfectly, though slightly more al dente pasta would have been better.
He ordered the Cavatelli with spinach, broccoli and mushrooms in garlic butter ($12). Unfortunately, the pasta was overcooked to a mushy texture and was swimming in a watery broth. He asked to return it to the kitchen and our waitress apologized and offered a replacement. (We were not charged for the Cavatelli.) He then chose Penne in Vodka Crème ($11) which arrived quickly and was much better. The generous sauce was tasty, but the pasta was still too overcooked for our taste. We learned in Italy that it should require biting, hence the term “al dente”…this was not the case here. However, there was enough sauce left over that by adding some extra penne, we can have a nice dinner during the week.
Desserts are homemade so we ordered wedges of lemon meringue and coconut cream pies ($4.50) as well as coffee ($2.10 per cup). The lemon meringue was properly refreshing and the coconut cream was expectedly smooth and sweet.
Our pleasant dinner for two with wine, two appetizers, two entrees, two desserts and coffee came to $69.60 plus tip after a $10 coupon from restaurants.com. Nestico’s, with its delectable food and courteous service, is a treasure of the northern suburbs.
Mar
30
Out to Eat: Nesticos
Betty and Richard Wiese 03/30/09
CATEGORY: General Society