I was looking for a good Italian restaurant to take my gf on a Sunday afternoon. After looking through CitySearch I came across De Leo and was very enthusiastic about tasting some good authentic Italian food. Well let me just begin with the bread.STALE. That should have been a sign of things to come...but I kept being positive. We both ordered appetizers, avocado and shrimp app and the beef carpaccio. They sent out avocado and TUNA?!?! I sent it back and he returned with this mayo laden avocado half...I was skeptical to even dig into it. After find the courage to dig into this milky white avocado half, it was not half bad. But oh do I feel it now as I am writing this review. When ordering our lunch, we noticed how limited the menu was. The choices ranged from Osso Bucco and Lamb $24-$30 to Penne Pasta and Rigatoni $8.95-believe me there was no inbetween. I really didn't mind spending the cash because I wanted my gf to have a good time. We asked the waiter what he recommended and he suggested the Chicken Penne & Rigatoni with Meat Sauce. When those dishes arrived to our table I was flabergasted. I normally do not like making a big deal of bad food because I think the main part of the dining experience is the company & also I was trying to show my gf a nice time. But she could see the disgust all over my face and she couldn't hold in the laughter. My Rigatoni with meat sauce looked like pasta with dog food (SERIOUSLY). But the worst part of the dish was the PASTA!!! I believe there are certain staples that a restaurant should get right...rice in cuban restaurants, chips in mexican, fish in sushi and PASTA IN ITALIAN!! My pasta was so undercooked...I not only had to get by the look of my dish but also the lack of taste and texture. My gf said her chick penne was lean cuisine like at best. This was truly a HORRIBLE lunch experience and I would NEVER go back. Chef Boyardee is more authentic italian than this. GO ELSEWHERE
Pros: I'm still alive to write this review
Cons: FOOD (Especially the fundamentals of italian cuisine, PASTA)
more