Restaurant Review – Pazzaluna – “The Bracelet Proposal” (Guest Post by James)

I have been dating a new love interest for 3 months. And I felt it was time to take her to nice restaurant and surprise her with a gift. My restaurant tastes usually lead me to the city and due to our locations St. Paul is right in the middle. I quickly ran a google search for “fancy Italian restaurants in St. Paul”, my research skills are very basic I know. The restaurant that appeared over and over as being St Paul’s best was Pazzaluna . A fine Italian restaurant in the middle of the city with decent prices and valet parking was a perfect fit. The website design was nice and featured a large online menu. In my opinion, this was a major plus because a few other sites I visited did not show the items on the menu. The online menu included prices and all of the meals NOT including the fresh daily items which I advise asking the waiter when you arrive. I have to add the fresh items are ordered from local farmers to ensure the ingredients are fresh to death.

Location: Pazzaluna is located four blocks east from the Xcel Energy Center and the Roy Wilkins Auditorium off of Saint Peter St. The building couldn’t have been any easier to locate especially with any modern GPS or online mapping directions. In my case I used my car’s in dash navigation system to locate the restaurant. My navigation runs off a older CD and did not list the restaurant, but using the address got me there just fine. The location being easy to find still did not guarantee me a close parking spot especially if the Xcel Energy Center was hosting an event. Because that would happen when I am trying to bring a date out for a nice evening. This is where the option to valet park comes in handy. Any “nice” eating establishment in the city should have this service.

Pre-Restaurant Experience: I didn’t call at any point in this process and simply made my reservation on-line directly from their homepage. They seemed to have preferred it this way since it was the first thing you see when you visit the site. I really liked the reminder email a few days before the reservation and the options to add to your google or msn calendar. A very nice touch for the tech savyy or busy professionals.

I picked up my girlfriend in Woodbury, MN who looked very beautiful and classy in her black dress(I hope she reads this part). We  both dressed up for the evening hoping it would be one to remember. As we were driving she again asked me what restaurant we were going to and again I said “It’s a surprise, you’ll see when we get there”. I myself have never been to Pazzaluna and was thinking “Boy I hope this is worth all the hype”. As I rolled up to the front I noticed two valet’s ready to hoist my car away. This service I researched before choosing the restaurant to avoid driving around the city looking for parking all night. The cost was $8 without tip.

Another disappointment was the bread did not come out until after we ordered our food and only shortly before the main course arrived at our table.  Then the bread came out with a brown mustardy looking dipping sauce which didn’t look very appetizing. I forgot to ask what it was but my girlfriend only had one bite and was not impressed. I skipped the sauce and proceeded to my risotto. I had a different mind set as to what risotto was because I expected more of a cheesy rice and instead got bland rice I could have made at home. And the chicken was oven roasted,also a dish I could’ve prepared at home. The only thing that fixed this was the asparagus chunks inside the rice that really wet my palette. Was I full after my meal?”NO” Could I have ordered something better?”Yes”. Which leads me to my date’s meal. Her meal in so many ways was better tasting than mine. From the creamy sauce of the gorgonzola cheese to the large we’ll seasoned chunks of chicken there was no comparison, plus the dish was packed with noodles. I only sampled one bite of hers in order not to totally ruin my bland tasting Risotto and dry chicken, OK it wasn’t the bad, but could’ve been better.

Paying the Bill – We had to ask for the bill which I feel we shouldn’t have to do in a restaurant of this caliber, but that’s just my opinion. Before fetching the bill the waiter asked if we would like desert, we looked over the menu and decided we were plently full (at least she was) and desert would only slow us down for the rest of the night. The bill came out to be about $75 subtotal for the valet, two meals, appetizer (caesar’s salad), two beers and two Flirtini’s. The final amount with tip came to $90 which wasn’t bad considering the type of restaurant and the amount of drinks we ordered.

Verdict- My overall experience was excellent, but as far as my meal goes I was left feeling empty and desired more. The purpose of the evening was to give my date a fine dining experience and a fun atmosphere which I feel Pazzaluna accomplished. We also stayed for the happy hour after dinner which was located in the bar area. Happy hour was the usual $3 tap beers, $3 rail drinks and $4 glasses of wine. The crowd here was in business casual attire and seemed to be mostly young professionals who wanted to enjoy a hip restaurant/bar before heading out for the night. Would I recommend Pazzaluna to my friends? Yes. Why? Most of my friends eat in the suburbs at chain restaurants like, TGI Fridays and Champs. I would like to expose them to metropolitan dining at its finest. Myself I would go back in the future, but only after some kind of bonus or for a special occasion like a birthday, Bar mitzvah, Kwanzaa or maybe an occasion where you substitute the bracelet for a ring

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Restaurant Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.