I left Attilio’s Restaurant and Bar feeling the same as I did when I first arrived — thinking that the restaurant’s service was under par. But if I overlook the dining service and the price, then the food at Attilio’s wasn’t so bad.

When I first walked in, I saw the bar, which is completely segregated from the dining area. I felt a little awkward standing by the door looking for the dining area. I was greeted by pairs of eyes staring me down from the bar. I looked for the hostess, wishing that wherever she was, she could hurry up and usher me to my table.

While I was waiting, I scanned the bar room. The bar area was dark, with deeply colored décor and dim lighting. Not much sunlight came through the windows, and there weren’t too many people enjoying happy hour. I caught a woman’s eye, who turned away, laughing with a gentleman by the bar.

Surprisingly, the hostess was a woman who at first appeared to be a patron enjoying the bar scene. She wanted toward me, greeted me and ushered me to my table. I was a little bothered, thinking she could have ushered me to my table before blending herself into the small crowd by the bar. She took me through a small door and into the dining area.

The room wasn’t packed with diners. The place was pretty quiet. Beautiful red leather chairs were grouped around small tables covered with white linen tablecloth. The walls were dark red, and the ceiling and molding of the walls were black. The lighting was dim, but you could get sunlight at the front of the dining room, by the windows.

Attilio’s offered a variety of entrees, including seafood pasta dishes and veal. I ordered the restaurant’s traditional lasagna for $15.

My first impression of the lasagna was that it was elegant. It was placed in a huge, dramatic, contemporary white bowl, which made the dish look beautiful. The lasagna was baked with mozzarella, and I was glad that it wasn’t overloaded with cheese, and was instead drowned in delicious marinara meat sauce.

The portion of the entrée was massive and I couldn’t finish it. I probably only would have been able to finish it if I had skipped the bread and the soup before the meal.

But I would never pass up the bread and soup at this restaurant. I usually limit myself to one slice of bread from the breadbasket, but this time, I almost let myself have three slices. The bread was soft and warm on the inside, and the crust was soft yet toasted. The crust was gently glazed with olive oil and oregano.

The presentation of the bread dipping plate was beautiful. It was a big, white square plate that had dipping oil spread out from the middle. At each corner of the plate were mini piles of dry condiments for the dipping oil: red crushed peppers, oregano, fresh minced garlic and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

I had fun swirling the condiments into the middle of the oil, lightly soaking bite size pieces of bread into the oil as it picked up the condiments — the minced garlic was my favorite touch to the bread dipping experience.

Before I was ready to leave, I decided to finish my drinks. Instead of waiting for me to leave, the waiter already took away my tip and filled-out receipt. I thought that was inconsiderate. I was not happy with the service, but I was happy with the food.

Unless I crave their lasagna badly, I probably won’t go back. But I am happy to go home to try to make my own version of minced garlic with dipping oil and bread.

Published on April 7, 2014 at 1:00 am

Contact Vekonda: vluangap@syr.edu