{"id":13930,"date":"2015-04-03T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-04-03T15:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burgersdogspizza.com\/?p=13930"},"modified":"2015-04-03T10:00:08","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T15:00:08","slug":"rigazzis-review-st-louis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=13930","title":{"rendered":"Rigazzis Review – St. Louis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rigazzis<\/a>
Exterior of restaurant – from their own website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think I have only been to two “traditional Italian” restaurants in my life, where I either went “wow” or returned multiple times; one was in London, the other Hong Kong. I stopped in an Olive Garden thirty some years ago shortly after they started, haven’t been back. I imagine their food would be a lot like Rigazzi’s.<\/p>\n

I shouldn’t have been surprised at my reaction to the restaurant, I lived in St. Louis for a year and have been back several times, and with the exception of one very memorable evening decades ago, I’ve never had a good time in St. Louis, no matter the reason for being there or the person I had in tow. \u00a0I also can’t think of a time I’ve enjoyed a meal in any city where the locals insisted a joint was a “don’t miss.” \u00a0A lot of time I believe those endorsements come from a reputation earned years ago, but get passed down due more to tradition, than anything else. \u00a0Whatever.<\/p>\n

Rigazzi’s is the oldest restaurant (60 some years) on “the Hill,” which is the “Italian neighborhood” of St. Louis.<\/p>\n

It was a Wednesday night, and we were seated promptly. I had perused the menu online<\/a>, in advance, so I had an idea of what I wanted. \u00a0 The problem wouldn’t be finding something I would enjoy, but narrowing down my choice, as the menu was long and seemingly held lots of promise.<\/p>\n

When you’re seated, you’re presented with a half loaf of bread, a cracker basket, and butter packets. \u00a0Drink orders are taken and rather promptly filled. Service is friendly.<\/p>\n

I started with the antipasto plate, described as “for two,” with a combination of Italian meats, vegetables, olives, some oddly misplaced triangle wedges of American cheese slices, and a dollop of blue cheese. \u00a0It was a lot of food, and a really great value for the price. \u00a0I’d go with it again, and be even more enthusiastic if they offered a choice of platters, like all meat, or just meat and cheese, and so on.<\/p>\n

I knew I wanted my plate to be loaded with meat for the entree, so I ordered meat filled ravioli, in meat sauce, with a meatball, and \u00a0with a side of Italian sausage.<\/p>\n

There is crumbled, unidentifiable meat in the sauce and the ravioli (pic below); \u00a0the pasta was cooked far past the point of oblivion (which seems to be a common complaint in many online reviews), meaning attempting to pick it up with a fork made the pasta pillows disintegrate; it’s a dish you end up scooping instead of stabbing.<\/p>\n

The sauce was thick with not much unique flavor. \u00a0The meatball was in the “it’s OK” category, and the sausage was a finely ground, fairly unseasoned Italian – \u00a0I prefer mine “hot” as they are labeled from manufacturers, which doesn’t usually refer to a ‘heat from seasonings’ designation, but usually from a dose of fennel and Italian herbs. \u00a0I use a lot of fennel in my Italian dishes at home.<\/p>\n

I didn’t get a pizza, which I had fully intended on trying.<\/p>\n

Would I go again? \u00a0Doubtful, but I think the food and service are just right for the palates and temperaments\u00a0\u00a0of most American diners. \u00a0It’d also be a good place for groups, as I imagine one could “under-order” (say, 2 entrees for every three people) and leave happy.<\/p>\n

The restaurant’s prices are fairly modest. \u00a0They have that going for them.<\/p>\n

On second thought, I might return for meals of bread, sauce, and sausage\/meatballs, skipping the pasta. \u00a0I’d be OK with that. \u00a0But it wasn’t an experience like I had in London or Hong Kong!<\/p>\n

\"Rigazzis<\/a>
Meat ravioli, dissected<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Rigazzis<\/a>
Italian sausage<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Rigazzi's<\/a>
\nRigazzis Review<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think I have only been to two “traditional Italian” restaurants in my life, where I either went “wow” or returned multiple times; one was in London, the other Hong Kong. I stopped in an Olive Garden thirty some years ago shortly after they started, haven’t been back. I imagine their food would be a… Continue reading Rigazzis Review – St. Louis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,16,22,26],"tags":[3023],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13930"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}