Brownies and Zucchini

Full Disclosure:  I paid for this meal with my own money and I was in no way reimbursed for this blog post.  The opinions are completely my own.

Ever have a restaurant that you end up going all of the time for family get-togethers?  Well, this one is the one for us.  Both sides of our family often chose Benvenutos when we are going out to eat together.  The northside Madison location is convenient for both of them, so I think that is part of the reason they chose to go there.

Because of its popularity with our families I’ve been there many times over the past few years.  Every time we’ve been there they are never overly crowded and we have great waitstaff and service – even when we are sometimes a group of 10 or more.

A few weeks ago we went there to celebrate some birthdays on my husband’s side of the family.  We went for lunch on a Sunday and the restaurant was not super busy, but there were some happy families filling several of the tables. Our waitress was friendly and bubbly and the service was speedy.

The meal started out with some bread, which was of course delicous.  Their bread is always warm and has a little bit of sweetness to it as well.  It is served with olive oil for dipping. YUM

I got a side salad to start before my meal.  There was nothing particularly special about the salad, but it was a good size, and was definitely made out of fresh, crispy, veggies.

For my entree I had a 10 inch Margherita Pizza which was four cheeses, fresh tomatoes, roasted garlic and fresh basil.  I’m a huge fan of Margherita pizza’s, but this variety was not my favorite.  The “fresh tomatoes” were in a thicker sauce form than I generally like, and the basil was in tiny pieces rather than large pieces of fresh like most others that I’ve had.  The crust was definitely delicious though.  It wasn’t so bad that I didn’t eat it or anything, just different than what I was expecting I guess.

Overall, I didn’t love my meal – but it wasn’t bad, just not my favorite.  I’ve had other things on the menu and I’ve felt the same way about them as well.  That being said, I know many people who love Benvenutos – which is obviously why we keep going for family occasions.  So maybe its just me.

Taste: B, just not really my cup of tea I guess.
Cost: A, my pizza was $9.99 which I don’t think is too bad at all for two full meals worth of locally made pizza.

Would I go there again? Probably.  Even though I don’t love it, I know others do.  Oh, and I do love that bread….so if all else fails, I could just eat that as a meal 🙂

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Filed under: Restaurant Review Tagged: | Italian, madison, restaurant review