D'Amico's - Meh.

**
Price: $$
Reviewed: Dinner
Reviewer: Yas
Attire: Casual
Location: Rice Village
Little restaurant inside of a small Italian market. Laid back atmosphere in a quaint setting. Better for the eyes instead of the stomach.

Yas here, reviewing from Houston (aka "Htown" aka the BEST city in Texas!). I dined at D'Amico's with one of my closest buddies and guest foodie, Ashton. We ordered two different entrees and shared a desert.

chicken armando: ***
The chicken was cooked perfectly and just how I like it: Crisp on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside. The pecorino cheese crust added that extra kick to the chicken, and the capers mixed in with lemon white wine butter sauce added just the right amount of acidity and salt to the dish. Capers and any kind of lemon sauce on a savory dish are the perfect pair, in my opinion. The roasted red peppers were tasty, but they were kind of a throw away ingredient on the dish and did not have much of a presence.

risotto di gamberi:*
In my experience with risotto in the past, and my culinary knowledge from watching season after season of Top Chef, a good risotto should have a creamy consistency. D’Amico’s risotto was more of a hard rice pilaf. The flavors of mushroom and seasoned cream sauce were definitely pleasing to the palette, but I could not get over how hard the rice was for a risotto! *Sigh*

chicken marsala: **
I had a bite of Ashton’s Chicken Marsala and really loved the Marsala wine sauce! It was the perfect consistency, not too thick or thin. The only problem was that the chicken was DRENCHED in it and, as you can imagine, the chicken was as soggy as a piece of bread sitting in a cup of milk. No bueno.

side salads: **
Each of our dishes came with a side salad, and while the greens were nice and leafy and all of the vegetables fresh, the dressing was watery and had no flavor. I had a basic olive oil and vinegar mix and Ashton had ranch dressing. My dressing tasted like I had put close to nothing on my salad and added NO flavor and Ashton's ranch tasted as if a cup of water had been added to his dressing before it was put on his salad.

cannoli: *
We wanted to give this place one more shot, so we ordered the cannoli. I am a harsh judge when it comes to desserts, especially Italian ones. To go along with the theme of the night, this cannoli missed the mark. The shaved almonds and cinnamon sugar crust did not go well with the citrus melody of candied fruits and candied pistachios on the inside. It was all a bit much and needless to say, we didn't even make it through half of it before we gave up and decided to cut our losses.

service: **
We waited for what felt like FOREVER for a waiter to come by our table. When he finally came, I asked to speak to the manager so that I could introduce myself and tell him about the 3 Foodies, what we do, and that I would be reviewing his restaurant (We like to give the management a heads up and allow them the opportunity to suggest the “must haves” on their menu). The response I was looking for was, “Of course! Sure! Hold on one sec, I’ll go grab him for ya!” Instead, I received a strong side eye, a long a pause and finally a, “He’s busy.” Our waiter ended up suggesting things for us and was sufficiently attentive for the rest of the night.

things to note:
1. When I was discussing my experience at D’Amico’s with my sister (the ULTIMATE foodie), she agreed that the food was not that hot, however, she said the Chicken Lasagna was the exception. So if you happen to be in the mood to try D’Amico’s, I would recommend starting there.

2. When I went to the “little girl’s room” I probably ended up losing about 10 pounds due to the fact that it might as well have been a sauna in there! Sheesh! Bathroom smells + hot air = GAG. I would recommend holding it or using the bathroom before you get to the restaurant.