I grew up in an Italian American household.  That sounds so pretentious.  Like my parents were immigrants who looked like extras from a movie about the cold war (For the record, they aren’t).  Rhode Island was called “Little Italy” by many due to it’s large Italian population and surplus of gold chains and hair gel.  A number of family restaurants have been there for generations and my favorite one growing up was Marcello’s in Cranston, Rhode Island.  Old world charm, amazing classic style Italian food and best of all, on a busy Friday night, my family could show up unannounced and be instantly led past a line full of people waiting to our table.  How cool is that?!  Years later, Marcello’s has long since closed and the only clout I have is when the cashier at McDonald’s smiles at me and says “See ya tomorrow, Andy!” but I digress.  I have great memories of a time long since gone.

or is it?

Mona Lisa, located in a place actually called  Little Italy, is an old school Italian restaurant.  When I say “old school”, I mean dark 70’s wood paneling, romantic paintings on the walls and opera playing on the loud speakers.  At least 4 more square inches of chest hair sprung up on me the moment I crossed the threshold.  While dinner at a family-style Italian restaurant back in the day meant I ate with my family, today I embark on this culinary journey with the chosen family:

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

Amy B-Vegetarian Belle, Author, Event Planner

Durwood-Best friend, comedian, San Diego’s go-to young black non-singing actor

Dylan-The newest addition, the 2014 model.  A Kate & Joe production.

Jason-Rocky Horror performer, 75th level-coffee snob, token minority

Joe “Bish”-Computer wunderkind, Husband of Kate, a tall drink of water

Kate-Costume designer, Comedian, Once starred in a church rap video

Ky-Rocky Horror performer, Disneyland enthusiast, Roommate of Brad

Sebastian-The coolest kid in Kindergarten.  A Kate & Joe production.

Tomy-Fashionista, Rocky Horror performer, an original Kathryn

I really can’t talk about Mona Lisa without talking about the deli right next to it, owned by the same folks.  My boss was very enthusiastic about me hitting this up and after one quick walk through, it was easy to see why.  The place is full of all sorts of cool stuff.  Amy was a particular fan of the fact that they sold drums of cannoli cream.  I was shocked to discover a type of pasta I’ve never seen outside of Rhode Island is sold there.  It reminded me of delis in New York. which I love.  I also hear they make some killer sandwiches there so a trip back for lunch may need to be a thing.

We started off with beverages.  I had a real Italian vanilla cream soda with Torani syrup and actual cream.  It was a different texture but super good and sweet.  When they brought my house salad before dinner was when I knew this place was legit.  Oil and vinegar-based dressing.  This place tastes like home.  Very nostalgic.  At this point I was very excited to see how our main courses would fare.

Aimee had the Gnocchi alla Vodka with meatballs.  Her dish was preceeded by a minestrone soup that she described as “meh” and mentioned that the broccoli in the soup looked and tasted a bit tortured.  The Gnocchi, on the other hand, was a home run for Aimee.  She said it was perfect, light and pillow-y dumplings with a really nice sauce.  The meatball she ordered with it was very flavorful.  Tomy ordered the Chicken Parmgiana with Canadian bacon and minestrone.  He, like Aimee, was not in love with the minestrone and said it needed some pasta in it.  He found is his main dish to be good but not spectacular.  He also made mention of the food being ridiculously large (it’s true, these plates are sized for sharing).  He did however love the cheesy garlic bread that he and Ky shared.

Amy got the Lasagna Marinara with a bowl of minestrone.  She felt the minestrone was solid with good spice.  She found the lasagna to be very good but nothing mind blowing.  She enjoyed the use of quality cheese and sauce in the lasagna.  The whole thing gave her a very comfort-food style vibe and reminded her of similar places she visited as a kid, much like I did.   Durwood ordered the Pesto alla Genovese with chicken with a Caesar salad.  He said his salad was really good; lightly tossed in just the right amount of dressing with quality cheese.  He gave another solid nod to the garlic bread.  While Durwood prefers a more traditional pesto, he really enjoyed his pasta.

Kate got the Chicken Marsala.   She found it to be good but nothing spectacular with a really good portion size.  Her most specific criticism was for the lack of flavor from the onions, which traditionally provide a sweet note.  She suspects they may not have been reduced enough.  Joe and Sebastian shared the Pepperoni Pizza.  This was a surprising hit.  As pizza is usually served as an after thought at restaurants that don’t specialize in it, this pizza was delicious, according to Joe.  He said it was so flavorful, it almost didn’t need sauce.  Ky had the cheese ravioli with meatballs.  She really enjoyed it, praising it’s great spices, cheeses and sauce.  Having tried it, I can honestly say it was my favorite thing at the table.  Super delicious.

Jason ordered the Lingiune with Clam Sauce.  He loved it, saying the dish was beautifully made and had a generous number of clams.  Furthermore, he loved the fact that the clams weren’t sandy, which I took to mean they must instead be Danny.  I had the Chicken Parmigiana.  One thing I found to be a bit odd was the accompanying linguine was served on a separate plate.  I’m used to the meat being served on top (Pause for gay joke).  The cut of chicken was good.  Great breading and moist chicken with a solid marinara sauce.  As Tomy had mentioned, it was huge but very satisfying and made for a great lunch at work the next day.  As Amy and Kate suggested, this was straight up Italian comfort food done well.

With the sheer mass of the food, it was tough to think about dessert but we are dedicated to sitting in true judgement about this place, so we soldier on.  Aimee ordered the Lemon Sorbet.   She loved it, calling the sorbet refreshing, light and zesty.  Plus points for presentation as it was served in a hollowed out lemon.  Amy got the Cannoli, which she dubbed really solid.   Durwood had the Tiramisu.   To say he loved it would be an understatement.  He called it fresh, light, creamy.  Basically a mouth orgasm.  It had him dancing in his seat.  Jason echoed that sentiment, calling it the best Tiramisu he’s ever had.

Sebastian and I ordered the Spumoni Ice Cream.  This is a dessert I hold near and dear to my heart.  When I was little, Marcello’s had a spumoni ice cream dish that I loved.  Spumoni is a molded ice cream dish (think Neapolitan) with fruit and nuts.  They would top it off for me with Creme de menthe.  I’m not sure why they would serve a 6 year old alcohol but my parents sure appreciated how quiet the ride home from the restaurant was.  I was disappointed that Mona Lisa did not have Creme de menthe but they offered Kahlua and it wasn’t the same but did call to mind the flavors of the dish as I remember it, which I loved.  Sebastian had his sans Kahlua and really loved the pistachio layer of the ice cream.

In closing, while some of the food was hit or miss for the group, we overall really enjoyed the experience of dining here.  Most of us plan on coming back and Durwood said it would be a great spot for a date.  The staff was friendly and very helpful.  It was nice family meal, which is really what a good Italian restaurant is for.

Further reading: http://www.monalisalittleitaly.com/restaurant.php

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