|
Occasionally you find great restaurants in odd
places. Ziti's is one of those rare finds,
nestled into the Stop & Shop/BJ's shopping plaza
off Rt. 9 East in Westborough. For a cost of
around $15 a plate, you can get a meal that rivals
some of the best "snooty" Italian restaurants in
Central Mass. A friend and I journeyed there on
4/20/2002, and we were both quite pleased with what
we found.
Food is served family style, but don't expect a
posh setting; tables and chairs are take-out
lounge style, and the pictures on the walls are
similar to ones you would find at any other
"pizza joint". The kitchen is open to the dining
area, and the noise level is a bit high as a
result. Ziti's makes up for all this with
friendly kitchen banter and strains of Italian
music being played over speaker. It may not be
high class, but it doesn't pretend to be, and
frankly it reminds me of my uncle's restaurant
back home, so I kind of like it.
Service is friendly and fast - the chefs know how
to make a really good meal very quickly; and
honestly, they really have to because Ziti's is
packed near to full almost every night of the
week. This time I ordered something not on the
menu: gnocchi with Carbonara sauce. The waitress
said "neat! never did it like that before", and
promptly brought us our drinks.
My friend ordered the spinach ravioli, and she was
not disappointed. She was impressed by the richness
and volume of the sauce - my own meal was decadent,
light and fluffy gnocchi drowned in heavy cream sauce
that was accented by a salty and juicy pancetta.
I had also ordered a meatball on the side to get a
taste of their Marinara and was again heartily
satisfied. The meatball was huge, the portions on
the pasta were amazing - I could only eat half of
both.
I have yet to try Ziti's pizza, as I can't help
but order their fabulous pasta and sauces every
time I go, but it looks good as far as I can tell
- Italian style, good size; no crazy gourmet
ingredients, but all the bases covered nonetheless.
|