Perlo's Italian Grill

Still not able to get my hands on an iPhone 4S... to take my mind off of all the fun things I could be doing with it, I thought dinner would offer a nice distraction and since Jim and I were out and about we decided to head over to East Rochester to Perlo's for some Italian.  Having been there several times in past, it has become one of our "go-to" restaurants when we want good, reasonably priced food. 

When we arrived at the restaurant, there were no lines, no waiting, and we are taken directly to our table. We were seated in the back area of the restaurant which has recently undergone a remodel: They opened up what was once a banquet room to the rest of the main dining room to allow for more a la carte dining.  The remodel really opened up the space and the once cozy atmosphere is now gone. Cozy has been replaced with a wide open space full of tables and a lack of decor. The newly appointed a la carte space has been left with bare walls and the only "decor" is the POS system computer screen mounted on a wall. The front room however, has not been touched and its cozy feel is still intact.

Not long after we sat down, I reunited at the table with my dirty old friend, Stoli, and Jim, trying to re-live his more youthful days living in the big city, got reacquainted with his old friend, Manhattan.

Our waitress was friendly and shared the evening's specials with us.  I ordered what has become my "usual" here, Frank & Sally Trovato's Sausage, Broccoli and Rigatoni Italiano and Jim ordered Penne with Eggplant, one of the evening's specials, a cross between eggplant parmigiana and lasagna. 

Our salads and bread arrived soon after our order was placed.  The salads were simple -- mixed greens, a slice of tomato and house dressing, which is balsamic vinaigrette. Jim would have liked to have seen a few extras on the salad, specifically mentioning garbanzo beans and pepperoncinis.  For $10-$12 entree prices, I'm happy a salad is included.

Following the salads, our entrees arrive. My "very old school Italian" dinner is hot and delicious!  Lots of Italian sausage, broccoli florets sautéed in a dark veal demi-glaze tossed with rigatoni.  Jim's entree, fresh spinach, ricotta cheese and roasted red pepper are sandwiched between lightly breaded eggplant, topped with marinara and pesto sauces on a side of pasta.  However, it wasn't hot. When he cut into the entree, the middle was still cold.  I asked him to send it back to the kitchen. He hesitated to do so, as he enjoyed it cold in the middle.  I thought it was unacceptable to be served cold food, he decided to send it back, asking the waitress to just "pop it in the microwave" for a few minutes. At his request, that is what she did and about a minute or two later, the entree arrived back to the table now hot in the middle.  When the waitress arrived back to see how everything was, Jim said, "I thought I liked it cold, but it's even better hot." Even with that opening, the waitress didn't bite back or even offer an additional apology. Following dinner we ordered coffee and shared a Tiramisu.

Overall, Perlo's is still a trusted "go-to" for good value and good food.  Dinner for two, including cocktail, salad, entree, coffee and shared dessert, including tip, just over $50... you can't beat that!  Next time, I will inquire about sitting in the front part of the restaurant -- for which sometimes there is a wait. Unlike what I have been told about the iPhone 4S -- which is another 2-3 week wait -- you can count on your wait to be far less here.