Calabria Restaurant and Pizzeria

My family and I love eating pizza.  Like lots of families, we have our favorite spots to go for a slice, but we are always on the lookout for a new place to try.  Friends of ours recommended Calabria Restaurant and Pizzeria.  On a recent Sunday afternoon, we hungrily headed over to eat lunch.

Other families had the same idea and the place was crowded.  But we didn't have a hard time finding a table and quickly settled into the pizzeria, which is in the casual area of the restaurant (the formal restaurant, where we didn't eat, is upscale).  The pizzeria, with 4 large screen televisions, is more kid-friendly.

Calabria is a friendly place.  One of the owners seemed to know most of the people entering and greeted some people with hugs. Probably regulars, I thought.  We were noticed promptly by our server, who immediately brought us a menu, utensils and bread.  

After looking through the extensive menu—there are traditional pizzas, pan pizzas and even foccacia pizzas along with meatball sandwiches, wraps and hot dogs, too—we decided to start with the calamari ($10.95) as an appetizer and then try the "Brooklyn Pizza" topped with anchovies, fresh mozzarella, basil and garlic for our main meal ($10.95).  We also couldn't pass on the chicken parmigiana sub sandwich ($7.25) so we ordered that, too, along with a slice of regular cheese pizza ($1.95) for my older daughter who doesn't like toppings. 

Maybe next time, if we came for dinner, we would try some of the meals on the menu; there are pasta dishes like penne vodka ($13.95), entrees like chicken marsala ($14.95) and wine is served, too. 

Our food came quickly.  Good start.

However, we received everything at once, appetizer and main dishes.  The calamari should have come out first.  But, even still, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it any more. While it looked fresh and lightly battered, it was bland. It wasn't crisp, as it should be.  The side of marinara sauce was nondescript, too. Fortunately, I was able to add spices to the sauce, which made it more palatable, but not really what I had hoped for.

As I nibbled on the squid, my husband eagerly reached for the chicken parmagiana sub but was also very disappointed.  There was hardly any chicken on the sandwich and too much bread.  It was better when he removed the chicken from the sandwich and ate it alone.  Again, not as it should have been.

Fortunately, the meal was saved by the pizza with fresh, melted cheese, fragrant basil and salty anchovies.  Looking around, we noticed that nearly every table was eating pizza.  We now know next time we need to stick with ordering pizza.  I guess in a pizzeria, that's a no-brainer?