Date Night at Panico's Restaurant

For many couples, Friday night serves as date night; a time to celebrate the end of another work week, and simultaneously kick off the weekend. The local website, New Brunswick Rocks, knows this and suggests area restaurants for couples to try on Friday nights. Since the city has so many different restaurants and types of food to try, a weekly date night is a great way to sample it all.

One of the suggested restaurants is Panico’s, an Italian restaurant located on Church Street. There are actually two separate locations, a pizzeria on one side of the street, and a fine dining restaurant on the other.  So, to begin my holiday weekend, I decided to check out Panico’s fine dining offerings.

For a Friday night on July 4th weekend, the restaurant was about half full, which was to be expected. When my dining companion and I entered, we were greeted by a pleasant gentleman who took us right to a cozy booth in the corner, with just the right amount of light to allow for easy picture taking (something I do at every restaurant), while still keeping it intimate. Little things, like only lighting the table’s candle once we were seated, and their personalized plates, were appreciatively noted by both my dining partner and me.

Once seated, we got to work on the menu, first deciding on our drinks. I went with a glass of Italian Riesling, while my partner ordered a glass of cabernet sauvignon, both of which were generously poured. Soon after beginning to peruse the dinner menu, we were made aware of the night’s specials, and brought fresh bread and olive oil. There’s something about the olive oil in Italian restaurants that makes you want to submerge each piece of bread in it to soak up as much flavor as possible. To start our meal, we shared an antipasto, which came with olives, fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, fresh meats, and more. It was sizeable and perfect to split as a light appetizer.

Deciding on our main dishes was difficult, but I opted for their take on linguine and clams, which also included mussels, scallops, shrimp, calamari, and hot peppers in a white wine sauce. The seafood was certainly fresh, and the broth was light, yet buttery. My dining partner opted for a dish with papardelle pasta, chorizo, sautéed escarole and artichoke hearts, and cannellini beans, also in a white wine sauce. The portions were more than generous, and we were full rather quickly. The sauce for both dishes was similar, but lacking some depth. While I’m no culinary expert, I personally was yearning for an extra dash of spice to compliment the hot peppers already in the dish, and maybe a little more cream. Overall, however, I was more than pleased with the dish, and would absolutely return.

Much of their online menu is out of date, though their current dishes follow a similar trend.  They offer something for everyone; pasta, pork, chicken, steak, salmon, and even sushi grade Ahi tuna dishes. Their wine list is extensive, offering both glasses and bottles, and their dessert menu is equally impressive. The restaurant has a fine-dining feel, with a reasonably priced menu. For two adults to enjoy a glass of wine each, a shared appetizer, and two sizeable entrees, a bill of $70 is more than sensible.