Cafe Lombardi's is trophy worthy for neighborhood comfort food

Café Lombardi’s is the kind of neighborhood southern Italian comfort food restaurant that every community should have.  Its one-room dining space is moderately sized (seating 75 in close quarters) and plainly decorated; the tables are covered with vinyl cloths. 

While the dining room is unpretentious, the menu is ambitious, including personal pizzas and sandwiches (the latter not served on weekends after 7 p.m.), and a full selection of appetizers, soups, breads, pastas, sea and land entrées, and desserts. 

Its dinner menu comprises a veritable “Best of South Philly” collection, and the fresh quality and taste of the dishes I tried would allow Lombardi’s to hold its own were it located there.

One Friday night, a week before Christmas, my LDC (Lovely Dining Companion) and I went there for dinner, arriving at 7:30 p.m.; the dining room was filled to capacity.  It’s so popular with the locals that owner Tom Lombardi estimates that on Friday and Saturday evenings, 70 percent of the patrons are regulars.

It deserves this local popularity. 

There was a din that didn’t subside until 8:30 p.m., when occupancy receded to about 40 percent.

Lombardi started the restaurant in 1996 as a hobby, he told me, adding that it quickly became a full-time job.  And now, it is run day-to-day by his son, Thomas E.; his daughter, Gina di Francesca; and his three granddaughters, Lexi, Giella and Vienna, who are also part-time hostesses.

One marker I often use to judge this kind of restaurant is the quality of its red sauce and its meatballs, not to mention its pasta.  So, without hesitation, I ordered spaghetti and meatballs ($9.95).  The tomato gravy was rich and delicious. The meatballs, made with veal, beef, pork and herbs, were remarkably tender and tasteful.  The spaghetti was also properly cooked.

For openers, we had one of our favorite appetizers, fried calamari. The Lombardi’s Calamari alla Venezia ($6.95) was served piping hot in a large soup bowl brimming with sautéed squid and a spicy marinara sauce.

Another starter was Insalata Lombardi, a large mix of lettuce, tomato and cucumber tastefully dressed with a good vinaigrette.  Priced at $2.95, like a small side salad would be elsewhere, it was more than that, and easily shared.

A basket of fresh bread with garlic-infused olive oil was a perfect companion to the calamari and the salad.

My LDC’s entrée, Chicken and Shrimp Capri ($15.95), which is one of the house specialties, combined chicken tenders, breaded eggplant, shrimp and melted mozzarella with that rich tomato gravy.  She thought it was a little too salty (I didn’t), but splendid in every other way.

Café Lombardi’s does 14 pasta dishes, including Gnocchi Mama Lombardi and Ravioli alla Chieti – a plate of three kinds of ravioli, served steaming, for $11.25. 

Another house specialty that caught my eye was the Veal Raffaela ($17.25), veal medallions with crabmeat, spinach and tomatoes in a vodka cream sauce, topped with mozzarella.

Our server was rather abrupt and overly busy, I suppose, but got the job done.  If there was a misstep, it was that our entrees were brought too soon. I have been experiencing this a lot lately.

We brought a bottle of fruity Bolla Chianti, which went grandly with the rich, mildly sweet red sauces of the classic Italian dishes.  For new customers who did not know it was a B.Y.O.B., Lombardi’s provided a small complimentary glass of Italian red.

To top it off, the bill for the four dishes, a soft drink, and tax was under $40.

On a subsequent lunchtime visit, my favorite LDC ordered Antipasto Italiano ($7.25) as her main dish.  It was beautifully arranged on a full-sized dinner plate and included fresh and delectable artichokes, prosciutto, salami, capicola, olives, capers, chickpeas, mozzarella, roasted red pepper, tomato and cucumber — a mini-feast in itself.  (I had a platter of Lombardi’s good-old spaghetti and meatballs.)

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Overall rating:  mmmm  (out of 5 m’s), a sweet little Italian comfort neighborhood restaurant

Location: 296 Horsham Road, Horsham

Phone: 215-443-2500                            

Cuisine:  Italian comfort food a la South Philly 

Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 9 p.m.

Dinner prices: appetizers, soups and salads, $3 to $9; pizza and sandwiches, $6 to $9; entrées, pastas, $10to $19

Lunch:  $6 to $12

Ambiance: Cozy, warm and casual

Reservations: A must on weekends                                   

Credit cards: All major accepted

Alcoholic beverages:  B.Y.O.B.                      

To contact Mitch Davis, e-mail him at: MdavisMainCourse@aol.com