Giorgio on Pine

Washington Square West, Philadelphia-- So tonight we decided to check out this little BYOB right behind our house. It's a small and quaint Italian restaurant, and though it was crowded, it wasn't packed.

Let it be known that the appetizers at this place are not very big. Stan ordered the grilled calamari and when it came to the table, there were literally two pieces of calamari "the size of walnuts" on top of a sparse bed of lettuce. Granted the calamari was stuffed with scallops and shrimp, but still...ONLY TWO?!?!

For our entrees we decided on:
-Linguine with prosciutto, peas, and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce. It was very creamy and very tasty. The portion was plentiful, which suited the price ($13.50).

-Bucatini with pancetta, shaved onions, white wine, and spicy marinara. The noodles in this dish are on the thicker side and they seemed a little al dente. However, it worked for this dish and the flavors complimented each other well.

-Veal with melanzane (grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella, basil and white wine tomato sauce). It also came with steamed broccoli and scalloped potatoes. The potatoes were seasoned well and tasted great. I've never had veal before, but this was a decent first experience. It wasn't that great, it just tasted like very lean beef sirloin. (Louie)

Overall grade:
C+ (Louie) - I didn't think this place was anything special. The pasta was very tasty and filling. In contrast, my meal wasn't that great. The veal was interesting but the steamed broccoli and scalloped potatoes were not worth the price of the dish ($20). Basically, I paid a lot of money for a little portion of mediocre food. It was a good thing that the girls didn't finish their pasta. By the way, there is a nice little pizza shop right next door called Paolo's. It has much better food.

B (Steph) - I was very happy with my linguine. It was delicious and more than enough for me to eat. I also liked how they give you a lot of bread. I didn't love their dipping sauce (4 whole cloves of garlic submerged in olive oil), but it was very unique. Also, I had heard that the owner sometimes gives free appetizers and desserts to customers, but we weren't so lucky tonight.