Back to our once-favorite Italian restaurant.

We went out for dinner last night, to the Italian restaurant that we used to go to at least twice a week. (Or, as the locals say here in Texas-- the Eye-talian restaurant.) We had stopped going there just before they moved to a new and bigger location.

Their old restaurant was small and cozy, and you felt as if you were eating in someone's private home. Added to that was our favorite waitress K, who made our nights out really feel like nights out. But K wanted a change of jobs, and she left there-- or rather, the owners fired her after she gave them two weeks notice. Being that K had been working for them since they opened, I felt as if they had treated her very poorly. And she was the best waitress they had, for goodness sake.

When the owners opened their newer and bigger restaurant, we went there to try it. We weren't impressed with the decor, which I called "too cold, too modern, too everything but cozy." The booths (which they didn't have at the old location) were too high--- they looked like cubicles, and the seats weren't comfortable to sit on for more than ten minutes or so. When you were seated, you couldn't see over the tops of the seat-backs, so you felt as if you were eating in a little cave.

The food was good, but the new plates were as big as a bathroom sink, and that's what they looked like. When you put a normal-sized portion of food onto a sink-sized plate, your mind tells you that you're getting a child's portion for an adult price. And of course their prices went up to pay for the renovations on the new location.

But my husband wanted to go back there to try it again, so that's what we did last night. Into the closets we went, and got all dressed up for the occasion. We sat in a booth, forgetting how uncomfortable they were. The salad course was half the size that it used to be. The bread basket didn't have the fancy stuffed breads that the owner used to bake, so I didn't even taste the plain slices of the white loaves. The main course was served on the bathroom-sink plates. Delicious food, but those plates..... horrible choice.... the waiters can barely fit two of those plates on one of their serving trays.

Speaking of waiters.... we saw E as we walked into the door, and he gave us a big hug. He's been working there for years, and he was our waiter quite a few times when K had the night off. He waited on us last night with his usual flair and efficiency, so it felt like a night out, rather than just a meal in a restaurant.

The owner's wife was there, and she came over to say hello. So glad to see you again! (Well, of course she was... we surely spent enough money there over the years, and brought in enough of our friends as well.)

We will probably go back there. Dinner was indeed very good.... my husband had shrimp cooked in a rich champagne cream sauce. I had risotto cooked with fresh spinach, crab, shrimp and scallops. Delicious....I took half of it home and had it for dinner again tonight. I enjoyed it a little more tonight because I wasn't eating it out of a bathroom sink-sized plate. (I hate to keep harping on that, but I can't get the sink-shape out of my mind when I think of those ridiculous plates.)

Maybe I should just bring in my own china and ask the owner to serve my dinner on my plates. And we have to remember not to sit in one of the booths. And we also have to make sure to sit where E will serve us.... because the other waiters and waitresses there last night didn't look too promising. (That's a lot of "rules" to remember just to make sure we have a good night out.)