Palio

Name: Palio

Location: Downtown Ann Arbor, MI

Meal: Dinner

Server: Jeremy

History: Chris had researched another Italian place on the internet that was listed as being in downtown Ann Arbor. After difficulty finding it we called and learned that they closed their Ann Arbor location and our reservation was for their place in Detroit. We canceled and decided to park and walk along Main St. and hope we could find something. We followed a crowd of students into Palio's and both immediately liked the atmosphere.

Menu: The menu was great. All dishes were named in Italian and then described in English. They easily accomodated my Vegetarian needs and had a great selection of traditional as well as new dishes.

Food: We started with a glass of their House Chianti which was a bit sharp but overall pleasant. We shared an appetizer of Asiago al Forno which was a crock of Asiago cheese topped with fresh pepper and servered with fresh bread for dipping. Definitely not on our diet but it was still oh so yummy! We opted to split one House Salad. This was easily the highlight of the meal. The salad consisted of fresh spicy greens topped with gorgonzola, fresh crutons and cranberries all mixed with fresh pepper and the richest, most flavorful olive oil either of us have tasted in the states. Chris ordered a pasta dish called Fettuccine con Pollo e Peprocini Picante which was thick linguine in a creamy tomatoe sauce. It was delicious. I opted for a seafood dish, Pesce Bianco con Pistaccio Incrostate which was white fish with a pistaccio and pinenut crust served with Brocolini (broccoli bread with asparagus) and roasted new potatoes. My dish was very tastey, though a bit bland. I was also turned off by the fact that the skin was still on my fish.

Atmosphere: The envrionment was fairly authentic. The walls were covered with Italian paraphenalia and soft Italian music was playing. The only complaint would be that even though we were in a high booth the noise from other tables was difficult to hear over at times. Our server helped a lot with our overall experience, explaining the menu and recommending both our dishes. He even helped with directions back to our hotel.

Total Cost: $62 (after tax and tip)

Conclusion: 4.5 stars