Review~ Joe Boccardi's Swansea, IL

This past Tuesday my friends and I decided to try out Joe Boccardi's in Swansea, IL. The restaurant just recently opened and I had come across a couple coupons so being the adventerous girls we are we decided to check it out.

Of course it was POURING down rain as we all pulled into the parking lot which meant we all came running into the door soaking wet, but that was soon forgotten when we saw each other. Luckily it wasn't that busy and they were able to seat us right away. They sat us in a booth right by the door which was a little tight for 5 people, but we made it work. As we looked over the menu we were all impressed with the many choices they had. I asked the waitress if we could use more than one coupon per table and was surprised to find out that we could use three per table...BONUS! We all decided quickly what we wanted and how we were going to divide up the coupons.

With one of our coupons we got a free appetizer so we settled on the sampler which consisted of mozzarella sticks, toasted ravioli, and chicken fingers. They were all delicious! I'm a sucker for fried food so those three things are a perfect combination. 

We all got salads with our meals. Nothing too exciting: lettuce, cheese, tomato. I got the house dressing which was really good. Just your typical salad. They do have other salads on the menu with a lot more toppings that also looked good.

I ordered an 8oz Ribeye. Normally I would have gotten pasta or pizza but I decided to give up red meat for Lent and this was the last opportunity I had to have some steak before then. It was an ok steak. I probably should know better than to order a steak from anywhere that is known for it's pizza. I like my steak cooked to medium rare and it was cooked perfectly, it just could have used some more seasoning. The baked potato that came with it was really good and cooked perfectly.

Jen ordered the Chicken Mudega (Two boneless breasts of chicken lightly breaded in Italian breadcrumbs covered in our olive oil, lemon, and garlic sauce.) This dish was definitely not a hit for Jen. She said it wasn't what she expected. I had a bite of it and wasn't a fan either. The lemon flavor of the dish was overpowering. I didn't taste any olive oil or garlic. At that point everyone took a bite of it and Corinne was the only one of us who liked it (she's usually the extreme picky one). I've had Chicken Mudega at another Italian restaurant in the area and this was completely different from that dish. Because of that I did a quick internet search before writing this and discovered that there seems to be a considerable amount of different ways to make Chicken Mudega. I won't right off the dish completely but we probably won't be ordering that from Joe Boccardi's anymore.

Kristen and Lindsay both ordered the Linguini Della Compo (Grilled chicken with broccoli and mushrooms served in a white cream sauce.) They both had nothing but good things to say about their dishes. The chicken in the pasta was juicy. The broccoli and mushrooms were cooked correctly. The cream sauce was seasoned just right. I had a couple bites and also thought it was good. I'm not a fan of broccoli so it's nothing I would ever order, but they both liked it enough to order it again.

Corinne ordered the winner of the night in my opinion. We knew we wanted to try Joe Boccardi's pizza so I told her just to pick whatever sounded good to her and she chose the Pizza Alla Margherita (Shrimp, Scallops, Crabmeat and Alfredo Sauce), minus the scallops for her because those aren't her favorite. I only have delicious things to say about the pizza. With the first bite I was thrilled and felt myself being overcome with "food envy". First of all they use provel cheese on their pizza which is my absolute favorite! (For any of you that aren't familiar with Provel Cheese here is a quick explanation: Provel is a white processed cheese that is popular in St. Louis, Missouri. Provel is produced with Cheddar, Swiss, and provolone. It is soft at room temperature, with a gooey and almost buttery texture, and thus has a low melting point. It is the traditional topping for St. Louis-style pizza.) The combination of the Provel, Alfredo Sauce, Crabmeat, and Shrimp was to die for. And the crust was perfect! It was St. Louis style thin crust, but not as crunchy as typical St. Louis style pizza. I am a fan!

All in all our experience at Joe Boccardi's was a good one. I definitely want to go back soon and try some more pizza and pasta. I'll stay away from the entree dishes, but as long as they keep making amazing pizza and delicious pasta I'll keep going back!

Much Love!

-Jess