Dominic's II in Boca Raton, FL

I've been to Dominic's II in Boca Raton, FL several times in the past, and they are consistently good. Their menu choices are a step above most other private Italian restaurants in the area, expanding from the standards of spagetti and lasgana. On this visit I tried their gnocchi. Bread and salad were served first, soon followed by the main course. The potato dumplings were very dense, served in a tomato sauce. I got the feeling that the gnocchi were homemade, but even if they weren't, they were still good. I'd gladly return to Dominic's again!

Gnocchi from Buca Di Beppo

I ate at the Buca Di Beppo in Maitland, FL. My last visit to their location in Daytona Beach left room for improvement, but this time I enjoyed the restaurant a lot better. Just like my last visit to Buca di Beppo, the meal started out with a Mixed Greens Salad. Unlike last time, the salad was served as it was described on the menu. It wasn't just iceberg lettuce and had a mix of different types of lettuces, hence the mixed greens.

Mozzarella Garlic Bread was also ordered. I won't complain about garlic bread covered with melted cheese.

For the main course, I shared the Gnocchi al Telefono. I don't speak Italian, but does that name translate to Gnocchi of the Telephone? The gnocchi were topped with a tomato cream sauce with pieces of fresh mozzarella and basil. I had no complaints about the dish. The person I shared the dish with was unfamilar with gnocchi and didn't seem to believe me when I said gnocchi are kind of like potato dumplings. When the waitress was asked, she also denied that the gnocchi contained potatoes. That wasn't good enough for me, so I emailed Buca di Beppo's cooporate email address to find out from the source when I got home. It turns out their gnocchi do indeed contain potato.


One thing I thought was interesting about the whole eating experience was how many times we were told that Buca di Beppo was bought by Planet Hollywood. During the course of the meal, the staff mentioned this at least a half dozen times. It was printed all over the menu, and I thought this was a bit strange. Plenty of other restaurant chains are connected, but none that I can think of go out of their way to point out the parent company's other stores. When you go into Carrabba's, they don't point out throughout the meal that they are owned by Outback Steakhouse.

Olive Garden Gnocchi

I ate dinner at the Olive Garden restaurant in Altamonte Springs, FL. I ordered a chicken and gnocchi dish. A chicken breast was served on top of a pile of the gnocchis, red peppers, zucchini, and onions. It was all served in an alfredo sauce.

Compared to other gnocchi that I've eaten, this wasn't all that good. The pasta was sort of starchy and didn't have the smooth creamy consistency that gnocchi should have. I didn't like the chicken either. It was way too chewy and should have been sliced rather than serving the whole breast.

La Strada Gnocchi

I ate Italian food for lunch at La Strada in downtown Millburn, NJ today. I ordered gnocchi with a four cheese cream sauce. Two different types of bread was brought out first, with the focaccia being the better of the two. When the meal was brought out, I was a bit surprised to see tomato sauce covering the top of the massive pile of gnocchi. The menu said nothing about any tomato based sauce and only mentioned the four cheese cream sauce. Regardless, the gnocchi was still good and the tomato and cream sauce mixed nicely into a pink tomato cream sauce. It would have been a better meal if they gave less pasta and instead gave a salad along with the gnocchi...