Lunch @ Bravo Restaurant

Last week was the last time I had to take my home to rehab...after this she's supposed to continue her exercises at home. When lunchtime came, we decided that we had had enough of Big City Diner and went through our choices. We finally decided on Bravo Restaurant, right below Anna Millers at Pearl Ridge. It's always hard to find a place that is "acceptable" to my mom... You know she'll say, "any place you want to go" but inside she's secretly saying, "not that place"... Luckily, italian is one cuisine that my mom will eat. Bravo Restaurant has long been a local favorite for casual italian dining and often appears on local "best" or "favorite" lists. Parking is always at a premium there when it approaches the peak dining hours so we headed right over. Luckily it was early enough where there was ample parking available. We headed down the stairs as it is located below Anna Millers...



There was a menu posted outside...



The restaurant had only been open for about 20 minutes so it wasn't crowded.



Of course, everyone comes for the garlic rolls...They're freshly made and brought to your table right away, so they're hot! They're so good that the best strategy is to have everyone at your table eat them right away and have the server bring another basket so you can eat that with your meal...



On this visit, oddly the garlic on the rolls seemed to be somewhat on the raw side...they had a lot of bite, if you know what I mean...The mints they gave at the end really came in handy...

We weren't that hungry so we decided to order the specials off the lunch menu...a lot of the specials are half portions of pasta with salad (choice of garden or caesar). Normally, I like to order the regular portion of angel hair pasta with fresh tomato pomodoro sauce. For some reason, I really like this sauce as it's very simple with fresh crushed tomatoes in it...yummy...and, sometime in the past, I got hooked on it. However, I really wanted a salad too. But I didn't want the fusili with meat sauce that came with the pasta with salad special. Luckily, the waitress informed me that I could substitute the angel hair pasta w/the pomodoro sauce for the fusili (for .75 more)...Yay!

My mom ordered the pizza of the day w/salad..it was barbecue chicken pizza (we told her that she could have gone to CPK). I thought that the slices were on the small side...



My daughter didn't know what to order so I suggested the spinach & ricotta cheese ravioli in alfredo sauce...she liked it but I thought it looked kind of soupy...



My wife ordered linguine with clams...



And here's mine...the angel hair pasta with the fresh tomato pomodoro sauce... I was a little disappointed as the pasta was definitely a little overcooked, not al dente...wish they gave more fresh basil... Nice salad, fresh romaine with carrots, radish slice, an olive, tomato slice, garbanzos & lots of parmesan over it...



It was an OK lunch. I really liked Bravo in the past but when I've gone in recent times, I've felt that the quality has declined a bit and the portions are smaller (blame it on the economy). But, the taste is good and the service and atmosphere is great! It's a good place to have a casual meal with friends or family...

Bravo Restaurant @ Pearlridge
98-115 Kaonohi Street
http://www.bravorestaurant.com/