Venezia Italian

[easternobserver]

Just opened in the sorty of run down shopping center at Reno and Sooner in Del City (actually, for a sort of run down shopping center, there are suprisingly good restaurants, including a very good little Korean place).

But back to the italian place --- SO GOOD. I had the Spaghetti with everything (meat sauce, meatballs, sausage and mushrooms). My wife had some sort of chicken with white wine cream sauce and cheese. Both were very, very good. Place is very inexpensive, especially the lunch menu. One of the only italian places in the area where the pasta does not come out all watery. Salads were ok, fresh but nothing special. Cheese sticks seemed hand breaded and were very good, and were served with some very, very good marinara. Our little guy demolished a canoli. Very much worth a trip, and may well become a staple for us.

[usmbubba]

We are very lucky in the Mid-del area to have 2 new Italian places. I've been to both. Napaloi's is OK, no complaints but me and my daughter really like Venezia. As mentioned the lunch menu is very inexpensive but the regular menu prices are very resonable. Definitely a regular stop for us

[Larry OKC]

Is that at the intersection near the old Venture/K-Mart? I dont get over that way much anymore with the price of gas, but will check it out the next time I am near.

[usmbubba]

Yes, diagonal from that location

[kevinpate]

Reno and Sooner in Del City huh? Yet another place to tempt me away from Bella Vista.

God I have such a great hobby.

[istillhatepeas]

I had lunch there the other day. It was pretty good. We had the stuffed mushrooms, spaghetti with Italian sausage, eggplant parm, and baked rigatoni.

First off, the house salad dressing is great. Also, the marinara. But we found the pasta to be way overcooked. I also feel this way about the pasta at Bella Vista. It seems to be a theme. Another problem was that the food just wasn't hot enough. My sauce was bordering on chilly. Underneath the broiled, cheesy topping the rigatoni was luke warm.

I'll give it another try, but I think I'll stay away from the pasta...just as I have to do at Bella Vista. Anyone share my opinion on the overdone pasta or is it just me?

[Larry OKC]

Just personal preference but I cant stand pasta "al dente" (firm to the bite) to me it is under cooked. But don't go the other way either where it is over cooked and gummy. Sort of the way I like my veggies, either raw or cooked all the way thru. None of this half cooked stuff.

[BBatesokc]

Ate there tonight with the wife. We were in the mood for Italian and the variety in the Mid-Del area is sparse. We gave up on Primo's a couple of years ago, so, we decided to give this place a shot.

Like others have pointed out, its in kind of a neglected shopping center on the SW corner of Reno and Sooner.

We got there around 7:00pm on a Saturday and it was pretty empty (maybe 1/4+ full). We were greeted and seated promptly and our drink order was taken on the spot.

The first thing we noticed was the decor. Not a deal breaker by any means, but we both laughed when we realized it reminded us of a 'before' picture from just about any episode of Gordon Ramsey's; Kitchen Nightmares. Really bad faux finish on the walls, a cheesy dessert display case and just a mish-mash of DIY gone wrong. All of which I can live with, but two things I found really annoying.... 1.) The lighting was too bright for dinner at 7pm on a Saturday. Not ideal for dinner date night and I'll take that into consideration next time. 2.) And most annoying was the fact they had two TV's playing the exact same football games - fine - except for the fact the sound was turned up on both and was out of sync by about 1 second. Once you noticed it (the echo), it was like Chinese Water Torture on your senses. Fortunately, it didn't go unnoticed by others and the staff finally turned one to 'mute.'

Their current special is that all entrees come with a dinner salad and bread. Maybe its just me, but I consider that pretty standard and not 'special.'

Regardless, the salads we got were prompt and fresh but nothing to get excited about. However, the honey mustard dressing my wife ordered was really good (another note for next time). The bread consisted of two dinner rolls. They looked nice, were warm, and tasted fine - but, like the salads nothing special. Butter consisted of a peel-away commercial blister pack. We prefer a harder roll with balsamic vinegar and oil for dipping or maybe some whipped butter with herbs or such. But, all-in-all no complaints so far.

The entrees arrived as soon as the salads were consumed and they looked very tasty and well portioned.

My wife ordered the Pasta Combo ($7.95) and it consisted of a small sampling of Cannelloni, Manicotti and Lasagna topped with marinara sauce & mozzarella cheese, baked in a small casserole dish.

I had the Chicken Picotta ($9.95) which is sautéed chicken with lemon capers and a white wine sauce.

We shared both entrees and found them to be very warm and quite tasty.

We were afraid the baked pasta would all taste the same, but were pleasantly surprised when we could tell exactly what each bite consisted of. The marinara was sweet, but very good.

Chicken Picotta used to be my favorite dish at Primo's. I have to say, we both agreed this was much better than Primo's ever was (even was Primo's was good). The differences made the difference - fresher tasting, lighter sauce and more obvious fresh lemon zing in tonight's dish. The only thing I would have changed would have been to use Angel Hair pasta over Spaghetti pasta.

We were both stuffed when we were done and could have easily shared a single entree. That however is where another pet peeve of mine is exposed..... This is one of a thankfully few restaurants that charges customers $3 to share an entree (another mental note before visiting again). This policy, along with the evening lighting would most likely lead me to be a take-out customer.

Even with the few (very few) concerns, we both agreed Venezia is on our short list of restaurants to patronize again in the near future. We even grabbed a togo menu so we could plan out what dishes we would try next.

[soonerguru]

Those pics look pretty tasty, Brian.

[Corndog1]

I have been there for to go meals several times. You have got to try their house salad dressing, that is one of the best things they have. This food is great, just hope they make it. Every time I go in there it is empty and of course the neighborhood isnt that great. I grew up eating at truly great Italian joints in Southeastern Oklahoma from Papa Giorgios in Ada (maybe my favorite place ever) to all the great places in Krebs. I moved here and ate at Primos since it was close, but never liked it and always missed home. But, with this place not to far away from my house I am starting to enjoy being here.

[ctchandler]

I ordered a dinner to go, the Veal Cremora and it was very good. I hope they do well, but there weren't many people in the restaurant at 5:00 this afternoon. But, that's a little early. I will go back.
C. T.

[Brett]

I drove by the large strip mall at NW Expressway and Council Rd and noticed a banner saying Venezia Ristorante opening soon. I am wondering if this is a second location from the same owners that have the restaurant on Reno and Sooner Rd?

[SoonerQueen]

It would be nice if we would be getting one out NW.

[ctchandler]

Brett,
I will let you know tomorrow or Thursday since I am planning on going there one of those days. I'm not an Italian gourmet, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I had the first time. I suppose that's the key.
C. T.

[cinders8709]

The location out NW isn't worth a visit. Service is lousy and food wasn't very impressive, either.