Osteria

Located at 1310 Westover Terrace in Greensboro, Osteria offers Northern Italian cuisine for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Specials change regularly, the wine menu features Italian grapes, and private dining is available.

Though Greensboro has no shortage of Italian eateries, few can boast what Osteria has to offer. More upscale fare with spot-on execution, efficient service, and higher prices to match make this a departure from the classic red sauce joint, but rest assured, you’ll be glad you went down this divergent road.

My fiancée and I made this our New Year’s Eve destination and put in a reservation well in advance. Since others had the same idea, this proved to be a prudent maneuver: Osteria was mostly full upon arrival. The inside of the restaurant is well-appointed with red leather booths and wine bottles on the walls. It is, however, rather small, and the fact that I was nearly elbow-to-elbow with a gentleman at an adjacent table crosses the line from “cozy” to “crowded.”

Spacing issues aside, the rest of our experience was very enjoyable. Travis, our server, was knowledgeable, confident, and poised, and the wait for the food was reasonable-to-quick given the aforementioned volume. Osteria’s standard menu is somewhat limited – a few salads, a few pastas, a few entrees – but the specials at the time of our visit made for some tough decisions. Everything from chicken Florentine to stuffed fish got our attention, but in the end, we went with a calamari arrabbiata starter and two pasta dishes: maltagliati (wide noodles with a wild boar ragu) and pappardelle (with salmon, spinach, and sundried tomatoes).

The food was consistently excellent. The calamari was among the best I’ve ever had: there was no chewiness, and the sauce had just enough heat to complement it without drowning out the flavor. The salmon was also well-prepared, as were the house-made pastas. The boar ragu was sweeter than expected but still hearty and satisfying. We wrapped everything up with a scoop of tiramisu gelato that captured the richness and cocoa notes the dish is known for.

Given the quality and portion size – the pastas were plated generously – pricing leaves little room for complaint. Our starter, which fed two, was $10 while our pastas were $18 and $16. Granted, several of the entrees are priced higher, but they include a side of pasta, among other things. Only the $5 for a scoop-sized portion of gelato seemed like a stretch, but the tastiness made up for it.

With so many eateries plagued by mismanagement or inconsistent execution, it is a relief to find one that has both the front of the house and the back of the house in order. What Osteria lacks in size, it more than makes up for in both food quality and service.

8.75/10