CIPRIANO'S RISTORANTE & PIZZARIA

“TOO EXPENSIVE FOR WHAT YOU GET”

3995 Main Street, Vancouver

604.879.0020

No Website

Being Italian, I rarely go to Italian restaurants cause quite frankly, I get kick ass and make kick ass Italian food at home. But as we were dining with friends tonight, Jonathan suggested we go to CIPRIANO'S as he said “it has the best lasagna he’s ever had”. I went there once about 9 years ago and couldn’t really remember it so who am I to argue with Jonathan’s request? Well, I should have argued a bit.

You walk in and are greeted with red & green walls, pics of Italy and Frank Sinatra, a Goodfellas poster in the bathroom, yes this place is a time warp back to the Italian Restaurants of the 80’s… small, cheesy yet quaint. Right off the bat I sensed trouble as none of the staff were smiling and made little conversation with us or any of the other tables. We ordered some Garlic Bread for the table, Jonathan got the lasagna, my wife got the Pasta ala Casa and I went for the Veal Parmigiana.

Note, for the cheap look of the place, the menu is limited and everything costs around $20, pricey. A basket of garlic bread costs around $7 and the meals were all between $18-$22. Hmm… better be good.

The Garlic Bread was outstanding, I know it’s just garlic bread but I think they bake it in butter dishes or something cause it’s the richest, tastiest, best Garlic Bread I’ve ever had… ever. The rest of the meal didn’t hold up to the bar set by the bread however. My Veal Parmigiana was tough, dry and quite thick (I was expecting a thinner piece of meat). The pasta on the side was good but the sauce was very sweet (did they add sugar or are they using canned tomatoes…). My wife’s Pasta ala Casa was huge and based off of the same tomato sauce as mine but it had huge pieces of sliced spicy sausage as well. Nothing extraordinary. As for Jonathan’s Lasagna, it was huge as well and dripping with cheese, he was extremely pleased with it but for the price, I was honestly expecting more.

After the meal, we sat around and talked for a bit but he kept getting hounded by the staff “do you want anything else?” “Can I get you anything?” in other words, they were asking us to get the hell out of there and it was only 9:30pm. As we paid the giant bill (yes this place is too expensive for what you get in my opinion) and walked out the door, I heard the lock engage behind us. Good, cause it will probably be another nine years before I go back to CIPRIANO'S… unless its for the garlic bread.

RATING: 5/10 FULL BELLIES