Biaggi’s ball

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

You may only think of the Dining Duo as charming, witty, and knowledgeable restaurant critics. While this is absolutely true, it is not the only avocation that we have. We are also bocce ball athletes!!! Every Friday morning we psyche ourselves up, jump into the mini-mobile, and head out to do battle at the bocce courts. This is the first year that I get to have Jim as my partner, oh lucky me! Rumor has it that there was actually a pool circulating to guess how many games it would take before we killed each other. I find this hard to believe, since I am such a calm, understanding, non-competitive person. I just don’t understand…

Due to the physical demands of two grueling hours of such a rigorous sport, we and our fellow combatants develop quite an appetite. In keeping with the ethnic tradition of bocce ball, what better place for us and our friends to satisfy our hunger, than Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano in Algonquin.

We assume that most of our readers have been to Biaggi’s for dinner one time or another. We’re going to review this restauant for lunch, since you may not know they offer quite a few lunchtime specials. If you are new to the area, and unfamiliar with Biaggi’s, the dećor is that of a subtle upscale Italian restaurant, as it is handicap accessible.

While we were looking over the menu, we were stuffing our faces with the Italian and foccacia breads that we dipped in olive oil and cheese. Our table went through two baskets of bread since bocce ball is so physically taxing.

As with all conscientious Del Webber’s, one of our friends had a coupon from the Sun Day News for a free appetizer. The general concensus was to try the Stuffed Mushrooms ($9.99). This was eight huge mushrooms stuffed with Italian sausage, spinach, garlic, and served in a white wine butter sauce. Jim was in heaven; he said the Italian sausage made them exceptional. I passed on this one since I love “fun guys,” but I don’t like “fungi”!

Nancy wanted the Signature half pasta and half salad lunch combination ($11.99). She chose the Caesar salad which was romaine lettuce, housemade croutons, shaved Parmesan cheese, with a caesar dressing. She decided on the Baked Ziti al Forno which was shrimp, grilled chicken, carmelized onions, cirspy pancetta, an Italian cheese blend with a lobster cream sauce. What arrived was a nice sized salad and a bowl of pasta that she said was excellent.

Jim decided on the Classic half pasta and half salad lunch combination ($10.99). He had the Mediterranean salad which was mixed greens, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, capers, red onions, kalamata olives, and feta cheese with a red wine vinaigrette. For his pasta, he chose the Spaghetti and Meatballs with marinara sauce, basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. His was served exactly like mine, and he said it was delicious. It was a deal since it filled up even Jim.

You know Jim won’t pass up dessert and he had to try the Bomboloni ($7.99). This was warm Italian donuts coated with cinnamon sugar, drizzled with caramel sauce and served with vanilla bean gelato. I sweet talked the waiter into substituting Spumoni for the vanilla bean gelato. This dessert turned out to be several Italian donuts, similar to french toast, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. They were unbelievably delicious and even I enjoyed dessert today. The spumoni ice cream was also awesome.

In conclusion, Biaggi’s offers a surprising group of lunch specials. They are clearly not just for dinner. We had a great time with our eight friends laughing and noshing on good food, Mangia!!!

The price for our bocce ball after party was $39.81. Remember, the mushroom appetizer was free.

Jim’s take: These were unexpectedly great entrees at a very good price.

Nancy’s take: The spumoni should be the default choice for the bomboloni; they went that well together!

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com

---

---