KCRag Forum

Kinda surprising to be honest, I never thought we had that great of Italian places here considering how great our overall food scene is, but I have yet to try Jasper's or Garrozzo's.

Cupini's, Garrozzo's, Jasper's, Il Trullo and Lidia's were named among the Top 1000 Italian restaurants in America.

Five Kansas City Italian Restaurants named Zagat's "America’s 1,000 Top Italian Restaurants 2008"

they've been giving away the printed zagat italian guides at cupini's for awhile.

Zagat is like American Idol.  It's just a popularity contest, but Zagat is based on local feedback, not national.

I for the life of me can't understand what people see in Garozzo's.  The two times I've had the spidieni, it was saturated in oil and tasted terrible.

PumpkinStalker wrote: I for the life of me can't understand what people see in Garozzo's.  The two times I've had the spidieni, it was saturated in oil and tasted terrible.

Never been, but I want to give it a try. Honestly, I don't see what people see in Cupini's. I like their gelatto, but the rest of their food tastes like mass produced Sysco food to me. I'm glad they're downtown, but there are a bunch of other Italian places I'd rather go to.

Il Trullo is pretty good. Good interior, warm, hearty bistro with great service.

i'm not a huge fan of garozzo's, but it's like a stroud's... you just have to partake sometimes. cupini's, on the other hand, is great. i have found my favorites (chicken panini, margarita pizza, lasagna) and rarely stray from them. the interiors are dreadful, but that's why it's great for take-out.

KCMax wrote: Kinda surprising to be honest...

Surprisingly high or low?

Top 1,000 is a pretty low bar, that's like 20 restaurants in each of the 50 biggest cities, or 5 in the 200 biggest.

I don't think this statistic speaks to the quality of Italian restaurants here.  I don't have much first hand opinion.

I enjoyed a visit to LaRocca's wholesale/retail shop recently, though.

AJoD wrote: Surprisingly high or low?

To me the most disapointing thing with italian food in KC is the lack of quantity, not quality.  There are roughly about a half dozen local places/local chains that I consider to be pretty good to great but after that its like the market completely drops off and all thats out there are national roadside chains.  There are some pretty large swaths of this city where there is no local italian at all, just the national chains. 

KCMax wrote: Never been, but I want to give it a try. Honestly, I don't see what people see in Cupini's. I like their gelatto, but the rest of their food tastes like mass produced Sysco food to me. I'm glad they're downtown, but there are a bunch of other Italian places I'd rather go to.

Il Trullo is pretty good. Good interior, warm, hearty bistro with great service.

Well said about Cupini's.  Their food is about as generic as it gets.  There is really nothing unique about the place.  The sandwiches aren't bad, but the pasta is very very basic.  Like you say... glad it is downtown, and it is a decent place for lunch, but top 1000?  Not even close.  I still think Costco or Stouffer's lasagna is better than Cupini's.

The only American-Italian in KC that stands out (that I've been to) compared to others in the US would be Tarrentino's on the cheap eats level.  Way great calzones and sugo-based subs/sandwiches with light, fresh breads that result in a warm belly comfort feeling.

Lidia's is OK but not one that stands out.  Jasper's is standard issue dime-a-dozen Italian dining on the national level, again not a standout.  Garozzo's is hardly a standout, just doable.  Cupini's can be pretty freakin salty but generally OK cheap eats - doesn't standout on national level like Tarrentinos clearly does.

BTW, it's worth the effort to make sugo (carrot/onion/celery/peeled tomato sauce), much mo betta than standard issue red sauces.
http://www.divinacucina.com/code/sugo.html

Has anyone been to La Sala's, by the way?  This place looked like it should be a kick-ass Italian deli, but as far as I could tell, they didn't even have an Italian sub on the menu.

Some other local Italian not mentioned yet...Mamma di Cucina in Brookside and Cafe al Dente in River Market.

I liked both fine on a single visit to each, but really haven't had enough food at either to form a real opinion.

FAZOLI'S  !!!

Yeah, I like LaSala's chick parm pasta dinner for cheap eats.  Avoid the cold deli sands - major bust.  Not a standout on a national level, but I like it once in a while.  Cool 1920's counter market atmosphere with guys with that get-to-the-point attitude at the counter.  Often see cops/firemen in there.  Tarrentino's is several notches above food wise but LaSala's is a cool place with some doable basic pastas.

I'm mildly surprised Osteria Il Centro isn't on there. I've only eaten there once, but it was pretty damn good as I recall. Or maybe that was the bottle of Chianti...

I may be way off here, but Garozzos always seemed to me to be in similar vein as many restaurants in The Hill. Now, don't get me wrong, I always enjoyed the place, and its the kind of place that I often went to thats "alright," as opposed to a place that is amazing that I hardly get around to going to.

I also used to really enjoy La Salas.

I never really made it around to any other local Italian places, sans single visits I cant specifically remember.

Sorry for the ignorance, but is there any places left in northeast?

Northeast is pretty much all Mexican and Vietnamese restaurants now. If there's a leftover Italian relic (besides Garozzo's) in the area, I haven't found it.

I must admit that I was surprised how few local Italian restaurants there were in Kansas City since it has a fairly sizeable Italian population.

LenexatoKCMO wrote: To me the most disapointing thing with italian food in KC is the lack of quantity, not quality.  There are roughly about a half dozen local places/local chains that I consider to be pretty good to great but after that its like the market completely drops off and all thats out there are national roadside chains.  There are some pretty large swaths of this city where there is no local italian at all, just the national chains. 

Just wondering, how strong is KC's Italian community? How would it compare to other cities?
Common sense would dictate that the stronger the Italian community and the more Italians (and people with Italian heritage) living in a concentrated area, the more Italian restaurants will pop up.

The reason that there would be whole swaths of city without local Italian places is the lack of an Italian community.
Take St. Louis for example; apparently, it is known for quite a few good Italian restaurants. However, most are concentrated on the Hill. That is due to the majority Italian influence. If you get out of that area though, good independent Italian places are few and far between.

There isn't much 'communal' left to the KC Italian community it seems.  Probably got ripped apart from suburban sprawl and the 70's infighting.

That's the case with most new economy cities though where newer generations of American generica become independent with less of a townie demeanor and less self-identification to the Old World.  Same with Jewish, Irish and other Euro communities in KC that once existed.  They are now dispersed around suburbia and view themselves more as Americans than a descendant of the Old World.  Seems only non-Euro ethnic enclaves centralize as neighborhoods in KC now... some immigrants that are Hispanics, Asians, Africans, etc. with just a handful of eastern Euro enclaves like Bosnians.

PumpkinStalker wrote: I for the life of me can't understand what people see in Garozzo's.  The two times I've had the spidieni, it was saturated in oil and tasted terrible.

try something else.

the "frank sinatra" sandwich is frikkin' awesome. best fettucine alfredo i've ever had.