This weekend I traveled out West to visit a close friend who took me to her favorite dinner spot, Via Italian Table on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA. Via has a lively atmosphere. The restaurant is large and has three main seating areas, plus a large bar, and its own gelateria. Yes, that's right folks, they make their own gelato. Ding, ding, ding JACKPOT!
While waiting for our table, I noticed they had Harpoon Winter Warmer on tap. I had no desire to even review the drink menu, once I saw they had my favorite winter brew.
We were eventually seated at a high top table in the bar area, giving us the perfect spot to people watch. We also had an unobstructed view of the many cute bartenders.
We started off with grilled Caesar salad. They serve one full head of romaine lettuce per plate, lightly char grilled, with a delicious, creamy Caesar dressing and a few slightly season croutons. I come from the school of "the more croutons the better", so I was slightly disappointed, but the grilled lettuce was something new, and surprisingly delicious.
For dinner we split the parmesan risotto and a pizza with portabello mushrooms, roasted onions and asiago cheese. Are you drooling?
The risotto was rich, warm and flavorful. A perfect winter dish. The pizza had the thinnest crust, the freshest ingredients, and was the size of an entire cookie sheet! Two very big thumbs up!
The atmosphere at Via is warm, inviting and lively. Perfect for a big family dinner. Each table is assigned two servers, so its never hard to track down your wait staff. Our two waitresses were very friendly and attentive. The prices are very reasonable and the servings are large. We were too full that night to try the gelato, but I would absolutely go back!
Via is located on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, along with several other restaurants: Tribeca, 111 Chop house, Brew City Grill, and more. If you find yourself traveling on the Mass Pike, and in need of a food break, Shrewsbury Street's restaurants will surely leave you satisfied!
