Tony D's

I finished up a meeting downtown around dinner time, and the kids were at dance classes, so I swung around and picked up my husband for a quick dinner before he headed back to work.  (Sidebar: we both work too much--big surprise.)

We decided to go to Tony D's.  He had never been.  I'd been several times for lunch meetings and had liked it.  I still think it's a great lunch place--especially for a great pizza with slices left for late work night snacking.  Maybe not so much for dinner.  It's not that it was bad--because it wasn't.  I would call Tony D's a good fall-back restaurant: a place where everyone could find something but no one would go home raving about a dish they'll never forget.  Judging from the crazy crowd at the bar, I'm also guessing the folks who come in the evenings are largely more social networkers than foodies.

We started with wings, which are not your typical buffalo wings.  They're oven roasted and topped with delicious caramelized onions and served over some very tasty, toasted foccacia.  I'd call them the highlight of the meal, and given how quickly they disappeared, my husband would agree.  We also split a Caesar salad, which was large, well chilled and good.

The daily special was eggplant parmesan--one of my favorites.  But, sadly, this won't be making my eggplant parm top ten.  The sauce was good, and the serving was definitely more-than-full size, perfect for sharing.  But, the eggplant got a bit lost in the breading, and the mile high approach crafting the dish (it likely stood 4-6 inches high) really does not serve what is a fairly delicate vegetable.  So, it was more mushy than it should have been.  Again, it wasn't bad, it was just okay.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the tiramisu.  I'm a tiramisu snob and make a pretty delicious one myself, and theirs (while offering a lovely presentation) was not good.

While the food average, I have to give full credit to the service.  It was fantastic:  Ia gracious, friendly server; water that was never empty; diet coke refills that appeared without mention; extra plates offered.  And, truly, sometimes at the end of the day, that's really what you want--someone to be nice to you, feed you, and offer you a lovely waterfront view.