With its folksy name, Pa' DeGennaro's sounds like a place where the moon really could hit your eye like a big pizza pie -- but it isn't.

This newly renovated restaurant offers that rare combination of sophistication and casual dining in a most attractive fashion. The stretch of rooms is woodsy and warm, outfitted with crisp white linens, flickering candles and long comfy booths that you have to slide into.

Most of the food is contemporary Italian, and artfully presented and proficiently served by a staff earning honorable mention for their pride and enthusiasm of the kitchen's offerings.

True to the hospitable dining experience, some appetizers are sizable enough for a meal. The Arthur Avenue panini ($8.95), for instance. This Italian-style sandwich (prosciutto di Parma, fresh basil, Dijon mustard and fontina cheese) is piled between grilled Italian bread. It's warm, melty and fun to pick up and eat.

Oysters Louie feller ($12.95), a half-dozen baked with fresh spinach, shallots, cheese and grilled shrimp, was another good idea that came off likewise: good flavors. Fried calamari ($9.95) with tender, buttery morsels is enrobed in light crunchy batter. Order it fra diavolo, then be prepared -- it will be.

Our favorite first course? Two masterfully seasoned fist-sized meatballs ($8.95) -- homemade and meaty, set on grilled Italian bread, complemented by roasted red peppers, homemade mozzarella and slathers of good marinara. And, there's a sparkling panzanella salad ($8.95), with flavorful toasted bread cubes that remained crisp while mingling with tomatoes, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, capers, fresh basil and a balanced balsamic vinegar dressing. The wonderfully textured Veal Sinatra ($21.95) is sandwiched with prosciutto, fresh spinach, provolone and a portobello-marsala sauce to die for.

Under "specialties of the house" we discovered throwbacks to old-fashioned, soul-warming Italian eating: ma-ma's everyday gravy (full-flavored tomato sauce long simmered with meatballs, sausage and pork) served over rigatoni ($21.95), and pork chops in vinegar peppers ($22.95). The twin inch-thick chops were seasoned, grilled and combined with hot or sweet peppers -- or a mix of both. A splash of vinegary liquid from the peppers is the base for the sauce. I've had it elsewhere and suffered through major cheek puckering, but this one was pleasantly mellow with just enough vinegar to liven it.

Shoestring potato-crusted snapper ($21.95) is a dish I'd order again. The fillet is large and sauteed perfectly, exemplifying moist fish and a golden brown, wiry potato crust. An evening special, chicken and broccoli rabe ($18.95), delivered chicken breast strips tossed with onions, hot cherry peppers, red bell peppers, garlic and oil, tossed with penne and cubed ricotta salata for a tasty aioli.

"Try the pistachio poundcake," our server said, clearing the table with a crumber. The slices of green-tinged moist, tasty poundcake, capped by lots of chopped pistachios, were propped against a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A second mama-made dessert, a warm cappuccino brownie, with good coffee infusion, was especially moist. Or, have ricotta cheesecake with nice citrus overtones.

The best of all Italian restaurants, serving authentic and simple puttanesca and Pomodoro, plus the meatballs you'd expect to find in an Italian-American red-checkered tablecloth joint.

Then a menu item will surprise you: rack of lamb with a sundried tomato and goat cheese crust or a roasted duckling appetizer served with safron risotto.

It's served in a room that's both elegant and neighborhood-like.

—J.T., Sun-Sentinel

A handsome spot offering a warm, woodsy sophisticated interior outfitted with crisp white linens and flickering candles.

All the better to enjoy tasty basics like a meatball appetizer trimmed with roasted peppers, homemade mozzarella and excellent marinara, old-fashioned vinegar pepper pork chops and gravy simmered for hours with pork, sausage and meatballs.

Or, go for upscale offerings like shoestring potato crusted snapper and the amazing veal Sinatra.

— City & Shore Magazine, February/March 2005

June 2002
Miami Herald

My mother makes macaroni and meatballs every Sunday. Not only do we look forward to it, but deep in our hearts we know that the red sauce, the white cheese and the green basil connects us in some way to our Italian heritage. Though intellectually we understand that our ancestors left Bari, Naples and Sicily precisely because there was no meat (or meatballs) to be had nor money to buy it, we still consider these stereotypical dishes to be Italian. Italian at least in the American experience. They are good, they are hearty and they remind us of home.

Though my own ma is certainly this country's best Italian-American cook, Pa, as in Pa' DeGennaro's is certainly Broward's best Italian-American restaurant. Here you'll find all the familiar favorites (eggplant parmigiana, sausage and meatballs), a few new ones (mussels wrapped in bacon and veal with vinegar and brown sugar) and, unlike at home, an extra dash of pizzazz (artful preparations and intriguing combinations).

Pa' DeGennaro's is a small, dark and comfortable place: brick and wood paneled walls, frosted glass sconces, black-and-white photos of Italian city life, forest-green leather booths, smooth wooden floors and most important, good food.

In addition to lightly battered, fried and wonderfully tender calamari, Ma Ma's steaming chicken and escarole soup and bitter sweet broccoli rabe and Parma ham crostini, Pa DeGennaro's recently added a few new appetizers to the menu. Golden triangles of crisp yet creamy cornmeal pudding, piled with juicy slices of fennel and pork sausage, roasted red peppers and fresh marinara sauce make up a portion of grilled sausage and fried polenta. Oyster Louie Feller are a half-dozen fresh-shucked bivalves, topped with fresh spinach, sauteed shallots, Parmesan cheese and one shrimp. The plump bundles are best enjoyed in one delectable mouthful. Though the menu does not offer any salads, the main courses are accompanied by a decent house salad and a choice of tasty homemade dressings.

Veal, pork and beef meatballs and linguine are on the menu, but our party of four decided to share penne Roberto and penne Guiseppe as our pasta course. Pa' DeGennaro's serves only Italian-made DeCecco brand pasta. The Roberto pasta dish is made with big wedges of fresh tomatoes, torn basil, sweet shallots and soft stringy homemade mozzarella. The Guiseppe version is a creamy mix of pungent blue Gorgonzola and sweet roasted red peppers. Both were outstanding.

Main courses are sure to please and certain to fill. Salmon roasted with a flavorful marinade of olives, mustard and bacon was nicely paired with a creamy risotto. Stuffed pork tenderloin, split and filled with chunks of earthy portobello mushrooms and caramelized onions and served on a bed of broccoli rabe and a side of thin fried potatoes was truly exceptional. The 20-ounce New Zealand rack of lamb was grilled to a shade of ruby rare then slathered with a rich coating of sundried tomato and goat cheese.

While the pork and lamb were complicated and delicious, the veal Milanese was simply perfection. The chef butterflies a big chop of veal, pounds it nice and thin, coats it with fresh white bread crumbs, flash fries the tender meat and tops the entire crunchy dish with cool, peppery arugula, sweet-tart tomatoes, tiny briny capers and a drizzle of lemony vinaigrette. Pa' DeGennaro's is a genuine Italian-American restaurant, dessert are nonnegotiable. It doesn't matter that you are stuffed than the pork loin or wider than the veal chop, you simply must order dessert and the dessert that you must order is pistachio-nut pound bake (most of the other classic choices are imported from Italy but very good). I don't know how they do it, but this cake is unbelievably moist and delicious.

Maybe this Sunday I'll take my ma to meet Pa.