Birraporetti’s

merryn, says:

• Food:

  4/5

• Vibe:

  3/5

• Service:

  2/5

• Value:

  4/5

• Overall:

  4/5

You hope to find good basic Italian antepasto,salads,pasta, and sweet goodies like your Mamma's older sister Aunt Angela used to make for the family dinners at Pappa and Noni's after Mass. You wish. Instead, what you get is a slicked up version of Olive Garden, only it costs more. The wine list is pretty impressive if you REALLY know a lot about obscure towns and vineyards in Italy no one in Seigel's has ever heard of.

Public Service Warning: Avoid lunchtime (11:30am-2:00pm) M-F unlessd your Boss is with you and picking up the tab. The place is packed to the rafters with 3-piece-suit-corporate-exec types armed with HUGE expense accounts that tip waitstaff accordingly, or large groups of ladies in pantsuits with name tags that say " Hello, My Name Is". Service is poor, the wait for tables seems eternal, and food arrives luke-warm at best. Avoid the lunch bunch.

Your best bet is a weekday evening, make reservations that afternoon, and sit back, relax, and enjoy. The famous peach belinis are definitely worth everything and anything. One evening a visiting "Gennyouwine Eyetalyan" friend said the peach belinis at Biriporetti's were worthy of favorable comparison to those offered by some ultra-chic trendy place in Milan. (Wish I could remember it's name.)

The shrimp scampi is superb, buttery, garlicky, and more than enough to satisfy a finicky shrimp lover. Salads are crispy, soups hearty, bread is crunchy, and pasta just-right-chewy. All in all, the food is good old fashioned New Jersey restaurant Italian. "Hey, paisan! How's the veal parmigiana?" "Delicious, best in the metroplex!"

If you want better, call the airline and go visit your Aunt Angela.