Due to a Saturday night social engagement, we ended up spending Valentine’s weekend in South Bend, Indiana.  Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to us until several days before that restaurant occasions would be absolutely essential.  Fortunately, Parisi’s Restorante Italiano had fairly last minute availability for a 7:00 p.m. dinner.

This was our first time at Parisi’s.  Despite the restaurant’s close proximity to Notre Dame I’d really never heard much feedback about it while I was a student there.  Overall, this little-hyped Italian eatery is actually a relatively pleasant surprise.  It has a cozy houselike feel with sports-related photos lining the walls and diners separated into several different dining spaces.  The food is quite affordable.  Our four-course meal for two, with drinks, cost right around $60.00 and there was even a $30.00 dinner-for-two menu for those willing to choose from specified entrees.  My only major complaint regards service – our server seemed a bit flustered and disorganized, but this could be chalked up to the extremely busy weekend. 

We started off our Italian Extravaganza with an antipasto platter, which we almost always order when available.  It included salami, soppressata, provolone, pepperoncini, olives, cucumber, and peppers atop a scattering of lettuce.  The meats were particularly good.  Our second course consisted of fresh baked bread and butter (delicious) and iceberg salads (boring).  I barely touched my salad in the interest of saving room for the main course.

For our main courses, the hubby had chicken parmesan and I ordered gnocchi with tomato sauce.  As you can see, the presentation wasn’t anything special.  Food quality, however, was solid on both dishes.  The breading on the chicken was perfectly cooked and the gnocchi seemed homemade.  I was a proud member of the clean plate club and found the portion to be ideal for my hearty appetite.  While gnocchi was the obvious choice for me, I did notice an extensive “design your own pasta” section of the menu as well as plenty of pasta, chicken, fish, and veal dishes.

Finally, we couldn’t end our meal without dessert – a heart shaped tart that was described as “strawberry” but tasted more “cherry Poptart.”  This dessert was definitely the weak link of the meal, thanks to the liberal use of a sweet, artificial tasting filling in lieu of fresh fruit.  If you need dessert at Parisi’s, do yourself a favor and stick with the spumoni instead! 

Fortunately, we were stuffed enough that the lackluster dessert didn’t spoil what was overall a pretty tasty and pleasant meal.  Parisi’s is definitely a safe bet for a quick, affordable Italian meal post-game or while passing through South Bend.

We don’t usually venture out on Valentine’s day weekend, but circumstances require us to be out of town this year.  After waiting until the last minute, we (unsurprisingly) had trouble snagging a dinner reservation.  If you’re in the same boat, don’t panic – opentable.com still shows availability for a party of two at quite a few of my favorite midwestern restaurants.

Act fast, as these reservations won’t be available for long!  Keep in mind that some of these places may feature a “special” (i.e., limited and extra expensive) menu, so be sure to call ahead to avoid disappointment.

1.  Scholar’s Inn -  Indianapolis, IN – February 13th and 14th, availability from 8:00 p.m. onward.

2.  La Scala – Lafayette, IN – February 14th only, scattered availability between 6:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

3.  Kil@Wat – Milwaukee, WI – February 13th, availability from 9:30 p.m. onward; February 14th, scattered availability all evening.

4.  1913 Room – Grand Rapids, MI – February 14th only, availability at 6:00 p.m. and from 9:00 p.m. onward.

5.  Cielo Restaurant – St. Louis, MO – February 13th, availability at 5:30 p.m. and from 9:15 p.m. onward; February availability from 8:30 p.m. onward.

6.  Rhapsody – Chicago, IL – February 13th, availability at 6:00 p.m. and from 8:30 p.m. onward, February 14th availability through 7:45 p.m.

In the alternative to venturing out for dinner, you can always do what we usually do and curl up on the couch with a pizza and some movie theater-sized boxes of candy!  One year we even went to McDonald’s, and it was a blast.

Happy Valentine’s Day!