It's Restaurant Review Time!

Machiavelli's

The ends did not justify the meal!

While on a nice walk down State Street (Bristol Va/Tn) a couple of months ago, we came upon a sign that advertised an Italian restaurant coming soon.
A sign on their window advertised a Brick Oven.

We waited with anticipation, and finally, the restaurant opened 2 weeks ago. Excited, we decided to eat there last Friday.

The first impression was that it’s not a regular corner 'pizza place' that sells by the slice. We were seated in a dark dining room. At first it seemed classy and romantic but soon we found it too dark.

There were a lot of things we found wrong with the establishment (but maybe we can excuse some because it's a new restaurant).
For one thing, we were unable to order mixed drinks because they have yet to obtain their liquor license. Like I said, it just opened and so maybe that’s why they haven't received their license yet? So, we ordered Heineken bottles. We drank them with dinner and when we ordered a second bottle, we were informed they were out. This exposes an oversight in supply. Early on a Friday evening, they should not be running out of popular brands of beer!

The menu is small but that is often the case with new restaurants. We expect the menu to expand as the restaurant clientele grows.
We started with a Bruschetta as our appetizer. A Bruschetta (pronounced Bru-Skeh-Tah) is basically, toasted slices of Italian bread topped with diced tomato, and often cheese.
The Bruschetta were good. They were warm and toasty as should be. We were served about 9 slices on a plate which is an ample amount to have as an appetizer or even a small meal itself.

Next, our Caesar Salad arrived. Crisp lettuce, seasoned croutons and creamy Caesar dressing made up our salad. It was nothing fancy but I was very fond of the dressing. However, most real Italian restaurants will offer anchovies on their Caesar salads; this restaurant did not give us that option. Additionally, it was topped with breadsticks that tasted as if they came out of a package (think Stella D’Oro)

Brick Oven pizza is delicious and I have indulged in it before. Needless to say, we ordered a pizza, a Margherite Pizza to be exact. In case you have never tried one, a Margherite pizza is a simple pizza topped with fresh mozzarella cheese and instead of sauce, is topped with slices of fresh tomato. While it sounds plain, a Margherite pizza should have flavor.

The pizza arrived and the first thing I noticed though was the absence of blisters. A good brick oven pizza should have nice blackened blisters where the cheese bubbled and the dough baked. It looked all right but taste is the real test. Once we bit into the pizza, we noticed that the dough overwhelmed the taste of the pizza. We expected a thin crispy crust; however we found it "bready." The tomatoes that topped the pizza were bland.

One of the positive things about this restaurant was the pricing. The prices were fair, however, I would be willing to pay more for better tasting pizza.

Finally, the atmosphere was to put it bluntly, dull. For a Friday evening, it was quiet. The music that was playing was the elevator imitation of Maroon 5. The restaurant seemed to be pretentious. If it wants to survive in Bristol, it will need to tone down the uppity attitude and lighten up the atmosphere.

For me, the best place in Bristol to get a fresh pizza is Bella’s. The service there may be slow however, it still produces the best pizza in town.