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Buon Appetito
191 Military East #F
Benicia
746-7410
Monday – Thursday 11: 30 – 9
Friday 11:30 – 10
Saturday 4 – 10
Sunday 4 – 9

Stepping into Buon Appetito in Benicia is like walking into an Italian auntie’s dining room. Opera plays on the sound system. White tablecloths cover the tables, and these tables are squeezed close together. Ornately framed paintings alternate with modern advertising, all very Italian, on butter cream yellow walls. Other diners look up with smiles on their faces, as if expecting to recognize the new customer.

On our visit, a server greeted us enthusiastically and guided us to a table on the wall away from the fireplace. The server pulled my chair back and picked up my napkin, but then froze as if unsure of what to do next. Instead of being formal, the effect was charming. This set the mood for our meal.

We chose a couple of glasses of wine from the list. I liked how the server brought the open bottles to the table to pour the glasses; it allowed us to see the labels. One was a Buon Appetito Zinfandel. The label matched the restaurant logo and was taped to the bottle. The conversation veered towards tequila and I was unable to find out more about the wine. I can recommend it as round and slightly spicy. It went well with our meals.

Our dinner started with a salad of pears, cheese and walnuts on mixed greens. The salad was large enough to share with plenty of pears and cheese. The salad dressing was balanced a little toward the oily side for my taste, but my dining partner didn’t mind. We both agreed that the walnuts were stale. Nothing, no roasting or caramelizing had been done to improve their flavor. The pear was also a little underripe.

My dining partner had a Seafood Canneloni that was light and rich at the same time. There was plenty of seafood inside the two large rolled tubes of pasta. The sauce complimented the flavors of seafood without masking them. The pasta was a little chewy, as it should be. The best thing is that the dish arrived hot from the kitchen.

While he indulged in this, I tried a Vegetable Totellini. Again the pasta was al dente, and tasted homemade. The vegetables were plentiful. This was not a memorable dish, but it was very satisfying.

For desert we tried the Tiramisu. This version has plenty of cream and mascarpone cheese, alternated with lady finger cookies soaked in plenty of alcohol. This is a great dessert as it stands. The only thing it was missing was the coffee flavor. My partner poured a little of his espresso over the dessert and pronounced it the perfect combination.

Overall, the food at Buon Appetito is not fantastic, but the warmth of the atmosphere more than make up for the lack of fine-tuning in the food. This food tastes homemade, with all the quirkiness this word implies.

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[tags]restaurant review[/tags]

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