Baratta’s

We had a date with some friends to hit up Baratta’s on Friday the 13th. I have never been there! What a gem of the southside. It looks from the outside like a small, kinda divey place but inside it has tons of seating room and a classic 90s Italian restaurant feel. 

We arrived at 5:30 with four adults and a toddler and were seated right away. Our service was great, super friendly and attentive. They even bought a trough of ranch dressing for my girlfriend who has crust-dipping requirements.

The wine and beer menu was more than enough to cover all of our needs. The wine pours were generous.  Lucky me!

We shared bruschetta and raviolis to start. I forgot to get a photo but their homemade raviolis are unique, a large thin layer of dough encompassing a small ball of ground beef mixture. Yum. Bruschetta seemed fresh, very flavorful. 

We ordered two pizzas: pesto (with Grazi’s sausage) and classic Margherita. The crust was a bit misleading. It was thin, which I don’t mind, but at first glance it looked crispy around the edges. The crispness unfortunately didn’t hold up under the toppings, and it was quite soft underneath. Bummer.

The toppings were all delish.  The mozzarella cheese was fresh and flavorful.  The Grazi’s sausage had been prepared into a link and sliced up like medallions (which Ryan didn’t prefer, but I didn’t mind.)

Our friends also ordered and shared homemade tortellini. Tasty alert! Half red sauce half white sauce; highly recommend. 

Our fun meal was cut short off by Jack getting a bit of cheese stuck in his throat. His gag reflex works really well though: he proceeded to puke. A LOT. Like everywhere. It was gross and embarrassing but yes Jack is okay. It wasn’t even that scary, the choking lasted a mere instant before the gagging/puking.  This seems like a parenting rite of passage to deal with a puking kid in a restaurant? Right?

I mostly feel bad for our friends, who have witnessed Jack vom over two meals now (once last summer when he was pretty sick). They’re worried that he’s allergic to him. At least Jack showed them his belly button a few times, his current favorite trick. I hope they’ll dine with us again someday! 

Ryan 🍕 Rating: 3.5/5

Chelsea 🍕 Rating: 4/5