SEA: Need recs for a great sicilian-american/italian-american place

[Ligament]

Hi All,

Have a buddy coming in unexpectedly today and he wants to eat some real good sicilian-american/italian-american comfort food ie. gravy/red sauce/parms/garlic/salad, etc. I'm sure you get the idea. I'm new to Seattle and don't have any ideas. Coming in TONIGHT so any quick recs appreciated! Thank You!

[burritobelle]

Check out Bizzarro in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood. The food is homey and tasty and affordable -- the restaurant is small and kitschy without being obnoxious -- and the service is always great -- and the staff is fun.

[magfoodguy]

I concur that Mondello's is very good for Sicilian. The owners are from Sicily. They also sell their pasta and some sauces at the Magnolia Farmer's market.

[chipqmunk]

Ditto the recommendation for La Vita e Bella and Mondello. But go to Mondello if you want the best spaghetti carbonara ever. It's not on the menu at the Belltown location. The lasagna (available at both) is also to die for.

[Italian Woman]

La Vita e Bella. Run by Siclians, It's in Belltown (trendy) and has a nice atmosphere and is fun. http://www.lavitaebella.us/low.html

They also own Mondello
http://www.mondelloristorante.com/

If you're looking for hearty Italian/American, then I guess you'd go to Buca di Beppo. I've never gone there, but it's a big party joint.

Welcome to Seattle!

[Ligament]

We ended up hitting Filberto's in Burien. What a mess that place is. We almost walked out the service and food was SO DAMN SLOW.

The food was pretty solid I'll give them that. But the restaurant ranged from 1/4 to 1/3 full all night and the staff could not even keep up with such a small work load.

No this was not the type of quaint "soak in the atmosphere" type slow that is paid off with excellent ambience, excellent service, and amazing food. This was grossly incompetent planning and staffing type slow with average ambience, pleasant but very slow and inattentive service, and solid food.