Date Visited: 19 June 2011Meal: Dinner
Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, & Alicia
Experience: Palio is a very nice upscale Italian restaurant, self-described as "Old World tradition with contemporary flare" on their excellent web site. Located in the heart of historic downtown Leesburg, it was previously home to the GG Cafe and La Bella restaurants. We chose Palio to celebrate Father's Day with a good Italian dinner, and we were not disappointed.
To start off, we chose an appetizer (antipasto) of Prosciutto di San Danielle e Annas (prosciutto, grilled pineapple slices, grilled local Virginia peaches, and a dill sauce). The combination of the sweet fruit and the salty prosciutto was a perfect starter. I also had the Insalata di Rucola ("Baby arugula salad, Forelle pears, Balsamic vinaigrette, shaved Parmesan cheese") and a glass of Sangiovese red wine. Again, a perfect combination of flavors.
For my main course, I chose one of the daily specials, the Garganelli pasta. This pasta is something like penne, and had generouse bits of crab meat mixed in. Wendy also got one of the specials, the Veal Chop; it was huge and delicious. Alicia got the Gnocchi Sorentina, which came in a tasty orange-red tomato sauce.
Surprisingly, we still had room for dessert, so we went for broke and all got something. I had the Cannoli Siciliani, Wendy got the Crema Bruciata (Creme Brulee), and Alicia got the Torta della Nonna (basically cheesecake). I also had an espresso, which came in one of those cool tiny cups with a tiny spoon - a perfectly fun finish.
For a reliably good Italian meal and dining experience, we can heartily recommend Palio.
Location: 2 W. Market St., Leesburg, VA, 20176, 703-779-0060
Web site: http://palioofleesburg.com/
Total bill: $117.50 + $30.00 tip = $157.25
3 comments:
This place is our favorite restaurant in leesburg, and if you sit downstairs and order from the tapas menu you don't need a special occasion.
The unfortunate thing about Palio's is Nino Pino is no longer there nor is the chef who was there when it opened. We dined there before and after and there was a noticeable difference in quality. Now just good not excellent. Don't know why they left.
Beware of being deliberately misled.
We went there with friends for lunch and was presented with specials that we assumed would be in line with the other lunch prices - reasonable assumption. One plate was $32, the other $28. THE WAITER SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THE PRICES.
Furthermore, we paid dinner prices for lunch portions. The $32 plate was for ravioli -- and maybe there were five small raviolis.
The service was shockingly poor given the small crowd.
This is the second time we have been there -- not going back.
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