Date
9/16/2011
Location
Christiansburg, just off of 460
1130 Cambria Street NE
What I ate
Chicken of Modena (with tomatoes and broccoli, balsamic vinegar sauce, over breaded eggplant)
Who went
Will, Jess, Seth, Rachel, Cassie, Jay, Laura, and Sara
Thoughts
First impressions are not always the best impressions. Amelia's is just off of 460, in a little residential area, and doesn't look that great from the outside. Not bad, just nothing special. Inside, it has all the hallmarks of "generic Italian place from home" right down to the little vending machines in the lobby. I'm fairly certain we were in the room reserved for parties, so I didn't really mind the folding tables. All of these things together were making me start to doubt the good reviews I had heard before making the trip.
The review were certainly vindicated shortly after we sat down. Our waitress was nice and willing to give honest opinions about her favorite dishes which was very helpful because a few of us were paralyzed by the paradox of choice. The menu had a bunch of interesting dishes (see: what I ate) to go along with a bunch of Italian standards. There was also a good selection of sub and pizza options. My chicken was really good, especially when I could pull together a bite of all of the elements of the dish. There was more breading than eggplant under the chicken, but eggplant wasn't the focus of the dish so I wasn't too disappointed. All in all, it was plenty of tasty food for a pretty good price.
Recap
Pros - Good food, friendly service
Cons - Nothing glaring unless you have restrictions on carbs or dairy, but then you shouldn't be getting Italian food...
Overall - Definitely worth the trip. I admittedly haven't explored many of the options around town, but I'm certain Amelia's is among the best Italian places near Blacksburg.
3 comments:
I'm in agreement with Steve. I had the Godfather's penne pasta,which the waitress recommended. I was pleasantly surprised with the generous portion and flavorful entree. It contained shredded and diced portions of steak, salami, pepperoni, and onion in a very impressive tomato sauce. It served as lunch and dinner the next day. Also, the restaurant did not advertise beer on the menu but they had a selection of Sierra Nevada, Bud Light, Budweiser, and I think a couple of other beers on tap. This is definitely a place I'd go back to. The one thing Will said that I agree with is that their tomato based sauces seemed superior to the cream based ones. All in all and great place to eat.
excuse me.. I meant a great place to eat!
I agree with the above, too. Had the Fettucini Alfredo, because it's always a good gauge of how much effort a restaurant is going to put into their dishes. This was a good, cream-based dish, and not too oily (so often, Alfredos get that layer of oil across the top - not appetizing). I did have to add a significant amount of salt and pepper to kick it up, but the base was there (probably catering to the SWOVA crowd). Everyone else's looked pretty delicious, too, especially for the price. Definitely a good one to keep in the rotation, and maybe even find out if they cater in Blacksburg for lunch events!
-Jessica
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