#8 - Roberto Cafe - guest blogger Jamie's synopsis

Thanks to our second guest blogger Jamie, who has written up a nice review about Roberto Cafe!

When I realized that Sam and Sandya’s journey had taken them to Roberto Café near 21st and South (obviously), I jumped at my chance to be a guest blogger and they said yes! I had been to Roberto once before and was still thinking about the perfectly cooked cheesy chicken penne that I had. Mmmm….

On the evening that I was sauntering down South Street with the two S’s, spring was finally in the air. I was thinking about how bummed I was to be inside as I walked into the cozy, dimly lit Roberto’s (which was perfect in the winter) when the waiter escorted me to the back patio where my friends were waiting! Such a pleasant surprise, I had no idea it was even back there! The patio only had 3-4 tables and was mostly concrete, but the white-washed walls, paintings of Mediterranean scenes, flower boxes, and trees overhead made it a pleasant space. At some point, I think Sam broke a chair by putting her sweater on it (deceptively fat sweater?)…but we just switched it out and acted confused when the waiter came to ask about it. (Sam's note - I have the worst luck with these sorts of things at restaurants.  In the infinitesimally small chance that the owner is reading this, I swear the chair was already on the verge of breaking before we got there!)

Now that I’ve set the scene, on to the food! We each decided to go with the fantastically priced 4 course special: appetizer, pasta, main, and dessert courses for $35. First, I ordered the Insalata Organica which was supposed to be arugula, radicchio, and Belgian endive with sundried tomatoes. In reality, it was mixed greens with balsamic vinegar. However, I could drink balsamic straight from the bottle, so I wasn’t that miffed.  Next came the pasta (Penne Amatricana), and once again it did not disappoint. It was a penne with chunky, spicy tomato sauce and bits of pancetta. I’m biased towards cheesy, spicy pasta, but this one was particularly great. I came back to Roberto’s because of the pasta and I will go back again! 

Jamie's tasty entree.  I (Sam) took a lot more pictures on my phone, which conveniently died prior to writing this post, so this is all you get from our experience.  Sorry guys.

 At this point, I had a few glasses of wine and even if the food was terrible, I doubt I would have cared. And this, my friends, is the key to the Italian BYO’s formula for greatness. Regardless, I think my main course was pretty good. I ordered the Pollo e Funghi, which was chicken in a white wine garlic sauce with mushrooms. The chicken was m-okay (meh to okay), but the garlic sauce got better with each bite and the mushrooms were cooked to perfection. There were also some roasted potatoes on the side whose, let’s face it, primary purpose was to soak up all the garlicy sauce.

Somehow, I still had room for a cannoli and a cappuccino, and they were a nice end to the meal. The cannoli was fresh but not that memorable and the coffee was nice and smooth. Just to be thorough, the service was nothing special, but the food came out timely and all the waiters were pretty smiley, and that’s good enough for me!

My final thought: Roberto Café serves up reasonably priced, comforting food in a setting that’s conducive to talking, laughing, and drinking the night away. It’s exactly what an Italian BYO should be.

Roberto Cafe
2108 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 545-0793