Picasso's Ristorante

Yesterday I went to Picasso's Italian Ristorante for a friend's birthday. Our main reason for choosing this location is because they are BYOB. Also, online reviews say the food is pretty good! But...they also said how bad the service is. Well...it's super close to my house so I've always wanted to give it a try.

We had a party of 10+ and I was able to get a reservation the night before. Good thing I did because for a Wednesday night, the place was pretty packed!

Picasso's Italian Ristorante
3948 Legacy Dr #217
Plano, TX 75023
http://www.picassosrestaurant.us/
(972) 618-4143
Price: $$

It's a family run place so it's got that kind of homey, dated look. It could be a somewhat romantic spot.

A few of us got there a bit earlier than the reservation but we were able to get seated. We got a few appetizers to start. Just FYI...they charge $1 per glass for wine. And I apologize for not taking pics of the appetizers.

We got Garlic Bread $1.50~ and Calamari Fritte (sliced calamari steaks prepared in seasoned bread crumbs, fried and served with marinara sauce) $6.95~ The garlic bread is a really good deal. It had a nice crust on the outside. The calamari however...disappointing. The calamari pieces are in no way "steaks". They were teeny and so the breading totally overpowered it. It could've used a bit more seasoning too. Eh.

On to dinner...

My bf got the Margheritta 10 Inch Pizza (fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese) $8.50~

This isn't really a Margherita pizza in my opinion. It's typically a thin crust pizza and this is clearly not. And it could've used more toppings on top. But, I did like the dough. The texture of the crust was nice, so as a regular pizza, it's not bad!

Many of us ordered the Spaghetti (served with your choice of meatballs, meat sauce, Italian sausage, mushrooms with tomato sauce or olive oil & garlic) $8.95~

It was a good size portion. The pasta was cooked really well...al dente, just how I like it. The meatballs were very moist and tender. I didn't care for the marinara though. It was a little too sour for me, and my friend agreed.

Special of the Day: Lobster Ravioli $13.95~

This was really good. I got to try a bite. There was a good amount of lobster inside the ravioli and the cream sauce was very nice. Not super heavy but definitely filling.

Picasso's Seafood Delight (combination of mussels, shrimp, scallops sauteed with broccoli, carrots and mushrooms in your choice of wine creamy garlic sauce or zesty marinara sauce served with linguine pasta) $15.95~

This looked really good. There were lots of seafood on top and the cream sauce was definitely better than my marinara!

Vitello alla Marsala (veal scaloppini sauteed in marsala wine sauce with fresh mushrooms served with linguine pasta) $13.95~ I didn't get to try but my friend cleaned his plate. That's a good sign!

So the food overall was pretty good! But the service definitely lived up to it's reputation from online reviews. The waitress wasn't very friendly at all and she was very slow getting everything. One of my friends asked for a refill on water so the waitress took her glass and then never came back... Also, with the entrees we were supposed to get bread. None of us at the table got bread so I asked the waitress if we were supposed to get garlic bread or some sort of bread with our meal since it's stated on the menu. She just replied "It's not garlic bread, just plain. Do you want bread?" I was thinking... DUH! I just told you that we're supposed to get it with our entrees so why are you even asking me if we want it? At the end of the meal she came around and asked if we wanted anything else. And this was another thing that ticked me off... I took that chance and told her it was my friend's birthday... Normally restaurants would offer a free dessert or something for birthdays, especially Italian places. And seeing how it's a family run place that prides itself on being a "neighborhood gem" you would think they would go above and beyond with their hospitality. She just stared at me and then asked the table again if we wanted anything else. OMG! Didn't even have any sort of reaction. Even if they are not gonna give us a free dessert, at least tell my friend "Happy Birthday" or something. Nada...

We still ended up ordering one thing to try.
Tiramisu (lady fingers dipped in espresso coffee with mascarpone cheese, eggs and a touch of brandy) $5.50~

This was praised on the reviews. It was pretty good. I liked the mascarpone cream a lot but there wasn't enough lady fingers in my opinion. We also asked for a candle for this and she said they didn't have any. Sigh~

She gave us the check all together. Initially I wanted to ask her to split it for us, but then didn't bother for the frustration and ended splitting the check myself among 12 people!

All of us were a little miffed by the service. Even if the food is pretty good, I don't think it's good enough to go back and deal with the lack of service. At least we saved a bundle by bringing our own alcohol!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~