This week I got to try another new restaurant just in time for the holidays. North Italia opened up in Summerlin at 1069 S. Rampart Blvd.
At North Italia everything is homemade fresh daily. The menu has a wide variety of offerings and it starts with some great appetizers. Be sure to try their Zucca Chips. If you like zucchini, trust me, you will love these. They slice zucchini into thin wafers and flash fry them in a very light batter. These are addicting and a great light way to start your meal.
I love prosciutto and they have two appetizers that feature it with the first being the Prosciutto Bruschetta. Let me just say this was a brilliant idea and a totally new twist to bruschetta. I highly recommend you try it. The next item on the appetizer menu that was excellent was the Chef’s Board. It is a great collection of prosciutto, cheeses, marinated eggplant, roasted peppers and olives. For an Italian like myself this was a dream appetizer and would pair perfectly with a nice glass of wine.
They have several fresh handmade pizzas on the menu including gluten free as well. All of the pizzas are hand tossed with fresh homemade dough. They have five specialty pizzas along with a daily chef’s choice.
They also offer several salad and sandwich items on the menu. Their signature sandwich is the Meatball. If you are in the mood for a salad I would suggest the Italian Farm salad, which is loaded with salami, provolone, roasted peppers and olives. Growing up, this is the way my mom would make a salad and I loved it.
For my main entrée I went with Chicken Parmesan, which comes with a side of Parmesan rigatoni. I asked if I could substitute their Bolognese sauce with my rigatoni. As I have said it many times in previous articles, I judge a place by their meat sauce and North Italia’s passed with flying colors. I highly recommend getting their house specialty pasta as it is named just Bolognese.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is very nice as the main dining area faces into an open kitchen so you get to see and smell all the food being prepared. I love that concept. The bar separates the main dining room from the outdoor patio, which is enclosed for winter dining and has not only overhead heaters but a giant fireplace creating a very rustic Northern Italian feel.
All of the waiters and waitresses were very helpful and attentive. Usually I wait a few weeks to try a new restaurant so they have a chance to work out any problems but I visited North Italia just four days after they opened and they didn’t miss a beat, which impressed me even more.
The portions were good size and prices were very reasonable. I give North Italia a rating of 3.75 forks.