I walked into the dimly lighted, rustic colored dining room where music filled my ears and a succulent smell of savory Italian food poured into my nostrils. My stomach growled with hunger and excitement. My sister, who accompanied me, sat beside me as we awaited our table and I took in the much decorated room. It seemed as if we could have been sitting in a little eatery in a homely town somewhere in deep Italy but we were only sitting in the locally owned and operated Italian restaurant of Pescaraz.

The restaurant is fairly new as it opened in July of 2010 and offers savory and flavorful Italian food at considerable portions while keeping a fair price. The restaurant’s menu is made from family and friend recipes and includes many pasta dishes including a classic such as fettuccine alfredo, eggplant parmigiana and you can’t go wrong with a build-your-own spaghetti plate. The menu also offers up strombolis, a variety of sandwiches and pasta options made with chicken, seafood and beef. And of course, you can’t forget the breadsticks. Pescaraz’s twisty, garlic-y, hot and fluffy breadsticks beats Johnny Carino’s and Olive Garden’s breadsticks by far.

With all that good food there’s another slam-dunk – fair prices. The fettuccine alfredo is only  $7.99, the lowest pasta price on the menu. The highest price is the meat lover’s pasta which includes beef topping, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, Italian sausage and special Pescaraz sauce and baked with spaghetti then also topped with marinara all for $11.99. For that much food, nobody can beat that price. When I went, I had spaghetti with the Italian sausage (which was delightful, I must say) and I may have stole a bite or two of my sister’s melt-in-your-mouth fettuccine alfredo and I secretly wanted to trade plates.

This business is a good place to go either with a date or with family. The atmosphere is fun while giving a little romantic feel on the side. As a customer, I could definitely say that I had a good time. The service was good, the food was exceptional and the atmosphere was beautiful and they even had live music too, which definitely put the icing on the cake.

Pescaraz is located at 3415 Bell Street and their hours are 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday.