Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Fellini's Cafe

Fellini's is the second venture of the owners of Decatur Street eatery Angeli, so you will see quite a bit of menu overlap. I've always liked this place at the foot of Carrollton in Mid-City. It's casual and cheap, there is a patio with umbrella-covered seating for bigger groups, the sandwiches and salads are creative but simple, and the pizzas are pretty good too.

But there is really only one reason that I keep coming back to Fellini's. The tomato dip. It's sweet and spicy with a few walnuts mixed in for crunch and feta crumbled on top. I like to order the above appetizer sampler which also comes with hummus and a grilled portobello mushroom (that I always substitute out for an extra scoop of tomato dip).

Last time I had the roasted lamb salad with olives, roasted red peppers, and red onions over greens tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette. The veggies were fine, but I did not think that the dressing worked well with the lamb.

The menu also includes sandwiches served on thick, fluffy pita bread or lavash rolls which are thin and then crisped on a sandwich press. The above sandwich is filled with spinach and artichoke hearts, but I much prefer the one stuffed with grilled chicken and portobello mushrooms. Sandwiches are served with a basic pasta salad, which is a healthy and welcome change of pace from french fries.

Fellini's Cafe - Par

1 comment:

Donnie Boy Riguez said...

Musa Ulusan starts these joints (La Vita, Fellini's, Mystic Cafe, Angeli) and then sells them while they're high. He started Pizza Roma which morphed into Italian Pie franchises all over town and the southeast. Once Musa sells a restaurant, the owner usually does not turn the profit he's looking for running it up to Musa's standards. Food costs are usually slashed immediately, which leads to a weaker product. When Musa does start one of these things up, catch it while you can.