Cafe Italiano, Orlando

I had dinner at this Italian restaurant south of 50 on 436 last Thursday night. I'm in a quandary as to why I don't have the usual antipathy that I retain to most of these "traditional" Italian options. It may be pity. We will see later on. I had Chicken Parmigiana with a side of spaghetti (which was narrow fettuccine), a salad and bread for $13. The look of the place and the lack of customers (just me to begin with) made me feel I couldn't trust anything that depended on freshness or nuance. I was wrong. The salad was a little iffy. It appeared as if it had been pre-cut and placed in a bowl in the refrigerator. It passed. It was a simple salad with iceberg, onion and tomato slices. Maybe I was in a good mood that night. The bread was dry. It looked like it was sprayed with water to try to give it life and reheated a few times before it got to me. Very dry. The butter was fresh. I didn't really want the bread anyway. You could have had garlic or a plain loaf. The Parm looked scary when it first arrived. The plating was bare and the plate was cold. On one side sat a plump chicken breast by itself with a cap of cheese. One the other side sat a fist sized serving of pasta with a meat sauce (asked for marinara). They looked like they were taken from a TV dinner. Two mounds of color on a white plate. I'm used to a big messy, muddled pile of melting cheese, sauce and chicken (coloring outside the lines). This was orderly. Maybe the chef has hints of obssesive compulive disorder? However, it didn't effect the taste. The chicken was moist. The sauce was fresh. The pasta was well cooked and warm. The cheese was flavorful. The meat sauce was tasty. I'm still curious about the chicken cutlet. I would wager that the chef fried it in a deep fryer and not a frying pan. I know some places do this to save on clean up. It doesn't bother me either way as long as they know the cooking time. I based my suspicion on the crust it exhibited. It was rather flaky for a pan. Maybe they use an unusual crust ingredient? OK. So back to the place itself and why it had an appeal when it shouldn't have. To start with it is in a sketchy area. The places that do exist there now are predominantly Hispanic. They aren't in the greatest condition. It must have been a far different world when they first put down roots here (they said 46 years ago - 1965!). You've got to give some love to a family that hasn't cut and run like everyone else. Maybe they can't. But, in my mind they stay because they are sentimental. Next, it is so insistently "Italian" that it feels like the real thing. I was waiting for a mobster to walk in at any minute. They have the "Best Of" collection of Italian standards serenading you. They are near a strip club. They have the black and white head shots of their favorite Italians on the wall. Maybe they've been here. Maybe they haven't. They have the terrible, 50 year old furniture that looks like it came from a banquet hall. They have the mismatched wall art. They have the yellowed, stuccoed walls. They have the linen napkins. It's so bad, yet, so endearing. The chef was the owner/manager. They had one waiter and two other customer's. The owner was a very sympathetic character. He came out to chat. The waiter was doing his best to remain positive even though you could see he wouldn't be going home with a wad of cash in his pocket. I can't recommend that you go out of your way for the food (definetly not the building). It shouldn't be impossible for you to find a similar "old school" Italian restaurant nearer to you. But, if you are in the area, don't be scared of trying this place. It is actually open though it might not seem so. They have parking in the back and I don't think you'll get mugged if you go. It's been there for 46 years. I don't think it's just due to stubbornness. It must have some adherents (they cite Scott Joseph as one). It doesn't seem to have the food quality issues you see on all those Kitchen Nightmare shows that star places like this. Just realize that it seems like it is in a spiral. Maybe you can give it new life. I'll bet you the quality of the product would increase in conjunction with a steady stream of business. They don't seem like the kind of people who change what they are doing because it makes better business sense. You've got to respect that.