Critic's Review
*** Vicinos is Closed **
Limoncello is closed and Vicinos is here.
From the outside, it looks the same. The same yellow color; the same big window opening out into the sidewalk. But inside things are different. There's a long, ceramic bar that's suitable for eating or hanging out. The big square ugly room is gone and replaced with a more intimate space with casual decor.
They have what I would call a "regular" menu. Spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parm, Lasagna and shrimp scampi. I tried the penne with sausage and broccoli rabe. While it was good, it wasn't prepared as expected. Typically this dish is dominated by Rapini, with sausage and garlic to offset the bitter veggies. This dish was only spattered with Rabe, had a lot of pasta and included red peppers and cubes of fresh mozzarella. Romano is a better pairing with this dish.
The lunch menu is similar with smaller portions. The eggplant rollatini lunch portion is pretty small; served with a slice of garlic bread. I don't really care for their bread. I'm not sure why but it just doesn't have a good texture to it.
The rollatini is dominated by ricotta; its difficult to taste the prosciutto or basil. Its not bad; but its not very good either. Service is too slow for lunch. It shouldn't take 25 minutes to get an appetizer at lunch when there are only 3 tables.
It would have been nice to have a place downtown where you could eat before hitting the bars. But I don't think that Vicinos is going to make the grade.