Aldo's Restaurant

Mr. H and I are always up for a new adventure to try a place that we haven't been to before. We do our research, rely on word of mouth, and most of the time have great dining experiences. Sometimes, though, a recommendation falls flat. This time, it did.

We headed to Aldo's in Brooklyn, expecting a unassuming exterior with an authentic Italian meal worthy of the praise we've heard. This restaurant is certainly one that you could easily drive by and not notice...

...but inside, it does have an old-world charm and is filled with what I assume are photographs from family travels to Italy. The dining room is small, seating around 40 diners, and the kitchen is what faces the only windows in the space, which is unusual.

For a Tuesday night, the place was packed! This was a good sign. Right? 

We had wonderful service throughout the meal, and there was a certain charm to the whole place. But, the food fell flat for us.

We started with the Stuffed Mushrooms, filled with sausage, spinach, and cheese in a marinara sauce. They came out piping hot, and ended up being the best dish we ordered. But still not memorable. The bread service also came at this time, and it was fresh out of the oven. It was really great bread!

Then the meal went downhill for us. The entrees all come with a salad. No dressing options were offered, and a sad little salad with tough greens, too much cabbage, and a house dressing that didn't light my fire arrived. I left most of it on the plate.

Mr. H ordered the Lasagna, which was certainly fine, but not noteworthy and the portion was on the small side.

I've been craving linguini and clams for quite some time now, so I was immediately drawn to the Sauteed Scampies Pasta over Seashells in a White Clam Sauce dish. I guess I didn't understand the "over seashells" description meant shell pasta. I had thought it was referencing the clam shells for some reason, so I was surprised to see the dish arrive. Immediately, a fork wasn't cutting it so I had to ask for a large spoon to corral the pasta and seafood. The sauce ended up tasting like bland, thickened chicken stock to me, but at least the clams were plentiful. The most off-putting thing about the dish was the texture of the scampies. They were complete MUSH. I've never had any form of the shrimp family take on that texture before. Perhaps they were butter-poached? We weren't quite sure what was going on, but it wasn't pleasurable to eat. Again, I left quite a bit behind and took no interest in bringing it home.

For us, this restaurant was a fail.

We had been torn between that and Bruno's, which isn't far away. So, next time we're looking for Italian food not too far from home, we'll be heading to Bruno's instead.

Aldo's Restaurant
8459 Memphis Avenue
Brooklyn, OH 44144
(216) 749-7060