Mamma Zu

Mamma Zu
Style: Italian
Website: This place is lucky to be featured on Yelp!, let alone have it's own site. Read on and you'll understand what I mean.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Pros: The food, low key, the food, romantic lighting (meaning hardly any lights), the food, casual atmosphere, the food, when you are waiting for a table you can drink wine, and the food. 

Cons: They only take cash and American Express, everyone else likes them so they are hard to get a table at, chalkboard menu gives character but few details

I go to Mamma Zu's every year for my birthday dinner. Why? Because it is sooo good, but such a hassle. It is one of my most favorite restaurants, but sometimes the hassle makes me wish it wasn't. It's just that the food is so good. Who knew that some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten would be from a dumpy place in Richmond, VA? 

I will start from the beginning. Mamma Zu's is open for dinner at 5:30. We were going to have a reservation which they will take for parties of six or more. However, someone got sick and had to cancel. Therefore, instead of showing up at 5:30, we arrived at 5:10 and waiting IN the LINE that had already formed to get in. It was about 28 degrees and there were snow flurries. We love this place so much that we huddled together and froze to death before we could go in. But one of the best moments of the evening was when they began cooking five minutes before opening and a big whiff of garlic hit us in the face. That's when you know it's going to be a great meal.

Five of us crammed into a booth really created for about 3.5 people. One of us is very overweight, another is over 6 feet and 4 inches tall. Another had to sit at a chair at the end of the booth next to a coat stand with people waiting for a table right behind him. Looking around the restaurant is not an impressive view. It is sort of a dump, but after awhile there are so many people packed into the joint that you don't even notice.

Once we sat down we realized a bad thing... we couldn't see the menu. The menu is a chalk board. My husband had the brilliant idea to take a picture of it and bring it back to the table (see the picture above). When they run out of something, they go over a wipe it clean away. That is a second reason why it's good to get there early.

They always give you bread and there is olive oil on the table for dipping. I like to add salt and red pepper flakes to my oil for a little pizzaz. I recommend getting the broccoli rab with garlic, lemon, and pine nuts for a starter. It gives a whole new meaning to green vegetables.

The portion sizes for the dishes vary. Sometimes you get a monstrous meal, and other times it is just normal eating size. In addition to the food, I always order a cheap table wine for charisma. This time we got the house Merlot which is served in small plain glasses. It reminds me of my childhood when the Italian adults would drink their wine from jelly jars!

My cousin had the squid ink pasta. My husband has had it on a prior visit. It is interesting how my cousin had it in a bowl this time, while my husband had it on a plate once. It is slightly spicy and we love it.

My grandmother ordered the mussels. You can order either a spicy red sauce or a garlic butter sauce. She got the latter. We thought it was just going to come with the mussels. Oh how we were wrong. It was a giant platter with linguine that you could barely see because it was topped with so many mussels you could barely see it. It was very tasty to also dip the bread into the broth that the linguine was sitting in.

One of my staple favorites is the pork chops. This time my husband ordered them. It comes with two very large pork chops over and inch thick. They have a core of black peppercorn pesto in the middle and are served with white beans. The beans are soaking in a rosemary garlic broth which makes them the most delectable bean I have ever eaten. Usually I eat one of the pork chops and take one home. It is enough for two meals.

I tried for something new this time. Once I tried something that was not pork chops and instead I got the lamb meatballs. They were tasty, but I only received three small meatballs. This time I got the Veal Marsala instead of the pork chops. The veal was pounded thin and roasted in a lovely sweet wine gravy. It came with a side of pasta. I only wish that it had mushrooms with the veal.

We finished with a cannoli and tiramisu. Of course they were a delicious way to end the evening  on an amazing note.