.: II SOLE RESTAURANT

My boss must hate his wife...yes, that's really him at Il Sole...

He picked Il Sole, the overpriced, below average Italian restaurant to celebrate her birthday.

I made reservations in advance, and they seated us at the worst table in the restaurant, one of the two tops in the "lobby." I specifically noted that it was for my boss' wife's birthday. The hostess was trying to convince me that we got the best table in the restaurant. Are you kidding me?! Uh, yeah, I just love to sit at a table with a bunch of people standing behind me, accidently knocking my head as they wait for a table...furthermore, the espresso machine is in the same area, and OMG, every time the busboy made a drink, he yanked the...I don't know what it's called...but you have to refill it with coffee each time you make an espresso drink, causing it to SCREECH like nails clawing down on a chalk board...I just cringed through out the meal. Yeah...we got the best seat in the restaurant. Oh, there's an eating area to your right and to the left. The hostess said she couldn't seat us in the left dining area as they close the section down around 9:30pm...and that's why they seated a 5-person party (I think) at 9:40pm. Can we say LIARS!? If you really want bad, overpriced Italian food, to the right (if you're entering the restaurant) is the best seating area -the most space and light. We were practically eating in the dark.

Sigh. Let's move on to the food...I started off with the Burratta Di Pomodori; it's difficult to mess up a burrata salad.

Even though this was $20, it was the most reasonably priced (and good) item of the night as they were generous on the burrata portion. The bday girl ordered the Shaved Artichoke Salad for $16, and I'm so glad that I didn't ordered it. Bland.

There are two kinds of waiters. The first type is one who has sampled the food and really gets into the food and drinks that they serve. The second kind is one who's just there to make the bucks and doesn't give a damn about the food. I think our waiter was the latter, because when I asked him if I should go for the Dover, the lasagna or the prosciutto pasta dish, he asked me if I felt like having pasta or fish. I responded (again...), "What do you recommend?" He gave me a blank stare (no ounce of passion) and told me to go with the Dover, and when the bill came I knew why...it's $50! Even though the fish was supposedly imported from Italy, I didn't expect the Dover to be more than the Filet Mignon...I felt guilty for ordering it; the boss paid for it. Taste-wise, it's good but not worth $50.

The bday girl ordered the Penne Pomodoro for $21, and it tasted like shit.

They must have just opened a can of tomato paste and dumped it into the pasta. The pasta was cooked perfectly.

The boss ordered the Asparagus gnocchi for $26. It looked like 4 larvas.

Luckily it tasted better...but I've had better gnocchi.

Il Sole was kind enough to give the bday girl free Tiramisu, and thank goodness as the Chocolate Ganache sucked.