Botticelli’s

Being half Italian and a big fan of Italian food, when my daughter asked where I would like to have dinner on the night of my birthday I answered, “An Italian restaurant!”  She took it from there and chose Botticelli’s, located at 1321 South Congress.

We arrived a bit early for our dinner reservation and it was still Happy Hour with special pricing on some of their food and drinks.

So we started by ordering Peach Sangria and a Mad Don (tequila, bitters, lime, simple syrup, soda) for my niece.

Both drinks were good.

Then we shared the…

Botticelli Bread – Grandmother’s own homemade bread stuffed with prosciutto, rosemary ham, salami, mozzarella, parmesan, and roasted bell peppers

This was also good.  They have a vegetarian version of this bread on their menu too.  It’s stuffed with eggplant, zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, ricotta, parmesan and roasted bell peppers.

My niece also enjoyed this…

LE COZZE  ALLA TROTA – PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND MUSSELS  STEAMED WITH BROWN BUTTER, CAPERS, AND LEMON TOPPED WITH BREAD CRUMBS

And a little closer view…

After Happy Hour, we then ordered our entrees from their regular dinner menu…

My sister’s entree choice was the…

PANSOTTI DI FUNGO – Housemade raviolis filled with portabella and crimini mushrooms with ricotta and herbs tossed in a marsala cream sauce with sweet peas, cherry tomatoes and green onions
She said this was very good.
My niece chose the…
RAVIOLI DI CINGHALE – Confit of wild boar in a sweet potato ravioli with a Crimini mushroom demi glace & parsnip puree finished with cherries and hazelnuts
Her comment, ” The flavors were good, but the mushroom sauce was a little too thick making the dish overall a little dry.”
My daughter also ordered a ravioli dish…
RAVIOLI DI ZUCCA GIALLA – Housemade raviolis filled with roasted butternut squash served in a brown butter and sage sauce topped with parmesan and chili flakes
She really liked this.
I broke our trend though and ordered something other than ravioli…
Lasagna with bolognese sauce
This was very good.
Then since it was my birthday they brought me this complimentary dessert…
Chocolate Marquis (a rich, dark chocolate mousse covered with dark chocolate ganache served cold with whipped cream and raspberry sauce plus blackberries, raspberries, and strawberry slices)
I shared this with everyone and we all agreed that it was delicious!
And in case you were wondering, this dessert was available on their dessert menu…
So our overall rating for Botticelli’s was 4 1/2 stars, deducting 1/2 for my niece’s ravioli.  The same rating was given to them by Trip Advisor reviewers and Botticelli’s was ranked #118 best Austin restaurant there (11th best for Italian food).  Yelp reviewers rated Botticelli’s slightly lower, giving it only 4 stars.  But they also ranked it 3rd best in Austin for Italian food behind only Patrizi’s and Gino’s Vino Osteria and #137 best overall restaurant.