Fantastic Food, Incredibly Romantic Setting
Bianca's remains my all-time favorite restaurant! The food is excellent, the service is the best I've had, the ambiance is suitably romantic to propose marriage to someone, and the price is comparable to chain Italian restaurants.

The food has never been bad. There have very seldom been dishes which I didn't prefer, but never a dish that I liked somewhere else, that I didn't like at Bianca's. Having eaten at Bianca's for the past 6 years, I have come to know the operator (brother of the owner), and often exchange banter with him about wines he's thinking of including on the menu.

This is the only place which has ever prepared eggplant parmigiana that I like! I have decided that it is a testament to the authentic quality of the sauces and seasonings (Sal insists it's all derived from traditional family recipes and techniques) that they can prepare a dish that I normally don't like, and still make me happy! (I suspect that the secret has something to do with slicing the eggplant extra thin.)

My partner insists that the chicken is the most tender and delicious anywhere!

The bathrooms are always clean, but small and spartan. The waitstaff is knowledgeable, and the best-trained I've seen. I don't usually pay a lot of attention to pretentious details, but the waiters actually know traditional wine presentation    []

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Recommended Dishes: fetuccine Alfredo, manicotti, eggplant Parmigiana

     ­strangebuttrue   

Can't Be Beat
By far they have the best Italian cuisine in the Triad.    [30 Oct 2002 11:14:21]

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Recommended Dishes: braciole

     ­Anonymous   

Can't Be Beat? Fantastic Food?
After reading the two reviews here I decided to take a trip to Bianca's with my wife last night (since our son is out of town for two weeks...nice romantic dinner for the wife and I) and the ambiance was just as you stated...ahhh off to a great start. We ordered our drinks and meals from a young lady that evidently was a new waitress here (she wasn't too sure about menu items and also brought my wife a red house wine when my wife ordered the blush).

The appetizers arrived (a warm three cheese and vegetable dip with some garlic Italian bread) and it was fantastic; I wanted to lick the bowl dry. I thought, you people reviewing this are right on, this place is great. Next a great salad arrived and I was thinking that this was the best Italian place in the triad. After some wait, our main course arrived; the wife decided on shrimp scampi, and I chose the veal and eggplant Parmigiana (since the previous reviewer raved about it) as well as a bowl of pasta with "sauce".

The waitress said she would "be right back with bowls for the pasta" and left us to enjoy our meal. Up until this point I was having a great romantic dinner. I started cutting into the veal and eggplant and it never seemed to stop...the cutting that is. I looked at the knife, and yes it was semi sharp. I think that the veal must have been fed on eggplant because both of them were unbelievably tough, especially to be so thin. The other thing I noticed was that it was lukewarm, the cheese covering it was just a cold blob of cheese (the waitress had either let it get cold by not picking it up when it was ready, or the cook had prepared mine before they had prepared the shrimp scampi). Ok, the wife's shrimp scampi was lukewarm too, so scratch the second option. Ahhhh the shrimp scampi...it was covered in garlic (which my wife and I love) and looked great. Looks can be deceiving. The garlic couldn't even be tasted due to the overpowering almost breathtaking lemon flavor (not in a good breathtaking way). These shrimp were bred in a lemon pond I thought to myself. This was not turning out well was my second thought. Someone should inform them that shell fish get tough when overcooked.

After finally cutting my veal and eggplant, and then surrendering after chewing it up wasn't working I thought I'd try the pasta and "sauce". That's what it was, "sauce". Akin to Hunts Tomato Sauce. No flavor except for tomato (this same "sauce" was on my veal/eggplant). I had expected maybe some garlic, or basil, maybe at least some onion or some celery for heavens sake, but nope...this was "sauce". Maybe my expectations were too high, I mean with the reviews here and my watching to much Mario Batali on the the Food Network, I suppose I expected a Great Meal (which it was prior to the main course).

After we had sampled 1 bite each from our main course and the pasta and "sauce" I called the operator over and discussed with him the problems we were having. He was very nice; my hat's off to him. He said that "sometimes the eggplant can be a bit tough if cut on the bias and he took our plates away to redo our meal. About 6 or 8 minutes passed and he returned with our meal. Wow...nice and hot, the cheese was good and stringy that didn't all come away in a big cold clump like previously and the shrimp was nice and hot and you could taste the garlic and olive oil with the faintest whisper of lemon. The shrimp scampi was perfect! My veal and eggplant on the other hand, was still tough!

When the operator returned to the table to inquire as to how things were (as the wife and I were wrestling to see who could eat the shrimp first) I told him that I was not happy with the toughness of the veal and eggplant and I asked him about the "sauce". He said it was a basic "sauce exactly like his Grandmother made". Not to be insulting, but in my opinion that is what it is "basic sauce". About that time the waitress arrived with our pasta bowls, you know the ones she was going to "be right back with" when the main course was served the 1st time (15 minutes prior). She asked if there was anything else I needed and I said "yes a to go box", which made no sense since it wasn't going to get any less tough in a to go box. After canceling the to go box I asked if she would just box up the dessert to go. So much for the romantic dinner.

In Bianca's defense, I will say several things:

#1 prior to the main course, you couldn't have asked for more
#2 The operator "Comped" us the meal (Even though I was more than willing to pay for it)
#3 The operator went above and beyond the call of duty to try to rectify the situation.
#4 The ambiance is great, the place is clean, and they have a wall full of Golden Fork Awards over the last 6 or 8 years, so evidently a lot of people love the place. On this particular night I didn't care for it

Maybe I need to buy me that Mario Batali book and cook it the way I want it.    [08 Aug 2003 09:53:35]

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     ­Anonymous   

The way Grandma Cooked
Not fancy but really good old fashioned Italian home cooking!    [24 Jul 2004 16:05:32]

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Recommended Dishes: fish of the day

     ­Anna   

Great Reputation - Great Service - Okay Food
I've eaten at Biancas on several occasions and usually enjoy myself a lot. The service is typically fast and friendly and the prices are great. It's a lot of food for not a lot of money. The appetizers and desserts are usually excellent. I have a problem with some of the entrees, however. They are always good, but I find that they aren't always great. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to rave about either. But there's always a lot of it, and the atmosphere is very close and warm. It's a great place to share with a special someone, but it's not the kind of place you'll go every week.    [10 Sep 2004 12:36:05]

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     ­Charles   

Romantic Ambiance?
After hearing and reading so many rave reviews about Bianca's, my husband and I decided to give it a try. It was rated as having the best romantic ambiance/food and that's what my husband and I were looking for. Now, I'm not a difficult or overly picky person at all, but sorry guys, I was not impressed at all.

Romantic ambiance? Maybe I was expecting way too much before we got there because I imagined a nice, dimly lit, cozy and candlelit restaurant with cute little tables where we could feel as if we had our own little private space, but instead we were at a table too close to the next couple to feel comfortable, and we sat in a rather busy and loud area. We felt kind of out in the open. Not romantic and cozy to me. I have been to other restaurants that were more cozy and romantic. Perhaps, we didn't sit at the same part of the restaurant as those who raved about the romantic ambiance. Maybe we just ended up sitting at a crappy table.

The food? As much as I love Italian food, I didn't find the menu all that impressive. It was very basic. The food tasted okay. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to rave about either. Maybe if I had not gotten wrapped up into the rave reviews, I would have gone into Bianca's with different expectations and not ended up so disappointed, but I have to admit I was very disappointed. In all fairness I will give this restaurant 2 stars because it was not horrible, but it wasn't what I expected from all the rave reviews and Golden Fork Awards.    [09 Jan 2005 17:54:29]

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     ­Anonymous   

Biancas' Can't Be Beat
Amazing! At one time, I was at Biancas' every other night. However, due to my expanding pant size, I had to "give it up" but still, occasionally venture in. Sal and Lisa are great people! I love it.    [14 Sep 2005 08:57:18]

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     ­Jim Stallings   

From an Employee: Great Place Overall
I have had the pleasure to work at Bianca's for the past year and just happened to stumble on this website full of reviews. I actually started working there as someone who didn't like Italian food, but have grown to love it. One bit of advice; if you're not sure what to order, ask your waitress. My favorites are the Chicken or Veal Marsala and the Veal Umido.    [01 Feb 2006 19:22:26]

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     ­Anonymous