Categories: Food & Wine

A Review of the New Restaurant Bravo! Cuciana Italiana

According to http://www.bestitalianusa.com/ BRAVO! DEVELOPMENT, INC. (BDI) owners of BRAVO! Cucina Italiana, BRIO Tuscan Grille and BON VIE Bistro, operates over 59 full-service restaurants in over 20 states. All three concepts are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and are positioned as “casual white-tablecloth” or “Fine casual”. Our concepts appeal to a broad base of guests from business people and young professionals to families and empty nesters.

Our goal is to be the “Best Italian” restaurant company in America.We are a quality driven company, not a quantity one. Our number one focus is the Guest Experience. Consistently high quality food, superior service, good value and a unique atmosphere all contribute to our Guests’ satisfaction. We differentiate ourselves by offering classically prepared food items from original regional recipes using the highest quality, freshest ingredients. At BDI, significant time and resources are spent in the development and implementation of our team members so that we deliver superior guest service each and every meal, each and every day.

(pictures from www.bestitalianusa.com)

Bravo! Cuciana Italiana is a fairly new restaurant to the Lehigh Valley area. It recently opened up in November, when the new section of the Lehigh Valley Mall was built. Bravo! has been “voted top table for family” by Gourmet Magazine. One review, from the Indianapolis Star, said that “The food is beautiful.”

When people walk into the restaurant, the first thing they will notice the look and feel of the place. The look and feel is a warm, cozy feeling with a wall texture that reminds me of living back in the olden days. The relaxed but fancy style of the restaurant makes it welcoming and homey. The lighting isn’t too bright, but it gives off enough light that you are able to see without feeling like you are blinded. In fact, it’s almost like dining in candle light.

I was at the restaurant for the first time today- with my grandmother (who was also there for her first time), and my sister, who was there for her second time. The menu had many options, but they both ordered the Romano-Crusted Chicken Salad. My sister said the grilled chicken is the best chicken she ever ate on a salad. I ordered the Spaghettini Bolognese, which is basically spaghetti with meat sauce. It was the best spaghetti I ever had!

The service was decent, too, except for the Sierra Mist that the waitress spilled on the floor. Even though the parking lot was crowded, we didn’t even have to wait- we were seated right away, but maybe that’s because we went around lunch time. Dinner time will most likely be another story.

I haven’t tried any of the other restaurant chains from this company, but I highly recommend Bravo!