Super Frat

Restaurant:  Cafe 2825

Address:  Atlantic City, NJ

Food:  Italian

Price:  High (but not for what you get)

Portions:  Good

Taste:  Mind-Blowing

Service:  Incredible

Atmosphere:  Good, but a little cramped

Anyone who has read this column before knows that I have a very high bar for Italian food, having been eating it all my life.  If your place isn’t at least a 7, you’re wasting your time with me.  The Missus and I were invited out by my in-laws.

Now, it’s a bit hard to find because it’s small.  Really easy to drive past.  There’s a very obvious parking lot, but it’s not for the restaurant.  You have to go to the back and they have a very tiny alleyway where they load the cars in tight or even on the sidewalk.

Inside, it’s basically an old bar with dinner tables.  Really nice, but pretty cramped.  It was recently voted the best in New Jersey, so make a reservation.  It’s pricey, but the food is top notch.

I had a spicy chicken parm dish which was really good.  The Missus had braciole made the classic way with hard boiled egg wrapped in the steak.  The appetizers included shrimp pesto, clams oreganata and a stuffed lamb meatball.  All amazing stuff.

They also prepare food at the table.  We had a real Caesar salad, which is made with raw egg, parmesan cheese, anchovies, salt, pepper and with croutons.  My mom-in-law had the cheese pasta mixed in a cheese wheel.  It comes out like alfredo, it’s amazing.  All the food was just incredible.  I topped it off with a tartufo.

These guys could easily move into a space four times the size and fill it.  My father-in-law loved his meal and his bar is even higher than mine.  I give Cafe 2825 9 out of 10 keggers.  I only take off the keg because of the parking and the small room.  Everything else is perfect.