Cafe Nino in New Orleans

We recently stopped over to one of our favorite, if not THE BEST Italian restaurant in New Orleans, Cafe Nino on Carrollton. Nino Bongiorno is a native of Sicily who cooks classic Italian fare such as pizza, chicken veal or eggplant parmesan and marsalas among other delicacies. I love how when we go now we are recognized- makes me feel at home.

It is not much to look at, inside or out, but can't be beat.

Any time it's offered I get the Eggplant Parmesan. The eggplant is special because it is from New York. It's different; sweet and amazing! Anytime it's there, I jump at the chance to eat it.

Eggplant Parmesan with pasta. The Sicilian in me is as happy as can be :)

Veal Marsala with Lasagna

Nino serves his dishes cafeteria style with one of two sides- lasagna or pasta. He tops off everything with a ladle of red sauce and fresh Parmesan cheese, whether you want it or not. I hear his pizza is out of this world and his Philly Cheese Steaks are wonderful, too.

We ate our meals within minutes, not because they are ready-to-plate, so to speak, but because we can't help but overindulge. We rolled out of there thankful our car was parked far enough down Carrollton to give us a chance to walk off our self-induced misery. I asked my husband what would we do once we moved to Baton Rouge, as in, "How are we going to survive without Nino?" He said, "I have no idea." Cafe Nino is just THAT good.