For this week’s Dining with Dad we headed up to Polaris area to check out Claudiana Italian Restaurant. We arrived around 5:30 and were asked if we had reservations. I had Claudiana on my list of places to visit but didn’t make the final decision until Friday when we went so we didn’t have any reservations. The host counted the reservations, of which they had 11, and then walked away saying he would see what he could do. I was a bit nervous but he came back, grabbed some menus, and told us to follow him. Phew! No wait!

We started looking at the menu while we waited for our server to arrive, which gave me plenty of time to find the perfect drink. The kids went with the traditional Sprite while I went for a Chianti Classico. Having the half marathon coming up on Sunday, I chose Claudiana as a “carb up” meal but I wasn’t supposed to have any alcohol Friday or Saturday. However, how can you have Italian pasta without at least one glass of wine??

The entrees didn’t come with a soup or salad but the kids really wanted one so we ordered those separately. They both love wedding soup so they both got a cup of that. I figured since they were getting something I would choose something so I went for the Claudiana salad. It was a little heavy on the dressing but was still very good. We also were given an order of bread. You get 3 little pieces of bread with your meal, which is for the table. If you want more bread, it’s 75 cents a piece, which I thought was kind of strange. We of course spent the $2.25 so we could each have two pieces of bread.

Chloe was the first to decide, which she typically is at Italian restaurants. I think she scans the menu until she finds Spaghetti and then stops. She found the Spaghetti with Meatballs and told me that was her dish. She forgot to mention to ask if it came with cheese or tell the server she didn’t want any and it came with cheese on it. Luckily she was able to scrape it off and it didn’t affect her meal.

Alex was jumping around the menu trying to decide what he was going to get. He was thinking about going with the veal but at the last minute he changed it to the Ravioli Claudiana. From all the Chef Ramsey shows we watch, he enjoyed mentioning how none of the ravioli “leaked” and were ruined. He mentioned that the ravioli on the outside of the place didn’t have much filling but the ones in the center had plenty and he enjoyed the dish. I had one and I thought it was fine. It wasn’t my thing but I’m glad he enjoyed it.

I wasn’t positive what I was going to get when I picked Claudiana, but I had a pretty good guess! I knew I was going to get pasta and when it comes to pasta, there’s nothing better than lasagna! Maybe when we go back I’ll venture out but for the first time there, I had to go with the tried and true dish. It was delicious and I have no regrets.