Pizza, Pasta And More At Spuntino

By Luann & Lou/ foodie@longislandernews.com

Don’t let the massive amounts of pizza boxes you see when you first walk into Spuntino fool you – there’s more to this restaurant than just good pizza.

Dix Hills’ Spuntino will celebrate its third year in business next month, under partners Joe Serrano and Ben Lomanto. The restaurant boasts an extensive menu of appetizers, heros, salads, pasta, and chicken, fish and veal dishes, as well as calzones and brick oven pizza, with a regular or ultra-thin crust.

We started with a tasty dish of Calamari Arrabiate ($10.95), battered and fried tender calamari tossed with roasted peppers and cherry peppers in a Fra Diavolo-style plum tomato sauce that is tangy with a slight kick.

A hot antipasto special ($11.95) comes with the works. The eggplant in the Eggplant Rollatini Parmigiana (a la carte, two for $7.25) is cooked just right, stuffed with creamy ricotta. Baked Clams Oreganata (6 for $7.75) is served with whole, baked little neck clams that are plump and tasty. Fried Zucchini Sticks ($5.95) are thick and crispy alongside Shrimp Oreganata and mushrooms with a seafood stuffing of crabcake-like consistency.

The two stars of the evening were the Chicken Contadina ($16.95) and the penne Casalinga ($12.25). In the Contadina, chicken breast is topped with prosciutto and mozzarella in a white wine butter sauce with roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts and thinly sliced mushrooms with side of pasta or salad. The prosciutto is thick, almost like honey baked ham, and delicious.

The Casalinga ($12.25) is served with your choice of pasta topped with sliced sausage sautéed with broccoli rabe, sundried tomatoes, olives, roasted garlic and olive oil. The olives add a welcome Mediterranean flair to the dish, and our penne was perfectly al dente.

The Shrimp Spuntino special ($19.95) could almost be described as a unique and flavorful combination of parmigiana and francese. Pan-seared breaded shrimp is topped with melted mozzarella cheese and simmered in a lemony white wine garlic scampi sauce with grape tomatoes, halved and roasted, with cooked baby spinach and a side of pasta or salad.

Though desserts are not made in-house, they’re worth a try. We aren’t lovers of tiramisu in general, but Spuntino’s was very good: spongey, fluffy and not overpowered or saturated by espresso ($5.95). The cannoli ($3.95) is also a great way to end the meal, filled with fresh cream with chocolate chips.

Pasta night on Mondays and Tuesdays is a great deal – $10.95 gets you a choice of pasta, salad, cannoli and coffee or tea. And with over 30 pasta dishes to choose from, the possibilities seem endless.

Spuntino
687 Old Country Road
Dix Hills
Pathmark shopping center
631-547-9300

Atmosphere: Bright, friendly, family-oriented

Cuisine: Italian, brick oven pizza

Price: Moderate

Hours: Mon. - Thurs. 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.;
Fri. - Sun. 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Main Menu