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Published March 23,
2007, Newsleader.com, Springfield, MO
DINE ON OUR DIME »
Large menu and deep bowls define restaurant
Geraldi’s brings Italian cuisine to the
streets of Kimberling City.
By Brian Goodell
For the News-Leader
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Geraldi's is one of
those places you probably wouldn’t notice if you weren’t
looking. Tucked in the corner of the Kimberling City Shopping
Center, it doesn’t exactly command attention.
But its proximity to the bowling alley made it an easy find for
Janet Staugaard and members of her Tuesday bowling league.
“Every week, four of us eat at a different restaurant,” she
says. “And it seems that more and more, we just eat at the same
one.”
Janet’s take
Janet had never been to Geraldi’s with anyone other than Patsy, Frances,
and Alice, her bowling “girls,” so she was glad her husband, Andy, a
New Jersey transplant, could join us. |
“They have the closest I’ve ever found to New Jersey pizza,” she
says.
Geraldi’s offers 19 pizza toppings, including salami, feta cheese and
artichokes. There are several specialty pizzas or you can choose your own
toppings.
Janet also recommends the homemade soups ($2.75 cup or $3.50 bowl). She
thinks the tomato bisque and minestrone are very good.
“I’ve never had a bad soup (here),” Janet says, then expands the
endorsement to cover every dish she’s tried at Geraldi’s.
It’s the antipasto ($6.95) that she orders again and again.
It’s so big she usually splits it; but on this occasion, we each ordered
our own. Despite Janet’s warning, Andy and I were amazed at the portion.
The salad completely filled the plate, with the entire outside lined with
rings of Genoa salami, ham and provolone. The center was a mass of iceberg
lettuce topped with tomatoes, black olives, red onion, feta cheese and a
pepperoncini, all bathed in Geraldi’s feta vinaigrette dressing.
Brian’s turn
I was delighted to drive to Kimberling City — along Table Rock Lake —
to visit Geraldi’s. It’s small and quaint, exactly as Janet described.
Decor includes lighted ropes of red, white and green, plus glowing grape
clusters, against the exposed wooden ceiling beams.
The open kitchen in
the restaurant’s center allows interaction between the staff and
diners — and provides cooks the opportunity to show off by
spinning the dough.
The antipasto was indeed, “so good,” as Janet described. And I
was able to finish the generous serving over a leisurely lunch.
The salad is light, yet filling. And healthy, yet intensely
flavored.
The Dish, restaurant
Owners David and Susan Allen opened Geraldi’s last May after
moving from Vista, Calif. |
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Susan says diners often comment how on
the presentation of their antipasto.
Geraldi’s offer three or four nightly
specials per week, she says, including salmon fettuccini ($10.99),
eggplant parmigiana ($10.99), veal marsala, ($13.99) or chicken marsala
($10.99).
The couple is also quite proud of their Chicago beef sandwich ($5.75), as
it’s their most popular hot sandwich offering.
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