LadolceVT: Never trendy, always good

By Randal Smathers

So there’s a guy who works at the paper who always believes every rumor he hears and comes into my office to talk about them.

A couple of weeks ago, he came in, closed the door and sat down:

“It’s not true is it, this rumor I hear that there’s a pizzeria in town that is so busy on a Friday night they just take the phone off the hook sometimes for an hour, just so they can keep up, they’re that popular, and that you hate their pizza?”

I have it on good faith that exactly half that rumor is true. I have staff who are regulars at Ted’s Pizza Shop over on State Street who swear it is often so busy they can’t take any more orders so they leave the phone off the hook until they get caught up. And you know what? That’s great. But I don’t hate Ted’s. In fact, I like it. I just like Sal’s better.

Ted’s makes their own dough, I’m told. Ditto Sal’s.

Ted’s makes their own sauce, I’m told. Ditto Sal’s.

Ted’s is something of a local institution, I’m told, with a dedicated clientele. Ditto Sal’s.

I don’t know why I like Sal’s better; I just do. It’s a toMAYto-toMAHto, poTAYto-poTAHto kind of thing. I mean, it’s pizza, it’s America’s favorite almost-authentic Italian meal; what’s not to like?

Some foods I’m picky about: Hollandaise sauce, for example, where I will argue to the point of inviting you to step outside, you heathen you, that the real thing made with egg yolks and butter tastes far superior to the boxed stuff made of modified food starch and dehydrated milk solids. But pizza? Depending on my mood I might choose any one of half a dozen local pizza parlors. (Yes, now that you ask, Domino’s will deliver straight across Wales Street, but even I am not that lazy. And look at all the calories I burn going all that way and back.) Still, I most often wind up at Sal’s: Small pepperoni and mushroom, sometimes with black olives.

But I didn’t set out to write a pie-to-pie comparison: That’s another column and besides, there’s a lot more to Sal’s than pizza.

Drop by the West Street location (they also have a restaurant in beautiful downtown Wallingford) and it’s clear that their straightforward, Americanized pizza is a good fit with the rest of the operation. A tiny lounge fills half the storefront, and from there your choices are a booth down this wall or a booth down that wall.

All that’s missing from every 1960s Mafia movie I ever saw are checked tablecloths and candles stuck in empty Chianti bottles. Oh, and Mafiosi: three visits, no violin cases. What, Tony Soprano doesn’t vacation in Vermont?

What Sal’s is, is low-key, friendly and comfortable. So’s the service.

Diners get a loaf of fresh, crusty bread to start, but go easy. Portions range from generous to “it feeds a village.” Honest to god, the shrimp and scallop special a friend had two weeks ago is exactly as much pasta as I cook for my family of four for dinner. OK, that includes a preschooler and a toddler, but still.

Entrees also include a soup or salad. The house dressing — creamy Italian — is wicked good, but I forced myself to forgo the starter salad on my most recent visit (I know, me eating something besides leafy greens is hardly a shock) in favor of the soup, which was pasta e fagioli. It was more like a stew than a soup, and almost overflowed the cup.

My guest tells me he always gets the eggplant parm. Then he does. The lunch portion filled a pasta boat and came with a side of pasta and marinara. I had the cheese lasagna, which is one of those ultra-plain dishes where if the sauce is weak or they stint on the cheese or noodles, you’ll be disappointed. This one gets an ‘A.’

Sal’s isn’t one of those trendy places. In fact, it’s one of those old-fashioned restaurants that prodded a lot of trendy places to declare themselves purveyors of fine Northern Italian cuisine just so they could stand out.

It’s good, basic, well-prepared Italian-American food … sorta like Ted’s. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Herald Editor Randal Smathers writes on dining weekly. He can be reached at randal.smathers@rutlandherald.com. For an archive of past reviews, log on to www.invitevt.com.

Sal’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria, 148 West St. Rutland, (802) 775-3360; credit cards accepted; handicap accessible; entrees $8 to $15; ? ? ? &#9733