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A new review of an old favorite
The antipasto for sharing at Scali.
Michael A. Foley/MAF Photography
Scali Ristorante
Located in Reynoldsburg on Rt. 256, Scali has all the hallmarks of a real family restaurant. It is warm and friendly, with the sort of attentive and intelligent service that results from the family keeping track of what’s what.
It’s a good thing I made reservations for my first visit there, at 6 on a Friday evening, because the place was full with happy diners getting value for their money. The restaurant is comfortable and somewhat Italianate in style, including an imposing mural of a grand building that I expect I should have recognized, but didn’t.
A visiting Italian scholar once exclaimed to me that Scali was the closest thing to a real Italian restaurant he had found in Columbus, but that was more than a decade ago. In some ways, his description is still apt. Ingredients tend to be fresh and nice, and lots of things are made in-house. But there’s something of the Italian-American restaurants of my youth as well, with lots of reliance on red sauce and pasta cooked well past al dente, something I have never found in Italy.
I was taken by the good and not expensive wine menu, on which I found a real bargain: Marchesi di Barolo Barbera Monferrato. It was wonderfully balanced and exceptionally tasty. The waitperson offered everyone at the table the chance to approve the wine before serving it, a courtesy I hadn’t seen before—and one which was appreciated. Besides, with a wine that good, who’d object? I also sampled a couple of glasses of Chianti, and both were decent.
The zuppa resembles what is sometimes called Italian wedding soup, and the portion was generous, with lots of chopped ingredients. But the star of the antipasto menu was the antipasto for sharing. This substantial platter included several types of sliced meats, cheeses and roasted vegetables.
Scali’s Italian salad was satisfactory, with good greens and chopped vegetables uncharacteristically topped with blue cheese. Roasted red peppers were roasted into submission and a bit dull in flavor.
The Three Little Pigs pizza came with tomato sauce, prosciutto, pancetta, soppresso and “scramorza” cheese. (I think it was supposed to be “Scamorza.”) I missed the usual mozzarella and Parmesan. The crust was housemade and light, but without much flavor.
Pastas were only OK, due to having been (pre?) cooked past al dente. But the substantial meatballs that accompanied the spaghetti were tender and mild. Gnocchi con frutta del mare also was OK. The red sauce was not noteworthy, except for the shreds of crab along with tiny shrimp. Vitello piccata was the real thing—decent veal and the lovely lemon-caper flavor that makes the dish famous.
—John Champlin
SCALI Ristorante
1903 Rt. 256, Reynoldsburg
759-7764
scaliristorante.com
Price range: Antipasti $3.79-$13.99; salads $4.49-$6.79; entrees $9.99-$19.49.
Hours: Dinner Tuesday through Saturday 5 to 9 pm; lunch Thursday and Friday 11:30 am to 2 pm; closed Sunday and Monday.
Reservations: Accepted.
Rating: ♦♦♦
