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Hours: Mon.-Thur. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-midnight.
Good choices: Minestrone, bruschetta, pasta with chicken and broccoli, lasagna imperiale, shrimp scampi, linguine bolognese, pizza with roasted eggplant.
Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.
Access: Fully accessible.
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L'IMPERATORE
1585 Hancock St.
Quincy
(617) 472-6800
Restaurant reviewed 03/11/99 by Adam Pertman
Imagine, for a moment, that you are in Rome.
Italian music fills the air as you dine. Enchanting Italian accents spice the conversation of the servers, the cooks, and some of the clientele. Even the two television sets, one mounted over the brick pizza oven that dominates the dining room, and the other over the adjoining bar, emit an eclectic mix of Italian game shows, soccer matches, and variety programs.
Ah, and the food. Rather than attempts at fancy fusion and culinary complexity, the owners of L'Imperatore have opted to stick with hearty and authentic - what most of us think of as traditional Italian fare.
So don't expect any sun-dried anything in the linguine bolognese ($6.95); it's just fresh linguine blanketed with a slightly spicy meat sauce that tastes as if it simmered for hours. Similarly, don't be disappointed if the shrimp scampi ($9.95 and, yes, somebody should tell menu authors that scampi means shrimp) isn't flecked with specially roasted dollops of something snazzy; just enjoy the garlicky butter-and-wine sauce that envelops the perfectly pink little crustaceans.
There's a lot to like about L'Imperatore, which is tucked into a second-floor corner of the Quincy Fair shopping mall that also includes a Registry of Motor Vehicles office and a multiplex movie theater.
Given the setting, sure, it's a bit of a stretch to pretend you are in Rome or Florence. And the task isn't made much easier by such decor decisions as faux marble columns imbedded with glass cases holding small busts of Caesar - though, to be fair, some members of our party liked the kitschy touch.
Whatever one's view, even such potential distractions become part of the restaurant's charm. Indeed, the overall effect is homey, relaxed, and unpretentious.
L'Imperatore is a mom-and-pop operation, and very much has the feel of one.
Your waitress is going to be either Daniela Marcella or her mom, Elizabeth. The smiling man flipping pizzas behind a plexiglass partition (a mesmerizing treat for the 4-year-old at our table) is the dad of the family, Antonio. And the chef back in the kitchen is his son, Vito, who learned his trade from his mother and grandmother while growing up in the southern Italian town of Palermiti. The family moved to the United States in 1997 and opened their restaurant shortly afterward.
Vito clearly paid close attention to his teachers.
Among the starters, we especially liked his tomato-based minestrone ($2.45). Teeming with vegetables and penne, the soup was hearty without being heavy. It could easily be a meal in itself, maybe with a side of the garlic bread ($2.50) or bruschetta ($3.95 for three pieces, covered separately with tomato salad, salami, and roasted eggplant). The dressing on the Caesar salad ($2.95 small, $4.25 large) was also very good, although as is too often the case, it was laid on a bit too thick.
Another appetizer was the only departure from the otherwise Old Worldly dishes on the relatively short menu: Buffalo wings ($3.95), which were tender but unmemorable. It seems like every restaurant nowadays, regardless of the culinary experience it's trying to offer, has to serve some variation on the Buffalo wing/chicken finger theme. The trend is getting tedious, but it does have its appeal among the pint-size set.
On that count - feeding kids - L'Imperatore is a cheap eats hit. Such entrees as personal pizzas and pasta with tomato or meat sauce are $3.45 on the children's section of the menu, and the helpings are generous. It's a family-friendly place altogether, as well it should be with a movie theater down the hall.
For adults, too, the Marcellas have attained a good balance between price and quality. There are no offerings that soar, but every one consistently elicits reactions ranging from "this is pretty good" to "I'd sure order this again." All the pastas we tried fit into the latter category, particularly the simple chicken and broccoli ($7.95 for a large sauteed cutlet served with crisp flowerets and penne in a white wine sauce) and the lasagne imperiale ($6.95 for a rich version of this Italian treat, suffused with mozzarella and and a thick garlic-basil tomato/meat sauce).
Antonio, who owned a pizza parlor in Italy before immigrating to this country, also makes a scrumptious pizza (starting at $7.45 for small and $9.95 for large, depending on the toppings). We love all the newfangled variations of this doughy dish, but there's still something special about the old-fashioned, medium-thin-crusted pie of our childhoods, and that's what you get here.
If there's one drawback at L'Imperatore, which means "the emperor," it's the service. Maybe it's supposed to replicate the slow-and-easy pace back home, and maybe it's fine for leisurely diners who plan to make an evening of their meals. But the owners' explanation, that cooking everything from scratch takes longer, just doesn't explain lengthy waits for getting a drink or taking an order.
Still, the restaurant makes for a welcome retreat when you're out shopping or getting your license renewed. And it's the kind of place that invites you in for a bite before you see one of the movies nearby. On second thought, you might want to make that after the movie.
Tips & hits
