Teresa Caffe

Living in Forbes means that anywhere farther than Frist is often viewed as unreasonably far. The only compelling reason why I made the long and treacherous journey to Palmer Square was Teresa Caffe.

Though I’m not typically a huge fan of Italian (crazy, I know), Teresa Caffe is an exception. First off, it is home to the World’s Greatest Margherita Pizza. If you learn nothing else from this review, remember this: Get. The. Margherita. Pizza. At some point, any point or maybe even all the points. Despite its amazing simplicity, it’s one of the highlights of the menu.

This time around, I opted for a healthier choice — a salad. Friends ordered the Americana pizza that was loaded with meat and two different types of salad. The friend with the pizza barely talked to me or anyone else as she inhaled slice after slice. Another described her salad as “pretty good,” though she admitted that the chicken was rather dry.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my choice of the pollo y orzo salad. The sundried tomato dressing was one of the best I've ever had, but while all of the ingredients within the salad came together nicely, there wasn’t a generous amount in there to begin with.

Aside from the food, service was exceptional — once we got through the door. On a Saturday or Sunday, expect a long wait time if you’re looking to be seated at any reasonable mealtime. It took us over 45 minutes to get a table — and that was after I had called to see how the waitlist was doing.

That’s another thing — because the restaurant doesn’t do reservations, if you’re planning on eating during peak hours, it’s in your best interest to call half an hour ahead and ask to be placed on the waitlist. Otherwise, like me, you’ll be left to wait outside in the cold as you stare longingly through the window at the entrees being served to other customers. Once I was actually seated, I couldn’t have asked for better service. Our waitress was more than helpful and accommodated our constant requests.

Overall, Teresa Caffe has always been a dependable destination, despite the distance. Who knows, maybe I can even convince them to start delivering and have them come to me. Now wouldn’t that be living the dream?

4.5 out of 5 paws