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5 reviews for Spago Ristorante Italiano & After Dark Lounge
All Reviews
Spago Ristorante Italiano & After Dark Lounge
4/7/2009
My friends and I were just in town for the NCAA Final Four tournament in Detroit and our hotel was in Windsor. I searched on Yelp and saw that this had a couple good reviews. We decided to walk over to this place and were greeted by the friendly staff at Spago. We sat down and decided to order family style between the 3 of us. We started off with the Calamari which was excellent and well seasoned. We then split the Lasagna, Classic Pizza and Carbonara dishes. All 3 of the dishes hit the mark. The Carbonara was my favorite. The staff were extremely friendly when we asked for extra sauces and were always there for refills of our drinks. We ended off the marathon lunch with the oreo and reeses pieces pies.
My friends and I had a great lunch and an awesome time! We were very pleasantly surprised and even raved about the meal a couple days later. Must try if you are ever in Windsor!
Spago Ristorante Italiano & After Dark Lounge
3/21/2010
14 photos
Fine dining in Windsor has fallen on hard, hard times. The Cook Shop, a couple high roller joints at the casino, the Hilton. Windsor's saving grace for visible culture, besides the clutch of Chinese and Viet restaurants huddled around the university, is Little Italy. Italians made Windsor, literally, and the Erie street Italian corridor continues to provide a respite from what has become a hollowed out downtown core given over to bars, strippers, rub 'n' tugs, and cigar shops.
A google search on "fine dining windsor" turns up a rather thin list. Alan Manor? Hmmm. I find restaurants whose main draw is they're built around a century house to offer cuisine as stultified.
After the Cook Shop, Spago seems to come up high in recommendations for upscale cuisine.
The restaurant is divided by floor. The lower level is a casual pizza/pasta joint. The upper floor is the fine dining section. Fine dining section, please. I've got a blind date to impress.
There's a nice set of window side tables over looking Erie street. Probably high value real estate when the weather turns better and the night takes hold. I think Spago's fine dining floor is best enjoyed at night. With 6 pm, weekend after spring forward light streaming in, and a lack of patrons who probably know Spago's core hours, there's a certain uncomfortable hollowness to the restaurant that the decor could not rescue.
The service, as fellow Yelpers note, is par exception. You're attended to by a head waiter and back up. Both are friendly, talkative, and curious what brings you to their abode.
The food. My date, after some research on her iPod English-to-Chinese dictionary, determined escargot was actually better than I described it in my best ESL teacher voice. She went with the snail special. I went with the on menu calamari. Mains, she went with the piccolo mare pasta bowl and I had the veal/mushrooms in a beef broth special of the day.
Price and portion wise are spot on. You start with a huge plate of foccacia bread. I always had one standing rule with any Korean speaker in Korea I dined with at a white linen joint. If the waiter wants to know if we want our bread basket refilled, always answer in the affirmative. I love my carbs and may you burn in hell Atkins. I could barely get past one piece of the foccacia bread. I found it a step down from military grade hard tack.
The appetizers were quite nice. My fix up date enjoyed her snail but her fork found its way to my calamari. The squid was indeed mmmm soft. It's breaded and served with a bowl of shrimp sauce. I prefer a grilled, unbreaded calamari but if you're looking for a battered delight, Spago's is without compare.
Before the mains small salads arrived. Spago eschews the nouvelle cuisine style of the last 20 years and fills your plate with a hearty portion. My blind date made it about half way through her mega bowl of clams and pasta and gave it a thumbs up. I finished my veal. The veal was nicely done but I don't think I'd order that dish again.
We finished with tiramisu and a cup of coffee. No one is going to run around raving with their arms flapping over Spago's coffee. One might have tested them on their espresso. Think, Karl. Think.
Despite having half her meal wrapped up (I fell on my sword and requested a doggy bag for her, claiming she was a starving foreign student), my date knocked off the tiramisu in record time.
About the only down side of Spago was the men's washroom. It was small and not well appointed. Got to dock them a star for washroom facilities.
Spago Ristorante Italiano & After Dark Lounge
3/25/2009
I love this place. The food is excellent and the service is top notch! Erie Street is the Little Italy of Windsor, and Spago is among the best on Erie. If you love Italian food and appreciate GREAT service - this is a must try.
Listed in: Viva Italia!!!, Across the River in Windsor
Spago Ristorante Italiano & After Dark Lounge
10/4/2009
One of my most memorable restaurants ever! This place is very cute, especially considering what the surrounding cities have to offer. My boyfriend at the time and I drove there from Detroit (it's a short ride, just cross the bridge/tunnel to Canada). We had a nice dinner upstairs. That was the first time I tried mussels, and fell in love, as they were prepared so nicely.
Then off to the lounge. We took our wine from upstairs and they brought our desert to us from the kitchen. We first sat on the couches and tried the cakes while the rest of the people socialized and some danced. The bar there also served drinks. The ambiance was incredible. Lots of older folk but they were all so energetic and cool. We danced to the band, which was very similar to Gypsy Kings. Those guys are fantastic!
This was more than two years ago and I still often think about the place. If I am ever in the area, I will go back in a heartbeat! Highly recommended!
Spago Ristorante Italiano & After Dark Lounge
8/9/2008
Sometimes you feel like getting away, but you don't have much time or money or energy. Windsor is really convenient, and along Erie Street there are so many options for Italian food. My grandfather and I drove into town one Sunday last November and had the most wonderful time at Spago. It was packed, but they found us a great table, showed us great service, and the food was excellent. I had a pasta dish and he had veal parmigiana. Sitting upstairs was really pleasant, and everyone seemed happy to be there. I would definitely return.
