The homemade sauce and mouth-watering pasta of La Bella Sicilia's have been delighting Buffalonians for decades. Located at 2909 Genesee St. in Buffalo, this restaurant serves up no-fuss Italian meals at the right price.
The restaurant appears at first glance to be the typical mom-and-pop Italian restaurant with a homey feel and a clanging kitchen. Stained glass Tiffany lamps illuminate crimson vinyl tablecloths and vivid artwork adorns the stucco walls. Don't let the ordinary appearance fool you though - the food here is a cut above the rest.
Sicilia's menu features a wide selection of home-style Italian dishes, all of which are generous in price. Varying from pizza, wings and sandwiches to pastas, specialty veal and chicken cutlets, any selection leaves guests with full stomachs and big smiles.
Buttery, light crusted, brick-oven style pizzas cost from $7.50 (small) to $9.50 (large). Chicken wings - a dietary staple of Buffalo - are a tasty choice, as well, costing only $6 for 12 wings.
Appetizers include pasta e fagiole soup and a tomato broth-based bean soup, both traditional Italian favorites. The menu selection also offers an original clams casino recipe with blended chopped clams, breadcrumbs and half-cloved garlic, baked into individual tins and served with lemon wedges and hot sauce.
A must-try appetizer for any first time guest is the "Eppie," an original house creation consisting of the perfect marriage of onions, peppers and mozzarella cheese, wrapped in pizza dough and baked to perfection.
Each table, equipped with Parmesan cheese and red pepper, also comes with a complimentary loaf of warm, fresh Costanzo bread, brought in from one of Buffalo's most famous bakeries.
Chicken and veal dishes come with sides of pasta, ziti or salad, with ample portions cooked to perfection. Sicilia's also offers the ala Margarita prepared dinner, in which meat is first combined with eggplant and ham, then smothered in mozzarella cheese.
A similarly unique preparation option is the ala Francese, in which meat is saut?(c)ed in a delicious lemon butter sauce. Chicken and veal dishes, even with all the works, usually cost under $13.50. For more simple tastes, ala parmigiana preparation smothers traditional dinners with tasty mozzarella cheese.
Pasta selection is simple and inexpensive, with most pasta costing under $6.50 for a hefty portion. The real winner of the pasta dishes is the meat tortellini, which is prepared in Sicilia's signature sweet red sauce, served in a tin dish and baked beneath a blanket of mozzarella cheese; each bite is flavorful, thick and delicious.
After all this rich, decadent food, Sicilia knows to keep things simple in the dessert department. They offer just a few options including their carrot cake and signature cannoli. Even for the stuffed customer, the cannoli is surprisingly light compared to other recipes. Costing only $2.50 per cannoli, this traditional Italian pastry can fit into any budget.
All courses at La Bella Sicilia are fresh and relaxing; the atmosphere and food bring eaters into their comfort zone. But you'll always find yourself stuff half a plate's worth of food into one of the Styrofoam containers for tomorrow's lunch. Altogether, La Bella Sicilia is definitely student and wallet-friendly.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
