Had not visited La Famiglia in years but wanted to go back because I remembered it fondly from the times I had gone. I went last night and found it has changed. I still had a good meal but the menu wasn’t very creative. There...was only one special and I could have been reading a menu of any Italian restaurant. The items I ordered were good- burrata with arugula, penne with prosciutto and onions and a rib veal chop. Good food but nothing special a restaurant like the old La Famiglia menu used to be.
I noticed the change immediately when they brought out complementary tomato bruschetta. Who’s serving fresh tomatoes in February? No other topping options that are seasonal? When I ordered my veal chop, I asked waiter if it was a rib chop or loin. He didn’t know and didn’t know the difference. He said it was veal. Not the same level of wait staff as they used to have.
The wine list could use an update. Although I wanted a good bottle of higher priced wine, an easy find at La Famiglia, there didn’t seem to be many choices for good, more affordable options.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the dessert cart. It is still filled with a great variety of options that are excellent. Glad to see that cart is still rolling around!
Regrettably, there are now better options for Italian food in Philly than La Famiglia. I hope they can reclaim their status as top notch Italian by matching the inventive menus their competition offers and finding better wait staff that knows more about food.
Nobody did it better than them and I think they can get back to how great they used to be.More
