Caruso's, a 5-star delight

PDF of the newspaper article as it appeared in the Journal Gazette

by Sandy Thorn Clark, Restaurant Critic
The Journal Gazette, Sunday, August 17, 1997

Any robber hitting Caruso's, off Interstate 69 at Lake James Exit 150, and demanding, "Show me the dough!" will be well ahead of the game if Caruso's forks over its end-all breadsticks, sausage rolls and torpedoughs.

The comfy family restaurant, with friendly and efficient servers clad in matching burgundy shirts, is the place for platter- long puffy bread ,ticks (four for $2.75) served atop a pool of melted butter. They simply don't get bigger; they simply don't get better.

Italian food aficionados can delight in very cheesy lasagna ($8.25), baked in a casserole and topped with two monstrous juicy meatballs or a large Italian sausage. Also extraordinary: jumbo ricotta-stuffed shells ($8.50) topped with a tasty spaghetti sauce. Both entrees include a dinner salad trio: a crouton-covered house salad with tiny sides of cole slaw and a decent corkscrew pasta salad.

When it comes to sausage rolls, Joe's special ($6.25) is the one to get (and one's plenty for two). With its sausage, mozzarella. onions and hot pepper rings in a homemade crust with a side of good barbecue sauce, Joe' s special is a shows topper. More of a soup and salad person? The rich and creamy broccoli cheese soup is well worth getting if it's the soup du jour. Team it with the creative chicken Waldorf salad ($4.75 and $5.50) - glazed grilled chicken pieces atop iceberg lettuce topped with chunks of green apples, lots of walnuts and raisins, and a scrumptious sweet and sour dressing.

Caruso's deserves dough in return for its masterful creations from dough and more.

Food: 3 stars (maximum)
Service: 1 star (maximum)
Atmosphere: 1 star (maximum)