Piccola Cucina Ox Pasture — Restaurant in Red Lodge

Sure, we knew about PCOP. Our friends raved about it, but they also raved about movies we hated. It had reviews that proclaimed it was the best meal of patron’s lives. We thought they might need to get out more, maybe see the world before making a statement like that.

Still, we saved it, like grandma’s fancy soaps, for a special day, a day worthy of the expected experience. That day comes and goes, life lived at warp speed and all of that. So today, a Wednesday, a regular Wednesday, one without guests or annual tradition, no reason to make-up or breakup, sing or swear, just a regular old day which seemed like reason enough to use the soap by the sink and make the reservation.

Just walking in the door was worth the washing up. Then we met the servers, ate the bread sticks, and died of happiness over the Greek Salad (with shrimp, a decision I thought we might regret, but ended up being the best decision ever.) The pasta (which we normally don’t eat) the cannoli (again, not a standard choice) every single thing, from hello to goodbye made us glad we finally said, “Let’s just go” and then up and went.

Others celebrated birthdays and being with a mound of friends. We sang for them, smiled at them, and reveled in the fact that we didn’t have to do anything but celebrate being together, in a place that will be a special memory, and a treasured place we go to just because we can.

You might be like us, trying to decide if today should be the day, or if the wait is worth the time.

To both I say, it is. Go. Stand in line. Eat the pasta. Swim in the salad.

Just go, because it’s a going to be a decision you don’t regret, even if it is just...

I'm giving 5 stars because we love this place so much and it is clearly quality food, although I still have my complaints. We don't typically get any kind of Italian food because it's easy enough to use our pasta maker at home, but it's wonderful that a Sicilian place in other parts of the world has found a seasonal home in Red Lodge.

The first time I went, my mom and I just walked in and found a table. This last time, my husband and I had a reservation - however, no table was ready for us. All the years I've worked in restaurants, yeah that's pretty bad. On top of that, the lady who I believe is the main force running the place was a bit salty and not very kindly towards us. We got wine and while I enjoyed mine, my husband felt like his wine tasted cheaper than Holliday wine. Additionally, the calamari seemed cheap - it was largely ribbons of zucchini in salty light batter, not actual calamari.

That being said, we enjoyed sharing many plates that didn't seem to be too oversized. We split some pasta, the spinach (we used the lemon from the calamari to add flavor, it was good but a bit bland), grilled vegetables, and then we finished with espresso. The pasta is always delicious. Overall, the sauce can be salty, but we find that problem (high sodium foods) with all American restaurants. My husband did want to mention the meatballs were dry (I myself don't eat meat, so that's just his claim). We were able to box up a nice portion for the next day. Again, we have our complaints, but the reality is this restaurant is still a beautiful and delicious place that we will return to. For Red Lodge, it is certainly worth...

Anticipating to eat here for a few weeks as a buddy of mine has been raving about it. We both love Italian food and we both lived in Italy for a few years. The place reminded me of a Trattoria, a bit more upscale, the place was hustlin' and bustlin' for a Sat night. We had reservations at 6pm but we got to sit at our table a bit early. Service was great from getting our drinks and ordering apps. The special of the day was soft shell crabs for the app; choice of ravioli with bison ragu or ribeye steak with onions and potatoes for main dish. We had to ask a few times about the special as our waiter had an accent. For apps we had the soft shell crabs and arancini-the crabs came with 3 to an order-they were ok, could of been a little more crunchy. The aioli was good. The aracini tasted great, nice light crunch on the outside and moist and tender underneath. My friends had the ravioli special and cacio e pepe pasta dish. The ravioli was very disappointing in flavor as it tasted like chef boyardee, exactly like it. The cacio e pepe dish was very salty and my friend was unable to finish it. My ribeye steak was great. We opted out for the dessert. Overall, the food was a little disappointing especially since I came all the way from Texas to visit and heard great things...