Thats Amore Italian Cafe — Restaurant in Seattle

Went in to scout out the place as a possible date night spot for my wife and me. Man, I was not disappointed. It's cute, it's small, it can be intimate, and it's got great city and nature views out the back window. The neighborhood cafe feel out front is lovely too. The head chef said they break out their outdoor patio seating around Mother's Day every year, or, whenever it starts averaging 70+ degrees everyday.

The staff was warm, engaging but still real people. I didn't bother with a reservation figuring one person can probably snag a small corner somewhere, but I get the impression I got lucky. Definitely call ahead or reserve online, especially during peak season, or you might not make it in.

The menu is bountiful but not overwhelming, there's a flourless chocolate cake option for dessert (a plus for the GF crowd), and their marinara sauce is hands down the best I've found maybe ever. And that's saying something, considering my stepmother is full-blooded Italian who makes her own amazing sauce gallons at a time.

I ordered their house calzone, and wasn't surprised to find it took a good while for it to arrive. Calzones always do, but I wasn't in a hurry and knew what I was ordering. To say it was worth the wait is to significantly underplay how good it was. I've only found two memorable calzones in my life, one at Mezza Luna Pizzaria in Eugene, OR and the other here at That's Amore. I could order nothing else from them and be perfectly content going back for years. If that was any indication of the rest of their voluptuous menu, my wife and I are in for a treat.

Next on my list is the Wild Boar Ragu, which the staff says is their overwhelming favorite. My wife is gunning for the Grigliata di Melanzane, which they describe as, "Grilled eggplant, layered with goat cheese, basil, mozzarella and parmesan-marinara sauce."

After being so pleasantly surprised by my calzone, I couldn't walk out of there without sampling the dessert, so I asked my server one question, "If you were only able to have any of these desserts one final time, which would it be?" ...without a moment's hesitation, she confidently pointed at the Tiramisu and smiled, saying, "It's very light." With that, I was wondering if the portion size would be big enough. Light is lovely, but light and small? Irritating. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. The portion was perfect, the flavor, texture and presentation fantastic.

If I had anything negative to say about That's Amore, it's that it can get loud and echoey when it's busy. When you add kids to that mix, couples hoping for a quiet corner may be disappointed a bit. This is honestly, for us at least, a tiny concern.

I look forward to many, many evenings of culinary exploration to come at That's Amore Italian...

Opening with a statement: I think we missed the heyday of this place, or we came on an off night.

I've been wanting to try this place since we discovered it several months ago, with the wild boar ragu being quite appealing on their menu, so made a 5 PM Sunday evening reservation for our 10th wedding anniversary.

Temperature check and vax card check was appreciated. Cute place, with a nice view of the downtown Seattle skyline. Noise level towards the end of our meal got to a point where conversation with my wife was frequently punctuated with "WHAT"; not a good date night destination.

I've never been to an Italian restaurant that didn't provide bread, thought that was quite odd, given the number of positive reviews regarding the bread. Seattle food waste/compost laws?

Rundown of the dishes:

Salumi plate: Interesting mix, but not much of a theme beyond "Italian things on a plate". Waitress didn't provide a rundown of what we were offered, but was a fine journey by ourselves.

Steak florentine: The wild boar ragu listed on the menu is what pulled me in, however the steak florentine listed on the specials sheet seemed appealing. The steak was everything you don't want a steak to be: thin, tough, and gray inside and out despite asking for medium rare. Steak had very little color on the outside, yet was cooked through, that's just how thin it was.

Chicken marsala: Surprisingly good, relative to my steak. Great flavor with the sauce and just enough savory flavor from the mushrooms without being boring. Portion size was correct.

Limoncello cheesecake: a light and delicately-flavored cheesecake ruined by the harshness of the strawberry/rhubarb compote. I'd get that compote on the side and just put the smallest dabs, if any at all, on every bite.

Tiramisu: Hands down, the best tiramisu I've had in Seattle yet. The issues with a lot of tiramisu is that they're just too "wet", this one was fantastically moist without being too wet.

We'll probably give it another try in the future, stick with their regular menu, and will update this review accordingly. Hopefully we can...

Very casual place. We were (literally) sitting on the curb opposite the front door of the restaurant. The sidewalk was between us and the row of tables outside the front door. I liked that ambiance, especially after the streak of hot days.

Their wine menu had decent local vintages and a couple of lesser known Italian ones. The specials menu looked well-constructed, as is the regular menu. I loved their homemade egg pastas, and their rye bread is silky and soft. The wild boar ragu was a pretty rich ragù with four mushrooms and tasted like they had added a little meat during the long cooking and then a bit of shredded meat to bulk it up for a thicker consistency. It was pretty good, but a bit drier in flavor than a typical ragu. They must have used leaner meat. My husband ordered the classic Chicken Marsala and praised it as better than most he has had in a long time. Their portions were not overly generous, but just right. We finished with limoncello cheesecake, which I cannot recommend more.

I think the one addition that they can have on their menu—especially in one of Seattle’s central neighborhoods—is a good, solid vegan option. For the style that their kitchen seems to cook with, I would think a white wine mushroom risotto with shallots, romanesco and a bitter green, like escarole or arugula, would fit the bill. Seriously, with the volume of nutty, flaky fruitiness here in Seattle, an actual vegan entree—not just an entree made vegan with vegan substitutes—should be a requirement. My vegan friend was not all that impressed, even as we were slurping down our dinner with gusto. His meal was rife with red chili flakes, which I have found to be a big no-no with most lifelong vegans I know, and probably was closer to a stir fry than an Italian dish. (Oh well. Next time maybe.)

I’d go back. Definitely. And I wouldn’t feel awkward bringing friends from Italy with me for some darn good new American...