Andiario — Restaurant in West Chester

My partner took me to dinner at Andiario on the evening of March 30. The atmosphere is lovely and the service was excellent.

We had an amuse bouche arancini that was made with farro and a lovely melty cheese that was a perfect bite.

The first course was Florida shrimp with kumquat and peppers. The shrimp were fresh and delicious and the fruit and peppers were a great accompaniment. Unfortunately, the shrimp had not been cleaned---at all. The vein was still intact, despite the fact that it appeared as though someone had sliced down the back of the shrimp. This is a huge oversight that I hope the restaurant will correct. Also, for a more upscale restaurant, the shrimp should have been prepared so that it was such a messy struggle to get it out of the shell--I literally had to unbutton and roll up the sleeves of my dress to be able to peel it.

The second course was a dragon's teeth pasta with oxtail ragu. The pasta was toothy (in more ways than one :)) and the ragu was rich and delicious. A server came with cheese and grated it over my dish without a)asking if I wanted cheese and b)asking me to indicate how much cheese was desired. We were also served a very delicious country loaf--tangy on the inside and crusty on the outside.

The main course was an enormous pork shank with borlotti beans and green garlic, and it was wood roasted. I'm not a garlic fan, but the meat was beautifully cooked and very tender. The area nearest the skin was a little dry, but not terribly so. To me, the pork was very rich and too similar to the oxtail--and it desperately needed a different vegetable accompaniment. The beans were too similar in texture and the dish was missing something on the vinegary side to cut the richness of all that meat.

Dessert was a lovely sponge cake with persimmon jam and whipped cream—delicious and light.

I had one of the two cocktails on the menu—the aperol spritz, which was perfect. My partner had a glass of wine suggested by one of the staff.

I know that in a restaurant like this where you are getting what the chef prepares, without the choices normally afforded by a menu, there is a chance you will not like things that are served. Generally, I enjoyed everything and I will definitely return in a different season to dine again. However, failure to serve clean shrimp is a huge issue for me, and there are certainly places where the diner can be given a choice about whether they want something like cheese.

I would have liked to given 5 stars, but when my partner and I discussed the experience the next morning, we both independently...

A Little Boujee Perhaps it was the anticipation after hearing all the hype; or perhaps the long and complicated process of getting a reservation (ugh never again) but I was ready for a "knock my socks off" evening but was left with a "meh; it's okay” feeling. Def not worth the hype. From a food perspective , it was just OK, starting plate was the Vitelo Tonnato ,tasty for sure a little too much hint of the tuna in it though. Next ,the truffle pasta was note worthy, good, the dessert which was a chamomile cake seemed a bit on the dry side. The main course which was a "half" a baby chicken was shared between two people. We were told they are grown specially for the restaurant (so maybe they should hatch a few more eggs to at least let 2 people share a whole baby bird ……..(mind you you are charged for 2 complete dinners) Little bit O' food for two folks..... but what really killed the evening for us was the $35.00 corking fee. (Which means that your 20 dollar bottle of wine now costs you $55.00 or your $60.00 bottle of Amarone , now costs you $100.00. We BYOB'ed our own wine already uncorked and were still charged the fee, when we inquired as to why we were charged for a service that was not provided to us, the Hostess/ Manager , quickly answered with a degree of dissension "that is our policy, I told you when I seated you that we would charge you", BTW... she did not, when I mentioned we have been to other BYOBs that do not charge , she quipped "we have a liquor a license to pay for, and your still getting the charge “ .Meaning , you the customer is paying for our liquor license, she then asked me with a condescending edge to her voice , "how do you think I should communicate this moving forward?" Honestly she killed the evening for us. My take away is eh..... a little Boujee, a little food, that was nothing special. way over priced don't need to go again.. It will burn itself out . Have experienced way better dinners and atmosphere...

It's unbelievable that a place like this exists in West Chester. A person would normally have to travel into Philly for food and service like this. The portion sizes are good, you definitely won't feel as if you're spending too much money for a small plate. You must have the pasta, split it with your date and get separate entree's, you will not regret it. I think it's a BYOB, but they do have wine and beer,more wine than beer of course, this isn't a college bar.

Speaking of college bars, don't dress like you're in one. Put some effort into your attire, this is a nice place. I'm not saying you can't put on a pair of jeans, but save the ripped and sagging jeans for another night.

It can be expensive if you make it, we sure did. It was our first time going and it was for a special occasion so we splurged a bit. I think next time the game plan will be a bit different, but I can't say for sure, seeing as how everything was delicious.

If there's anything I could possibly have an issue with, it's the bread. I myself don't eat much bread at dinner, but I know that I'm in the minority here, you people LOVE bread at the table. What they give you is a portioned cut of bread. As in a single piece of bread per person. Just be aware of that. I hope that doesn't dissuade you, it's just something that I thought was strange. Honestly, the portions of your meal are so big, they probably don't want you to fill up on it, and instead want you to finish your meal there.

Oh wow, I wrote a bunch. I'm sorry if I'm not too coherent in my thoughts or jumping from point to something unrelated, I'll fix that later. Your take away from my rambling is that this place is great, you should go, you should get as much food as you can, and you will leave more...