Restaurant Review: Brio Tuscan Grille’s New Menu

We started out with fresh bread and softened butter – always a good thing for me. The bread was great – crunch on the outside and soft on the inside.

We decided to just order their new items and share – first up was the Chef’s Seasonal Bruschetta ($11.95). Today it was proscuitto, carmelized onion and asparagus – it was also delicious! There was a guy behind us that immediately ordered it after seeing our plate! This was very very good but I would say it’s a sharable item – it’s very rich.

The next item we HAD to try – because it was super fun to say – was Burrata & Ciabatta ($10.95). This was perfection from the get-go – with toasted ciabatta bread, roasted tomato marinara and creamy fresh Mozzarella Burrata.

Layer that up – ciabatta, soft & creamy burrata and then topped with roasted tomato marinara. The acidity of the tomato with the soft melty creamy cheese – oh man. It was delicious and I mean that. I really wish I had some of that in front of me right now cuz I’m starving!

After the appetizers, we decided to share the Short Rib & White Cheddar Sandwich ($13.95). The sandwich is served open face with carmelized onions, arugula and a side of house-made chips. I’m a huge fan of short ribs – pretty much if it’s on the menu – I’m ordering it. They split this into two plates for us – which was nice.

We also got a couple of sides to try – the first was Creamed Spinach & Kale. I’m not a huge spinach fan and I can’t stand kale but this stuff was delicious! Of course when you add cream and cheese – it pretty much always makes things better. We killed this side between the two of us – I could go back for that every day! I can’t believe I LIKED KALE!?!

On the other hand – I love Brussels Sprouts – so I thought the Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts would be a slam dunk – with applewood bacon, capers, pecans and Parmesano Reggiano. Unfortunately the sprouts were a little too raw for our tastes and the bacon was overdone – it just didn’t do it for us.