As we make our culinary journey around this area, we keep being told we need to try Da Francesco’s Italian Restaurant in Shelby Township. We thought our trip there was long overdue. The restaurant is located on Van Dyke, just North of 22 Mile Road. We had reservations for an early dinner, as we, as usual had an early breakfast, no lunch and we were starving. Always nice to also beat the rush.
Even at 5:30 the place was busy. We weren’t surprised as we were told there is usually long lines for a table. We were told that our table was not quite ready so we sat at the bar. I ordered a Tito’s and soda, with a splash of cran and squeeze of lime. The bartender made a perfect drink, and even fresh squeezed lime into the drink, not just setting a lime wedge in the edge. Omar ordered a martini, with 3 anchovy stuffed olives. The bar had the olives already made which was a nice touch.
It only took the time to receive our drinks when our table was called. We made our way through a busy dining room to our table.
The menu had a variety of specialty items, chicken, veal, and seafood dishes. The specials had some interesting items as well. After a long time pondering the pasta paradise of offerings, we decided on dinner.
Our waitress, Clair, was nice and bubbly. She was very attentive, answering questions and checking on us. She brought us a bread basket, which had basic Italian bread, but also had very nice crisp breadsticks. The breadsticks were very good, but I didn’t want to fill up on Italian bread and butter. We started our meal with Arancini Di Riso, which essentially is a savory lava cake. The dish is made with rice, formed into a ball and deep fried with a center of beef and veal, fresh peas, cheese and herbs. It really is like a savory lava cake, because when you cut into the tennis ball sized appetizer, it oozes cheese and peas into a plate of delicious Bolognese sauce.
For dinner, Omar ordered Frutti Di Mare. This essentially translates as to “Fruit of the Sea”. This dish was jumbo shrimp, scallops, calamari and clams sautéed in a marinara sauce tossed with fettuccini pasta. Omar enjoyed his dinner and said the seafood was cooked perfect.
I on the other hand opted for Mamma’s Assunta. This dish consisted of chicken breast medallions sautéed with artichokes and mushrooms with a white wine lemon butter sauce and a side of pasta. As I don’t eat mushrooms, I substituted for spinach, over a bed of pasta instead of on the side. They had no problem making changes for dietary restrictions, they very accommodating.
We had a very nice experience. Great bartender, great waitress, really good food and of course great company. We will go back again for sure and will go early again as when we left the place was packed!!