If you were going to eat out only one lunch a week, it should be saved for Saturday or Sunday brunch at Penne Pomodoro. Located in Snider Plaza, this neighborhood restaurant is easily within walking distance to campus. It offers both reasonably priced and great food.
It has bright red and yellow colors and an airy feeling throughout the long dining room. Large cans of tomatoes are on display and form a wall from the front door to the kitchen. The back wall has tiled mirrors with intimate booths running along all the free walls and tables filling the middle and surrounding areas. The kitchen is open and visible from almost any seat in the restaurant. This makes it feel very homey and like you are a part of everything going on with the preparation of your meal.
A full bar is on the left as you come in the front door. Penne offers seating outside, which would be perfect for a nice afternoon. The delicious pizzas are cooked in the large wood-burning oven that takes up a quarter of the kitchen. They also offer fresh mozzarella cheese and ground pepper for any entrée.
If you go for brunch (only Saturdays and Sundays) they have a specific menu with familiar breakfast entrees or you can choose from their extensive normal menu.
The menu offers soups, salads, pizzas, pastas, various entrées and house specialties. You can also create your own pasta dish, choosing your favorite homemade pasta and pairing it with your favorite sauce. Low carbohydrate or whole-wheat pastas are also available.
I started with the Antipasto Della Casa, priced at $3 per person, which had a small salad with mixed greens, onions, tomatoes and red peppers topped with a vinaigrette dressing.
Alongside the salad was fried calamari with cocktail sauce and fresh hummus with slices of warm pita bread. It was an interesting variety of food on one plate, but is sure to satisfy.
They also offer bottomless Mimosas, Bellinis, or Bloody Marys for $3.50 during Saturday and Sunday brunch hours. I then ordered the entrées: the create your own omelet with black forest ham, fontina and parmesan cheeses, mushrooms, onions, fresh tomatoes that was served with breakfast potatoes; and the Pizza Del Fattore, which is a pizza bianca with pesto, mozzarella, spinach, scrambled eggs and Italian sausage. I was pleasantly surprised to find both entrées under $10. The pizza was very large, so I ended up taking half of it home, but it tasted just as good cold a few hours later.
Penne Pomodoro has been a popular brunch spot for students before football games; however, the manager said that the restaurant plans on making the it a little quieter and cracking down on fraternities and sororities that frequent the restaurant.
However, I did see large groups of SMU students who were laughing and enjoying the Sunday afternoon. The ownership probably just doesn’t want it to become a hotspot for Greeks while trying to keep it a family restaurant. Don’t let that stop you from trying the great food and inviting atmosphere.
We had a really friendly and funny server that made the meal even more delightful. It seemed like it would be a fun and enjoyable place to work. You can get ideas and recipes to make at home by visiting their Web site at www.pennepomodoro.com and accessing the recipes of the month. The walk is just a little further than Umphrey Lee, so don’t hesitate to try this great restaurant. It’s worth the trip.
