A Night In Italy (Via Locusta)
Saucy swindles, decadent (pasta) desserts, and a strange case of the post-dinner munchies
Via Locusta
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Via Locusta -
Philadelphia can brag about a lot of things. I’m not going to list them out because honestly, it depends on the day whether or not I think Philly is a great city. And one of my biggest qualms with the city is the food scene. I’m sure there are hidden gems, long-time favorites, and the like that some of y’all are ready to fight for. But my main issue with the food scene in Philly is that there’s no guarantee. I’ve yawned in the face of staple recommendations and constantly crave unheard-of restaurants. I’ve sat in restaurants and stared blankly at a meal that I feel guilty spending money on.
I say all that to say this: the Philly food scene is a jumble of chaos, hidden spots, and overpriced meals.
My friends and I decided to go to Via Locusta and determine if this restaurant lived up to its glory on Instagram reels or would fall to the wayside of being another overhyped restaurant near Rittenhouse. I wanted Thai food, but all the good places were reserved, and I wasn’t in the mood to have dinner at 9:45 PM on a Thursday.
We started with their famous focaccia bread and honeycomb butter. Absolutely delicious, and it lived up to its hype on Yelp reviews. My only thing is that they should have cut into pieces already because, we were barely able to get a quarter each, and didn’t feel like an appetizer and more like a snack with the appropriate serving size. Give me my overfilled bread basket, please!
We then had a prosciutto pizza, which was not worth the price. It was crispy and light, but something was missing. Maybe some more sauce, or maybe more prosciutto. Whatever it was, I didn’t feel the need to reach for another slice. Onto the next!!
I had squid ink calamari, my friends had malfadine, and then sweet potato tortellini that ended up being our palate cleanser and mid-dinner dessert. I enjoyed the bites I had of each (less so for the sweet potato tortellini) but I wasn’t wow-ed. I want to feel in love, happy, giddy, excited, and most of all satisfied with my selection. My friends and I had some good laughs and some cute pictures, but the food felt like background noise. The pictures I got were scrumptious, but I wonder if it was just the (im)perfect storm of being cold, very hungry, and craving spicy food that made Via Locusta less impressive. As I write this, I also wonder if I was feeling especially hater-y that day, but if the food was good enough, my mood would've significantly improved! Kind of embarrassing but it’s true (andddd, I know you feel that way too).
Would I go back? Maybe after some re-consideration and a quick check through my bank account. Was it the terrible meal? Not in the slightest! I enjoyed the food, but there was a piece, a spark, maybe a well-heated outside seating area, that was missing for me. A very delicious adventure, but one I won’t be making again anytime soon.
