We had a very simple Thanksgiving this year with just the two of us. It was low key, low stress, and I only made the foods we really loved! We enjoyed leftovers on Friday and by last night, we were ready for something new. Despite being a restaurant mecca, good Italian food is very hard to find. I am already counting down to our trip home for Christmas where I can have all the provel cheese and toasted raviolis I want! Thanksgiving morning, I went out to get Thanksgiving Day donuts, a long lived Kupfer tradition, and stumbled across a new place called Gino's Italian Restaurant. I mentioned it to Mike and we decided that's what we wanted. It had mixed reviews on Yelp, so I didn't have high hopes, but decided to give it a shot. We got there around 7 pm, a typical dining hour in Austin, and it was pretty busy, which I took as a good sign. We were promptly seated and began browsing the menu. I saw toasted ravioli on the menu and was excited until I learned they were stuffed with cheese, not beef. They may have been good, but I was looking for traditional t-ravs. I ended up ordering the baked ravioli and Mike settled on the Chicken Sorento.

Both dishes were served with side salads and we enjoyed bread with the seasoned olive oil. My ravioli was perfect. It had cheese baked on top, with tasty sauce, and well seasoned beef inside. I also felt like the portion size was perfect for me. I ate the whole entree and didn't feel overly stuffed. Mike's chicken was yummy, too and was served with a large side of spaghetti. We probably could have split his dish.

Since we skipped appetizers, I really wanted to try a dessert. Our waiter highly recommended the lemoncello cake and we took his suggestion. It was reasonably priced and perfectly portion sized for people who were a little bit full. It was delicious with a great lemon flavor and cake that was tender and not dry. Overall, we were very impressed and may have finally found our go to place for Italian foods in Austin.

The New Austonian