Restaurant Review: Gratzi (or, Steve’s birthday week: the conclusion)

What and Where:

Gratzi | 326 S. Main Street | Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (734) 663-6387

Ratings (1=terrible, 5=mind-blowingly great)

Comments (as of 3/25/06)

• Our visit last night to Gratzi closed out my annual “birthday week,” this one made all the more special by the fact that this is the big 4-o for me.
• Gratzi is actually part of a quasi-chain of restaurants owned by Main Street Ventures which owns four other restaurants in Ann Arbor. We’re also a big fan of one of their operations in Toldeo, Ciao.
• One of the reasons we went to Gratzi last night (and I think this is true with the other Main Street Ventures places) is if you go to the place on your birthday– and I mean the actual day, not the day you’re celebrating– they give you a significant amount off of your meal. For us, it amounted to over $20. In short, the “value” factor goes up quite a bit on your birthday.
• At one point in time, people used to say it was the best restaurant in town. I don’t know about that. But while I’ve had less than great meals at Gratzi, I think it is consistantly one of the better restaurants in Ann Arbor.
• That was certainly the case last night. I had the porterhouse steak and it was an enormous and darn tasty hunk of meat. We shared the antipasti misti, and that too was a nice start to the meal. I haven’t asked about it, but I think Annette liked her chicken marsala just fine. For desert, we had a freebie cannoli that was very yummy.
• Will contends that the fettuccini alfredo is the best anywhere.
• Other winners at Gratzi are the salmon ravioli, the veal, the various specials that crop up on the weekly menu.
• The only food complaint/critique I had about last night is the vegetables seemed oddly under-cooked, both on the antipasti misti platter and with my steak.
• I think the wine list is a bit over-priced, though we were recommended a very nice bottle of wine last night.
• It’s a really pretty restaurant. We were lucky enough to sit on the second level right by the large window that overlooks main street, so there was people watching outside and over the balcony’s edge inside.
• All in all, a big thumbs up. Gratzi is not exactly a “risky” restaurant, but it almost always is a winner for “occassion” meals like last night.