D’Arpino’s Italian Cafe {Springfield, MO}
Back in 2009 I had a big group of friends that got together once a month and tried new restaurants. The girls liked to dress up so it was usually business casual or higher in dress, we tried to pick restaurants that were local to the area versus being a chain restaurant, and we went back and forth between the Joplin area and the Springfield Area. 12 Restaurants and I made 11 of them. D’Arpino’s Italian Cafe on National in Springfield was one of the places that we went to.
Jump forward to 2016, about a week ago or so, and a sort of date night, but the baby was with us, and Mark and I were trying to decide where to eat. Our normal go to in Springfield is Zio’s but we wanted something a little different. We threw out this suggestion and that and eventually landed on D’Arpino’s and asked why we’d only been there the one time.
It was settled, we were going to D’Arpino’s. Oh and the answer to why we’d only been there once… well because we usually go to Zio’s because we like it that much. But after this night, D’Arpino’s is back on the radar.
Each of our meals started out with a salad. We were asked what kind of dressing we’d like… Ranch because is there any other :). haha. The salad was good. I didn’t really miss the cheese (although there was sprinkled Parmesan Cheese) and croutons. The Kalamata olives were a great addition although I gave most of mine to Mark because he likes them a bit better than I do. I’m newer to the liking Olives bandwagon.
We also started with bread sticks. These bread sticks are good. We got more to go with our meal. I like carbs and these were definitely worth it.
We actually started with an appetizer. We got the Stuffed Pepperoni Bread. This stuff could have been a meal it was so good. It was bread stuffed with pepperoni and Mozzarella cheese… can you get any better? Definitely a good choice.
I went with the Pepperoni Stuffed Chicken. It was a chicken breast stuffed with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, breaded and pan fried, served over a bed of Fettuccine topped with Alfredo Sauce. This was excellent, don’t get me wrong, but I think they could have cut back on the Afredo sauce and it would have been just as good. I love Alfredo but I felt like it over powered the excellent chicken. And i’m telling you, it was good as is.
Hubby went with a special. It was Seafood Ravioli in a red sauce and cheese. He was exceptionally pleased. I tried a bite, but not being crazy about seafood, it was a little fishy tasting to me. He liked it so much though, he ate every last bite.