(Staff Photo: Richard Davis) Primo Restaurant at 1838 N. Crossover Road in Fayetteville.
(Staff Photo: Richard Davis) Primo Restaurant at 1838 N. Crossover Road in Fayetteville.
Primo Nails Italian Wedding Concoction
By Rachel Birdsell
TFW Contributing Writer
Preamble Ramble
One of my Facebook friends suggested that I “like” Primo’s page. I did and when I read their menu, I was intrigued enough to make a lunch stop.
Food for Thought
I had the lunch soup and sandwich special. The soup du jour was Italian Wedding soup, and I chose the Hot Club for my sandwich.
The Hot Club was roasted turkey, prosciutto, bacon, spinach and tomato on grilled sourdough. It was so thick that at first I wasn’t sure if I could get my mouth around it, but then I remembered that I have a pretty big mouth. And even though there were a few rough moments with the prosciutto being a little tough, I thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich. It was tasty, perfectly toasted and the tomato was fresh and ripe. It seems to be the rare case to get a ripe tomato at a restaurant.
I had a few pre-taste misgivings about the soup because I usually don’t like broth based soups. However, this soup was amazing. Instead of the tiny pastry you usually find in Italian Wedding soup, there was cheese-filled ravioli. And even though it was just a cup of soup, there were four raviolis in it. Is “raviolis” the correct way to speak of more than one ravioli at a time? Anyway, the soup also had more than a scant sprinkling of oregano in it, which is good because I like my oregano sprinklings like I do my friends … very liberal. When I got to the bottom of the cup, I wished there was more.
I thought I might have to attend a lot of Italian weddings in order to partake of more wedding soup, but I’ve since researched the soup and learned that Italian Wedding is actually a mistranslation of the original, Minestra Maritata, which means “marriage of soup.” It was a huge relief to me because I don’t think any of the Italians I know are getting married anytime soon.
Bottoms Up
Primo has a full bar and a wine list with a decent amount of Italian wines on it. You can also bring your own bottle of wine to dinner. There is a $10 corkage fee for wines not on the Primo list and a $20 charge for wines on the list. For you sweet tea lovers, I am sad to say that the sweet tea here was weak and was more like colored water with a little sugar in it than it was a glass of tea.
The Sporkcast
(1-5 sporks)
Atmosphere: 3.9 half-priced, chunky, wooden sporks. Just about everything (other than the tea) was very substantial. The tables were substantial. The silverware, bar and chairs were substantial. Hell, even the host that greeted me was substantial. Seriously, had there been a brawl break out in the middle of lunch, I wanted that dude on my side. I loved all of the heavy wood. I wasn’t so fond of the art, though. It looked as though every piece of wall décor was purchased during a 50 percent-off sale at a craft store.
Food: 4.5 beefy sporks named Mario. I was pleasantly surprised by the food here. The outside of the restaurant looks a little too outdoor mall trendy, and I was afraid that the food would follow suit. The soup stole my heart, and while the sandwich wasn’t extraordinary, it was good enough for me to order it again.
Staff: 4.7 sporks with red and white checked napkins tied around the handle. The host was extremely nice, and my waiter was exceptional. He was even nice enough to offer to let me sample the soup before I ordered it.
Dollars spent: A little less than $11. The soup and sandwich special is $7.95, and a glass of tea will run you about $1.95. Appetizers are around $7, sandwiches are around $8 and pasta entrees range from $9 to $15.
Chance of Returning: I will most certainly be back, if not for the Italian Wedding soup, then to try the chicken piccata and the tiramisu.
If you know of a great eating place, drop me a line at rabirdsell@gmail.com. I’ll check it out and let you know what I think.
