Damian's 30th Anniversary

I was lucky enough to be invited to do a tasting at Damian's 30th Anniversary dinner.  

This is a very nice set of menu of 4 course meal.  I know you missed the January deal, of $30 for a 3-course dinner like the one I'm about to tell you how good it is.  But for the entire month of February,  it's Spaghetti and Meatball Fridays for $8.30 in honor of their start year of 1983.  In March, they are having the return of classic dishes daily, chosen by their servers.

For start, we were greeted by Johnny Mandola, he was very hospitable and it's like welcoming people to his home.  He made sure all of his guests are taken care of.

We started out with shrimp brochette h'orderves.  It's quite nice and tasty, but didn't want to fill up on bread, we got more to go.

Once we sat down, we had the Mona Lisa salad.  It's very unique is that it has mixed greens, feta cheese, and roasted almonds.  Together with the balsamic dressing, it's a very sweet start.  No, seriously, it is kinda sweet and you get that as a mix with everything in the same bite. 

Right after the salad, they brought out the Ravioli for the antipasti course.  It's really well done, the only thing is that it's a sweet potato ravioli, which made me felt double starched.  Personally, having been here, I think I would've selected the gnocchi instead, which has spinach and cream in a tomato sauce, much more well balanced and less likely fill you up early on in the night.

For my entree', I selected their Veal Marsala with green beans.  Everything is very flavorful just I remembered them to be.  Green beans were fresh and I literally wiped the plate down with them to get the very last bit of that marsala sauce.  YUM!

Lastly for dessert, we had tiramisu.  Who doesn't like tiramisu?!  Nobody!  Light mascarpone cream and coffee soaked ladyfingers.  This is as delightful as you're going to get.  Totally made my night!

One thing I like about Damian's is that if you go there before going to a show at the theatre district, they have 2 shuttles that takes you there.  They take you to Jones Hall, Alley, Wortham, and Hobby Center.  For special events, something really big like Paul McCartney, they may make an exception to go to Minute Maid or Toyota Center.  Check with them when you make a dinner reservation.  The good thing is, you grab an early dinner, let your server know you're going to a show, they'll make sure you get on that shuttle.  You don't have to fuss about parking and getting stuck when you are out of the show, and afterwards, you can come back for dessert.  It's a great arrangement, and the only restaurant that I know of offer this service.

When we were there, companies are having happy hour for their staff at their banquet room.  They have a wine room for private dinners.  Not to mention they have a gluten free items noted on the menu in case you're interested.  And their servers have been there for a long time which knows their stuff.  Being that this is the restaurant's 30th year, they must be doing something right.  

Damian's

3011 Smith Street

Houston, TX 77006

713-522-0439

http://www.damians.com/menu.html