PENINSULA ITALIAN AMERICAN SOCIAL CLUB

 

We received a hot tip of a Italian American Social Club that served lunch to the public. Normaly eating here is for members only and this was an oppurtunity to sample their food offerings. This club is located in San Mateo which is an hour away if you are lucky. (traffic). We were semi-lucky and hit light traffic in the congested Bay Area freeways. I did find a metered parking spot two doors down. Parking karma was with us today.

This was a Thurdsay afternoon at 12:30pm. The place was packed. The hostess (snooty) asked us if we had reservations. We did not. She rather abruptly said we would have to wait. After a few moments a waitress came to our rescue and informed us we could sit in the outdoor back dinning area. It was a pleasant afternoon and the back area was very nice. There were all ready some people dinning and it puzzled me why the hostess did not give us this option. Our waitress was very nice and made up for our dismal start.

The menu was fairly small and had some traditional Italian faire. Ms. Goofy ordered the Osso Buco, and I a grilled pork chop. We had salads and split an order of ravioli. 

The raviolis were just what the doctored ordered. It came with a little bowl of parmesan cheese. I did forget to mention we were served little tiny freshly baked rolls. They were small but big on flavor. Ms. Goofy swooned on her Osso Buco. It was tender fall of the bone yummy. It came with a decadent mushroom rissotto. My grilled pork chop was served with a red wine sauce and melody of vegetables. I did not sing along with the melody but I did knaw on the bone of my fantastic chop. The waitress asked us if we wanted dessert. She describe a spumoni chocolate covered ice cream treat which we/I could not resist.

This was a fantastic lunch. The Peninsula Italian American Social Club is a step back in time with a lot of our favorite old time Italian dishes. The only hiccup we had was a not so pleasant greeting by the hostess. Once we had bypassed her the rest of the meal and waitstaff was stellar. I reccomend sitting in the outside back dinning area. It is a lot quiter and very pleasant. Sadly, I do not think we will be returning for the only reason of logistics. A fact of life, living in the Bay Area is traffic. This restaurant is an hour away if you are traffic lucky. We have options that are closer.