Sugos - Where Half of Everything is Fantastic

Date Dined: April 28, 2014

Rating: 3.5 Stars

After a week of eating nothing but leftover burgers it was time for a change. We decided to hit up Sugos, a cheap Italian place in Frontenac. Nestled in an unassuming building in the Frontenac plaza, Sugos was satisfying, but not amazing.

The décor is fairly simple. A long, wooden table sits in the middle of the room and divides the two sides. Through an arched doorway a second room sits. The tables are all a dark brown wood and fit the overall theme well. There’s a partially concealed kitchen. From the right table you can see into it and witness everything that is happening. There is no bar so don’t both asking for a draft beer or mixed drink of any sort.

The bread they bring out is plentiful and there is a variety. You have your traditional white Italian bread that most restaurants serve, a potato bread that was a little too tough for my liking, and a pre-roasted garlic bread which I found delicious. In fact, if I could have ordered a side of pasta sauce, I think the garlic bread would have been the perfect appetizer. It was crispy with just a hint of softness in the middle, soaked in butter and garlic. Wonderfully bad for you.

Next we ordered the Caesar salad, as people have noticed is usually my staple. As Caesars go it was pretty delicious, I’d probably give it 4.5 stars. There was nothing fancy about it, it was just a good hearty salad. The dressing was just the right amounts of creamy, fishy, and in just the right amount, the lettuce was dark green and crisp, and it was an appropriate size for the price.

For our entrees we ordered the veal Milanese and the pollo pizza. Neither of these in my mind was outstanding, but the veal was tasty. They had done a great job of pounding it flat and making it fork tender. The breading they used was crispy with just the right hint of Italian spices and salt. The garlic lemon pasta was lackluster. It came out with the boiling water dripping onto the plate and you could barely taste the garlic or lemon. It also wasn’t al dente at all, instead being overly cooked and slightly mushy.

The pizza looked delicious on first glance, but I found it to be a little lackluster. (This is a pitcure of the Margherita, we ate the pollo too fast to take a picture!) The pollo had tomatoes, chicken, and caramelized onions. Unfortunately, the chicken was dry and tasteless, the caramelized onions were sparse and undercooked, and the tomatoes likewise barely made an appearance. Now I love a white pizza, but you have to do something with the olive oil. Sugos didn’t. They just layered on some olive oil, put some cheese and toppings on top and then baked it. The crust was crispy, but tough at the same time. You could especially taste the insane amounts of flour they used when you got to the edges of the crust, I almost choked on it. Now I’ve heard that traditional Italian style pizza is crispy and tougher, but if this is it then I don’t want to go to Italy.

The price is really what saves this place from a lesser rating. Most entrees are $10.00 and even the meat dishes are under $20.00. If you’re looking for a cheap place to eat where you’ll leave full this is probably a step up from Olive Garden, but don’t expect to be wowed.