A Monday Visit to Ghiringhelli Pizzeria Grill & Bar

It’s no secret that Mondays are not a favorite day of the week for anyone. It’s always a rough adjustment getting back to the weekday rhythm after a weekend. What’s the universal question in your home? I know for me, it’s “What’s for dinner?” So, last Monday night my family and I decided to check out . Overall, I give this place 3.5 “patches,” and this is why:

I enjoyed the diverse crowd. At one end of the restaurant there was a family celebrating a birthday. The Giants vs. Dodgers game was displayed on every flat screen. The high top table seats were filled with couples from all ages. The bar displayed your usual 30 & Flirty crowd. 

I was very pleased to here that every Monday night is "Family Fare." They turn their event room into a family focused dining and entertainment night. They host performers such as Miss Kitty and Tim Cain!  Their calendar was quite impressive, from Monday night Family Fairs to Saturday night Late Night DJ Dancing with Spin Master O; Ghiringhelli really seems to be attempting to liven things up in Novato.

Are you wondering what we had for dinner on our Monday night? We started with a suprisingly delicious house salad. House salads usually are very plain, with little flavor. However, this house salad had mixed greens, candied almonds, cherry tomatoes, sliced red onions and was tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette.

Is your mouth watering yet? It will be after I tell you about my thin-crust Italian-style artisan Saltimbocca pizza. Typically, I would not order pizza when dining out. But, since Ghiringhelli is known for its pizzas, I decided to try one that you would not usually see at just any pizzeria. The Saltimbocca artisan pizza was topped with red onions, mozzarella, parmesan, tomato sauce, thinly siced prosciutto, drizzled with balsamic glazed and fresh chopped sage. This pizza had some of my favorite ingredients for many dishes; sage, red onions, mozzarella. However, the combination of the balsamic glaze with the prosciutto on this pizza was too overwhelming for my taste buds. I would have prefered just the prosciutto or balsamic glazed, but not both for this pizza. It had my mouth watering for all the wrong reasons.

The service was great, though. Our waiter, was a very smart man who served our son's food immediately after ordering. Tips to all waiters wanting to avoid the manifestation of a hungry boy!

For $3.99 the kids menu included an entree, a drink and a dessert. It was a very generous serving of two mini burgers, and fries. Perhaps the genrous serving was compensating for the lack of presentation on the kids menu. At least throw the burgers on a bed of shredded lettuce. They were looking a little lonely to me.

The delicious house salad arrived 12 minutes after ordering, which was about 5 minutes past my preference. However, those candied almonds on my salad were  definitely worth the wait.  I was delighted to see my saltimbocca pizza arrive 7 minutes after the birth of my salad, or just 2 minutes after its death. You can choose your perspective on that.

Another great win for dining there this month is the $10 artisan pizza special for the month of May. We ended the night with an average tiramisu, but a great presentation of it.

Overall, we had a great experience dining as a family. I would choose Ghiringhelli for family dining, solo dining at the bar, or even a casual spot for date night. I don't think there is another restaurant in Novato that can beat this hot spot for family dining on Monday nights. Not to mention, we were able to feed a family of three for just under $45 pre-tip.