For several weeks we’d been trying to make dinner reservations at DeNicola’s Ristorante in Richboro, about 20 minutes from home. Due to an odd assortment of reasons, it wasn’t until this past Friday evening we finally made the trek for dinner with friends Barb and Brad.

It’s an Italian BYO restaurant located in the Mallard Creek Shopping Center. Barb swears we use to frequent this place decades ago when it was under a different name and when we lived as next door neighbors in Yardley. Me, I have absolutely no recollection of the place whatsoever.

When we arrived the place was packed, mostly with an engagement party with several guests decked out in Irish attire, after all, it was St. Patty’s Day. But we were seated promptly (thank goodness I had made reservations) and what looked like a couple of 12-year-old boys began filling our water glasses and served the bread basket. However Brad had to chase someone down to bring wine glasses and open our bottles.

In advance, I had looked at their offerings online which were limited compared to their much more extensive listings on the printed menus. Reasonably priced choices feature an array of fresh pasta, chicken, veal, beef, pizza and seafood; all of which is prepared and cooked to order by chef/owner Angelo De Nicola. And, they do offer gluten-free pastas upon request.

While deciding on what to order, one of the young lads delivered a small, complimentary pizza to our table. Then without too much hesitation we put in our selections. Brad opted for the Pasta Primavera which he didn’t end up liking too much; Barb had the Lasagna Abbruzzese which was OK; Russ wasn’t overly thrilled with his pasta dish (gluten-free) that came with chicken, asparagus, and porcini mushrooms topped with mozzarella cheese—although it looked delicious; and I got Blackened Tilipia which was par for the course. All entrees such as mine come with a choice of roasted potatoes and the chef’s vegetable of the day or a side of pasta with red sauce.

Brad’s less than stellar Pasta Primavera

Barb’s Lasagna Abbruzzese

Russ had the (can’t remember the name) chicken and pasta dish

Lyn’s Blackened Tilapia with assorted vegetables

Would we go again? With a plethora of excellent Italian BYOs blanketing our area, there was nothing extraordinary about DeNicola’s that would make us go running back anytime soon. The food was OK (for most of us) and the portions large, but the service was somewhat spotty—one could reason that this was because of the large party, but they were dining off of a buffet and had all of their drinks in buckets, so they didn’t seem to require a lot of attention.

Anywho, it’s always fun to try new places (even though I had apparently eaten there over 20 years ago!) But it’s unlikely we’ll make a return visit. Chalk it up under “been there, done that.”