For many, many years I have enjoyed eating at a restaurant in Brentwood, Peppone’s. I always enjoy the service and the food. The familiar nature is that we are always greeted by our first names upon entering the restaurant. On our last visit I noticed there was no more valet and if you don’t have a handicap tag you have to come out on the hour and feed the meter as you are feeding yourself inside, this was annoying. Meter only takes a credit card, WTF? 11628 Barrington Court, Brentwood, California 310-476-7379.
The restaurant is small and has a sense of coziness. It is becoming a realization for me that for what this place cost to ‘eat’ in it could use a good cleaning…. The lights are very, very low, but nice. Not sure what we would see if the lights were turned up to daylight standard, just saying. Something I seldom ever care about is price when I dine and at the same time you/I have to wonder if your server should be wearing a mask. Not long ago I had a dinner with my grand kids at Ruth Chris and the bill was over $900.00 with tip. The meal was spectacular and the place looked well lit and clean. The service was as attentive as you could have and still feel as if you were not being bothered. The seafood tower was one of the best I have had, lots and lots of lobster…. and you will pay for it! A seafood tower is not for the faint of heart, they are delicious in most cases worth the $100-$200 plus that they cost. Presentation is almost as important as the service, the kitchen staff at Ruth Chris know how to present their incredible food. I have eaten at several of Ruth Chris’ establishments all over the U.S. San Francisco was always one of my favorites… my least favorite was Beverly Hills, both of these locations no longer exist.
Back to Peppone’s, I decided to have linguini with lobster, $139.00 as well as a caesar salad, $23.50….. disappointing! As the salad was not made at table side and the lettuce was even more disappointing, it had lost its crunch! Ever had a great caesar you know what the lettuce should look like. As far as I am concerned Caesar is dead at Peppone’s! Another guest had a chicken dish $52.50 and the other guest had spaghetti and meatballs $49.50. The table shared an order of cauliflower that is a special for this place as it is prepared with a butter lemon sauce.
The cauliflower is absolutely wonderful $52.50, seems like one hell of a cauliflower, right….?! Again, when can I put my hands down, this would not be the time to tell the ‘robbers/waiters’ you have no money!? As you can see the bill we had a few deserts that were not bad and that was another $45.00. Dinner for the 3 of us came to $414.86 not including tip….. I have to be honest, this was a pretty high dollar spaghetti meal with a chicken dish and a few other eats. The ‘Cannoli’ was good, but not fantastic. I had no problem however stuffing my face with this childhood favorite…. The wealthy love to do things that the ‘plebeians’ can only dream of and in saying that to be honest, my grandson and I could have made this meal at a fraction of the cost!
However, a great meal at a nice restaurant is always fun, in my case the company and who I am sharing a meal with is more important, most of the times! On this evening, I was with a very old friend and one of my sons. Don’t get any better than that, to share a meal with. Will I be returning to Peppone’s? Perhaps, but it will not be in the same regularity as before.
