After being reminded twice in two weeks about Brianno’s in Eagan, MN I decided to place an order for pickup that afternoon.
I took a look at their take-out menu and asked Kim what she wanted. I was immediately drawn to the sausage, peppers, and onions longing for a recreation of memories from my childhood during Scranton, PA’s La Festa Italiana where sausage, peppers, and onions run rampant throughout. Kim chose their boxed lunch which includes small portions of two deli salads, carrot cake slab, a pickle, a piece of fruit (in this case an orange), a mint, and a 1/2 sub sandwich (she picked roast beef and I chose provolone for it).
I got my haircut and beard trimmed last night and drove over to Brianno’s at just about 7. I looked around the store a bit and then up to the counter. The guy making a pizza with his back to me asked, without turning around, what I wanted. So much for friendly service (but as Kevin mentioned later, no tip required for take out so no friendly service is expected — I tend to agree). I told him I was here to pickup an order for “Bill” and he then asked what I ordered. I told him vaguely and he appeared with a bag full of my food. After asking if there was anything else, he immediately returned to the pizza and I left.
I took a peak in the brown paper bag as I got into the car and was surprised as the small size of one pound of sausage, peppers, and onions. I was also somewhat surprised that it wasn’t drowned in tomato sauce (as that’s what I’m used to).
I got home and we dug in. I was wrong about thinking that one pound of the sausage, peppers, and onions wouldn’t be enough. Instead of being mostly veggies, it was mostly meat — and very good meat at that. It was nearly 100% what I was looking for. I must admit that I was in heaven. Finally a place that recreates one of my hometown favorites correctly!
Kim’s boxed lunch was nice and she enjoyed the tortellini salad but passed off most of the chicken salad with shells to me. She finished off the carrot cake but left a good bit of the sandwich to the side after finishing off the meat inside. She didn’t much care for that at all. I took a bit and found it pleasant but the bread was a bit too large for even my big mouth (heh) to eat so I’m not surprised Kim wasn’t a huge fan.
Overall, a very very very very very excellent meal for me and just a mediocre one for Kim. I would certainly return for some more of that sausage, peppers, and onions. They didn’t have any mini cannolis and the menu states you must call to order them so maybe I’ll give them some more advance notice to see how those are.
If you’re looking for some inexpensive Italian food, I highly recommend you check out Brianno’s in Eagan. I can’t make it a Top Restaurant because of Kim’s meal but if that had no bearing, I certainly would for mine alone! :)
Related posts:
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
Loading ...
Lazy Lightning Gear
BPAC Financials Archive
July 19th, 2007 at 9:04 am
I am glad you finally made it to Brianno’s. I have been there a couple of times on the suggestion of the Tire’s Plus crew while waiting for my car to be serviced. I was not disappointed. While my service experiences have been better than Bill’s, the hospitality is not what i would expect from a restaurant. This, however, is not a restaurant. The staff has always been knowledgable about the food products when i have had questions and has provided good suggestions in the past.
I have tried the meat lasagna and the meatball sandwich. Both were good, but as Bill mentioned, the sandwiches can be on the thick side and hard to wrap the mouth around. My daughter also enjoyed her meals, though I can’t recall what she had.
Finally, I did enjoy the tiramisu very much… then again, I am pretty much a tiramisu whore and really can’t claim I’ve met a tiramisu I didn’t like. It is definately worth trying.
We will be back whenever I get the car serviced.
July 19th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Finally, I did enjoy the tiramisu very much… then again, I am pretty much a tiramisu whore and really can’t claim I’ve met a tiramisu I didn’t like. It is definately worth trying.
Being caffeine free, I really miss tiramisu and I have to admit that looking at it in the case last night made me really want to start the habit back up :)
July 19th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Yeah, the sandwich bread there can be quite a jaw workout. The technique I employ is to grab it firmly with two hands and really squeeze the “business end” together so I can take a good bite.
I also generally order the Chicago beef sandwich there and the au jus helps to soften the bread into an easier eating product.
Regarding the service, it can be a bit brusque although that’s more exception than the norm I think. I’ve noticed that as they start recognizing you, they turn on the warmer “family” service. They’ll eventually remember your name. The more seasoned the staff (the one woman, the big guy with the shorts and Crocs shoes, and the owner guy especially) the more pleasant they get. If there’s a wait for your food, they’re constantly giving samples (including the mini cannoli, stuff they’re serving in the event center and on rare occasion a cold beverage) and chatting you up as you wait. Lastly, and counter to logic, they seem friendlier when they’re the most busy.
Anyway….I like the place (obviously).
July 20th, 2007 at 10:47 am
I LOVE this place. It’s my favorite place to go when I’m feeling home sick for Rhode Island and the food I grew up eating. My favorite sandwich is the Brianno’s Special. Sometimes I just get their bread and their vinaigrette/dipping sauce. The sausage and peppers is the most authentic I’ve had here outside of my own kitchen. I’m glad to see more people discovering the fabulousness of it all.
October 26th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
HEY BILL! You are right about everything! hehe :)
Brianno’s is usually a very satisfying food experience! YUM!….
also….just read about what you thought about that traffic circle in Apple Valley. I just drove on it..and it is multiple accidents waiting to happen! What drugs were they on when they figured that one out?!
October 26th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Wow! For the first time ever someone was only partially full of shit ;)
Thanks for the comment.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Ah, Brianno’s. . .it’s the one place around here I can go and get east coast quality Italian food. My only complaint is the pepperoni that they put in EVERYTHING. . .if I liked pepperoni, I’m sure I’d be in heaven. This past weekend I was lucky enough to be in store when they had cannoli, and it was like eating a tube of heaven. *drool*
November 5th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
This past weekend I was lucky enough to be in store when they had cannoli, and it was like eating a tube of heaven. *drool*
I’m extremely jealous :(
September 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Briannos pizza is the very best! Great thin crust and plenty
of toppings. They don’t deliver, but it’s worth it to drive over
and pick it up!
January 16th, 2009 at 9:19 am
is this a restaurant or just take out? is there indoor seating? do they serve wine?
January 16th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Cheryl,
It’s a take-out deli. They put some tables outside in the summer, but there’s no service out there. No wine.
January 17th, 2009 at 9:01 am
their lasagana (sp) is awesome, talk about 10 lbs in a 5 lb bag! sometimes they have seafood lasanaga (sp) for you minnow munchers. as stated earlier, there other take outs are great. thin crust ‘za if that’s your fancy. however, they’re closed on mondays. so don’t get your taste buds all fired up, drive over there and go away empty!
bb
January 18th, 2009 at 12:41 am
bb stacker – “lasagna”
I might have to add this place to our list of places to try. As I’ve mentioned before, nothing would please Mr Marcos more than some authentic sausage, peppers, and onions.
January 18th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
thanks mm, a worthwhile place to visit and revisit.
bb
January 18th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I always thought that if someone would post something somewhere about me being very pleased by a good sausage it would be my amusingly metrosexual friend Dan on my Facebook page, not my wife in a discussion about food.
That aside, it does sound like a place I should try out. I too have a lot of nostalgic connections to REALLY good Italian food, mostly from my mom’s side of the family. When I was a kid we would go to Grandma’s after church every sunday for macaroni with meat sauce that shared some oil with a mixture of beef, pork, sausage, and of course Grandma’s meatballs. As much as I liked beef and pork, I would always go for the sausage and meatballs.
When I lived out east there were several street vendors in Manhattan and the North End of Boston that made a good sausage, burned some sweet peppers and onions, and laid it in some heavy bread.
I gotta tell you Bill, your blog can’t be good for my figure – it’s 9pm and I’m craving something that’s about a day’s worth of calories.
January 18th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Oh.My.God…he’s just asking for a smart remark when he’s talking about “always going for the sausage and meatballs.” Must.Resist.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:56 am
so tell me mm, is that a spicy italian sausage sangwich, or are you just happy to see me????????
ummmmmm, sorry folks, can’t resist!!
bb
January 10th, 2010 at 7:32 am
[...] case Papa John’s, to give a point of reference in the analysis. We then chose 7 local pizzas: Brianno’s in Eagan, Ole Piper Inn and Goodfella’s in Lakeville, J’s Restaurant and LS Pizza Shack [...]