| Address | 5820 Landover Road, Cheverly, MD 20784 |
|---|---|
| Hours | Mon-Fri, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat, 2 p.m.-10 p.m., Sun, 2 p.m.-9 p.m. |
| Phone | (301) 209-9006 |
I've been a patron of Fratelli since it opened in 1995. It is now 2009 - we celebrate all major family functions there. It is truly one of those family, hole-in-the-wall, everyone-knows-your-name places.
As a person who has now been going for almost 15 years, I know that if you prefer chicken to veal, and want it cooked the way a veal dish is, you can get it. If you prefer your side pasta to be pene al buro, you can get it. The Cheverly Appetizer can also be made to serve up to 10 people. The owners have known for years that pleasing the customer is the only way to keep them coming back.
As for the food, I have yet to find another restaurant that even remotely rivals the butter lemon sauce that goes on their Mozzarella Fritta (a HUGE brick of fried cheese, smothered a rich, buttery, lemon sauce! DELECTIBLE!). The family grows their own herbs to create their house dressing, and their bread oil, which is presented in a carafe full of herbs and spice. They also make their own Italian bread, which comes out of the oven warm to melt your butter. No cold rolls here!
Fratelli Italian Ristorante does not even begin to compare to any chain restaurant. If I had to choose between some chain place and going to Fratelli, I'd hit Fratelli. They are run by family, and are for families of all sizes, and will cater directly to their customrs needs.
Why go anywhere else?
I ate here several years ago (before the date I gave here, and I thought the food was good (although not as good as Romano's Macaroni Grill or Maggianos), but was a nice place with good atmosphere for a resturant in a Howard Johnson motel. Overall, I give it a 3 for Italian resturants in the whole area and a 5 for the resturant-starved Cheverley.
