ATXReview
Included In
When you and your date can’t decide between pizza and pasta, but still want an excuse to dress up and eat in a sleek dining room on the East Side, head to Il Brutto. It’s a big restaurant that still manages to feel modern and intimate, probably due in part to a combination of dim lighting, dark wood and leather accents, and a staff that’s fully clad in black uniforms. Add to that a large patio built around a massive oak tree—and decked out in twinkling lights—and you’ll get the sense that this place was built for date night.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
photo credit: Richard Casteel
photo credit: Richard Casteel
photo credit: Richard Casteel
The wide-ranging menu covers a wide range of Italian classics—from crudos and crostinis to house-made pastas and confited tenderloins—and it does them all pretty well. But if you want to hit Il Brutto where it’s strongest, stick to just about anything off the antipasti or the pasta sides of the menu. Start with an order of heirloom tomatoes with burrata and basil pesto, or some roasted beets with radicchio and goat cheese—depending on the season—then load the table up with mussels, marinated olives, and a green leaf salad for good measure. If you’re here with a big group, grab a pizza to share, otherwise save room for more orders of cacio e pepe, pappardelle with lamb ragu, and squid ink ciriole with uni and Sardinian bottarga—a briny, jet-black taste of the ocean in pasta form.
photo credit: Richard Casteel
There’s an extensive menu of Italian wines that you’ll want to make a part of your meal, but it’s the cocktails and amari behind the massive bar here that we get excited about, including an olive fat-washed gin martini, and enough vermouths, aperitifs, and digestifs to keep repeat visits interesting. Even better, show up during Happy Hour and you can grab just about anything off the drink menu for half price.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Richard Casteel
50/50 Martini
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Burrata Crostini
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Pappardelle
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Cacio E Pepe
photo credit: Richard Casteel
Lamb Scottadito