BoccaLupo had been near the top of my list of restaurants, I wanted to try due to its rave reviews since opening. What appealed me was what appeared to be great food at a reasonable price in a casual but trendy atmosphere. After visiting, it qualified as all of those. I personally don’t feel like Atlanta has enough of these restaurants which consist of interesting, forward-thinking dishes and high quality ingredients without the $25-30 entree price tags.

Prior to arriving, I knew it was located near Rathbun’s/Krog bar so I decided to head out a bit early to grab a drink at Krog bar (although I haven’t eaten at Krog bar yet, I love going there for drinks prior to a meal, great atmosphere). The inside of BoccaLupo is decently sized with the borderline darkness you come to expect of most restaurants these days with outside seating available for nice weather nights.

On to the actual dinner, the receptionist and wait staff were attentive and did a great job of explaining the menu to our party. For apps we got the bahn mi bruschetta and the prosciutto app.

I would venture to say the bahn mi app was probably one of the best appetizers I have had in Atlanta. Something about all the different elements it combines; crunch from the bread, salty from the chicken liver, hint of sweetness from the giardineria, and the delicious pork on top. I probably could have ordered 4 servings of those and been satisfied but there was plenty more of good food on the way. The prosciutto app was definitely a safe choice on our part but the pineapple mostrada on the side is definitely what elevated the dish and made it great.

For entrees, we shared 3 pasta dishes. We ordered the black spaghetti, 20 yolk tagliatelle, and the bucatini. In hindsight, probably should have ordered one non-pasta dish but pasta is what they appear to do best and we had no complaints with the dishes we ordered so it worked out.

If you have heard about BoccaLupo previous to this post, I am sure you have heard about the black spaghetti dish. Although it may be off-putting on first glance to many, the taste more than makes up for it. What I particularly loved about the dish was the nice kick of heat from the sausage and spice blend.

The 20 yolk dish definitely served as a great contrasting pasta dish for the table as it had a nice balance of texture and creaminess. I am not a big fan of spaghetti like pasta dishes personally but the bucanti was another great dish. What made the dish was the thick pomodoro sauce that had great flavor and made the dish really hardy.

The only dish that didn’t serve as a true standout for me was the olive oil pound cake dessert. The cake was moist and the curd/blackberries served as nice complementary additions but it wasn’t anything spectacular and nothing I would crave.

If you couldn’t tell, I really like BoccaLupo overall and is definitely one of my favorite restaurants I have eaten at in Atlanta. Aside from the food, it is also the little things and attention to detail that make a restaurants experience memorable. Things such as having the walls in the bathroom covered with vintage alcohol labels add a nice touch. Even though the dessert didn’t wow me, the other 5 dishes were outstanding and therefore, I would highly recommend BoccaLupo.

Ratings:
Food: 4.5
Vibe: 4

BoccaLupo
753 Edgewood Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30307