We had not been to Zia's on the Hill in several months, so my wife picked it as our lunch spot of the day. It took a little longer to get there due to the Kingshighway bridge being out, but by using the bridge at Taylor we were able to make it over to the Hill area and we even found a large enough spot on Wilson to park our barge sized minivan (aka "The Space Ship". )
We arrived before 11:45 and the waiting area was still pretty empty and we were seated right away. (By the time we left there were quite a few people waiting in the bar area for a table.) They seated us at a round table just inside the dining area which was a bit "busier" that other tables we have had further back, and it was also a bit dark. Our waiter took drink orders and told us the specials of the day. I was intrigued by one special, the Pollo Zia, which was a grilled chicken breast served with a wine sauce with cheese, prosciutto ham and broccoli (labelled in their dinner menu as "Alla Zia") The lunch special included the chicken with a salad and a side of pasta so that sounded like a great combination to me. My wife and son split an order of the Mostaciolli Al Forno, my daughter ordered the Beef Marsala, and my mother-in-law ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo. We also ordered salads and one order of ten toasted raviolis, because, well, it's the Hill and you just have to order toasted ravioli!
Soon the toasted raviolis arrived along with a generous bowl of their zesty marinara sauce. As always they were fresh and crisp with a delicious, flavorful meaty filling, and tasted great with their sauce. Since my mother-in-law only wanted one that caused a dilemma - the last remaining ravioli! However, we knew my college aged son was the hungriest one there so we let him eat it. The salads and the bread arrived as we were finishing up the delicious raviolis, and we realized we had to grab the marinara sauce before the waiter took it away. My son took the bowl off the ravioli plate so we could have some of the sauce with our bread! Their bread is good but nothing too special... until you dip it in the marinara sauce! The salads were delicious as always with their sweet and tangy dressing and plenty of cheese, and it went very well with the bread dipped in marinara sauce. That could almost be a meal in itself!
Our entrees arrived soon afterwards and everything was fantastic as always. My Pollo alla Zia was grilled to perfection, not overcooked at all and tender, and the wine sauce and cheese it was covered with was quite divine. There was more red pepper in it than I had expected and it actually had a little hot kick to it, which I, of course, liked quite a bit! The ham and cheese went very well with the wine sauce and the perfectly cooked chicken. My side pasta was just shell pasta but it was covered with a red marinara sauce very similar to the sauce in the then empty bowl that came with the raviolis, which meant I could also dip my bread in that marinara sauce, or I could dip my bread in the wine sauce too. They actually gave us quite a large quantity of bread so I was doing a lot of bread dipping.
My son and wife loved their Mostaciolli, my daughter also enjoyed her beef marsala (although she may have preferred the Chicken Parmesan she had last time) and I believe my mother-in-law enjoyed her fettuccine. I know she was taking the rest home so I hope she liked it. Zia's always makes very rich and authentic Italian food, and they rarely let us down. We always leave stuffed and we never have room for their desserts, which do sound interesting.
As for the service, we did notice that our server was not overly attentive and did not check on us too often, but he seemed rather busy as the place filled up. Our drinks were empty at times and the place definitely became more crowded after noon. We were able to take some of the bread as leftovers as well as half the beef marsala, half a mostaciolli serving, and half of the fettucine, so we had quite a bit of food to take home as well.
It was another delightful and filling meal at Zia's on the Hill which is also a fun neighborhood to visit on a bright, pleasant March day. We did notice some of the other Hill eateries as we departed and we should definitely go visit some of the others too. It sounds good to me!
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