STARR restaurants is another iconic chain that has dominated the restaurant game in Philly. They are the parent company of iconic places such as Parc, El Vez, The Dandelion, and The Love. Each restaurant living up to their own individual aesthetics and menu to give you a different experience at each respected location. While most of the STARR restaurants can be found around Rittenhouse, they can also be found throughout all of Center City. With a new Rittenhouse location secured, STARR opens their latest Italian restaurant, Borromini. If you’re new here, I usually cover four different aspects of each of the places I review: Vibe, food/drink, service, and reservations. I’m not nit-picky, we all have jobs to work and the city gets very busy but I won’t lie about my experience since these places can be very pricey.

Vibe

Borromini is located right in the heart of Rittenhouse neighborhood, with an immersive view of Rittenhouse Square. The outdoor seating area gives a Parisian look with a Philly experience. The inside is a cozy New York subway tile aesthetic with beautiful arches for a unique touch and to give a casual space an upscale flare. To add to the ambience, low jazzy music is played to blend with the local sounds of conversations at each of the tables. Some accent walls have alcohol bottles lining the walls which I kind of found a bit odd. Whats good though is that the bottles looked like they were opened so they’re not just letting full bottles of alcohol go to waste.

Food & Drink

For my meal I ordered the galviana lemonade soda, pane focaccia, and chicken milanese. The soda came bottled on a silver tray with a cute glass of ice. It was poured for me and left on the table which was appreciated. Everything was a pretty good portion for one person, focaccia can definitely be split between two people and the chicken looks intimidating but it’s cooked pretty thin so it’s not as much as you think. So to start, I actually really liked the lemonade soda! I was a little worried it would be super bubbly and have an artificial lemon taste but it was quite refreshing and went down easy. A weird note, the ice didn’t melt a whole lot through lunch so my drink didn’t taste watered down at any point. I was then served my first dish, the pane focaccia. Good size, easy to cut into the crunchy outside. But the inside had all the soft good warm fluffiness. You could really taste the delicious combination of olive oil and rosemary salt, not super over powering but enough to make your mouth water for another piece. Next, the chicken milanese with arugula. The chicken was thin, crunchy, and hot. With a bit of lemon you get that extra kick to melt in your mouth. Finally, the salad that came with the chicken dish. The tomatoes were not overpowering and had no snap which I like sometimes, I also loved the parm chunks thinly sliced so it melts with the rest of the ingredients. Lastly, the arugula is not potent and blends the flavors together really nicely. My only complaint, this is not towards the restaurant specifically this is very common issue with places that serve this exact dish, the arugula on the bottom was hot and wilted which was really unappetizing.

Service

Service was good! Servers weren’t overbearing or narrating everything. Water stayed filled. They did bring out food pretty fast and the restaurant wasn’t even that busy, but I feel like this usually happens to me when I dine alone. So it would have been more enjoyable if food was brought out with more space in between. Another thing about the service is that it was your typical restaurant service, but not overly friendly which I prefer to have. I love getting to know the servers a bit and having a casual bond, but this felt like a strictly business experience.

Reservation

I give credit where credit is due, I was able to make a reservation for one person! I’m glad I didn’t have to get shoved to the bar and was able to enjoy a nice cozy corner table with a good amount of space from everyone. They use OpenTable, you put in your usual time, date, and guest count. They don’t have an option to select inside and outside, so I would assume they would just give you inside unless you asked to sit outside.

In Conclusion…

Honestly their menu is nothing special. Philly has a lot of competition with Italian restaurants and just because you have a fancy looking restaurant on Rittenhouse doesn’t mean you get to jack up prices to basic Italian dishes. If you’re in the neighborhood and you want a view of the square, then by all means give this a whirl! But there are endless options of good Italian restaurants with good pricing, unique dishes, and in house made pasta. For example, Via Locusta would be a place I would recommend over and over against this place. It’s in the same area and you’re paying a way better price. During research, I couldn’t find anything on Borromini making their pasta from scratch but Via is well-known for the fact that they make pasta fresh with locally sourced ingredients. What’s even crazier, you’ll be paying cheaper regardless! Via’s most expensive pasta dish is $23 while Borromini’s cheapest pasta is $19, and your only getting a spaghetti al pomordoro. Via also has a chicken milanese dish, which in all honesty I haven’t tried, but it’s over $10 cheaper than Borromini. My last note, you get more with Via Locusta focaccia over Borromini’s. They are the same price, but Via pairs there soft and warm focaccia with sweet house made honey butter to pair perfectly with the savory contrast of the bread. I didn’t even get plain butter with Borromini. So if you’re looking for a night out to eat or a filling lunch, choose wisely!

Thank you so much for reading! Have a wonderful day!