Las Vegas Weekly

Ratings would have been higher if I based on the happy hour meal.

This local outpost of the upscale chain of Italian eateries, located in Town Square, is visually impressive. We each started off with a rich and amazingly delicious cup of cream of morel mushroom soup. For an entree Ann ordered the shrimp and crab cakes with grilled vegetables and creamy horseradish. Her entree was very good, but the vegetables were over cooked. I chose chicken alla Sorrentino; pesto marinated and grilled chicken served over crispy eggplant with fresh Mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, pizzaiola sauce, citrus pesto and arugula which had been tossed in Tuscan dressing. Unfortunately my chicken suffered the same fate as Ann's vegetables. I used a gift certificate purchased from a local radio station. I suppose the "morel" of this night's dining experience was to order the soup and go elsewhere for your entrees. Did I really write that?

We returned several nights later after attending LOVE the late night happy hour. Unlike many restaurants offering happy hour specials, Brio does not require the purchase of an alcoholic beverage so we settled on glasses of ice water. We were shortly served a basket of Italian bread, sesame seed cracker bread and a crock of butter. Each appetizer is priced at $2.95 so we shared orders of Margherita flatbread (fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil), braised meatballs and creamy polenta (topped with a Marsala tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese and parsley) and spicy shrimp and eggplant (grilled shrimp with Romano crusted eggplant and black pepper cream sauce). The meatballs and shrimp/eggplant dishes are highly recommended. Food 8, Vibe 8, Value 10, Service at Bar 7.

We decided to give Brio another chance for dinner. We started off with a shared Caesar salad. My wife ordered the crab and shrimp cakes that were accompanied by roasted vegetables and creamy horseradish. My entree was blackened ono served over garlic mashed potatoes with a trace amount of Hollandaise sauce and topped with a spoonful of a delightfully spicy charred tomato relish. My fish was overdone and there was very little, if any, garlic in my potatoes.