Bertucci's

LOCATION: Wellesley, MA
TYPE OF FOOD: Italian (casual)
REVIEW: Chain restaurants can be a tricky thing. It seems the fewer the places, the better (why can't horror movie makers learn from that lesson?). The fewer the places in multiple states is even better (for no reason). The fewer the places in multiple states in New England? You have a better chance of being successful than the gallons of oil in the Gulf. This I realized as I approached Bertucci's.

I sat down and knew instantly what I wanted: a pizza (so surprising, I'm at an Italian place, hmm...). I ordered a Tucci-a pizza with onions, mushrooms and peppers (I know, good ol' veggies)-on whole wheat crust. I also ordered a side of some grilled vegetables and garlic (I love garlic so much I wish to marry it... in fact.... garlic, will you marry me? I would get you the best ring for someone like you: do you like onions? I don't have any money...). After ordering my dish, I looked around for a few minutes, waiting for what I knew would eventually come. Only a couple of minutes passed before I received it-a bucket (of sorts) filled with bread rolls and a plate with olive oil, Parmesan cheese and red pepper (the hot kind...er, no the spicy kind, not the attractive-ness kind... that's disgusting).

The rolls were nice and warm, with no heat lamp in sight (no burned tongue! No burned tongue!). I ripped the bread and dipped it into the oil. My mouth was filled with absolute happiness. This continued onwards following the same pattern: rip roll, dip in oil, put in mouth, yum. Sadly, I finished my roll, and while there were other rolls, I waited for my pizza. It came a few minutes later, and I instantly folded a slice (forgive me, Boston!)and popped it into my mouth. The pizza tasted absolutely amazing, with the perfect amount of tomato sauce-per-rest of pizza ratio. The cheese was delicious, and the crust was soft and the perfect vessel. Unfortunately, the vegetables fell flat. There was not much taste, and for some vegetables, there was a lot of lemon juice. I stood up, walked to the car, and drove away, feeling like I had three limbs (I felt the same way with the Patriots in 2007.... don't remind me... Eli was down...).

SERVICE: The service person was very nice (I need to be arrested for word abuse). She was also very helpful, as she brought glasses of water when you needed it, put a slice of pizza on a plate and gave it to you, among many other things. But like most restaurants, you never had major contact with your server, spending 2% of your time with them (and now for sentence abuse). And while she was talking with other servers, it was only occasionally and she was often very busy (who comes in for dinner at 7:30 p.m.? How can you live?).

ATMOSPHERE: The atmosphere was lively. The restaurant was originally a movie theater, and it's the perfect place to have a restaurant. The dining room is big with a high ceiling (it's taller than the amount of money BP's going to have to pay). The floors are very clean, and the noise level is pretty loud. But luckily you can hear someone across from you talking about how summer vacation is coming too fast ("It's faster than a car!", they say. Not true, it's faster than a train. Ha.).

PRICE: For five people one will need seventy dollars. This would cover entrees, a side dish, and any drinks besides water. Yes, that would make my pizza be about ten dollars for four somewhat-large slices, but it's high quality and delicious. But if you think it's still expensive.... go eat at a dollar store. And what's better than canned salsa and sugary corn?

RATING: Bertucci's is a high-quality delicious Italian eatery. It's also one of the few chain restaurants that works. But sadly the vegetables and seventy dollars brings what could be perfect to a halt. Perfection never happens. In sports, in politics or in this review. Dang. Bertucci's gets a four out of five.