Brio:

On Friday I joined some of the super awesome ladies I work with for dinner at Brio to celebrate our co-worker, Rachel, getting married in a few weeks. (She’s getting married at Paul Brown stadium, which is pretty nifty)

Christi (left) and Rachel, the guest of honor

I of course, brought the camera, and everyone was very patient with my special need to take pictures of all the food.

Most of us had engaged in a small lunch on purpose, so we were all starving by the time they brought out the bread--sourdough and flatbread--with oil for dipping and pats of butter.


I stayed away from the sourdough because the outside is very tough and my teeth are not, but the flat bread was delicious. We also got some sort of pizza with cheese and tomatoes, and I really liked that. It was very crispy and cheesy.



When it came time to order drinks, I started with a Bellini Martini. ($7.95)


It doesn’t look very impressive, but with peach pucker, level vodka and a little champagne, it was very tasty. (though for the record, the best peach martinis are at the below zero lounge in OTR)

Many people got glasses of Riesling, and I finally succumbed and tried one myself. It was pretty good. ($6.95 a glass)

I also tried the Italian wedding cake martini, (also $7.95) which tasted like pineapple upside down cake, with vodka, amaretto, and pineapple juice.


I ordered the sausage bruschetta, ($10.95) and my friend Johanna ordered the salad wedge and the whole roasted chicken ($18.00) Here’s her showing her anticipation:

my boss has many skills, including making chickens out of napkins

We all toasted to Rachel’s big day…


Our food came out all at once. Pasta, wedges, bruschetta…chicken...yum!






Of course, we wanted dessert: I went with a Cioccolatino (that’s a chocolate martini for $7.95)



And our server brought out the variety of small cups of desserts to help us decide.

Some people were tempted by the small desserts but could not be swayed from their course of chocolate lava cake and cheesecake.


And we all wanted some

Do not come between these ladies and their dessert

When we were finished, David came to pick me up and I tipsily babbled to him all the way home about cheesecake, bruschetta and ISO settings.

I highly recommend the sausage bruschetta, especially to share. Brio also has a bruschetta sampler if you want a variety. What I really like about Brio is that they don't go overboard with the garlic like some italian restaurants. (I'm looking at you, Buca de Beppo) They have a lot of dishes to share with friends and both times I have gone there I've had a good time.