A new Italian-style restaurant, Ava’s Copper Pot Bistro, has come to Chapin and the food is delizioso. Occupying the space of the much beloved but regrettably closed Sweet Tea restaurant on Lexington Avenue, the restaurant is fairly large with a good amount of seating.
The building’s exterior does not do justice to the restaurant’s interior decor; it is more elegant than it appears with booths lining the restaurant’s sides and appropriate artwork decorating the walls.
My group and I went for dinner and started with an appetizer. We ordered the Trio of Spreads which came with Spinach-Artichoke Dip, Feta Pimento Cheese Dip and Roasted Veggie Hummus with pita chips for $5.95.
The pita chips were slightly hard but the second batch was an improvement; the chips were cooked with an excellent addition of parmesan cheese baked on top. All three were very good, but the favorite was the creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip-and I don’t typically like Spinach Dip.
Our entrees came with a fairly simple side salad consisting of mixed greens, tomatoes and croutons, but simplicity can be a good thing. The salad was very fresh and left room for the entrees. In order to maximize our dining experience, my guests and I ordered a variety of entrees. I ordered a simple cheese pizza and my girl friends ordered the more challenging dishes of Parmesan Chicken and Chicken Piccata. The pizza was rather large for a personal order but I was happy to have leftovers. The 10″ pizza had a soft, thin crust with the perfect amount of delicious marinara sauce and just enough cheese to taste but not overpower the pie. The Parmesan and Piccata Chicken were served in fairly large portions. Each came with a vegetable sautee of zucchini, squash, broccoli and carrots.
My guest was a happy customer as she took a bite of the Parmesan Chicken, saying it was covered with the crispy combination of mozzarella and parmesan cheese with the addition of the marinara sauce making it taste almost like a pizza. The second guest loved her Chicken Piccata which is a butterflied chicken breast sauteed in white wine, butter, mushrooms and onions. A little lemon is added to enhance all the flavors. The citrus was a little strong for my taste when I had a bite but my friend loved it. Both guests had enough to save for leftovers.
At the end of the meal, we ordered the Gourmet Ice Cream Sandwich- we had seen another customer enjoying it and wanted to try for ourselves. The homemade sandwich consisted of a warm oatmeal cookie with chunks of chocolate and the right amount of nuts with a delicious vanilla ice-cream inside.
The whole meal was excellent and our server was friendly without being intrusive. Overall, my experience at Ava’s Copper Pot Bistro was excellent and I would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially those who like delicious Italian cuisine.
Ava’s Copper Pot Bistro is open for lunch from 11am-3pm Monday through Friday and is only open later on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (5pm-10pm).