Posted by Michael Stern on January 17, 2007
Across from the train station in the old Elk Point section of Clarksburg, Julio's is a first-rate Italian restaurant with a tin ceiling, carved wooden bar, and plush leather booths that are, incongruously, outfitted with Lava Lites. While the food is excellent, and clearly prepared by a chef with culinary expertise, prices are reasonable and service is neighborhood-friendly.
A printed menu lists lots of inviting pastas including four different versions of pasta e fagiole – with cream sauce, with marinara, with potatoes and kale, and en brodo that twinkles with fennel – and primavera made with uncooked vegetables in red sauce. But some of the best dishes are not in print; waitresses recite extremely appetizing lists of the day's appetizers, entrees and desserts.
For hors d'oeuvre, we loved our "paisano salad," a cold antipasto plate topped with the kitchen's jade-green garlic basil dressing, and roasted peppers with gorgonzola served atop tiles of garlic toast. We devoured entrees of vivid red peppers stuffed with hot ground sausage atop a bed of al dente spaghetti noodles, a supremely comforting bowl of pasta fagiole, and a stylish plate of tuna pomodoro. The meal commenced with a basket of swell garlic toast with a smoky taste and concluded with an outrageously rich house-made éclair loaded with French cream and blanketed with good chocolate.
Overall: Worth driving from anyplace
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Reviewers "Must Eats" List
"We've listed this classic pasta and bean dish as an entree, but if you're packing plenty of appetite, or are willing to share with another diner, it's also a great appetizer. This is the version in broth with fennel. It's also available with cream sauce, with marinara, and with potatoes and kale."
Michael Stern
"Paisano salad = carrots, peppers, olives, meats, cheeses, cabbage and lettuce. For $2 extra, you can have delicious garlic basil dressing (pictured here)."
Michael Stern
"Roasted peppers with gorgonzola cheese are served atop tiles of garlic toast in a puddle of aromatic olive oil. Mmmm-good!"
Michael Stern
"This handsome plate is actually stuffed peppers. The bright red pods are filled with breathtakingly hot ground Italian sausage and served on a bed of al dente spaghetti noodles."
Michael Stern
"Julio's makes its own 'French-filled' eclair. It is guaranteed to sate any sweet tooth."
Michael Stern
"Each table in this otherwise traditional Italian restaurant is outfitted with a working Lava Lite."
Michael Stern
"The old Elk Point neighborhood of Clarksburg remains an Italian stronghold. Julio's is a pillar of the traditions."
Michael Stern
