Boccones used to be on Blanco inside 1604. It used to be my favorite Italian place in San Antonio, even including Paesano's. It was a lot more laid back, had live entertainment on Friday and/or Saturday evenings (singer doing Sinatra/Martin type of stuff, IIRC, perhaps with sax or clarinet accompaniment sometimes?) and it had my favorite dish in town. Pasta Arribiata. "Angry Pasta". Had a really hot oil on penne/ziti pasta with garlic, cabbage and olives (again, IIRC). I'd always get it with chicken.

Anyway, the owner (Al DiLiberto) has opened a new location at Thousand Oaks and Jones Maltzberger. It's in the old pizzeria that used to be next door to Jack's (which is now Evil Olive's). I called today to find out their dinner hours (5-8 M-Th and 5-9 F-Sa) and whether they're serving my old favorite (they're not, but will have it occasionally as a special). They have their old baker and their old dessert favorites (tiramisu, strawberry napoleon, bambino huey).

The person I spoke with explained "we have trouble doing a lot of pastas in the little kitchen" as the reason they don't have the pasta arribiatta as a regular dish. I guess a pizzeria just has a prep table and an oven...

I plan to give it a try this week. Will be back with a report, and would love to get anyone else's thoughts on it. Hopefully they'll do well enough to warrant an upgrade/remodel/expansion. I'm really happy they're back in business, hope it is as good as before and that they'll succeed/grow.

What do they call this new place?

quote:

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bambino huey

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What ever happened to the baby version of Boccones? Wasn't it Bambino Huey's in Embassy Oaks?

Oops, sorry! The new place is DiLiberto's Restaurant and Bakery.

Yeah, after he sold Boccone's in 2000, he then opened Bambino Huey's in Embassy Oaks in 2005, but that only lasted a year or so.

Apparently, he sold the recipe/rights to the "Bambino Huey" dessert, so he's got a similar one at the new place called "Al's Famous Dessert" or something like that. I've read that Luciano's on Stone Oak sells "the original" Bambino Huey, I guess they're the new owner of the name.

Agree on the original Boccones being my favorite Italian place in SA before it closed. Will definitely give Al's new place a try. Almost did a restaurant for him years ago but the site didn't work out for him - a real gentleman and all around nice guy. His wife had a Mexican place on Blanco years ago, too. Hope this one goes for him.

Will be looking back here for some visit reviews..........



[This message has been edited by WBBQ74 (edited 6/19/2012 9:18p).]

Live a few blocks from the new place. As a relative newcomer to SA (2-1/2 years), I have no knowledge of the previous restaurants, but I will try to get by the new restaurant in the coming weeks.

The original Boccones was actually just south of the Blanco-Bitters intersection next to what used to be a pool hall named Diamond Js...and the original Bambino Hueys were excellent.

Okay, my wife and I had dinner there tonight. Here's my rundown.

You walk in and order at the counter. Very limited menu, which is specifically stated in the paragraph on the cover. All hand made Italian food, just select items that they consider special.

The owner, Al DiLiberto greeted us and I told him how glad I was that he was back in business. He said he's been hearing that a lot, and is surprised so many people have told him that. He stood there and talked with us for quite a while (kind of holding up the line, in fact). I asked him about the Pasta Arribiata and he said it wasn't on the menu, but he had had several people ask about it. He offered to tell us how to make it, but I told him I found an article where he had given the recipe to the Express News while I was doing my research to find their new location. It does, in fact, use a lot of habaneros.

Anyway, he said their specialties were Eggplant Parmagiana and Lasagna. Their daily special today was Penne Alfredo with Chicken. I got the Eggplant and my wife got the Penne Alfredo. Both were very good. We also got a to-go order of the Lasagna for my step-son. He hasn't had it yet.

We had wine. My wife had a sweet red (actually not bad, reminded me of a port but lacking the high alcohol content) and I had a decent Chianti. Take those with a grain of salt, neither of us are wine connoisseurs.

The service was really spotty. I think they're all family and I bet they haven't worked as servers anywhere before. My comment to my wife was that it's probably because they're food people, not restaurant people (except for Al, perhaps). There was confusion as to what order went to which table, so my wife got a plate of Penne Alfredo (Lord knows what table it was really intended for) while the server went to scare up an Eggplant Parm for me. The confusion was discovered a little while later... the cook thought our entire order was "to go" instead of just the Lasagna, so our entrees were boxed up in the back. There were some other minor problems at the table next to us, too.

Anyway, it's not a huge place, and we looked at the issues as more quaint than irritating. The mix-ups were all fixed quickly, and I'm sure they'll improve with time.

The entrees were in the $12 range, and that included salad and bread. 3 entrees and 2 drinks came to ~$50. We didn't order dessert, but will definitely get a Bambino Huey (oops, I mean "Al's Famous Dessert" ) next time we stop by. And there WILL be a next time.

bonus:

you can find a link to the Pasta Arribiata recipe in this article: http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/food/article/Recipe-Find-Pasta-Arrabiata-is-one-hot-angry-1427888.php

[This message has been edited by TX AG 88 (edited 6/20/2012 9:24p).]

Thanks for the review. I miss Boccones, too. I will have to give this a try soon.

all his old recipes are at his son in laws place Julians

that review didn't sound good

I realize the review may not sound good... I guess I spent more time quibbling over the little service issues (which I'm sure will get ironed out) and too little time on the good food. The Alfredo sauce was the best I've ever had. The tomato sauce on the Eggplant Parm was terrific.

To me the biggest downside is the limited menu, as I like to try something new every time I go to a place (unless I find that perfect dish that will bring me back JUST to have IT... like the Pasta Arribiata at Boccone's or the Pad Thai at Scotty's Village Pub in UC... RIP)

I want the restaurant to succeed and I know that "non-partisan diners" will not be as forgiving as me. That's why I focused on the issues, because I'm really hoping they get those minor wrinkles ironed out.

I miss Boccones. I liked the spinach bread they made. Will definitely give this place a shot.

I dunno. I kinda like Olive Garden.

Boccone's was my favorite Italian place as well (along with Pasta Arrabiata being my favorite dish--- I have made it at home). I will have to give this place a shot when I am down in SA next week.

[This message has been edited by DTP02 (edited 7/6/2012 12:40p).]

I had the angry pasta at Julian's (Embassy Oaks) recently. Good stuff.