From The New Orleans Menu Daily By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published April 3, 2007 Bosco’s 2$ Mandeville: 1770 La. Hwy. 59 985-624-5066 Lunch and dinner Tues-Sat. AE DC DS MC V In an inconspicuous strip mall on the back highway of Mandeville, this little Italian restaurant exploded with such popularity when it opened a few years ago--and again after reopening following the storm--that it seemed certain to expand. But it doesn't look as if Tony Bosco wants to do that. He's a young man who has Italian restaurants in his blood; his grandparents ran the old Bosco's in Slidell. His recipes are clearly from the old school, New Orleans style. It's Italian cooking of a kind we haven’t seen since the closing of Toney’s Spaghetti House years ago. The menu is simple and short. They offer the basic pasta dishes and sandwiches, plus a handful of more ambitious items. The red sauce that unites many of these is the kind that simmers all day long, becoming smooth and sweet. Great for pleasing the palates of kids, as well as the tastes of those who grew up on this stuff and still like it. The deli case at the counter is full of the meats they use throughout the menu, including Chisesi ham and first-class Genoa salami for their muffulettas. That sandwich is one of the best around, particularly when you get them to serve it at room temperature. They make the olive salad on the premises, and sell it in containers as well as on the muffuletta. They serve so much food that ordering an appetizer is a good idea only if you're going to split it, preferably a few ways. The best of them is the unique sauteed calamari--not fried, not coated. The squid pieces come out in a bath of olive oil, wine, and a great deal of garlic. It’s elemental and delicious. Also good, if you like baked pasta, is the cheese tortellini in a red sauce enriched with enough cream to change its color to a pretty orange. But, again, only a seventeen-year-old boy (my son, for example) could pack this away alone and follow it with an entree. The basic salad is so good it's almost worth coming for. Crisp romaine, a nearly invisible but excellent, garlicky vinaigrette, and a few shavings of Parmesan cheese--that's it. But I can't miss it. This is as good a place to eat lasagna, meatballs and spaghetti, and Italian sausage as any. They pannee chicken very well, too. The portions are huge, the prices are low, and the cook seems very sure of himself. Not much in the way of things like veal or seafood, except as specials. For dessert, you get the better part of the menu from Angelo Brocato’s, whose spumone, torroncino, cannoli, lemon ice, and cassata are all here. They have a little bit of wine, but this is more a casual family place. Click here to return to today's edition. Click here for an index of all restaurant reviews. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com.