Mona Lisa, Hendersonville

Mona Lisa on N. Church and 8th Avenue in Hendersonville, is a fairly recent addition to the Italian restaurant scene, opening last summer. Fat Kat and I have been there twice now and have conflicted views on it. It had potential to be the kind of restaurant we love - great food at reasonable prices with a casual, yet classy atmosphere. It delivered in some aspects and fell short on others. The food is excellent, but there are several aesthetic and logistical drawbacks. While we wouldn't hesitate to go back, we would recommend it with some reservations. So, I guess we'll tell our story and you can decide!

Our first visit to Mona Lisa was last December, a few months after it opened. Long enough for them to have worked out any opening bugs. We got there on a busy Friday night and had a wait. We had no problem waiting as that is a common occurrence on a Friday night. However, we immediately discovered one Mona Lisa's major drawbacks. There is nowhere to wait that isn't in everyone's way. There is a small bar, but it only has four chairs, which were quickly filled. There is a very small space for people to stand, but it's right in front of the door AND, worse yet, right in the alleyway for the servers to get to and from the kitchen and prep area. Since it was cold out, no one wanted to wait outside. There are also a couple of tables right next to the door (I wouldn't recommend sitting there during a cold night) and it's a bit uncomfortable to stand there hovering over your fellow diners' shoulders. In addition to all of this chaos, there were people coming and going who had ordered pizzas to go, who had to elbow their way in to pick up and pay for their pizzas. Thankfully, our wait turned out to be less than anticipated. Maybe 20 minutes.

Mona Lisa is in a long, rectangular building and has two dining areas. We were led to the back room and seated at a small table for two in the middle of the room. It felt a bit odd sitting there smack dab in the center of everything. Every other table was up against the wall. All that was missing for our table was a spotlight overhead and a slowly revolving disco ball.

Ok, enough about non-food items. Fat Kat tried his best to order a beer. He made a choice, server comes back, "sorry we are out of that". He makes a second choice, server comes back, "sorry, we are out of that too". What? It's Friday night. People drink beer on Friday night. A lot of beer. Sooo, she recommends a third choice. Fat Kat somewhat sarcastically asks if she's SURE they have that one. She laughed and said, "yes". Turns out it was a good beer and turned out it was on the house, so an even better beer. I ordered my glass of wine which I managed to get on the first try. One note on the wine, the last time we were there, my wine came and it was extremely warm, probably more than 70 degrees. That is much too warm to be serving red wine. I noticed that the wines they use for the red "by the glass" selections were stored on top of their chiller, with hot lights and motors running underneath them. That doesn't seem like a very smart place to keep them. I will, however, say that they give a very generous, albeit warm, pour.

Bread was delivered quickly, but here is one of my gripes. They use unsalted butter on their garlic bread. PLEASE use salted butter (or add some flakes of sea salt to the unsalted). Unsalted butter, while it may be the choice of some, is not mine (and I'm a baker). Without salt, it leaves everything tasting flat. A sprinkle of salt from the shaker and the bread came back to life. Also, this brings me to another aesthetic gripe. They serve the bread in one of those red plastic baskets. I mean, let loose of a dollar and spring for some wicker or metal or ANY non-plastic bread basket. And while we're at it, please replace your plastic water glasses with the "Pepsi" logo on the side for something nicer. It just all screams tacky. I'm not sure if they're caught between trying to decide if they're a classy little bistro/cafe or a gussied up pizza shop. The decor inside is, overall, pretty nice with warm tones on the walls and cute little tables and chairs (looks nicer after dark). Why the plastic-ware?

Back to the food...One of the things we love about Mona Lisa is that it's not just a spaghetti and meatballs kind of place. They have interesting and varied dishes from multiple regions. In fact, they list the region of origin next to each dish. On both visits, Fat Kat ordered Maccheroni alla Chitarra ($14) which is similar to spaghetti and meatballs, but so much better! He loved it the first time, which is why he ordered it again (he is sometimes a creature of habit). The first visit, I ordered Farfalloni al Pesto ($15), which is bowtie pasta with a Genovese style pesto (creamier than traditional pesto). The second visit, I ordered Scallope Divitello alla Romana ($17), which is veal scallops with prosciutto, rosmarino, cheese, spinach, and served with a side of pasta. All dishes were excellent with the minor gripe that on the veal dish, the spinach was not fresh. I mean, come on, it takes exactly 15 seconds to wilt fresh spinach. Each entree comes with a starter garden salad which was very nice. On each visit, after the bread and salad, we had enough to take half our meals home; but a heartier appetite could easily finish it in one sitting.

Their menu is quite large. There are a variety of meat, chicken, and seafood entrees. Some come with a side of pasta and all come with bread and the garden salad. Prices range from $15 - $23 (for some beef and lamb dishes). There are several pasta main dishes, including one risotto, ranging in price from $14 - $16. In addition to the entrees, they offer pizzas, calzones, and stombolis. Some come with traditional toppings/fillings, some with more gourmet toppings. I have not had their pizza, calzones, or strombolis, but the reports are that they are very good. Pizzas come in 12" ($8 - $13) and 16" ($12 - $20, for stuffed). Not all varieties come in both sizes. The do offer pizza by the slice ($2.50) if you just want a taste or a light lunch. The calzones and strombolis are priced from $6.50 - $10.50. They offer an additional lunch menu with soups, salads, breads and a few entree-like items.

Service both times was good at dinner. Fat Kat has reported though that at lunchtime, it can be a bit dicey to get back to work on time. One of his co-workers had to get his meal to go because it took so long.

The reason for 3.5 forks is because although the food and prices are excellent, there are a lot of smaller issues that could be improved. The waiting area may have only been a problem when it was very busy, but still, having people wait right in the way of the servers trying to get food on the table just doesn't seem very smart. A few nicer touches in the decor and ambiance would go a long way to earn some more forks. But, if you want some excellent and different Italian dishes at reasonable prices, I would recommend that you try Mona Lisa. Just remember to bring your salt shaker for the bread and an ice cube or two for the wine...

785 N. Church St. (corner of Church and 8th Ave)
Hendersonville, NC
828-696-7858
I would've printed the hours, but they aren't on the menu!