My cousin La and I went to Ozzie’s Corner Italian for a quick lunch because she had a free coupon for dessert. When we got there she realized that she left it at home. No worries I’m sure the food was going to be good since Ozzie’s was a part of the Great American Restaurants chain.
I’ve been to almost half of the restaurants in their group and I enjoyed all my meals there. There’s the unforgettable crab cakes eggs benedict on biscuits from Carlyle, yummy bread and cookies at Best Buns Bread Company and to-die-for lobster roll at Coastal Flats.
I appreciated the coat rack.
We were served their signature fried doughnut holes and foccacia (pictured above). Doughnut holes without glaze are delicious specially when served piping hot.
I had the incredible jumbo lump crab cakes which were prepared a bit differently from the ones I had at Carlyle. These crab cakes had very little fillers and mayonnaise that’s why the patty barely held it’s shape. The star was the sweet, fresh lump crab. Instead of crispy crushed potatoes I had it substituted to all field greens. This entree was very filling and satisfying. I took home one crab cake for my niece Erin.
jumbo lump crab cakes (market price)
crispy crushed red potatoes & field greens
La had the short ribs as I expected. She always orders either duck confit or short ribs. Always. The short ribs were very tender and the gravy was thick, rich and delicious although I still preferred the short ribs I had at Michel the night before. The creamy mascarpone polenta was 10x deadlier than mashed potatoes. Again Erin had a doggie bag of her mom’s leftovers.
beef short rib ragu $19
creamy mascarpone polenta, cippolini onions, wild mushrooms and buttered carrots
Their version of tiramisu was unlike any I’ve ever encountered. Instead of the usual layered dessert theirs was shaped into a roll just like a Ho Ho cake. Just like their entrees dessert was a big American size serving too. We barely ate half before we surrendered. It was richer than the authentic tiramisu but I wasn’t complaining. It was perfect with coffee.
You can imagine Erin’s joy when she came home from school and found a crab cake, short ribs and tiramisu for her snack. Guess what she ate first? The tiramisu. That girl is just like her aunt – a dessert freak.
tiramisu ho ho $7
Ozzie’s Corner Italian
11880 Grand Commons Avenue
Fairfax, VA 22030
telephone: (571) 321-8000
Shoot First Eat Later 