Fratello's Italian Restaurant, 8531 Brier Creek Pkwy - Suite 109, Raleigh

Knowing full-well that I'm not a fan of Italian, I opted to go to Fratello's lunch buffet today. I couldn't resist the $7.95 price tag. The sign advertised spaghetti, meatballs, salad, pizza, sausage and peppers, eggplant parmigiana and baked ziti. They also had garlic knots.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that although the buffet was TINY, the salad portion was relatively large. Fratello's offered Romaine and mixed greens, tomatoes, red onions, Kalamata olives, pepperoncini peppers, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, Caesar dressing and Italian dressing. It wasn't very pretty but it worked. I got a plate full of salad, some ziti and garlic knots. The ziti had an olive flavor to it but it didn't bother me. My first plate was a success. The garlic knots were VERY yummy.

I went back to treat myself to a slice of pizza and a couple more garlic knots. My first bite of pizza I spit out because it was COLD. Two important factors here. #1 - I do not spit out food. That's how undesirable it was. #2 - I considered it a fluke of the buffet and tried again. However, when I returned with my new slice of pizza, I took a bite and again had to spit it out. The pizza tasted disgusting. Not fresh at all. And I only had a slice of cheese pizza - I can't imagine what other toppings would do.

So, to end my meal, I ate my final garlic knot and dubbed the salad the best part of the buffet. Additionally, I made the mistake of ordering a soda and my glass was dry for a considerable amount of time. I asked for a to-go menu to browse and the lunch buffet is cheaper than any single item on the lunch menu except for a side salad. So sad. Despite my poor experience with my second plate, the price was good for my first plate of food.

Website and menu: http://www.fratellosbriercreek.com/
Speed: Slow considering everyone got the buffet and the waitress just had to stay on top of drinks
Price: $7.95-$10.95/plate (lunch); $14.95-$23.95 (dinner)
Hours: Mon—Thurs: 11:30am—2pm, 5pm-9pm; Fri: 11:30am—2pm, 5pm-10pm; Sat: 5pm—10pm; Sun: 5pm-9pm
Overall: 2/5