Damasco’s - Belgrade, Montana

This is more of a review than an inspection but has both
90 W. Madison, Belgrade, Montana
Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., serving lunch and dinner. It offers both dine-in and carry-out options. Phone 406-388-2724. They don't take checks and only accept Visa and MasterCard (Times and number copied from the news article listed below. Call them for actual times and payment methods because I think they have changed)

What says a ton about a new restaurant's food and reputation is the fact that they don't advertise. In October 2007 Damasco's opened and, well read the archive from the local paper: http://www.belgrade-news.com/archives/view.php?article=7812

It's a small restaurant situated in a small strip center off the main thoroughfare of Jackrabbit Lane in Belgrade but don't let the size fool you. I think the lack of more tables is vital at this point in their endeavor because anything larger will take away from the excellent service. The 2 times I have eaten there only 2 servers exist. I'd hate for the service to suffer just because more people wanted to be there at the same time. Of course I'm sure they'd get more help if they increased their capacity but right now it's perfect.

The best time to go is 10-15 minutes after they open. Both times I've been there has been around 5PM - the sign says they open at 4:30. There were no customers when I arrived either time so the service should be perfect and it was. I noticed a sign stating they are waiting on their liquor license so expect to drink something else until they get one (I don't need to drink liquor to enjoy great food, or life for that matter). I believe the owner, Tommaso Damasco is the person behind the half wall between the dining room and the kitchen and both times he greeted me with a huge smile. I feel that he really enjoys watching people get excited about his food, I've even caught him watching people eating and enjoying the food. I can watch and listen to him as he speaks to his cousin in Italian, although I don't understand a word. It seems they both love cooking but personally I think that what they like most is knowing that people are enjoying their food. I'd imagine that for him, making a profit was not the first thing he thought of when he first considered opening this restaurant. If it wasn't I hope he doesn't tell anyone. It's best if we all assume it's the love of cooking or the love of watching people enjoy your cooking.

Around 5:30 or 6PM the flock of customers arrives, a few at a time but soon after all of the tables are full. It seems that the people that showed up the two times I've been know Mr. Damasco as they usually say 'hi' or have a short chat before the customer sits down with the others they came with. It's a family place. The last time I went there was a mother and her two sons. One was young and sat in a high chair. It was fun to watch him eat so I can see why Mr. Damasco loves his work. If you arrive after 6PM you may have to wait for a table but I recommend waiting.

As a previous employee of 3 different Americanized pizza restaurants I can say that I may have a problem: I'm addicted to pizza. I've had this addiction currently for 19 years and the last time I've had a pizza was last week - frozen of course. You have not tasted real Italian pizza until you have eaten one of Damasco's hand-made fresh, oven baked pizzas, or eat two if you like. I've been used to pizza in a gas-fired oven or even electric but never oven-baked and I hate to say it but OMG it's da bomb! Damasco's brick oven baked pizza is as follows:
1) The Crust. Crust is the base of any pizza and is the most important part of one. A great set of toppings or even the best sauce will fail if the crust is poor. The crust here is thin, crunchy and even the burnt bubbles that happen with a brick oven pizza are great.
2) The Sauce. I have to admit I'm not even certain there is a sauce. If there is, it's so perfectly portioned that it allows the taste of the entire pizza to be consumed by my taste buds as one thing. Yes I taste the crust and toppings separately but it's almost like the toppings are specifically designed for that pizza as a whole.
3) The Toppings. I've had the Mozzarella, Sausage & Pepperoni pizza and a Mozzarella, Pepperoni & Onion pizza at Damasco's. Both were the best pizzas I've ever had. Even the second one surpassed the first one. There's even this flavorful greasy liquid that falls from each slice as you lift it from the plate. It's the merging of all of the toppings into one flavor that makes you want another slice even when you've finished and should stop eating because in less than 5 minutes you will be full.

I like the way they serve the pizza too. It's some type of heavy stone or stone-type tray that keeps the pizza hot even down to the last piece.

My wife had pasta both times we were there and she enjoyed it as much as I did the pizza. I can't speak for her but we've had pasta from 'supposed authentic Italian' restaurants before, many times, but Damasco's has the best in my opinion (I had a bite). My wife tells me that Damasco's is her #2 pick for the best (after a little-known place in Springfield, Missouri called J Parrino's) and is tied with Zio's as the #2 best.

I will warn those of you that aren't aware of traditional Italian food: They have one salad that I had the first time that was a mistake on my part. I can't remember the name on the menu but it sounded good and was in the $7 range. When it arrived it was a huge pile of lettuce with a few other things on it like sliced boiled egg and some cheese. When I order a salad, most other places I've ever been, and it costs that much, it has lettuce, generally 2 or 3 types, cheese, tomato, croûtons, maybe some boiled egg, bacon bits, ham, cucumbers and maybe a few other things. The one at Damasco's that arrived at my table was mostly head lettuce. I did eat it all, even though it's the first time in my life I've eaten that much lettuce without blue cheese dressing and all the other things I mentioned above. So if you aren't certain which salad you are ordering or what you will get, just ask. I'm sure they don't want you to order something you won't be happy with.

Something else that I don't get. Not being Italian I may just not understand but when the server says that bread will be included, I usually get it after the order is placed and drinks arrive, not after the main course is placed in front of me. It makes it even harder to understand that they bring the oil, vinegar and bread plates when normally one would expect the bread but don't hope for bread until later. On top of that, it's served room temperature. Again that may be authentic Italian I just don't know.

As for an inspection I have to say that the dining area was very clean as were the walls behind and around the brick oven. I didn't venture to the rest of the kitchen or to the restroom but every area I could see was clean. I even saw one of the servers wiping down the condiment shakers that are on each table both times I was there. I noticed Mr. Damasco clean his hands several times before he made any pizza or touched any food, especially after he added wood to the fire for the oven.

As with all other restaurants my concerns for cleanliness are the use of gloves when handling raw food; the use of disinfectant in the last step of dish washing; the use of disinfectant in the mop water; the use of disinfectant on not only the tables and in the restroom but on every door handle especially those for the restrooms. The most important item for cleanliness for any restaurant is that the employees have a regular hand washing regiment and those at Damasco's seem to have it down.

Even though this blog is designed for critiquing the cleanliness of restaurants that I have personally visited and I don't normally give ratings to any place, if I were to rate Damasco's I'd be an idiot to rate it less than 5 stars out of 5.

Of course I'm no food critic. I just love good food.

Keep up the excellent work Damasco's!