Bertolone's Calera

Great food! Quick, friendly service. Everyone quickly tried to help every time I moved mom in her wheelchair. The only place I truly enjoy the bread and oil. So good! Nonna's lasagna is a unique southern twist and is excellent! Highly recommend!

My daughter and I stumbled upon this hidden gem while driving from Montgomery to Birmingham. We were headed to the neighboring Cracker Barrel for a quick meal. So glad we spotted Bertolone’s! Service was great. Appetizer was tomato basil soup. If you expect puréed soup, you may want to skip theirs. I was skeptical since I ausually prefer tomato soup to be smooth and creamy. This soup was very good. Basil was just right and didn’t overpower the soup. For entrees, I had pesto pizza and my daughter had spaghetti and meatballs. Our family is serious (and selective!) about meatballs. My grandmother makes the best meatballs EVER. We both agreed these meatballs were outstanding. My pesto pizza had sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts (I skipped the red onion). I’m not sure how they get the artichoke hearts to have a candied texture that is both crunchy and chewy, but they were fantastic. It was almost like dates, but a bit of a crunch. I would love to toss those in a trail mix. For dessert, we shared tiramisu (yum!!!!) We also took a slice of cake home (chocolate covered strawberry). Their cake list is extensive and they have slices in a cooler up front, ready to go. Coming from an Italian family, I appreciate good scratch-made Italian food. That isn’t always easy to find, especially if you’re particular like me 😉 While this restaurant is 25-30 minutes from our home, we WILL be returning!