Zaccagni’s is a chaotic and condensed restaurant counter tucked into the far side of a business-casual food court. Accountants and lawyers line up at Zaccagni’s for their Italian inspired roasted meat sandwiches and sides. The style of food is basically my mental image of what construction workers ate 100 years ago in New York City while building sky scrapers. A lunch break in between tax filings isn’t quite as romantic, but at least the food is comforting.
The sandwiches looked extremely appealing, but if you’ve ever read this blog you know what I was duty-bound to order. Hmm…do I get fries, cheese fries, or gravy fries? Scratch that, I can have all of that and chunks of brisket? I’m in. $7 seemed reasonable so I went all in with “The Works” for my lunch.
Special note, the pickled vegetables you see in the picture above did not come native with my order. However, I saw a big jar of house-made giardiniera and I bashfully asked if it would be possible to get that on my fries (I’m a huge fan of these Italian pickled vegetables). The lady at the counter told me to knock myself out and I took her at her word.
These 5mm medium-thin fries didn’t stand a chance against the onslaught of gravy and cheese sauce they were served with. They fries may have been crispy when they came out of the fryer, but I can’t prove it. All I know is that when they arrived they were soggy, piping hot, and reeking of sodium-bathed goodness.
“The Works” boasts both a gravy and a three-cheese sauce. They became somewhat indistinguishable, but the cheese sauce appeared to start off about the consistency of a thick queso qip, and the gravy was more of a hearty aus jus. They blended into a velvety meaty blanket of heaven that suffocated the fries at the bottom of the to-go container.
The house-made giardiniera is rustically cut and toothsome. The carrot, celery, and cauliflower were bright, tart, and refreshing. Paired with the steaming heap of cheese-fries-meat Zaccagni’s delivers a brilliant contrast of texture. It’s basically salty food, two ways. If you’re tempted to try these fries I’d almost insist that you add at least a few spoonfuls of the giardiniera on top.
The brisket was incredible. Served in generous chunks it was tender, saucy, and flavorful. Combined with the gravy soaked fries it made the dish feel somewhats reminiscent of a beef stew. This was a meal. Not a nutritionally balanced meal, but the calories were certainly there. At $7 I think it’s a great bargain. I’d prefer a more substantial fry (something that held a crust), but I’m not aware of a fried potato on this earth that could actually fight off the sauce for long.
This is an 8 out of 10 for me on the rating scale. I loved it and I believe I’ll be back again soon. I might skip the fries next time and grab a sandwich…I doubt I’d survive both.
Catalog:
Sampled on 2/14/2017. Zaccagni’s is located at 823 3rd Ave, Seattle.
The Sodafry 