When you have a craving for Italian cuisine, cooking some pasta at home just won't cut it. Instead, you'll want to find an Italian restaurant in your area and visit for a fulfilling — and filling — meal. As you evaluate different Italian restaurants, it's beneficial to assess the menu size that each establishment offers. You might be tempted to frequent the restaurant with the largest menu, given the selection that it offers, but there's value in taking the opposite approach. Here are some reasons that an Italian restaurant with a smaller menu will have you saying salute.

The Food Will Be Fresher

Italian restaurants will smaller menus will typically give you dishes that are fresher. When a restaurant has dozens of items on its menu, these items can lack freshness. Many of them will be prepared earlier in the day or even in previous days, frozen, and then heated once customers order them. Conversely, when a restaurant has a smaller menu, the kitchen staff can make more of each dish from scratch at the time that you order it. For example, if you order chicken Parmesan, the chefs may actually flatten, bread, and cook the chicken cutlets after you order them. If there are too many menu items for this type of preparation, this work is customarily done in advance.

The Quality Will Be Higher

Fewer menu items at your local Italian restaurant will typically mean that you'll get a higher quality of food. A restaurant that serves food off an extensive menu can mean that the kitchen staff members aren't always fully acquainted with each menu item, and thus may not prepare it in the best way possible. However, if the staff are only working with perhaps a dozen different items, they'll know each of these well — and be able to execute them superbly. For example, something that requires detailed care, such as grilled calamari with fresh herbs, will often be better done in an Italian restaurant in which it's on a smaller menu.

The Server Will Be More Knowledgeable

One of the joys of visiting an Italian restaurant with a small menu is that the server will know each item intimately, and thus be able to provide lots of information and answer your questions. In many cases, he or she will have actually tried each item on the menu, which can make his or her knowledge second to none. In a restaurant that may have 50 or more menu items, you can't expect your server to be an expert, which means that your detailed questions may not get the best answers.

To satisfy your craving, check out local establishments like the Villa Romana Italian Restaurant.