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 The Bistro Juliana is a new, casual Port Richmond Italian restaurant (BYOB).   It’s affordable (entrées range from $12 to $20) and the food is out of this world. 

But the Bistro is not without its niggling problems.  The location leaves something to be desired:  the noises and exhaust of I-95 and Aramingo Avenue loom less than a city block away in each direction.  Meanwhile, the dumpsters of the Pep Boys and the Thriftway in the Port Richmond shopping center sit right across the street.  So although there is outdoor seating, I wouldn't recommend it.  The interior atmosphere aint much better: the room is cramped and offers no color, only tackiness with none of the self-conscious fun we're used to having with kitsch: plain white walls half cluttered with LeRoy Nieman-esque paintings, travel agency posters of Italian cityscapes, and frumpy looking, glossy black, thick-framed light fixtures.  Only a huge glass window on the dining room’s long side, which gives us a view of I-95’s crumbling concrete piers, allows any natural light.  As for the service, it's generally efficient and polite.  But it can also be grumpier than I've ever experienced: with no provocation whatsoever, my server put my plate of Rigatoni in a vodka tomato sauce on the table in front of me and commanded, in a harsh growl, “enjoy.”  By the time I finished saying “thank you,” he was already half way across the room.

Just look past these problems and focus on the food.  I’ve been to the Bistro a few times, and so far, it’s been impossible to go wrong.  Neither I, nor any of the people I’ve dined with, have been unhappy with any of what they cooked for us. 

The Bistro offers a small menu of specialty dishes.  You’ll search in vain for a plain old plate of Spaghetti and tomato sauce (but if you ask, they’ll probably make it, especially if there’s a kid at the table).  Their linguini and clams in white sauce is about as pedestrian as their selection gets, but it’s damn near perfect.  The choices are wide ranging.  You want Polpo?  Both times I had it, it was tender, not rubbery.  Antipasto? The vegetables are fresh and flavorful.  That Rigatoni in Vodka sauce I mention above had a mild attack and a spicy (but not TOO spicy) tail.  Another menu item worth mentioning was the Orechiette.  As the menu says, this homemade pasta is “ear shaped.”  It’s served in a bowl with white beans, roasted peppers and sweet sausage (optional).  All the pastas I’ve had there struck a happy medium: they weren't too al dente, but they weren't mushy either.

The Bistro’s portions aren’t disgustingly huge, but they are slightly larger than manageable.  A couple won’t go hungry by ordering two appetizers and agreeing on a main course to share.  The Bistro’s crowd ranged from urban hipsters to suburban oldsters who were curious because they had read about the restaurant in PhillyMag.  Just watch out for that crabby waiter.