For my birthday 2 weeks ago, Mark and I decided to try a locally-loved, but new-to-us, restaurant—Osman’s.

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Osman’s has been in business since 2000, and it’s family owned and operated by Bosnian immigrants.

Tucked away in what I’d describe as an odd location (it’s not in the best part of town), the restaurant is small and quaint. The décor is nothing fancy, but it’s cozy and comfortable enough for an intimate dinner.

To begin, Mark and I ordered a bottle of Four Bears Cabernet and shared the brie appetizer. The wheel of brie was coated in bread crumbs, fried, and topped with a raspberry jam.

The brie was good, but it wasn’t our favorite. We thought it was a little bland—which is unusual, since we both love brie. The jam was a bit too sweet and needed a kick of acid. Nevertheless, we ate almost the entire thing.

The menu is largely European: Italian pasta dishes and eggplant parmesan; a variety of schnitzels,; fish, shrimp, fillet mignon, lamb chops, and chicken—each served with a choice of several different sauces.

All entrées were served with a side salad of mixed greens, an unfortunately “wintery” tomato, and dressing.

I chose the balsamic vinaigrette, which was deliciously sweet and tangy, and Mark opted for the mustard vinaigrette (which was also good).

Although the fillet with gorgonzola sauce sounded amazing, I wanted something lighter and chose the catch of the day—red fish—with chardonnay sauce.

The fish was cooked perfectly, but without the sauce it would’ve been a little bland. I loved the flavorful sauce, which was made with chardonnay, cream, seasoning, and capers. The angel hair pasta and sautéed green beans on the side were a bit too garlicky, but I still enjoyed them.

Mark was a bit more adventurous and ordered the schnitzel—which, of course, is a thin pork cutlet bread and fried. He ordered his “jäger style,” which involved a creamy mushroom and onion sauce.

The schnitzel was ENORMOUS! I’m not exaggerating when I say it could’ve easily fed a family of four! In fact, Mark’s leftovers became lunch for the both of us—and that was after giving a portion to my father!

Much like the fish, the pork was a bit bland on its own. The sauce was delicious, however. We both thought the breading was perfectly crispy—and it didn’t have a hint of greasiness.

Since we were both stuffed, we ordered dessert to go—a homemade cream puff. We ate it the next evening and thought it was pretty good, although I imagine it would’ve been better fresh. I forgot to take a picture.

Overall, we were pleased with our dinner. The pricing is comparable to your run-of-the-mill family restaurant (a few of the dishes, namely the lamb and fillet are pricier), but with more of a fine dining feel. We thought the pricing was very good for the amount and quality of food.

Service was great, too; our waitress was very personable and laughed right along with us when we gazed in disbelief at the size of the schnitzel.

While we may not hurry back to celebrate our next special occasion (there are other restaurants I’d like to try), I’d recommend Osman’s to friends and family. Overall it was a good meal, and I can understand why some locals include it as one of their favorites.