A Find! Great Independent Italian Restaurant in Birmingham - <strong>Joe's Italian</strong>

Joe's Italian is actually in Alabaster, a suburb not too far from Kim's and John's house in Helena. We'd found it through a couple of websites with enthusiastic reviews and made the 15-minute drive to it tonight.

We didn't pull into the nearly full parking lot until a little after 6:00 p.m. On a Tuesday night there was a 45-minute wait and luckily Riley used the time profitably to nap in her car seat. We were inside and seated in crowded European-style quasi-trattoria conditions in about 35 minutes, and it was a pleasure to find out it was worth the wait.

Riley enjoyed her spaghetti immensely, and the rest of us dined on a variety of dishes. Brian really enjoyed his lasagna bianca, the first lasagna he's ever tried with a white sauce. Three of us enjoyed the house tomato basil soup as a starter.

We'll see if our new grandson is in the mood for Italian, once he's arrived. Joe's would be a great place for him to start.