We had a lazy Sunday afternoon, and to be honest, I wish they all could be that way. A late afternoon lunch-dinner, “linner”? sounded perfect, so on our way to do some grocery shopping we stopped in at Bonaventura Italian Deli. Like many restaurants in Newberg, we’d driven by but just hadn’t stopped yet. On weekends it’s always busy and has a great street presence with outdoor seating.

The great part about Bonaventura is that it’s a deli. They have almost every kind of Italian cured meat you could ask for along with beautiful cheeses. And if you’re not sure about what to get, they’ll let you sample anything you’d like. Along with the deli, they have all sorts of Italian goodies.

The treat of this whole dinning experience were the complementary meatballs, totally unexpected and absolutely appreciated! Look at the steam!

The meatballs had a hard crusted outside and were perfectly juicy on the inside, and the homemade marinara sauce and fresh parmesan sealed the deal. They were so good, that after we ate them, we decided to purchase four meatballs and a container of marinara to make spaghetti dinner on Monday night.

For “linner” I decided to try out the Baked Ziti. Ziti pasta is so fun to eat because the juices from the sauce fill every nook and cranny. This pot of pasta was filled with marinara, mozzarella cheese, chunks of meatballs, Italian sausage, and peperoni. I also really enjoyed the slice of bread topped with butter and garlic from Carlton Bakery.

The golden brown melted cheese topped with peperoni was delicious. Who doesn’t like blistered and melted cheese?

And here was my perfect bite!

The Renaissance Man went with the Sicilian Panini and he reports that the meats in this sandwich were worth coming back for!

As we paid at the register for our Monday night spaghetti meal, we were convinced to try the Italian Cannoli. We got it to go, and it was quite a treat! Crisp shell filled with a sweet mixture of ricotta and mascarpone cheese.

Another added bonus was the lovely Italian music playing the background. I found myself humming along as we ate and I can’t wait to come back and have another fantastic meal!