Galeotti’s offers fine dining on Battle Ground’s Main St.

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The large portrait over the fireplace at Galeotti’s Restaurant in Battle Ground tells it all.

This restaurant, unlike some who claim to be “family” restaurants really is all about family and is operated with great care, passion and attention to detail by the Galeotti family. Family patriarch Michael heads up the family members working at the restaurant that include his wife Sheila, sons Michael, Luke and Aaron, daughter Andrea and son-in-law David. Each member of the family takes an active role either in the front or back of the house.

With a background in hospitality, the family ran the Quality Inn Conference Center in Vancouver for three years. The Galeotti’s opened their namesake restaurant in March of 2009 and headed full-steam into the restaurant business. First hiring young chef Tim Henley, then re-configuring the former Irby’s restaurant into the warm, family-style dining room that it is today. Today, sons Luke and Aaron work alongside the chef, while other family members run the dining room.

“Chef Tim never went to culinary school before we hired him, but we discovered his genius at flavor, taste, and texture and his creative flair for using local natural and organic ingredients to create our signature dishes,” said Mike. “Our whole family sets about welcoming customers as if they were coming to our home to eat dinner.”

Indeed, some people feel like they’re eating in a friendly living room instead of a fine dining restaurant. That perception is helped by the huge family portrait hung over a working fireplace, backing up two welcoming and comfy leather armchairs.

“We want to make sure the restaurant provides everyone with a wonderful dining experience, whether they’re celebrating an anniversary, on a date, or just looking for a relaxing evening of quality dining,” Mike said. “We train our staff to determine what our guests are looking for in a dining experience and then make sure that experience happens.”

Galeotti’s seats about 86 people, in the main dining room and in a smaller annex, but also has a conference-banquet hall across the alley that seats 60 and is used for conferences, business meetings, special events and parties.

The menu has been described as “fine dining meets home cooking” – home cooking that is done by an accomplished chef and kitchen staff that is. With what this reporter believes is the most sophisticated menu in Battle Ground, Galeotti’s certainly provides memorable meals along with their promised memorable dining experience.



Part of the magic of the restaurant is the inclusion of items from the “Chef Inspired Menu,” which is changed every two weeks and involves a special appetizer and entrée conjured up by Chef Tim and the Galeotti brothers. On a recent evening, the appetizer was three grilled shrimp, bathed in a moderately-fiery chimichurri sauce, sitting atop a generous helping of the best polenta this reporter has had outside of Italy.

Entrees enjoyed at the recent visit included a free range Lamb Chop in panko, dripping with a thick sweet-spicy chipotle glaze and served with red and black quinoa and scrumptious broccoli rabe – fresh Alaskan Halibut in a parmesan cream sauce with perfectly-cooked asparagus and a four-mushroom risotto that we raved about so much the chef substituted another serving of this delicious side dish on our next entrée.

A serving of their lasagna, served in a small personal-sized pan, vanished in seconds. The dish made from scratch, as is everything on the menu, and full of fresh tomato and spinach, perfectly cooked and served more like a small bowl of stew than the traditional square slice of pasta and tomato layers.

Finally, came the signature Chicken Parmigiana, Galeotti’s version of the Northern Italian classic, accompanied by buttery fingerling potatoes and that second helping of the wondrous mushroom risotto. To the surprised applause of this reporter’s table mates, who had ooh’d and aah’d after the first serving.

Other entrees that weren’t tried on the recent visit included Bacon Wrapped Scallops, Ribeye with Wild Mushrooms, Gorgonzola-Bleu Cheese stuffed Filet Mignon, and what they call The Vultaggio; described as a spicy mushroom marinara sauce with crumbled Italian sausage served over farfalle pasta.

Stuffed but still curious, with a small space in our stomachs for sweet endings, this reporter launched into the desserts and were blown away. The Italian Cheese Cake is a clever and delicious mixture of 70 percent mascarpone and 30 percent cream cheese in a traditional, but perfectly-fashioned vanilla graham cracker crust. The cheesecake was light and fluffy, creamy rich, and lovingly adorned with a strawberry-blackberry-raspberry sauce.

The knockout punch was delivered by the simply-named “Apple Crisp” – a towering mound of house-made vanilla ice cream and freshly whipped cream sitting atop a ramekin of perfectly-cooked Washington apples with the most complex and delicious spices this reporter has ever enjoyed in a dessert. Chef Tim magically combined cinnamon and nutmeg, the traditional spices used in this dessert, with star anise and galangal (a sort of Thai ginger) to create a wonderful complexity of flavors.

Galeotti’s is located at 801 East Main Street, Battle Ground, WA, phone (360) 666-4877. Restaurant hours are Sun., Mon., Wed., & Thurs. 4-9 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 4–10 p.m.