Featured Restaurant on Rick's DineSite Journal

Atmosphere is somewhat sterile and plain - what you might expect in a small strip mall venue. It used to be very smoky; such that we rarely visited. An addition to double the dining area last year provided a non-smoking dining room making it now hospitable. Its too bad the food isn't more inspiring and the service more attentive. Being the restaurant closet to our home for the last eleven years, we would love to love Clara's! Unfortunately, it consistently underwhelms rather than ingratiates. 
Atmosphere - 2.5/5

Food - Menu (Italian) selection is fairly broad but the the selections tend to be uninspiring and rather bland and a bit disappointing in portions (veal parmigiana).  
Food - 3/5

Wine - Winelist, is predominantly Italian with some well thought out and carefully selected Californians, Australians, and Northwest wines. While limited the selection is imaginative and well done. Their offer of half price wines for the evening could've made for an imaginative and fun evening until they held firm to their $74 limit and would'nt relax it for an $88 or even a $75 choice! I told them they won the battle and lost the war. See wine journal review.
Wine - 3/5

Service was slightly less than adequate, not quite sufficiently personal or attentive to meet expectations.
Service - 3/5

Overall - 11.5/20