10/09/09

Excellent Service, Average Food

by Gary T

Let me start by stating that I am a former resident of New York City and I know excellent Italian cooking.

Maggiano's seems to be going the way of The Olive Garden as it pertains to the meals they offer: Lots of bland cream sauces and not much food flavor.

Oct 9, 2009 a friend and I both ordered ravioli meals. His was the 4 cheeses, mine was the veal and mushroom. Both came with heavy cream sauces garnished with ground basil and sun dried tomatoes. Italian bread was served. I had the chicken and potato soup.

The soup had very good flavor and was hot (and getting hot soup) seems to be a problem at a lot of restaurants.

The Italian bread: as they say in New York, "Eh." Not much flavor.

The two dishes: bland cream sauce, not much flavor, and it could have been Alpo and kale inside the ravioli and I would not have known the difference. The veal and mushroom ravioli was one of the higher priced entrees and to me and had NO discernible flavor. I wasted my money.

At this point, I'd rather spend less and go to The Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill (and I don't much like those places).

• Pros: Friendly staff
• Cons: Bland Cream Sauces

05/16/09

great food and wine....try the veal/mushroom ravioli

by grcxx3

we made a reservation fortunately....usually I don't bother...but as it turned out to be prom night......it was good to reserve a table because it was packed. We were seated on time and tho packed it really was not too noisy to carry on a conversation. We chose the family style dinner and a Tuscan red from the very nice wine list....lots of wine choices at reasonable prices. The fried zuchini was as good as I've ever had and the veal mushroom ravioli was superb..... we had several plates of both. Go there hungry and don't expect to lose any weight. The salads were very good...I liked the Maggiano's salad best. We had several plates of Tuscan mussels which were covered with garlic in a light broth....oh man they were good. The pork medallions.... were also nicely cooked and seasoned. For desert I tried desperately to finish the creme brule'....it was rich and sweet....super.....but no room left for me. Service was good and it was not too expensive.....~100 for four without wine. I and my friends were pleased and will be going back again.

• Pros: food and wine
• Cons: big crowds

03/10/09

That's Amore

by wadester

I met my fiance here for lunch one day recently. We had been here for dinner with our kids several times, and always enjoyed it. But since it had been awhile since eating here, we decided to make it a lunch date for just the two of us. We sat in the bar area this time, and enjoyed the seafood-stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. For the main course i had the spaghetti and meatball from the lunch selections, while my fiance had the gnocci pasta in tomato vodka sauce. Everything we ate was wonderful, and the waitress was very good about keeping us satisfied without a huge time delay (since we were on our lunch break). The meals here are delicious, and the prices are very reasonable. For dinner or lunch, Maggiano's is definately recommended for a good Italian meal.

• Pros: Fresh, Traditional Italian Food