July 29, 2008

Review: Maggiano's

We were undecided on last night's dinner. Frank had a taste for veal parmesan and I had a $25 GC for Maggiano's so that settled it. We drove over to Fashion Show Mall and parked in their garage (which is one of the worst around), it must be the worst smelling. No clue what’s rotting down there, but it’s rancid. Just what you want to smell before grabbing a bite. Yum! They try to rid the elevator of the stench by arming it with three air fresheners. Ah, a citrusy rot. Even better. Anyway, we made our way thru the maze from the back of the restaurant to the front hostess. Of course, I grabbed a handful of mints along the way. They’re just too good to pass up.

We were seated right away; we had a table beside the window over looking Wynn and the FSM escalator. The folks riding that escalator were our entertainment throughout our meal; Interesting people watching to say the least. We got started with fresh warm bread. M’mmm. I love when the breads pulls away from the air pockets. It was delicious, their vinegar and oil are tasty, too. Next up was a house salad, it was fresh and crisp, it tasted like it was straight from the garden – simple and perfect. Frank got the veal parmesan, I ordered a "Little Italy" special. Taylor Street (from Chicago), it was baked ziti with sausage. Frank's $22 veal came without pasta. We didn't realize it was al a carte, to make matters worse it was more breading than veal. Needless to say, it didn’t settle his craving. The ziti was decent, although, the sausage was salty and tasted nothing like what I’ve had in Chicago's Little Italy. We’ve had a couple good meals there before (family-style and lunch), but we’re less likely to return after yesterday’s dinner.

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