Romano’s Macaroni Grill
Midway through a shopping day in the States, I wanted to go to P.F. Changs because no one ever wants to go with me to try it. I almost had a willing companion, but sadly it was packed, and it would have been a 30 minute wait. So, we walked back towards Macaroni Grill, and were seated immediately.
We ordered the Italian Sausage pizza ($9.99) and Carmela’s Chicken Rigatoni ($11.99). We were given bread to start with olive oil and pepper.
The Italian sausage pizza was a thin crust pizza topped with sausage (obviously), mozzarella, basil, and tomato sauce. The crust was nice and crisp, and the Italian sausage was really good. I wish they did a bit of a better job spreading out the ingredients because the slices were fairly inconsistent. I love Italian sausage though, and together with basil and cheese, you can’t really go wrong.
Carmela’s Rigatoni came with roasted chicken, crimini mushrooms, and caramelized onions in a Marsala demi glace. The tubed pasta was cooked al dente, but the sauce was very thin. The chicken was very moist and juicy and there was quite a few chunks of chicken in there. The caramelized onions added an extra sweetness, and the mushrooms were cut into fairly big chunks to add some more texture. As I said earlier, the sauce was very thin and did very little to coat the pasta.
The service was good, and wasn’t very busy at 1PM on a Saturday afternoon. The food was so-so though. The one in Downtown Vancouver closed a while ago I think, but I remember liking a platter that they had with Chicken parmesan, Lasagna (or Spahgetti?), and Canelloni for a very reasonable $18. Then again, I was in my early University years when I hadn’t experienced much food yet.
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
3000 184th St SW Ste 922
Lynnwood, WA
(425) 368-2875
http://www.macaronigrill.com/Home/Home.aspx
2 Comments
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December 14, 2010 5:36:05 pm
I agree Tony. It’s not something that I’d normally choose to go to. It’s kind of a little step up from like Boston Pizza. It’s not the greatest food, but it’ll do. I went to this place because around Alderwood Mall there are only chain restaurants, and my first choice was packed (though I’m not sure if my original choice would’ve been better). We were hungry.
Romano’s is one of those places that divides foodie opinions… I usually only eat there when I find one in an airport during business trips, and find it to be a reasonable alternative to other airport restaurants (like at Chicago O’Hare, where the options are burgers, fried foods, buffet-style Chinese and reasonable Italian… that’s a fairly easy choice). Their chicken parmesan is a pretty solid dish, though I’ve never been thrilled with the pasta that comes with it.