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Romano's Macaroni Grill

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stvchin
stvchin
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
3
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Editor Pick

Romano's Macaroni Grill

  • July 22, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by stvchin from Tustin, California
Romano's Macaroni Grill

I generally don't go to large chain restaurants much, but I've always enjoyed the food and atmosphere at Macaroni Grill. I visited the one in Irvine off Jamboree at the Marketplace on a Friday night. There are many other locations nationwide.

The wait on a Friday night wasn't too long, 25-30 minutes. We seated near the kitchen. I've always enjoyed the atmosphere and decor at the Macaroni Grills. Mac Grill seems to be the antithesis of the traditional Italian restaurant as there is plenty of open dining space with an open kitchen viewable from most of the dining room. The server station is situated smack in the middle of the dining area. The atmosphere is bustling and loud. The designers intentionally used noise reflecting materials such as faux stone columns and stained concrete floors. The loud atmosphere serves to make you feel a sense of excitement, but it also serves to cut down on intimate chatter. This forces some diners to finish their meals and leave in a timely manner to free up the table.

Our waiter was friendly and attentive. She brought us our drinks quickly and also brought us a loaf(?) of Macaroni Grill's signature rosemary bread. We had a coupon which offered a free appetizer with an order of their new seafood linguine. So we ordered the seafood linguine, pasta milano, and calamari appetizer.

The calamari fritti appetizer came out first. It didn't come with any lemon, but the waiter realized that already and brought us a little plate full of lemons. The calamari was pretty good, fried with a light batter.

Our entrees came out next. The seafood linguine was fairly good. It had clams, shrimp, and some miscellaneous white fish in ti. I didn't enjoy the clams as much, as I don't prefer them, but it tasted okay. I tried my friend's pasta milano and actually liked that better than my seafood linguine. Pasta milano is imported bow-tie pasta with mushrooms, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and white sauce.

Our entrees were quite big, and we had to box them to take them home for lunch tomorrow. We didn't order any dessert. We did see some of the servers carrying out some sort of chocolate cake with large scoops of vanilla ice cream that looked quite yummy.

Our total bill with the free appetizer coupon came out to $33 with tax and 2 lemonades. The food was good and consistent with my previous visits. The atmosphere is loud but quite fun. I highly recommend Romano's Macaroni Grill.

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