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Maggiano's Little Italy

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stvchin
stvchin
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
4
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Maggiano's

  • March 23, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by stvchin from Tustin, California
Maggiano's

Maggiano's Little Italy is a very popular chain of higher-end Italian restaurants. I visited the Maggiano's at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on weeknight. Maggiano's is located on a separate pad from the mall near the corner of Bristol and Sunflower by Sears. It shares the building with Corner Bakery.

The main entrance is on the east side of the building and not very obvious, looking more like a secondary fire door. There's always a wait at Maggiano's. After about 30 minutes, we were seated at a booth at the edge of the 270 seat dining room. The dining room features dark woods, black and white pictures of celebrities, checkered tablecloths, classic Southern Italian. The dining room was quite packed and noisy, but a very lively, energetic type of noise. There's a small patio for outdoor dining, and a separate bar area near the entrance.

Our waiter brought us a basket of warm whole grain bread and mixed us a little plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. Maggiano's menu has a regular dining section and a family dining multi-course prix-fixe menu. The regular menu features mostly southern Italian favorites, such as lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, as well as seafood, chicken, beef steaks, veal, and house specialties, salads, appetizers, and so on. The family menu has a combination of these as different courses. There is also a very extensive wine list as well, with some wine and food pairing suggestions.

I chose the lobster ravioli, and my friends chose the half order of spaghetti and meatball, and the stuffed chicken Fontina. We split a full size Caesar salad. While waiting, we munched on the delicious bread.

About 10 minutes later, our Caesar salad arrived, and it was huge. It's basically a traditional Caesar salad of romaine lettuce tossed with Caesar dressing, croutons, and shaved Parmesan cheese. This is one of the best Caesar salads I've ever had. The taste of the garlic and anchovy is quite strong and really does enhance the flavor of the salad. It's almost addictive, as all of us raced to finish the salad.

After we finished our salad, our entrées arrived. My friend's half order of spaghetti and meatball was huge and could have probably fed 2-3 people. It had a big meatball on top the size of a softball. He said it was absolutely delicious, but overkill on the size.

My other friend's stuffed chicken Fontina is made of 2 chicken breasts stuffed with mushrooms and Fontina cheese and served with garlic mashed potatoes. He really enjoyed his meal. The chicken was a slight bit crispy on the outside and nice and cheesy on the inside.

My lobster ravioli was very good. It's basil and saffron pasta filled with fresh lobster meat in a light lobster cream sauce. You could definitely tell it was made fresh.

Our total bill was $66.64 before tip. Good portions, very good food. Maggiano's is great for family dining, parties, celebrations, or a date!

From journal Dining Around Orange County

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