| rev:text
| - After taking the toddler out to Chuck E Cheese yesterday, the wife and I had a huge craving for Indian and decided to have lunch at Sutra on McDowell. Of COURSE, they were closed. I suggested instead that we check out Romano's because I'd had a fairly decent experience at the I-17 and 101 location a couple of weeks ago with a friend, and the wife's a bit of an Olive Garden freak. So in we went. And I'm sorry to say that the experience this time wasn't all that good. It wasn't all that BAD either, but a flatline three stars is pretty much all this place gets.
Regarding the food: the wife had the sausage spiedini (basically just grilled sausage and vegetables), and I had the chicken scallopini. Kid had the mac and cheese. I asked for extra roasted garlic on mine, and it was very garlicky and delicious - in fact the scallopini sauce was so awesome that I vowed to try my hand at making it at home sometime soon. Also it was very salty - boosted, no doubt, by the prosciutto. What I didn't much care for was the portion size - it was definitely enough for a lunch portion, but those looking to take leftovers for later will be disappointed. I got maybe a soup-ladle's worth of angelhair pasta with it. Not worth $12.99, that's for damn sure. Maybe just over half that. The wife's experience was somewhat less exciting - she didn't like the sausage, the grilled veggies were just meh and overall she said it wasn't something she would ever order again. Bread was okay, but wasn't as good as OG's breadsticks. Toddler didn't eat most of his mac and cheese, although it's hit and miss with him on most things anyway (unless it's boston cream pie yoghurt with frickin' sprinkles on it) so I won't "review" his meal here.
Romanos tries to give off some kind of upper-class dining atmosphere, a la Olive Garden. At OGs, it seems to work. Not here. For us, the vibe was lessened by the sleeveless-shirt-wearing Hispanic guy who came in shortly after us, and especially by the weird music mix they were playing - elevator piano music, switching to big band stuff, and then inexplicably to a tune that sounded like Alvin the Chipmunk on a ukelele. I commented to the wife that that particular track reminded me of something from one of our toddler's toys. And there were the little things, too - chewing gum stuck under our booth table, the fact that our bottle of olive oil was almost completely empty, the fact that the server just threw the kids menu onto the table in front of our toddler without a word. We're still at three stars.
The waitress, Melody, was completely disinterested. Seemed okay at first, but she was just not perky at all. Maybe because she had to work on the weekend. She took forever to get back to us for things, including when we had our credit card waiting on the table for her. And when we finally got the bill back ready to sign, we just got a monotone "thanks and have a good day". Up to that point, we had. (shrug) Maybe I'm just spoiled - she acted pretty normal for a server in a regular old Australian restaurant, but since moving to the US I now kind of expect my sack to get tickled with a feather a little more during my dining experience, know what I mean? Yes, the manager did show up during the meal to get a status check on us, but even that visit seemed like a chore they had to get over and done with.
All in all, a meh experience at a meh restaurant with overpriced meals. Look at their menu and check out how much they charge for an 8oz filet. $28. AYFKM?!
I'd probably eat here again, I suppose. If someone else paid.
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