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| - I forgot how disappointing this local chain is. I won't make this mistake again.
We went on a busy Friday night, when the restaurant was packed. Parking was more plentiful than either of the old locations, but that was probably the last plus of the evening. (Well, not quite -- the bathroom was clean.)
The restaurant is poorly laid out and VERY loud. Every seat was full, making it nearly impossible to hear my boyfriend two feet away. Sitting at a table next to the main pathway along the large dining room wasn't much different from sitting on the edge of the food court in Grand Central Station. If you want to get hit in the back of the head by a half-dozen knock-off purses, this is the place to go. Our waitress was impossible to hear, but she managed to catch our orders. She didn't look us in the eye the whole evening. Her annoyance at this job was absolutely clear, and I don't blame her. The place has a miserable ambiance. I'd hide in the kitchen too.
The salad was fine, though it would have been nice had the waitress had let me speak (to say I wanted to remove the onions) before she started tossing it. The bread was good.
I ordered the Capellini Checca, which was absolutely shameful. This restaurant has decided to take the "cutting corners because we don't care" route that Chef Ramsey sees so often. There was about a cup of water in the bottom of the large bowl of angel hair, and the advertised "fresh roma tomatoes" were actually canned but chopped whole tomatoes. (It's June -- tomatoes are in season, for goodness sake.) It was a flavorless mess of powered garlic, a shard or two of basil, overcooked store pasta, water, and "tomatoes".
You'll be far happier at Olive Garden.
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