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| - We were looking for a good, but not exorbitantly priced Italian dinner on the strip after the Cirque du Soleil show at Treasure Island and Maggiano's (open until 11) did not disappoint. The food was excellent, the quantities generous, the atmosphere upscale but not formal, and the service both courteous and efficient. The three of us were uniformly pleased with our respective selections: chicken, spinach and ricotta stuffed manicotti for me, eggplant parmesan with gluten free pasta for Norm, and I believe "traditional home-style lasagna for Dennis, a favorite of the Philly native.
Our meals were preceded by warm, soft and delicious house-baked bread accompanied with olive oil, which we determined not to over indulge in in anticipation of the main dishes of reportedly large portions, which again, did not disappoint in either quality or quantity.
My manicotti rested in on a pool of delicious and thankfully not nauseatingly rich Asiago cream sauce, a 4-Lactaid event of potential dairy disaster, especially as it was determined early on there would be no leftovers, but all settled just fine and I don't regret one rich delicious bite or spooning up the remaining Asiago sauce after the entrée was gone. My meal came in at a very reasonable (especially for the Strip) $18.50 plus $6.50 spinach side salad with pine nuts, a not-overpowering smattering of red onion, applewood smoked bacon, a white balsamic vinaigrette, and blue cheese, I loathe bleu cheese but had mistaken it on sight for feta, and the salad did not suffer for its removal. Regrettably there was no room for dessert.
Service was polite, efficient, and more than reasonably attentive. My iced tea and water glasses never stayed low for long. Our total for 3, including wine, beer, and my tea and side salad came in at I believe under $100, which we agreed was very reasonable given the location, quality, quantity, service, atmosphere and ambiance.
We were surprised to learn this restaurant is part of a modest sized chain of Maggiano's Little Italy restaurants, and grateful to find out they have one comparatively near us in Phoenix, over in Scottsdale. Given distances (and our budgets!), Maggiano's won't be a regular dining destination for us, but it will be a special one. If all locations are as good as this one, we collectively highly recommend.
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