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| - The restaurant reminds me of a quaint little countryside café. It gives me that homey feeling like a mom and pop store instead of the chain restaurant that it is. I like how whatever entrée you order from the menu; you can get a complete meal from it. Each entrée comes with a drink, bread, soup or salad, and their spumoni ice cream for dessert. However, if you want "Italian" food, you're not going to get it here. It's a very Americanized version of Italian food. They do have all the classics: the pastas, lasagnas, etc. I've been here several times and tried a few of their dishes.
Spaghetti Vesuvius: cute name to start off. Spicy chicken sausage and meatballs with mushroom. I didn't think it was that spicy, but it was extra salty. It's a very flavorful dish, however the individual tastes are all mushed together. The noodles are a bit tough for me; perhaps undercooked. However some people like it a bit tough.
Gourmet Jumbo Crab Ravioli: There's not a lot of ravioli pieces in the dish. The edges that were not covered in the pesto alfredo sauce was dry. I did like that they used fresh crab meat in the ravioli. The creamy sauce was not bad and it wasn't too overpowering in my mouth. It was able to taste pesto sauce and still enjoy the texture of the crab.
Baked Lasagna: This is the best of the 3 I've had. It has 4 kinds of cheese, ground beef, and pork. First of all they gave you a huge piece of lasagna. Then they topped it with mounds of marinara sauce. You may have to remove some of the sauce if it's too much for you. The noodles were cooked tender enough for my taste, but it was still able to hold its shape. And the meat was blended well with all the flavors of the dish.
I do like the cute little serving they have of the spumoni ice cream. It's a great blend of pistachio, chocolate and strawberry. And it's just the right amount after a large meal. Maybe one of these days I'll go back just to try their chocolate desserts.
If you like an American spin on Italian food, then you would like this place. It's a convenient place to eat after shopping at the mall and their quick service is great if you're crunched for time. But the food is just average and not that special.
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