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| - Dusting off and old bookmark. Time to Sparkle
The saying, "never judge a book by its cover" has never been truer when it comes to The Sparkling. The outside has the look of every other terrible twenty-four hour local gambling hall. The PT's, the Dotty's, and the Distills of the Valley, but once you walk-in it's completely different.
A giant chandelier is hanging in center of the main room with brown vintage booths directly underneath. This seating is then surrounded by freestanding tables and private booth areas, I would say the style and vibe of the place is Southern, but the food is a mix of American/Italian?
We sat in the center booth and promptly ordered drinks and apps. Moscow mules all around and for the apps we got Bacon & Date Wrapped Meatball and Crispy Gnocchi. These were both very good, the Crispy Gnocchi had incredible flavor and the pesto sauce was drinkable. The Gnocchi itself was perfectly cooked, but wasn't crispy. I'm not sure how that factors in in the description. OK, Bacon & Date Wrapped Meatballs. Stay with me here... You take a date, then you stuff it with delicious spicy meats, and then wrap it in bacon. Nuff said. The mules were overly sweet and didn't seem to have much ginger, but they were still tasty and refreshing.
The main course - The only Italian thing about this plate was the word "pasta" in the title... Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Pasta. Normally, I stay away from this type of Chili's or Applebee's style of food, but I wasn't really feeling much else on the menu, plus the server swore by it. Thank you server guy. This plate of food was delicious, the sauce was spicy, and the pasta was cooked perfect. The chicken and shrimp complimented each other nicely. They seasoned the proteins prior to adding them to the sauce, great touch.
The server we had was stellar, so good in fact that we didn't want to leave after dining and ended up sipping a few drinks. We moved to the bar so we didn't keep a table busy. The bar was pretty empty, but the service very slow. Bummer.
The ambiance and food were great; I would definitely come back here in the future. If I could a 4.5 star rating, I would.
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