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| - Went here on a tuesday night with a group of 4 after one member of our party declared she'd been burned out on spicy food, and required some pasta. It was 9:30 at night, we didn't want to spend $32 a plate on the strip, and so we decided to give long passed-by Brio a try.
The verdict; upscale olive garden that knows what Al Dente means. So 3 stars at least for that. We had hoped to sit outside, but after putting our names in for a table, got so quickly ushered to a seat next to the miniature Colosseum replica (?!...Why would you build that?!) that we sort of gave up on asking. Very much has the same "upscale chain that doesn't want to be considered a chain" vibe as a Yardhouse or a McCormick and Shmick's.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the food. We had a calamari appetizer, 2 basil gimlets, a lemonade, 3 pasta dishes and a salad. We might have all been really hungry, but we also finished everything, and then nibbled at some of the crumbs. I actually wish they would have offered a refill on the bread, as my jerk tablemates ate all the french, and left me the crackers, but this offer was not forthcoming. That was sort of the modus opperandi. Nothing extra or surprising or special, no extras extended. You get what you ask for, you pay for what you ask for. Nothing wrong with that, just nothing to get super excited about, either.
I had the sausage and tomato pasta, which was good; the pasta actually had flavor and texture, which I had hoped for but not expected. The tomatoes were actually fresh and the fennel sausage a bit on the dry side, but crispy and very flavorful. I ate the whole thing and enjoyed it. I just doubt I'll remember anything about it a month from now.
Brio seems like a very safe bet; I'm sure if I went back in 6 months I would have a very similar experience. It would be a great place to take my utterly unadventurous friends and relatives when they visit from out of town. If I was still doing the dating thing and on a blind date, had to do a working lunch, or meet an estranged relative I knew nothing about, this might be a good place to avoid judgments.
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