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| - My husband & I visited at around 8PM on a Friday night. Business was good, but not terribly busy. We were given our choice of table or booth, chose booth, and were seated by our server, Chelsea, back in a relatively private area near a family who was having a fun family dinner night out (so nice to see!). The smell of the restaurant was amazing, but I have to admit that I was wary going in. Being from NY, I am very picky when it comes to my Italian food, and it is oddly difficult to find places that have that authentic Italian flavor.
We started out ordering some beverages. The selection was oddly small; just house wines, some Italian, & American bottled beers; but I am not going to detract from the rating because what they did serve was good! I had a glass of the house Chardonnay and my husband chose a darker Italian beer. Chilled, crisp, and delicious.
For an appetizer we chose the Insalata Caprese - Mozzarella, roma tomato and basil drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. The portions were large, and the flavors were good.
Along with the appetizer we were also served some fresh, warm, thick slices of Italian bread with olive oil sprinkled with Italian herbs to dip, AND a house salad. The salad generously consisted of fresh greens, Genoa salami, olives, pepperoncini, onion, tomato, mozzarella and parmesan, with a delicious Dijon mustard-based dressing. We were offered additional bread & salad, but declined to save room for our entrees.
My husband had, for his entree, the "Special" which consisted of penne, artichoke hearts, shrimp (and possibly more ingredients that I can't remember!) with a mustard-cream sauce that had a slow burn, but tasted amazing! I ordered the Baked Ziti, which is served in a small baking dish and has parmesan cream sauce topped with marinara, mozzarella and parmesan with a choice of Italian sausage, homemade meatballs, roasted chicken or broccoli. I chose the meatballs and was impressed with the flavor of the dish. It was sufficiently cheesy, the tomato sauce tasted fresh, and the pasta was perfectly salted and cooked al dente. Entree portions were extremely generous and we had enough left over for a full dinner at home the next evening.
Though we didn't have much room left in our bellies, I am a big fan of Tiramisu, and my husband ordered us one to share before I could protest. It was a perfect portion for us to share, and was creamy & delicious.
The prices were good. It seemed a bit pricey when initially looking at the menu, however after experiencing the quality of the food & service I would not dispute the prices a bit.
The restaurant is apparently a former Riga-toni's chain restaurant, but is now an independent family-owned business with this single location. Our server, Chelsea was friendly & accommodating, and gave a fine balance of service: not ignorant and not at all overbearing.
The best part is that Mardenely's is right around the corner from our new home and about a 5-minute walk for us. This is why we tried it, but I would happily drive out of my way to eat there again. We plan on trying the pizzas soon!
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