Look for the boot at Mama Mia’s

EVERETT – When you visit Mama Mia’s, pay special attention to the items on the menu marked with a boot. The boot indicates dishes made from the owner’s family recipes.

On a recent Thursday night visit, my friend and I started our dinner with Italian Tootsie Rolls ($6.95). They’re marked with a boot and are made with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and hand-made pesto. This combination’s rolled in a paper-thin whole egg wrapper.

We couldn’t stop eating and continue our conversation. When our server checked to see if we were enjoying the appetizer, we pointed out that the plate was empty and suggested that he didn’t really bring us any. Our feeble ruse didn’t work get us a second serving, which we would also have devoured.

Mama Mia’s opened in December. From the crowd the night we visited, word had already spread about the great food. The dining room was filled with extended families and large parties, while couples sat at the smaller tables in the bar area. A family occupied the seating area in front of the pizza counter and the children enjoyed watching the chefs hand-toss the dough.

We arrived before the rush and decided to sit in the dining room next to the mural that stretches the length of the room. Unfortunately, we were between two large groups and found ourselves overlooked by the servers. A trip to the hostess stand corrected the oversight. However, the person who recommended that we visit Mama Mia’s raved about the bread. Sadly, we never got any but decided to chalk it up to new-restaurant glitches.

My friend ordered the spaghetti and meatballs ($9.95), which doesn’t feature a boot, and I selected the Steak Pizzaola ($21.95). This means we didn’t order the linguini tossed in the family recipe’s crab sauce ($13.95) or the handmade sweet Italian sausage, broccoli and rabe that’s tossed with orrechiette and sauteed in aglio and alio ($14.95). We also passed on the family favorite – Dungeness crab cooked in roasted garlic marinara sauce and served over linguini ($23.95). Vegetarians will find baked eggplant with mozzarella and sauteed zucchini with garlic and Roma tomatoes in a creamy Parmesan sauce plus cheese-stuffed pasta (all $9.95).

I added a glass of Badia a Coltibuono Chianti from Tuscany ($5.50). The restaurant’s wine list boasts almost 100 wines from Italy, including jugs of Mama’s Red ($2 a glass). Prices range from $12 to $107 a bottle. The delight of Italian wines is that they’re made to go with food and mine went perfectly with my steak.

My steak was cooked to my medium-rare specifications and was lightly brushed with the gorgonzola cheese marinara. You can’t imagine how good it was. Yet, the steak was eclipsed by the potato pie side dish. My friend had never had Italian potato pie. It’s made with mashed potatoes laced with cheese and then baked. This side is divinely inspired.

My friend’s spaghetti was really linguini with meatballs but the different pasta didn’t detract from the tastiness. The marinara sauce was delicious and the meatballs were even better.

For dessert, we selected an order of canolli ($5.95), which turned out to be the perfect ending. The shells were light and crispy and the filling smooth and sweet. None of the desserts feature the menu boot. But don’t give them the boot.

Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.

Anna Poole: features@heraldnet.com

Mama Mia’s

4809 Evergreen Way, Everett; 425-259-2868

Specialty: Southern Italian

Hours: lunch, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; dinner, 4 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Price range: inexpensive to expensive

Liquor: full bar

Smoking: non-smoking

Reservations: not available

Disabled accessibility: easy access

Credit cards: Master Card, Visa

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