There’s a few things you should know about Romano’s Macaroni Grill before you visit the new establishment:
1. It’s not your typical, run-of-the-mill chain restaurant. Many popular dishes are prepared with metropolitan style and a traditional Italian twist;
2. It’s not overly expensive – and it’s family — or date — friendly;
3. Diners can write on the tables, even if they have moved beyond eating paste with fellow kindergartners. Each table is lined with white butcher paper and supplied with a handful of bright crayons for artistic pleasure. However…
4. You won’t get a lot of time to draw those rainbows or play hangman – the speedy service promises fresh bread, appetizers and entrees arrive freshly made and piping hot.
Located at Alderwood Village, in Lynnwood, Romano’s opened just a few months ago along with a slew of new, fashionable stores at Alderwood Mall. It serves as a great place for a weekday lunch or an after-shopping dinner. With it’s close proximity to the new outdoor shopping portion of the mall, diners can wander through Williams Sonoma, REI, or many of the other new stores and end the trip with antipasti, chicken marsala and cafe latte cheesecake … without the hassle or cost of downtown city parking.
Along with a full bar, Romano’s serves fresh salads, seafood, meat dishes and pastas, wood-fired pizzas and calzones. They also offer a kid-friendly menu including “Mac Grill” Cheese, Cheeseoli and Chicken Fingerias. Tempting desserts include Caffe Latte Cheesecake, Lemon Passion citrus cake, New York cheesecake, Smothered Chocolate Cake and tiramisu.
Unfortunately, my dinner date and I never made it to the dessert menu. Our appetizer and entrees were so good and so filling, we left without dessert but with yummy boxed leftovers for lunch the following day.
Since neither of us had ever been to Romano’s, we started our meal with Romano’s Sampler ($8.99), which included three of their appetizer items: Prosciutto Bruschetta, Calamari and Fried Mozzarella. The dish arrived fresh and hot from the kitchen, with a garlicky dipping sauce for the calamari and a marinara sauce for the fried mozzarella. All three were delicious; the calamari was not overly battered and was tender enough to be cut with a fork, the prosciutto bruschetta was lightly toasted and topped with a hearty slice of the fresh Italian salted ham, and the fried mozzarella was melted all the way through, just the way it should be.
And just as we polished off our appetizer, our entrees arrived. I ordered Angelini di Mare (14.99), a pasta with fresh crab, shrimp and baby green peas tossed in a Parmesan cream sauce; my date ordered the traditional chicken Parmesan (11.99).
Both dishes were outstanding – my pasta was loaded with seafood, enough for a good helping in every bite, and the sauce was nicely balanced and not too heavy. My dining companion said his chicken Parmesan, which could easily have served two hungry people, was also good, and the chef was not at all skimpy on the cheese.
Final consensus on Romano’s Macaroni Grill: we will certainly be back … only next time I’ll try to save room for the Smothered Chocolate Cake.
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