[Costa Mesa] [Italian] Maggiano's Little Italy

Maggiano's Little Italy
3333 Bristol St
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 546-9550
http://www.maggianos.com

Maggiano's Little Italy is having a "buy 1 and get a free to-go meal" special right now.  There are 7 pastas to choose from.  You order one for $12.95 at the restaurant, and they will pack another to-go one for free.  What a great deal!  As soon as I found out about this super deal, we made a reservation for the same night.



It was good that we made reservation.  The restaurant was completely full on a Thursday night.  We were quickly seated in a booth.




The bread was airy.  It was served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.


Banfi Centine Toscana ($7.50)

Dr. P ordered a glass of Italian red wine, Banfi Centine Toscana.  He liked it.


Bombalina Platter ($13.75)
Barb's Spinach & Artichoke al Forno, Crispy Zucchini Fritte, Crispy Onions, Bruschetta & Stuffed Mushrooms

We started dinner with Bombalina Platter.  There were 5 appetizers on this platter.  Our waitress warned us about the portion.  She was right.  This platter was HUGE!


Barb's Spinach & Artichoke al Forno

Dr. P's favorite on the platter was Barb's Spinach & Artichoke al Forno.  The dip was super cheesy and delicious.


Crispy Onions

Cirspy Onions was addicting.  It was crunchy when we ate it in the restaurant.  But this wasn't that good as leftover.  The next day, it was soggy and oily.


Crispy Zucchini Fritte

I love the Crispy Zucchini Fritte.  Crispy on the outside, juicy and soft zucchini on the inside.  This was so yummy with ranch dressing.


Bruschetta

Bruschetta with tomato, basil and parmesan cheese.  Pretty good.


Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms were big.  Those were so good that I wished there were more than two in this platter.


Chicken Pesto Linguine ($12.95)
Linguine pasta tossed with roasted chicken, pesto, and pine nuts in a parmesan broth with a hint of lemon.

We ate half of the appetizer platter, and got really full before the pasta came to our table.  I ordered Chicken Pesto Linguine.  I like this one a lot.  The pesto was very good.  Chicken was very tender, too.  I was only able to eat 1/4  of it.  The leftover tasted even better the next day.


Mom's Lasagna ($12.95)
Whipped ricotta cheese layered with pasta sheets, crumbled meatballs, Italian sausage and marinara sauce. Topped with provolone cheese and your choice of our meat or marinara sauce.

Dr. P ordered Mom's Lasagna.  We both took a bite, and our first reacion was "this is salty!"  Dr. P picked meat sauce, but it wasn't the sauce that was salty.  It was the lasagna itself.  We weren't sure if it was the sausage, or cheese, or just they over seasoned it with salt.  We tried to take a few more bites, but it was so salty and pretty much edible.  After letting our waitress know about it, she offered to bring another lasagna with marinara sauce.  But again, it was too salty.  At this point, we were pretty full, and decided not to cause more trouble.  We packed the lasagna to-go.



On the bill, there was a website address to complete a survey to enter a drawing of $1,000.  Of course I went online to fill out the survey.  I told them that we weren't too happy about the lasagna, but everything else tasted great.  Service was really good, too.  A few days later, I got a letter from Maggiano's Little Italy.  They apologized for the unsatisfactory food, and offered me a $25 gift certificate to go back to their restaurant again!  It was a big surprise.  The gesture showed that they really care about their customers.  Of course I'll go back again!


Rigatoni "D"
Rigatoni pasta, herb roasted boneless chicken, mushrooms and onions, tossed in a light Marsala cream sauce.

After finishing our meal at the restaurant, we got another bag of 2 to-go pasta for free.  Rigatoni "D" looked bland, but it was actually quite tasty.  The Marsala cream sauce was really good.  Love the mushroom, too.


Gnocchi, Tomato Vodka Sauce
Ricotta pasta simmered in a delicately balanced sauce prepared with our classic pomodoro cream and finished with vodka and roasted garlic.

Gnocchi with Tomato Vodka Sauce was quite good as well.  I like the vodka sauce a lot.  But I feel that it would be better if there were some protein or veggie in the dish.  With just gnocchi and the sauce, I kinda got bored of eating it.

I like Maggiano's Little Italy.  The food was great, except the lasagna.  Portion was very generous, and price was reasonable.  The $12.95 buy 1 get 1 free special is a really good deal.  So try to take advantage before the deal is over.  We will go back to this restaurant very soon to use my $25 GC.

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