[Aliso Viejo] [Italian] Romano's Macaroni Grill

Romano's Macaroni Grill
26641 Aliso Creek Road
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
(949) 425-0180
http://www.macaronigrill.com

If you read Eat This, Not That when it first came out a few years ago, you would remember the book named romano's Macaroni Grill as the worst restaurant in the U.S.  Most of their food were super fat and unhealthy.  Since the book came out, the restaurant chain worked hard to make changes.  Now they have a smaller menu with more healthy options.  They even included the calories count right next to every dish's name on the menu.



We went there for dinner on a Saturday night, and had to wait for 40 minutes for seats.  A lot of Macaroni Grill closed down.  But the Aliso Viejo one sure has good business.




We sat right next to the "wine wall", which made us want to order a glass of wine.


House Chanti ($5.49)

Dr. P ordered a glass of House Chanti.  The waitress poured a full glass for him.  She also left the bottle on our table.  Their wine pouring works on honor system.  You can pour another glass when you finish your wine, and just let your waiter/waitress know later.


Rosemary Bread

Rosemary Bread is always good at Macaroni Grill.  We love dipping the bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.


Mediterranean Olives($2.00)
Handpicked olives from regional farms in Italy. Marinated with extra virgin olive oil, lemon zest and roasted red peppers

I used to hate the taste of olives, but lately I kinda start liking them.  I guess it's true that people's taste change as they age.  Mediterranean Olives was tasty, and went well with warm bread and wine.


Warm Spinach Salad ($8.99)
Fresh spinach wilted and tossed with aged prosciutto, garlic, lemon and extra virgin olive oil. Topped with toasted goat cheese

We ordered a Warm Spinach Salad to share.  Our waitress brought up two plates of split salad, which was nice.  However, we didn't like the salad too much.  The prosciutto was really salty, the fried garlic was too strong, the salad tasted a bit oily, and I didn't really are for the dressing.  The only thing I liked was the goat cheese.  Definitely will not order this again.


Mama's Trio ($16.99)
Lasagna al Forno, Chicken Parmigiana with Capellini Pomodoro, and Roasted Chicken Cannelloni

Dr. P ordered Mama's Trio because he couldn't decide what to order, so why not try three different items on one plate?  His favorite was the Roasted Chicken Cannelloni.  It was a giant pasta stuffed with chicken and cheese.  It WAS delicious!  Chicken parmigiana and lasagna were both also very good.  We loved everything on this sampler plate.


Shrimp Portofino ($14.99)
Jumbo shrimp sauteed with fresh spinach, mushrooms and pine nuts in a lemon butter sauce with imported capellini pasta

I ordered Shrimp Portofino.  Love the jumbo shrimp.  Big, and so much flavor.  The mushroom and spinach was tasty, too.  But the pasta lacked flavor.  I kept on thinking, "did the chef forgot to add salt?"



Mama's Trio was awesome.  I like their classic Italian dishes a lot.  Think I'll stick with those next time.

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