Macaroni Grill

Columbia, MD

Price:$$$$

Decor: Fancy family style Italian

Summary: shamefully trendy, but hopelessly wonderful

(4 crabs out of 5)

Paul- This place is ok, I suppose. Yeah it looks nice and the food is pretty good but there is nothing really to brag about here. I figure if you are going to go to a nice Italian place you go to Little Italy in Baltimore or if you want cheap Italian go to your local pizza/sub type place. I guess this place is somewhere in between since it is kinda nice inside but it is kinda geared towards a family outing.

Karen - Well, for me, the Macaroni Grill is a guilty pleasure. True enough, Little Italy's food has more intensity, more intricacy, more culture. But hey, if we Americans cared about that so much, we wouldn't have made meat-intensive, Americanized Chinese food the phenomenon it is today. Macaroni Grill may be a tad pre-packaged, but what they do they do well. The decor is a classy dolled-up Italian grotto, with the wait staff in ties and glittery stars on the ceiling.

Paul-So tee shirt and jeans will be out of place, more like a khakis and polo shirt or nice sweater....Oh and a suit would probably be too much. It would get you strange looks outside waiting but not inside at the table. The wait on the weekend, like anyplace in Columbia, is pretty long so be prepared. Once in the server gets to you pretty quick and a nice serving of foccacia follows.

Karen-Nice doesn't begin to describe it! I had my first experience with this thick, intensely flavorful bread here, with the added benefit of the olive oil to dip it into. All the soft lightness of bread packed with whopping Italian zing. Ask for more and more of it (although it's probably to big to fit in a purse...) Another great plus of the place is the paper tablecloths and crayons, which bring an element of fun into the elegant dining experience.

Paul-You should hear the way she rants about foccacia...and best of all the way she says it. Also the first time you had it was at Della Notte.

Karen-I find the food itself to be just like the restaurant itself--shamefully trendy, but hopelessly wonderful. You'll find both sun-dried tomato and portabello mushrooms everywhere, but mixed in with great proportions and never a bland moment. I had the Pasta Milano, which combines the aforementioned with a garlic cream sauce--this is a perfect dish to sit back and try to find the perfect forkful of tastes.

Paul-The food was certainly trendy and it was pretty good. Nothing fantastic but also nothing that will disappoint. You can feel like you are experimenting a little bit with your palate within the safety of this menu. I had the Pollo Portobello (Chicken with portobello mushrooms....they print the menu in Italian which would normally have a classy feel to it but I think that here its over doing it a bit). Well actually Karen had a lot of it too. She loves portobello mushrooms and I knew when I ordered it that she would want as much of it as she could get by offering some of her dish. So we both enjoyed it, though I think she liked it more. I found it good but not spectacular. One thing I did really like is that part of the kitchen is open. It is really interesting to watch some of these people work and it makes for good small talk if you happen to hit a lull in the conversation.

Now one problem I have with the staff is that they seem to act like you enter Italy-world and we should be full of wonder. Ok, now most people have eaten Italian so you don't need to explain how to eat it like its some strange culture.

Karen-OK that's a point. But if your experience with Italian food ranges from Thin N Crispy to Pan, this place'll be a nice introduction to more hearty fare.

reviewed March2001