In my continued quest to investigate mall food, I decided to check out another of the new restaurants that came about from Cumberland Mall’s “Extreme Mall Makeover”. Always having had an affliction to eating at the mall, my family enjoyed a superb dinner at Stoney River a couple months ago.
This time around, my wife and I decided to check out Maggiano’s Little Italy for lunch. My wife went for the salad and sandwich. She started off with a very nice Cesar salad followed by the Prosciutto, Fresh Mozzarella & Pesto on Flatbread, which consisted of sliced imported Prosciutto di Parma, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and arugula folded together with pesto sauce in their homemade pizza dough. It was quite good, but the Prosciutto seemed a little flat (in terms of flavor).
I went for a nice bowl of tomato basil soup (yum!) and their house specialty Braised Beef Cannelloni, which was fresh pasta stuffed with braised beef, Asiago and Parmesan cheeses. This dish was hot enough to burn my tongue and even when it cooled a bit, it really didn’t do much for me. It really isn’t more than what I described above. Shredded beef with cheese oozing out of the cannelloni. Was on the heavy side and not much flavor.
We both enjoyed a wonderful glass of Brancott Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough County in New Zealand with our lunch and the ambience is quite nice. Maggiano’s has done a great job of creating a brand new restaurant that has the feel of New York and is a great spot for large parties who can take part in their family style dishes.
We finally moved on to dessert and settled on splitting a Tiramisu and enjoying a nice cup of cappucino. The Tiramisu was the highlight of the day. Very nice flavor, texture and just the right mix of ingredients, although I do believe it was alcohol-free. Not the way Grandma used to make her Tiramisu, but perfect for the kids and tasted great.
So when you’re thinking about that next dinner out, be sure to check out Maggiano’s, a recent addition to the Smyrna Vinings restaurant scene.