Macaroni Grill - I tried to hate it....
Feel like a 10 step meeting confession... After the young niece's stellar performance at South Coast Rep in Costa Mesa, the family wanted to go out to dinner - somewhere reasonable with 3 kids & 4 adults. Tried to push for Memphis or Z'Tejas, but got out-voted. We were going to the Macaroni Grill - and I was scared, very scared.
Pulled up & it has a very cheesy exterior. Upon entering, made a beeline through the bar to the loo - and noticed the wines proferred by the glass - yuck. All the Californians were truly terrible & I was positive this was a sign of things to come. We were seated promptly by a lovely waitress who proceeded to totally spoil us - not in a white glove sort of way, but was just great & friendly & dashed to take care of any of our teeniest whims. Looked at the wine list again & decided on the 2nd Pinot Grigio - it was fine. Looked at the menu & started getting very confused - some of it actually sounded good...
Fabulous bread - with seasoned olive oil & if you wanted it average-grade, but not bad, balsamic vinegar. 4 loaves later... I think it's ciabatta - with oil brushed over & warm from the oven - heaven!
Sister got the mahi mahi in a citrus pine nut arugula sauce that went together much better than it sounded. Fish was moist & delicious - think this was about $11.99. Mahi Mahi came with an oversalted asparagus risotto, but the fish was so good, we ignored the risotto. She also got their house salad, which did not involve any iceberg & actually looked good and tasted better. Mom & I ordered the same thing - very wierd as we are a family who firmly believes in sharing tastes & no one is EVER allowed to get the same thing - we got the Veal Saltimbocca @ $12.99!!! Where do you get veal for $12.99? Well, mom's arrived & wasn't exactly the classic version, but had fontina melted over & proscuitto frizzles - looked good & moist. Was served over fresh spinach & not a slightly friseed sage leaf in sight (darn - I kept looking.) Mine looked like it had been breaded & fried forever & it tasted the same. After a quick word with the waitress, she not only offered to replace it with anything, she asked if I would like her to leave the plate to nibble the angel hair on til she returned with a more acceptable dish. I've never had any server do this, and although it sounds tacky, it sure was nice to sit & not have to watch everyone else dining while you starve, drool, hope for bites and wait. Returned with 4 lovely slices of veal - juicy, with a light touch of cheese & the frizzled proscuitto again. Oh, had a Caesar first (for $1.29!) that was tasty - the slightest bit limp, but nothing you could get testy about. Dad had spaghetti & meatballs (his opinion does not count - he will eat anything, but it looked good) & the kids had general variations of penne with butter/marinara, etc, salads, AND hot fudge sundaes. Dad pretended to have his feelings hurt & got one too.
Overall - charming atmosphere - definitely better than most chains decor-wise (ie Il Fornaio), very inexpensive, yet tasy & very filling food & incredible service. Bill came to $110 for 7 of us with 5 glasses of wine (don't tell anyone...)& side salads for all. Gave her a huge tip for her bowls of shredded parmesan, quick change of my 1st meal, extra free sundae for grandpa, extra pitcher of iced tea for sister, immediate replacement of empty pinot grigio glass in front of me & much more. Hate to admit it & tried to hate it, but it wasn't bad at all for a reasonable family meal in somewhat upscale surroundings.
torta basilica
May 08, 2002 12:54AM
View »
Video
The two times I was forced to eat Macaroni Grill (the one in Rolling Hills Plaza in Torrance) because of simliar family obligations, the biggest problem I had was salt.
Too much salt.
Way too much salt.
Everything ordered was just hideously over-salted and unedible. While the rest of the family (whose taste buds are not nearly as sensitive as mine) somewhat agreed, it didn't keep them from finishing their plates. I could not finish mine.
Permalink | Reply
I had the same problem. We were taken out to eat at work for somebody's birthday. The people who ordered sandwiches or pizza were able to finish their meals, but the people who got cooked food were not.
I found, too, that the salad dressing (even the caesar) is too vinegary for me to eat without feeling pickled (anybody else get this feeling sometimes?) and the sauces on most everything were so rich I was in pain after eating them.
Their focaccia is great, though, and I though that their bulk wine at the table was a great buy for somebody on a tight budget. Like me. (I don't think they want people to go there for just bread and wine...)
Do they still have the servers do that humiliating shtick of writing their name on the table in crayon when they introduce themselves? That embarrassed me to watch.
Permalink | Reply
Sorrr - rrry - maybe just the 2 glasses of wine & family all getting along put me in a good mood... There was no name-signing involved - thank goodness!
Permalink | Reply
Sounds like you had an outstanding waitress, maybe we 'hounds ought to compile a list of the best servers, and start a following for them. Then we can follow them from restaurant to restaurant, at least that way we will get really good service, even if the food is sub-par. Who knows, instead of celebrity chefs on the Food Network, they may have celebrity servers with their own shows? ;-)
Permalink | Reply
Why apologize? If you liked it and your family liked it, that's what counts
I've never heard of this restaurant (possibly a chain?), but if it worked for your purposes that particular evening (perhaps never again), that's great.
Permalink | Reply
The food at the Macaroni Grill is inedible. Prepackaged, freeze-dried low quality product. Yuck.
Permalink | Reply
I know I'll get bashed, but I agree with torta basilica. The Macaroni Grill in Huntington Beach has been consistently good since it opened. I've had good salads and pastas with very tasty sauces and fresh ingredients (including seafood). I think they fall down on their regular entrées - I've tried a couple of the chicken dishes (don't remember which) which have been very ho-hum. Okay, so it's not innovative or truly "houndy", but it's top quality and value for chain restaurant meals.
Permalink | Reply
Torta,
Which Macaroni Grill was this? It sounds like the food and service varies much from location to location. I ate at one of their restaurants in Thousand Oaks and it was terrible. All I had was a simple green salad and even *that* was terrible. The spinach was OK though. I'm curious to know because it gives me hope for the chain (my niece loves it, too).
Menu can be viewed at site below...
Link: http://www.macaronigrill.com
Permalink | Reply
It was Costa Mesa - thanks for yours & a few others support...
Permalink | Reply
No problem. It's difficult when the whole chain is generalized. Prime example - the recent Marmalade Cafe posts...
Permalink | Reply
I have eaten a couple of times at the Macaroni Grill in the Tustin/Irvine Marketplace and I have found it to be decent. I generally eat the Chicken Fiorentine salad, which I really enjoy. The lettuce is not soggy and they toss it with the right amount of dressing. There's a fair amount of chicken in it so that you don't feel cheated. Overall, I think Macaroni Grill is good for a chain and much, much, much better than somewhere like the Olive Garden (disgusting IMHO).
Permalink | Reply
My brother and our wives took our respective six year old sons to see the Taiwanese acrobats in the Inland Empire somewhere, and ate there afterward. Just a simple salad, penne arrabiata, and a glass of the house chianti. My expectations were nearly underground, but the food was simple and good, and it worked for the family. And I have a generally intense dislike of suburban chains.
Permalink | Reply
I've tried it an didn't like it much. I felt what I ordered was over-salted. Maybe it was just the dish I ordered. The bread was good though.
Permalink | Reply
My take on Macaroni, particularly the salt issue :
In general, I think it is one of the better chains out there. Perhaps not high praise, I know, but still, for a reasonable lunch or dinner I enjoy it fine. It is certainly better in every way than The Olive Garden. I find the atmosphere warm and inviting, the table wine is indeed a great buy for the price, and the servers tend to be quite pleasant. (I have had every server do the crayon thing... no it is not my favorite, but it is corporate, more later) The dishes I have tried were more than adequate. And yes, quite salty.
I grew up in Cajun Country on the Gulf Coast with tons of seasoning ... and tons of just plain salt. I have lived in the LA area for 14 years now, and my eating/cooking/seasoning habits have radically changed. My first experience 2 years ago at Macaroni was interesting to me, for when I took my first bite of the pasta dish, I thought "Wow, this tastes just like the food I grew up with" and I also thought "Wow, I can't believe I used to eat such salty food." Our eating habits in California are radically different from most parts of the country. So a chain that originates somewhere else is going to taste like that part of the country. All of which is to say, I can understand how it seems so salty it is inedible to some chowhounders. But that is the way many people season their food. What is amazing is that people will go to The Macaroni Grill and then salt the food!
As for the crayons: something else I see occurring with chains is an inability to realize that what works in one part of the country does not work somewhere else. I was a waiter for many years at a high-priced steakhouse in Beverly Hills, (national chain, great food) that was a being a home-owned franchise. It eventually was brought back under the corporate umbrella. Many changes then came down from corporate, such as name tags and certain ways of approaching the customer that I am sure worked fine in the Midwest and south, but were rather offensive to the Beverly Hills clientele. I would imagine this is so with the crayons. Cute and endearing to some people in some parts of the country, rather embarrassing to others.
Anyway, though I would obviously rather go to Lucques or some such, I enjoy The Macaroni Grill for what it is -- a pleasant, reasonable, rather salty (and for me, nostalgic) meal.
Permalink | Reply
my initial experiences with macaroni grill were in colorado - and they were great. i loved the place! that bread is addicting, and the meals were simple but tasty.
when finding out that they were opening one in thousand oaks, i was looking forward to having a good easy spot for a reasonably priced meal. unfortunately, this location didn't deliver. from the beginning, the food was bad. i've gone numerous times since (not my choosing - probably 7-8 times) and it has been consistently bad every time, with the exception of the bread. the bread is great.
- david
Permalink | Reply
I don't know what's up with their name. I had always passed by it and thought it must be a greasy spoon diner. But I ate at a Macaroni Grill for the first time just yesterday (Torrance-RollingHills) for lunch. I was surprised to find that it was nice-looking inside.
I ordered the linguini w/clam in white sauce. The flavor was really good. I ran out of linguini though. Maybe I was just super-hungry that day, but I usually have leftovers when I order that dish from other places. Anyone know whether the more expensive dinner portion would be any larger than the lunch portion?
I like places that use paper on the table instead of tablecloths. Seems cleaner and heck... if you're bored you can doodle. When the waiter wrote his name on the table, I was too busy digging into the bread to notice. Yeah... good bread. And the service was so good I never needed to doodle!
Permalink | Reply
I agree - the marketing genius that came up with that name should be shot. I remember my mom saying they had a good dinner there about a year ago - after hearing the restaurant was called 'Macaroni Grill' I swore I would never be found there - until last week when the family out-voted me. Somehow I pictured burnt Kraft Mac n' cheese in a less than Olive Gardens surroundings - very frightening!
Permalink | Reply