MSP - New Restaurant in Bloomington - Milano's
I just drove by there today, and there's a new restaurant - Milano's - where the Falafel King used to be at 84th and Lyndale. I couldn't tell anything about it by the signage, except for a couple of beer brands, and that they had a happy hour from 3:00-6:00.
Anybody been there? How was it?
Here's a Facebook page - looks interesting - northern Italian:
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Well, I took it upon myself to stop by there yesterday to take a look at the menu - I placed a scan of it here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/greghoffm...
When I stopped in at lunch time, the waitress informed me that they had a lunch buffet, that changes every day - it looks like they (sometimes) mention what's on the buffet on their Facebook page.
So, she talked me into the buffet - $9. Even though she said that she thought there was either manicotti or chicken parmesan on the buffet - this turned out not to be true (we were only about 10 feet from it, so I walked over and checked). There was a small, but decent salad bar - lettuces, veggies, cheese, pepperoni, and 3 or 4 dressings. There was also a sub-type sandwich - ham and provolone, I think, on this day - and a small tray of mini-cheesecakes. On the main buffet, there was shepherd's pie, meatballs, spaghetti with a red and a white sauce, roasted broccoli, and some kind of cheese-covered bread.
The salad was good - fresh ingredients, including a nice bruschetta-topping mixture - tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar. The sandwich was also good, but slightly over-dressed with mayo and some other "sauce" - hard to handle.
The main buffet was just okay. The pasta sauces were good enough, but nothing spectacular. The meatballs were good - a little dry, and not very flavorful/spicy, but they passed as meatballs. I didn't try the shepherd's pie or broccoli - not a fan. The cheese bread was a tasty accompaniment for the pasta.
The mini cheesecakes were also pretty good - looked like a selection of mocha, lemon, raspberry, chocolate chip, plain, and something with almond on it. They would have been better with some kind of sauce to go over them - strawberry, or maybe chocolate.
I've learned that you shouldn't judge a restaurant by the quality of its buffet food, so just let me say that I'm only reviewing the buffet here. For $9, it was only okay. I _might_ be tempted to go back again, but only if the daily special was something that I really liked. I'll probably give a calzone a try for lunch, or head there for dinner some evening.
The service was friendly and efficient, although, even though there was butter on the table, the two women at the table next to me did not receive any bread until, at the end of the meal, one of them remarked that her pasta would have been better with some bread, and the waitress said that she could get them some. By the time she brought it out, they were done with their entrees. I don't know what the bread policy is, but if you want bread, it wouldn't hurt to ask up front.
So, I wish them well - I hope they make it - it'd be a good addition to the lunch selections in Bloomington - but I can't say I'm a huge fan of the buffet.
