Posted on 07/07/2019 12:10:07 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
We had one in our town in Texas but they only lasted about three years. We liked it. A notch above Olive Garden.
It occupies turf above Olive Garden and below Buca and Maggianos
Class action lawsuits...No grilled Macaroni on menu...
Yelp.com (or Yelp) is a great place to find info on places. Restaurants, amusement parks, stores and more...
The mom and pop close to my mother’s has great food and we were pretty regular diners there. However one afternoon when my son and I dropped in for a late lunch we were the only customers in the place. Seated two booths away from us were the owner’s and another young man conversing in a mix of Italian and English. Owner’s son was assuring the other young man that if there were no pictures or recordings they had nothing on him. Not sure who “they” were, but the conversation was really odd. The owner’s son was calm while the other guy seemed really worried. We seldom go there now, my mother has passed away and we are not in that neighborhood very often.
Better than Olive Garden, not as good as Carrabba’s or Maggiano’s, in my opinion.
I don't fully trust yelp, because I suspect that negative reviews may be getting submitted by competitors and their staff, and glowing ones by owners, employees and relatives.
Same here. We were regulars. But the local one went out when Carrabba's opened across the street. We preferred Macaroni Grill ourselves.
I am sorry bout your mother’s passing.
And it’s not a secret, at least where I’m from, that a number of Italian restaurants have mafia affiliations in one way or another.
I went to the Macaroni Grill in our town years ago when it first opened, several times and remembered loving it. It does seem like the parking lot isn’t as full as it used to be, but people still rave about it. I remember it being a little pricey, which could be why they are offering such a deep discount on their gift card. You should try it.
I ate there once in the 90’s. It was adequate.
“I checked out YELP and saw the reviews were mostly absolutely fantastic or absolutely horrible. So I didn’t learn much there plus the reviews might be suspect.”
yeah, especially all of those “absolutely fantastic” ones ...
Ate at one years ago...nothing special good or bad - another franchise Italian food chain.
Thanks PJ. Congratulations. You’ve got a great missus. Listen to her! Have a great cruise.
Used to have one just outside of Memphis. Pretty good food, but never did get good service. Don’t know if that’s a local thing, or a problem with corporate culture...
Anyhow, there was a fire in the kitchen and it burned down. Never was rebuilt.
No advice; just a comment...
Why anyone would go out to have a dinner of pasta, salad & bread, boggles my mind. It is the easiest/least expensive meal to prepare at home; why waste your money. DIY, with easy success. Buon Appetito.
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