Food Impressions: Local Restaurant Week

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Local Restaurant Week - Manzella's Restaurant

Local Restaurant Dining Adventure #3: Manzella's Restaurant

Tonight Dave and the boys and I went to dinner at Manzella's Restaurant in Kenmore. As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the things I love about Local Restaurant Week is that I have an opportunity to go to a restaurant that I have never been to before. Manzella's is one of those restaurants and it was on my list of places to try. Manzella's is literally a 1 minute drive from our house and I pass by it everyday on my way to and from work. We have lived in our house for 8 years and it still amazes me that we've never eaten there before. Marotto's Restauant is next door and that's another one we've never been to. Both restaurants always seem packed. I guess Dave and I are creatures of habit because anytime we go out to dinner, and trust me we eat out a lot, we tend to go to our favorites like Left Bank, Hutches, Tempo, Mother's, Shango, Serling Tavern….the list goes on. So when we decide on a place to dine out we typically choose the safe route and pick a spot we know we will love. Restaurant week is the perfect time to try a new place without breaking the bank. Manzella's menu impressed me in particular because they had such an extensive menu even considering it was LRW. Plus they had live music playing in their bar area which added a cool rat pack vibe. They also had glasses of wine for $2.14!!!! Crazy dirt cheap, I know! For $20.14, their menu included a cup of soup or salad, a choice of 10 dinner entrees and a cannoli for dessert. And trust me they did not skimp on portion sizes. Our dinner reservations were for 7 pm and when we walked in the restaurant was packed, you could barely move. The staff were very warm and welcoming and you felt like you were walking into a family owned restaurant. I was like wow, if it's always this busy because the food is that good I'm going to kick myself for not coming sooner. Our waitress, Marguerite, was super. She immediately brought over warm bread with a delicious olive tapenade. We decided to get the stuffed banana peppers as an appetizer. They were stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella cheese over baguette bread and a marinara sauce. With our entrees we had a choice of salad or soup, Dave chose the salad and I chose the pasta e fagioli soup. Since it's an Italian restaurant we opted for the entrees where we could try their homemade sauce. For our entrees, Dave ordered the chicken parmesan and I ordered the ravioli and meatballs, the boys each ordered spaghetti and meatballs. For dessert they served a delicious cannoli. Our meals were excellent and the portion sizes were ginormous! Every meal looked amazing and no one was going home hungry from Manzella's. As a family of 5 our total bill with tax came to $78.00. You can't eat at a chain restaurant like Applebee's for that price. I can't believe we live so close to Manzella's and never tried it there until now, yes I'm kicking myself! We will be back again and I look forward to venturing out and trying other restaurants in our neighborhood, like Marotto's. Salute to Local Restaurant Week 2014 and counting down the days until the next one!