My Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant Experience

My First Visit at Maggiano’s Little Italy

Yes I know it’s a chain. As a matter of fact my first Maggiano’s Little Italy experience was in Philadelphia. This was during a business trip a lifetime ago. I was hooked with their fresh bread and down to earth pasta dishes. At the time my job had a group of us visit Philadelphia once a year. And yes every trip we would have at least one dinner at Maggiano’s.

Maggiano’s and My Wife

So a little over 15 years ago I became the luckiest man in the word (to quote Joe DiMaggio) and met my wife Jodie. And very quickly she realized how much I love food. See my desire to be a pizza taster. And how I very much enjoy dinning out. We can’t remember but I think it was her good friend Bethany or my then boss who told us about Maggiano’s in Denver. Could it be the same as Philadelphia? Until now I did not realize it was a chain. fantastico! it was just as delicious as their sister restaurant in Philly. We enjoyed what turned out to be many more visits so much that we decide to have our wedding rehearsal dinner there. Wedding did you say? Hence the DiMaggio quote, Jodie said YES to my marriage proposal. And it has been the most wonderful 15 years of my life.

Yes There Was Wine Involved

Sorry this is not the best quality picture. Photos have come a long way in 15 years. So we worked with Maggiano’s to set up our dinner. They were very friendly and accommodating to our requests. We had very nice choices of red and a white wines and there was an open bar set up as well. Each table had three or four entree choices, lasagna being one, as well as choices of salads, appetizers and desserts. And freshly baked bread. Maggiano’s hosted us in a beautiful private room that reminded me of old Capone movies. Of course Frank Sinatra was permeating the air. If you are familiar with my wife’s blog Jodie’s Touch of Style can you pick out her partners in crime in the photo? Her Mom and Step mom?

Celebrating Our 15th Year Anniversary at Maggiano’s

Jodie’s mom was gracious enough this year to give us a gift card to Maggiano’s. Thanks Charlotte! So we were off to enjoy what Maggiano’s Little Italy had to offer. Okay, you can see the classic red table clothes? And they have wonderful old black and white pictures of Italian families, butcher shops and an interesting picture of 6 or 7 women in swimsuits from a long time ago. Jodie and I were wondering if the women in the picture ever thought in a million years that this picture would be blown up to a six foot by six foot wall hanging in an Italian restaurant. But I digress.

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The Beginning

Well the basket of bread comes out warm and soft. I think they have changed it over the years as it is not as flavorful. But it still has that rustic Italian bread texture. Absolutely add their top quality olive oil and balsamic as a dipping sauce , delizioso! Did anyone see glasses of wine in the picture? Well of course. They have a nice selection of moderately priced wines by the glass and by the bottle as well.

Calamari

Okay I can hear the screams… not calamari? They taste like rubber bands. And I tend to agree with you with this dish at most restaurants. But try them at Maggiano’s. They are lightly breaded, I think with Panko breadcrumbs. And they have always been tender whenever we get them. To top it off, the marinara sauce that accompanies the dish has just a slight kick to it to make the taste buds go yumm-y. I grew up eating calamari but they were un-breaded and sometimes stuffed. I miss you mom!!! Most of the time they were cooked in tomato sauce and wow they came out so tender. Then we put them over spaghetti? Double wow!

The Pasta

Again, I love Maggiano’s sauce. The flavors remind me of what I ate in New York when I was a kid. You can taste the fresh tomato flavors plus just the right amount of spices of basil and other Italian spices. The lasagna is nothing fancy but taste sooo good. The noodles are cooked perfectly. And the melding of the sauce, the Italian sausage and oh the cheese. Can you say Mamma Mia? Jodie ordered the special of the day which was pasta carbonara . Such comfort food. Mixing the perfection of the pancetta, (Italian bacon), and mixture of the cheese and egg yolk sauce. Then topped off with a soft cooked egg. To die for.

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The Dessert

To begin with, my wife is a chocoholic and I love cannoli. So it was to our surprise that are favorite dessert at Maggiano’s came to be the apple crostata. This was after indulging in the chocolate cake, cannoli and apple crostata at our rehearsal dinner way back when. Jodie is also a caramel girl which weighed heavy in her favorite pick. Because the caramel on crostata dessert is lush and rich with just enough sweetness. Yet it make the pastry and apples the star of the show. And the vanilla ice cream adds that creamy cold over the top decadence that is the perfect ending to the meal. Yes you will notice in the background a chocolate cheese cake with a fudge dipping sauce. We didn’t need it but glad we ordered it.

All Good Things Come to an End

Well if you can’t tell by now, let me just say that I love Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant. The ambiance is so old NY Italian. The food is of great quality yet nothing too fancy. And the staff is so friendly. Which is hard to find now a days as Denver has a service industry staff shortage.

Our waiter showed us a simple “magic” trick after we were telling him about Jodie’s Instagram and her posts. The people at the surrounding tables were so jealous… LOL . Check out the trick below. We are so easily amused.

Thank you for stopping by and until next time!

Ciao! And buon appetito.

If you want to see my Colorado Wine adventure click here