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It has been several years since we've had the pleasure of dining at Romano's Macaroni Grill, and I really don't know why it's been so long, as Macaroni Grill servers excellent food, offers a very pseudo-Italian dining experience, offers good value, and is a fun place to spend an evening. My friend Robert Kipperman was fortunate to be able to retire after working 29 years for AT&T, and decided to hold his retirement dinner at Macaroni Grill. The company is quite generous when you retire, as not only do you receive a quality retirement gift, but you're allowed to spend up to $500.00 on your retirement dinner. There are only two strings that the company attaches to the offer, and they are: *
A manager (company representative) must be present; it
does not have to be your boss
Photo: Folsom's Romano's Macaroni Grill is located in a modern, upscale shopping center, and offers plenty of free parking.
Photo: Things at Romano's were jumpin' on this early Saturday evening. This photo gives an idea of how gigantic the dining room is. I don't blame the company for the latter, as sometimes when folks drink, they do stupid things, and I'm sure the company is concerned about a possible lawsuit. Robert's choice of restaurant was Romano's Macaroni Grill, which is a popular place for the Saturday night dinner crowd in beautiful Folsom, CA. Saturday evening, September 18, 2010, Robert and his wife Glenda, her parents, friends and ex-coworkers (like us,) got together at Macaroni Grill to celebrate Robert's retirement, and to enjoy an evening of good friends, good food, and good wine. Yes, Romano's Macaroni Grill in Folsom is one link in a chain of restaurants that stretch across the country, and yes, I don't normally dine at, or write reviews about chain restaurants, but since this was my friend Robert's retirement dinner, and since we enjoyed such a fine evening, I felt compelled to write about our experience, and the great dinner we enjoyed.
Photo: We dined in a private room, which Glenda had decorated for Robert's retirement. We've just been served drinks, and the small loaves of bread that Romano's always includes with your meal.
Photo: As you walk into the restaurant, you get a good view of the huge, open kitchen. Thanks to Robert's very efficient wife, Glenda, we had a room reserved, which was necessary for a large party such as ours, as Romano's gets very busy in the early evening, especially on a Saturday night. We were seated in a semi-private dining room behind the bar, with a good view of the spacious main dining room, and the open kitchen beyond. Our party had two servers assigned to us, and it seemed like only seconds until the signature loaves of Romano's fresh bread appeared, along with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I probably love the bread and olive oil as much as I love the main course. After the bread and olive oil were served, menus were produced, and the servers came around and took drink orders. What to drink? Bottles of red and white wine, to accompany the delicious Italian food, naturally... except for me, as I was the designated driver for Sharlene and I, so my beverage of choice was coffee.
Photo: Denise Pryor is served her pasta dish, as my wife, Sharlene, looks on.
Photo: I ordered a garden salad with my meal, without dressing, and ate it as an appetiser. Note the writing on the paper "tablecloth," which Romano's servers use to remember who ordered what. Romano's Macaroni Grill offers a wide variety of Italian favorites, with a heavy emphasis on fresh, light, flavorful and colorful cuisine. Everything on Romano's menu is made in-house, from fresh ingredients, and nothing comes from a can. If you're skeptical, all you have to do is to walk to the front of the restaurant to the huge, open kitchen, and you can watch your meal being prepared before your eyes. The menu is both attractive and impressive, and features an almost-bewildering array of Italian favorites, such as antipasti, spiedini, classicos, pizza, handcrafted pasta, and grilled specialties. Nutritional information is listed next to each menu selection, which makes it much easier to choose your entrée, if you're on a diet, like Sharlene and I perpetually seem to be. Sharlene and I both gravitated to the Mediterranean Grill section of the menu, as we not only love grilled food, but the grilled selections included fewer calories that other items on the menu.
Photo: Orders of food waiting to be set on our large table.
Photo: One of our servers places my order of Grilled Chicken Spiedini on the table, besides the plate of stuffed mushrooms, which are already there. Note the writing on the paper "tablecloth," that tells what I ordered. The table was covered with white butcher paper, and after taking our order, our servers wrote, in crayon, what we'd ordered at our place setting. This is a custom at Macaroni Grill, and not at all common at other restaurants. Many Italian restaurants make the mistake of loading every dish with oodles of heavy-duty sauce and cheese. Not so at Romano's as the emphasis is on light, healthy cuisine, made from super-fresh ingredients, the way fine Italian food is meant to be.
Photo: My order of Grilled Chicken Spiedini and Crab-Stuffed mushrooms. Check out the colorful grilled vegetables, and the perfectly grilled potatoes, and the attractive grill marks on the chicken. The food was simply delicious!
Photo: The restaurant maître d', in the rear, center of the photo, congratulates Robert on his retirement. As we waited for our orders to arrive, everybody had the opportunity to get acquainted, and to congratulate Robert on his achievement. Robert, every the comedian, obliged the camera and simulated chugging wine directly from the bottle. That's just a simulation, as Robert is not a heavy-duty drinker, but he's a great guy and likes to have a great time. After working for AT&T for 29 years, you need to have a great time on your retirement dinner!
Photo: This is what happens to you if you work for at&t for 29 years; it drives you to heavy-duty drinking, as Robert demonstrates. Actually, Robert isn't much of a drinker, and he's only clowning around.
Photo: We had some extra money to spend, so Glenda ordered a round of dessert, and this gal brought them to our table. I was surprised how quickly the orders arrived, considering the size of our large group. It took two servers, with the help of a couple more to bring everything to our table, but the task was accomplished quickly. Sharlene ordered a plate of Shrimp Spiedini, which consisted of jumbo shrimp, seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon zest. It's grilled, and served on skewers with fresh rosemary and served with colorful roasted vegetables. I ordered an appetizer of Crab-Stuffed mushrooms, which are fresh mushrooms filled with crabmeat, shrimp and Italian seasonings to be placed on the table when my main meal arrived. Like Sharlene's choice, my main meal came from the Mediterranean Grill menu, and I chose Grilled Chicken Spiedini, which was juicy chicken breast, seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon zest, grilled on skewers with fresh rosemary for garnish, and served with roasted vegetables. You can see in the photos how good the food looked, and what a wonderful presentation it had. You can't see how it smelled and tasted, but that I can sum up in a single word: Fantastic! Romano's Macaroni Grill has a reputation for serving delicious food, created from the freshest ingredients possible, and our wonderful dinners upheld the Macaroni tradition.
Photo: This is only a small percentage of the desert that was brought to our table. There was so much extra, everybody took a package or two of it home.
Photo: Robert enjoys desert, cave man style. See what happens to a person who puts in 29 years with at&t? Actually, I am rapidly approaching 30 years with at&t, and it hasn't made a cave man out of me... yet. As we were enjoying our dinner, and each other's company, a guy who appeared to be the maître d' of the restaurant jumped up and congratulated a couple of folks in a large party on the main dining room, and sang "Happy Birthday" to another person. Then he congratulated Robert on his retirement, and proposed a toast to Robert, during the next phase of his life. We lifted our glasses and toasted Robert. It's "use it or loose it" when it comes to the $500.00 the company gives you, and the food bill amounted to just a tad over $400.00, so since there was money to spend, Glenda ordered a round of desert. We had a good assortment of the desert that Romano's offers; I chose a piece of chocolate cake, which was divine. I'm normally not one for desert, but I make an exception to my normal behavior and always order desert when I visit Romano's Macaroni Grill.
Photo: Robert and Glenda Kipperman. Glenda was very instrumental in organizing the whole party.
Photo: Robert stands next to his former supervisor Julie Collins. Robert is on the short side, and Julie is quite tall; she must be a foot taller than Robert. We enjoyed a fun evening, among friends at a wonderful restaurant, staffed by friendly and efficient people. The company was great, the restaurant was a lot of fun, and the food was superb. Voilà to Romano's Macaroni Grill! Romano's
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