Grant Spills the Gravy – East Side Mario’s

East Side Mario’s

I knew I wasn’t cooking tonight. Not my turn. Walked right past the fridge with nary a thought as to what we were having. Called the wife at 3:30 and she knew the same thing. She wasn’t cooking tonight either. This can go two ways. Either I’m in danger and need to chose my words carefully or she’ll just say “Fine. Whatever. It’s fine.” and she cooks Hamburger Helper. I’m still in danger. But I’m full.

“How does East Side Mario’s Sound?” We haven’t been there in at least 5 years. She agrees to my relief. I pick her up a little after 4 and off we go. We’re greeted by a hostess and a new trainee. We ask for a booth and we’re given menus. We’re immediately greeted by Celine, our waitress. A nice lady, full of smiles offering us drinks. I try to explain who I am and that I’m probably going to write a review. I find this process awkward but necessary. I’m not a secret shopper. She agrees to take a picture and runs off to get my wife a beer and a large milk for myself. Pretty sure it was 3%. Springing for the good stuff.

As we wait, I hit the head and take stock of the establishment. There’s a crazy amount of people working. I can see at least 3 or 4 on the bar side and another 2 or 3 working the tables on the other side. I saw a few chefs working the open kitchen in the back and even more to my left in main kitchen. Everyone is moving and working and there’s literally only 3 tables full on the bar side and 2 on the other. Kudos to whoever does the hiring. The bathroom was super clean despite the sign not being updated for 3 days. I love these signs. Hayley cleaned it so well , it stayed clean for 3 days. It’s like a superpower. A terrible one but still…

The Décor has an abundance of Italian references from the pictures on the wall to the low hanging chandeliers. The booths are comfy but not really private as your basically in full view of the tables. The place fills up quick. So quickly I was glad we came when we did. Almost every table was full in less than an hour. Now I get the amount of employees… Sweet Jebus look at them go! This is always the best sign the food is going to be good.

We started with hot garlic bread, Caesar salad and Chicken Parm Bites. I highly recommend this. Light tomato sauce adorned the top of the bites with the perfect amount of grated Parmesan above the sauce. A side cup of the same sauce on the side allowed for dipping. Excellent. Another waitress brings us our main course offering more grated cheese. My lady ordered the Linguine Chicken Amatriciana. Say that 3 times fast. The smokey overtones of the bacon mixed with the roasted butter mushrooms and the rosé sauce was exquisite.

I had the Linguine Chicken Tetrazzini. It was a traditional Alfredo sauce with a rich flavor and again the roasted mushrooms were worth every penny. I viewed it as a competition as to which Linguine would be better. It was a tough decision, but I had to side with the wife that the Amatriciana was the clear winner here. Smokey but subtle with a hint of bite from the rosé sauce tasted unique but home made. A must try.

10 out of 10 gravy boats for East Side Mario’s. Easily. The staff was great, the meal was great, I’m not in trouble anymore cause the wife’s no longer hungry, so that’s pretty great… Easy 10 gravy boats. With tip came to slightly under a 100. Took 2 doggy bags home as I always think I can eat this much but no. Never. Thank you East Side Mario’s for making her totally forget that she was right.

It was my turn to cook.