This post has come really really late. We have a relatively new restaurant in town. It is very new to us.
Anyone who knows us knows that we were once VERY impressed with a restaurant in town called Scatori's. We ate there ALL the time, we dragged our friends there (and those friends went regularly after being introduced) and we even took my parents. Scatori's was the BEST Italian food we had found in our area. The pizza side was amazing and the fine dining was unbelievable. We LOVED Scatori's, when we were moving one of our criteria in a new apartment was that it had to be within delivery range for Scatori's. The owner's of the restaurant then decided to fire their Executive Chef (who we had become friends with) since their cooks could not get along with him apparently. Brian and I would have fired the cooks...you can replace cooks who just do what the Exec. Chef says basically, it is MUCH harder to replace an Executive Chef who creates your menu and all the delicious food. Anyway, after the Executive Chef left the food went down hill FAST! Brian ordered Veal Parmesan and was brought Chicken Parmesan and still charged the Veal (we protested, they took off the extra charge). He had ordered Gnocchi as a substitution for a side, they gave him an entree. It just wasn't the same and we had to stop going.
What does our disappointment have to do with Maggi D's? We have found a new favorite Italian restaurant! It is owned by John who is your typical Bronx Italian. Loud, funny and SUPER nice in this case. Brian and I drove past it multiple times and one day decided to stop in for lunch. I had the Eggplant Parm sub (known as the Dom Servido) and Brian had a supressata, Ham, provolone and cherry pepper sandwich (the Tony Salerno) or something VERY similar. My eggplant Parmesan was FABULOUS! It was the best I have found in my area and is definitely in the top 5 from restaurants I have found in my life. It may be the best but I haven't eaten Eggplant Parmesan up in the North for a while. Brian enjoyed his sandwich a lot! It was packed with meat and was SO good! One thing we did notice was that you could buy the sauce/soups in pints! Very cool.
It took us about a month to go back. Not because we didn't enjoy it but life got busy. Second time was just as good and John recognized us :) For an appetizer we had peppers stuffed with fresh mozzarella. They were fantastic! Brian and I got the same thing again! We could not say no and it was just as good as last time. Consistency is EVERYTHING! SO good! John even comp'd a cannoli. I normally don't like cannoli's. I don't handle sugar well and cannoli's are just so sweet they usually make me sick to my stomach after one bite. Not Johns! SO good! Loved it.
During our meal we started talking with John. Turns out he knows Scatori's and almost hired our old friend the Executive Chef! He encouraged us to try the dinner side and so we did. We had to see what it was like, to see if it was at all close to Scatori's. Remember, if you tell us you are like Scatori's we are going to have HIGH expectations.
It was this meal that inspired this post, all this other rambling was back story :).
Brian decided to to take me on January 13th, the day before we celebrated my birthday, as a pre-birthday dinner. (We never let the restaurant know that it was a birthday celebration and we never brought it up...you will see why). We get to the door, John clearly knows he knows us but can't pin it yet (he met us twice with a LONG time in between so I would have been floored if he knew us specifically, I was impressed he recognized us) and sits us down. This time Brian and I try the hand made mozzarella. That was good just not hand made. Hand made mozzarella is a PAIN in the behind to make so we can understand why they don't but they do need to take the "hand made" part off the menu. At this point John has given us, well me...Brian declined, gratis Champagne. We aren't sure why ha! I had the Fettucini Alfredo. This is my favorite dish but I never allow myself to have it because it is just SO bad for you. Oh it was soooo good! I forced myself to only eat half so I could have it the next day for lunch. Brian had the Veal Parmesan. He enjoyed his SO much! He only ate half as well. Meanwhile John has come back and tried to offer me another glass of Champagne (I declined, it was VERY good but I just don't drink that much). As our waiter gets our plates to box them, John comes up and is concerned as our plates are leaving half full. We quickly explain that everything was excellent and we were saving room for dessert. He asks us what we were going to get and Brian explains that we are deciding between the cheesecake and the cannoli. Well, John gets us both on him. They were both so so good! We cannot believe how much food/drink he has given us for free. It was an amazing night! Dinner was so good we almost don't want to go back for lunch and go just for dinner!
Maggi D's is changing locations in February and will be closer to the mall which will be GREAT for them. We are so excited for the food and the move. But while no restaurant is perfect this places flaws are so incredibly minor:
-Waitstaff: While so polite and sweet just aren't fine dining. They are great during lunch but are missing something when it turns over into dinner
-The salt and pepper shakers they have for lunch need to be either A) traded out for grinders for dinner or B) replaced with grinders for both meals. Freshly ground salt/pepper makes such a difference and that difference is important when it is trying to be fine dining
-The location doesn't scream fine dining but that is changing with the new location :)
- The fries they have are good but not seasoned. If they could come up with a simple season and season them, they would be perfect!
-The pickle was fine but a firmer, crisper, higher quality would have better suited the great sandwiches we had.
-Veal, his veal cutlet could have been pounded out a little more. Since John dared us to compare them to Scatori's this comment was brought up. At Scatori's he used to be able to cut the veal cutlet with his fork. While the Maggi D's cutlet was wonderful he still had to use a knife, barely but he had to use it. Again, if we weren't going into this comparing it to Scatori's we probably wouldn't have noticed.
See VERY minor flaws! They serve GREAT food which is part of their problem! If the sandwiches weren't SOOO good we wouldn't notice the okay fries/pickle. If they weren't trying to be a fine dining we probably wouldn't have noticed the salt/pepper shakers/waitstaff/location. John also brought some scrutiny on himself by daring us to compare his restaurant to Scatori's. All in All, Maggie D's is the CLOSEST we have ever come to finding another Scatori's and they are not that far away! I expect that once they move into the new location they will become that much closer. Location and feel is everything. They are getting the location and they have the feel. I can't think of a better restaurant in the caliber they are trying to be in.
So very good, can't wait to go back. We will definitely bring all our friends and my parents. Plus, since it will be by the mall I can get my hotel guests to go eat there as well!
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