Mama Carolla's

 A few weeks ago, Tim and I went to dinner at Mama Carolla's with some friends.  Mama's is an interesting experience--I've been there a few times before, and each time I'm astonished anew at how much they've held on to the old school 'fancy' Italian restaurant thing.  It's located in a lovely old house, but it needs some updating inside.  I mean, it looks like what I imagine Sunday supper at an Italian grandma's house would look like.  In the 1980's.  You can see in the pictures that we had enormous pink-rimmed charger plates on which our bread/appetizer/soup plates were placed.  They took them away when the main course came, but in the mean time they took up a ton of space on our relatively small table.  They should be the first to go.

But the food.  That's more important, right?  Well, it's pretty good!  It is definitely full-on Americanized Italian food--nothing terribly authentic here--but it's a touch more homey and authentic than Olive Garden, at least.  Tim and I started with the fried ravioli, and they were really tasty.  They could have been out of a bag, for all we know, but they tasted good, were crunchy on the outside and cheesy on the inside, and came with a lovely chunky marinara for dipping.

Our entrees came with soup or salad, and we both opted for the Italian Wedding Soup.  It was also good.  If you're not familiar, it's a chicken broth based soup with little meatballs in it--in this case, I'm fairly certain they were pork--plus spinach, pasta, and parmesan cheese.  It had great flavor, and the meatballs were very tender.  The one drawback was the pasta--it was mushy.  Ergh.  Come on, Italian restaurant--get the pasta right!!!  It had clearly been put in when the soup was made and gotten more and more mushy.  They ought to just leave it (cooked, but) out until they're ready to serve it.  Because, gross.

For my entree, I got the Chicken Involtine ($15.99).  It's chicken breasts wrapped around prosciutto, spinach, and fontina cheese, then sauteed in an "herbed champagne tomato cream sauce with mushrooms."  It is so good.  Or, really, that tomato sauce is so good.  I don't know if it's the champagne or the cream that makes it amazing, but something is working magic in there.  The chicken itself is pretty tasty--with cheese and prosciutto, how could it not be?--and well-cooked.  But the sauce adds a creamy acidity that is just outstanding.  It's served with angel hair pasta that is well-coated in parmesan, and was great when mixed with the sauce.  (And yes, it was cooked properly.)  My meal came with the aforementioned soup, and we also received bread (although it took them awhile to bring it out to us--our server was somewhat scarce).  The bread was crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, and warm.  I, of course, used it to sop up my leftover sauce.  The portion was huge, so I ended up taking one chicken breast and half of the pasta home.  It reheated nicely for lunch the next day.

Tim got the Rosemary Chicken Lasagna ($16.99).  I don't know about you, but when I think of chicken lasagna, I think of a creamy alfredo sauce.  This one was served in a tomato butter sauce that was, thankfully, not a let down.  The portion was enormous, and it was certainly stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, chicken, and cheese.  I liked the bite I tried, and I know Tim enjoyed it. 

Overall, Mama's is a good experience.  A glass of wine and a big plate of something covered in sauce, and I'm a happy girl.  It's not inexpensive, as you can see from the prices I mentioned--they're definitely making a killing here, especially since they pack people in (I was practically sitting at the table next to me, the tables were so close).  But, it's nostalgic, and the food is solid.  I've been there before, and I'll certainly go there again!

Website:  Mama Carolla's