I LOVE Italian food, although a good portion of it in the states are not generally authentic as most Italian food from Italy, but still...

What's your favorite restaurant - especially the home grown ones?

There is a place here in my home town called Alfredo's ...it's changed a little over the years but the pizza and pasta is to die for. 

There is a place here in my home town called Alfredo's ...it's changed a little over the years but the pizza and pasta is to die for. 



I am SO ready to eat right now?  ;D Any details on some great dishes they have?

I am SO ready to eat right now?  ;D Any details on some great dishes they have?


The pizza is HUGE...and the crust is just thick enough to be chewy, but thin enough not to interfere with your flavor of the toppings. Not too much sauce either, which is very tomato-y (which I love). 
Sometimes when you get onions and peppers a pizza will get soggy fromt he water in the veg but not here..it gets a little crusty on the top so they are just right.

yeah, now i'm hungry.

the place has big fish tanks with GIANT fish in them...they watch you eat pizza....oh! and GREAT crisp very cheesy garlic bread.

The pizza is HUGE...and the crust is just thick enough to be chewy, but thin enough not to interfere with your flavor of the toppings. Not too much sauce either, which is very tomato-y (which I love). 
Sometimes when you get onions and peppers a pizza will get soggy fromt he water in the veg but not here..it gets a little crusty on the top so they are just right.

yeah, now i'm hungry.

the place has big fish tanks with GIANT fish in them...they watch you eat pizza....oh! and GREAT crisp very cheesy garlic bread.


Ohh, yes. That's pretty much the same exact way I like my pizzas. I like the veggies to be lightly toasted on the pizza where there's that perfect blend between chewiness and crunch.  ;D And LOTS of tomato sauce. A pizza, to me, is nothing without tomato sauce. I have a hard time eating the white sauced pizzas.

I better hit Alfredos when I hit your neck of the woods :0)

Hmmmm, I don't know any decent ones in Atlanta/Alpharetta, so we'll go with ones in my hometown of Chicago.


Sabatino's, Giordano's and Pizzaria Uno.  You can't top that.

I also love Italian food a great deal...so I eat it a lot. 8) :) :D O0

In the 90's, my family and I loved going to Olive Garden for Italian food...and over the last ten years we've gone there on occasion.

In the last 12-15 years, however, we've managed to find several Italian restaurants around the L.A. area, some of which are independently owned...and we've enjoyed most of them, including:

Maria's Italian Kitchen (which has a few locations in the San Fernando Valley, including Woodland Hills, Northridge, and Agoura)
Fanarra's :D (a family-owned restaurant in Duarte, in the east portion of L.A. County; we found that one in '94 after the Northridge earthquake)
Macaroni Grill (a chain)
Sisley
Ottavio's (in Camarillo)
...and the list goes on!

We also have a Macroni Grill out here. I've never been to it, though!  :(

Some of the best ones I've been to, locally:


Sorrento
Roccos
Strings
Carpaccios

We also have a Macaroni Grill out here. I've never been to it, though!  :(

Some of the best ones I've been to, locally:


Sorrento
Roccos
Strings
Carpaccios


Of the four you listed, I don't think I've heard of any of them. They may not be around in the southern part of the state. :-\\

Macaroni Grill has really good food. I think you'd enjoy some of the dishes they have.

Most people don't think you can find good, authentic Italian food in the South- but here where I live in Tyler, Texas thats definitely not true.  We have FOUR local Italian restaurants that serve good, authentic Italian food(all really run by Italians).  Mario's, Napoli's,  Joe's Italian Grill, and Little Italy.  Also we have an authentic pizza parlor that serves some other dishes like lasagna, called Bruno's.  Infact Bruno's has been rated as one of the best places to get Pizza in the entire country.  Suck on that, New York and Chicago. ;D ;D

My family usually just goes to Olive Garden.. we only have one other Italian place in the area, and its decent, but very Americanized.. the owners are Italian, but they're more concerned with business then authenticity.

I've had "genuine" Italian food.. it's sad, my tastebuds are just too American to really appreciate different foods.. sigh.

From the sounds of your family's culinary habits i'd doubt your tastebuds are well developed period. ;D

Stick with the noodles and ketchup if thats what you really like.

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Of the four you listed, I don't think I've heard of any of them. They may not be around in the southern part of the state.

Macaroni Grill has really good food. I think you'd enjoy some of the dishes they have.


Most that I mentioned are very local restaurants, where as, I don't think there's another one of them in the state. They're ALL excellent though.

I will have to check out Macaroni Grill. For as long as we've had one out here, I don't know why I haven't checked it out.

Ha, yeah, I haven't exactly been around the culinary block. ;D


One day you'll start craving uncooked spinach salad - lightly sprinkled with candied pecans, asiago cheese and roma tomatoes - with a sweet vinaigrette and you'll go "Ah Ha"  ;D

Canadian chain called East Side Mario's.  When I used tow ork night shifts, we got take out from there all the time

Let's see....

Rizzos is really good...and this place called, "Giannelli's Italian Restaurant" is another good one. YUM...now I am craving Italian food!

We have a Little Italy down here too. Thanks to you I might just finally go check it out. ;)
I am always so leary of places that claim to be authentic - and you get there and it's all crap! >:(


Hmm, I thought Little Italy was locally owned.  I guess they might have a few more locations around the state.

Well, we went to Little Italy tonight and it was awesome!
I had this tortellini ala para - cheese tortellini and broccoli in Alfredo sauce.
It was truly amazing!
Thanks for the referral Alex!

One of the best doesn't mean THE best.  I'll take a slice of authentic Chicago deep-dish over something from Texas anyday.
I think it all depends on what you grew up with.  I LOVE the deep-dish, but hubby would rather have thin :o  My fave are Giordano's, Gino's and Lou Malnatti's (which is opening near me soon - god help me) :P

AFA Italian, a family-owned place not too far away called Cafe Buonaro....owned by the *drumroll* Buonaro family ;D

Deep dish is pretty good, but I prefer thin.  Thin is definitely whats preferred in this area of the country.  And actually its more authentic I think.  Its a pizza pie, but not a POT pie. ;D ;)

I think it all depends on what you grew up with.  I LOVE the deep-dish, but hubby would rather have thin :o  My fave are Giordano's, Gino's and Lou Malnatti's (which is opening near me soon - god help me) :P



I grew up eating both.  You want great thin crust, go to Father and Sons.  You want great deep-dish, go to Giordano's.

There are two Italian restaurants in Clarence Place, Newport, where I've been to. They are Sabatino's and Chez Giovanni's. CG'S has beautiful interior decor.

Canadian chain called East Side Mario's.  When I used tow ork night shifts, we got take out from there all the time

God I miss that place! :\'(

My favorite in the us is Little Italy.

Ilike pizza. I think it is one of the best foods ever. Beside Hotwings. ;)

I like Gambinos for my manicotti

I tried a place called Gino's Bistro last year for my birthday; they had good food (albeit somewhat pricey). This was an independently owned place in Newbury Park, about 15 miles east of where I live, via Highway 101. However, this place recently closed its doors.

I like Gambinos for my manicotti


Makes me think of My Cousin Vinny.

I go to a place called Tanninos in my neighborhood. Fantastic pizza and lasagna. I prefer the small family owned restaurants where the food is 100x better than Olive Garden and their fake Italian food.