Great Source For Carry-Outs!
Written: Jan 19 '01 (Updated Jan 13 '06)
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Pros: Large portions, good food, especially calamari, filet mignon, swordfish, simple pastas and desserts
Cons: some appetizers and entries are heavy, packaging does not travel well, prices can be high
The Bottom Line: great carryout food - stick with the filet, swordfish, simple pastas, calamari, veal and desserts. Prices are not cheap but large portions provide value.
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| Saxguy's Full Review: Maggiano's Little Italy - Oak Brook |
This is a review of Maggiano's Little Italy location at Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Il. I did this under the Oak Brook restaurant, with the knowledge of a category lead, because there is no listing for the Skokie restaurant.
While recovering from a house fire for about 6 weeks, we stayed in a hotel. Maggiano's was among the restaurants we used for carry-out frequently, the others being The Cheesecake Factory (subject to a separate epinion by myself) and Don's Fishmarket.
The food at Maggiano's was generally very good.
Of the items we had, the Filet Mignon and the Swordfish Steaks were ordered and enjoyed most frequently. Each was a large portion, fresh and done to our instructions. The steak was large and tender - an excellent cut. The swordfish also was fresh and very tasty - clearly better than that typically available at even good supermarkets. We also enjoyed the large portion of the veal marsala. It was tender and fresh.
The desserts were invariably great. My wife has had Tiramisu, an Italian custard delicacy, from several restaurants and she told me that Maggiano's was the best. She also enjoyed their Trucculato cake and Pound cake, which were fresh, moist and tasty.
We also generally liked the pastas, preferring ones with simpler toppings. I had Angel Hair (thin spaghetti) Marinara on a couple of occasions. The sauce was tangy and the pasta was al dente (not quite completely cooked), making for tastier pasta. We also enjoyed the spaghetti with meat sauce.
Some of the other pastas were a bit disappointing. The Gnocchi (potato pasta) with Vodka Sauce was too rich and heavy and the sauce dominated the flavor of the Gnocchi. We only had that once. We also discovered that the seafood pastas, which were more expensive than the other pastas were good, but there wasn't enough seafood included to make up for the additional price.
The appetizers ranged in quality. The calamari (squid) was the best we had, with a fresh taste and not too much breading. The full order was huge, as lasted us for a few days. The stuffed clams were mostly stuffing and very heavy. The clam taste was obscured and they were much too heavy.
We also learned that we did not enjoy the shrimp entree which was heavily breaded and obscured the shrimp flavor, preferring seafood cooked lightly and served with lemon.
In general, the full portions were more than enough for two people, and were a better value, since the half orders were not that lower in price. We usually bought full orders and shared and grazed at them for a few days.
Among the disappointments were the fact that their packaging was mediocre for carry outs. The containers themselves do not provide a solid seal, so they wrap the entrees several times in plastic wrap. Also, most of the entrees had a lot of liquid and sauces included. So, while the items got to our hotel just fine, they were messy to serve, an issue with my wife who is disabled, and difficult to store - another issue, since the portions were so large that we usually had leftovers. Maggiano's disposable silverware (flimsy) and napkins (small and few) were not in keeping with the food. The other restaurants we frequented were better prepared for carry outs, with better packaging, better disposable silverware and napkins.
Prices were on the high side of moderate - generally $30 or so per person, but, with the amount and quality of most of the food, it was a good value.
The help over the phone and in the restaurant were always very nice and helpful.
I'd recommend Maggiano's for carry-out. The food is certainly good enough to merit a visit to their restaurant for eating in - and we may be doing so soon.
I debated whether to go 4 stars or 5 stars on this and decided that, as a carry-out, it was 4 because of the packaging and because there were some items we did not like that much. But, make no mistake, there's a lot of good food at Maggiano's at Old Orchard and I'd recommend it highly.
Thanks for reading. God bless!
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Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations see above
Best Suited For: Kids and Families
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