Arooji’s Wine Room

My spouse and I decided to go to Arooji’s Wine Room last week for a little celebration. We ended up going around 6PM on a Friday night to the South Charlotte location and it was pretty empty (maybe 4 other tables filled). We were glad there was no wait so we gladly accepted a booth. The waiter was friendly and attentive but also laid back. He took our drink orders and gave us time to review the menu.

The menu has several different pasta options and entrees as well as the regular ‘Italian’ type appetizers. The wine menu was a nice size and you could clearly see why it is a ‘wine room’. We settled on the calamari and I ordered the Lasagna all' Emiliana – which is lasagna with bolognaise sauce, parmesan, and provolone cheese and the spouse ordered the Ravioli Miramonti – which is lobster ravioli served in a light wild mushroom cream sauce. As we waited for our appetizer, we were brought some fresh bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar with some white limas and tomatoes.

The calamari came out shortly after receiving the bread and it was plentiful and hot. The calamari was served with two dipping sauces – the traditional marinara and a roasted pepper aioli. The calamari looked pretty bland and when I tasted them, I knew I wasn’t going blind. There was really no flavor and I had to rely on the salt and pepper and the two sauces to eat them. The sauces were good though and was very glad I had them.

Once the appetizer was finished, our main dishes arrived. My lasagna was huge and hot. It had several layers of pasta and sauce and a nice serving of cheese. This is what I came here for – a good, hearty portion of comfort food. The bolognaise sauce had nice pieces of meat and was full of flavor and was more of a creamy tomato/vodka type sauce which was real good. The spouse’s lobster ravioli were also tasty. They were plump and had a nice amount of lobster. The wild mushroom sauce was also good and added a nice balance to the lobster ravioli.

The waiter was very good. He kept our glasses filled and was prompt and friendly. The restaurant started to get more crowded as we were leaving (~7PM). If I had to base it on the calamari alone, it would be 1 ghost but since the meal was delicious and service was good, I will give Arooji’s 3 ghosts.

Arooji's has two locations - one in South Charlotte at 485/Providence Rd and in South Park.
www.aroojis.com

Mamma Lena's

Last night a small group of us went to Mamma Lena's for dinner. I heard from friends that is was real good Italian food and was looking forward to it... however I would 'eat' my words by the end of the night.

Walking in, it seemed like a cozy place settled in a historic building in downtown Waxhaw. Brick walls, a huge bread maker (where they make the homemade bread) and pictures of people enjoying food on the wall. I sat down and prepared to look over the menu while waiting for other friends to arrive. The menu, by appearance, had many options from pasta to pizza to specialities. Once our final friend arrived (there were five of us), the waitress came over to get our order. Waters all around except a friend and myself ordered a glass of wine ($7). The wine arrived and it was generously filled - I figured it must be for the price. Friend 2 noticed that the owner wasn't working and stated the food isn't as good when the owner is not there (Flag #1). This is when it starts to get dicey... We began to place our orders:

Friend 1 - small pizza with bacon and ricotta
Friend 2 - small pizza with meatballs and ricotta
Friend 3 - small pizza with meatballs and olives
Friend 4 - gnocchi with side salad
Myself - gnocchi with side salad

Seems simple enough, right? Well, Friend 4 asked if they could upgrade to a Caesar salad instead of a house salad. The waitress stated that they only had large Caesar salads and couldn't do that (Flag #1 - this means that the salads are premade in the bowls - how hard is it to put some romaine, croutons and some parm in a smaller bowl?) - so Friend 4 was stuck with the house salad. While we waited for the salads, the bread was brought to the table. Not to ruin it, but this was the best thing we ate all night. The inside was moist and soft and the crust was flaky and crunchy. It was served with garlic butter that had nice sized pieces of garlic.

About 10 - 15 minutes later, the house salads arrived. They looked like they have been sitting in the bowl in the fridge (yea Flag #2!). The bowl contained iceberg lettuce and wilty carrot sticks with some croutons on top. The balsamic vinaigrette that came with it was thick and tasteless. It had the consistency of maple syrup. During this time, I noticed that several diners in the nearby tables just up and left... leaving their empty bread baskets and water. Yes - the service/kitchen seemed to be that slow. It took about 20 - 30 more minutes it seemed for our entrees to come to the table. All in all, it was ok as we enjoyed each others company chit-chatting - but the chit chatting was turning into grumbling stomachs. First, the small pizzas were brought out. Friend 1 and 3's order was right... Friend 2 was brought a bacon and ricotta pizza instead of meatball (Flag #3 - the waitress said it would be an easy fix as the meatballs are premade and cooked and could just put them on the pizza - should food be made to ordered? This isn't a fast food restaurant - believe me). The 'adding meatball process' was so fast, the pizza came back out with mine and Friend 4's gnocchi orders.

Gnocchi time. Ok - the plate appeared big. From appearance, it was gnocchi shaped balls with red sauce and mozzarella cheese. The cheese wasn't fresh mozzarella cheese either but just shredded cheese from a bag it seemed - I could tell because some was melted and some was not. Yikes. I decided to dig into the dish to give it a try... the 'gnocchi' didn't really seem like gnocchi. You know how homemade gnocchi has the definite potato dumpling taste, weight and texture (a nice, plump piece of dough with a moist center?) - this did not have it. The gnocchi appeared to be just a big piece of store made pasta with perfect lines. It was overcooked and had no gnocchi qualities that I have ever seen. As for the sauce, I might as well have just poured pure salt in my mouth. It was the saltiest dish I have had in a long time. If you count salt as a spice - it was really anything that seemed added to the dish. The tomato sauce had the consistency of a jarred sauce (Prego maybe?). Not to mention with the shredded cheese (that was cold) - this was not worth the $12.50 pricetag. I only really ended up taking 4 bites and setting the plate aside asking for a takeout box - maybe the spouse will eat it. Friend 4, who also ordered the gnocchi was not impressed either - also only taking a few bites and setting it aside. At this time trying to choke down the Atlantic Ocean with floating pasta, I really needed some water. The server only came once the entire time to refill our water glasses and I never saw her refill again - boy, did I need it.

As far as Friend 1-3's pizza - they all seemed to like it ok but stated it didn't taste like it usually does. The dough seemed to be homemade by the big bread machine also. Friend 2's pizza did look pathetic... pieces of bacon and ricotta thrown around with some cheese melted, then on top - clumps of meatballs that were thrown on as an afterthought.

I don't think that 'the owner isn't there so it's not as good' is a valid excuse. A great... even good restaurant should be on top of its game any and everyday. It took us about 2 hours for our meal and ~$30 just for mine - which was definitely not worth it. There are definitely better Italian, nonchain restaurants in the area (which will be showcased later) - heck even Carraba's is better (shutter - a chain!)

I give Mamma Lena's 1 ghost. Service was poor (even though the waitress seemed friendly but definately stressed), the wait was long, the food was over salted and not seasoned properly, food seemed store-bought and premade.... should I go on? Hey - I am sure some of you are going to disagree with this assessment but 'the owner wasn't working' isn't an excuse.

http://www.mammalena.com/

Downtown Waxhaw

Rotelli's

Today some co-workers and I decided to go out for lunch and try Rotelli’s. Since none of us has eaten there we figured it would be a good place to try – especially since it was around the corner. We entered the restaurant and were hit in the face with the smell of pizza cooking (always a great sign) and greeted warmly by the hostess (I will also mention it was nice and cold in the restaurant – could have been the 90+ degree days we have been having). Browsing the menu, I noticed there were some lunch time specials – there were five that varied between slices of pizza to half sandwich combos – all under $6. Our waitress then came to the table to take our drink orders and to bring us some garlic rolls. The rolls were warm and buttery and I liked how the rolls were lightly crisp on the outside and very soft in the inside…. Did I mention we had about 12 rolls in our basket!

Trying not to fill up on bread, we decided to all order the half sandwich combo, which comes with a side salad (or soup if you prefer) and a slice of cheese pizza. You also get to select which half sandwich you want so I opted for the eggplant parmesan while my co-workers got the meatball parmesan and the spa grilled chicken. Our salads came first and they were big! Usually a side salad is small and lacking but this was a good sized salad with mixed greens and romaine, red cabbage, cucumbers and carrots. This ‘side salad’ could have been a meal. Next our slice of pizza came – which was hot out of the oven! The pizza had a very thin crust – which I like – and had some nice spices mixed into the cheese. The slice was also large, equivalent to the “NY Slice”, and initially required a fork to eat. Lastly, the sandwiches came – which were on 6-inches of lightly toasted bread. Biting into my eggplant parmesan, careful not to burn my mouth, I noticed that the eggplant was not greasy and was tender. I would like to see a little bit more seasoning in the eggplant but overall with the marinara sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, it tasted good. My co-worker enjoyed their meatball parmesan and also commented it was very hot. The meatballs were moist and nicely flavored. We both liked how hot the sandwiches were as the cheese stretched between a bite and the sandwich – cheesy goodness! My other co-worker ordered the spa grilled chicken. Per the menu, it states that it is marinated in 12 spices and grilled – but looked more like a regular piece of grilled chicken as I didn’t see 12 spices or hardly any seasoning. I took a bite of the chicken and confirmed what I noted – it was fairly moist but no flavor at all. My co-worker commented that if the chicken was the only item ordered and not the combo, that they would be disappointed and possibly not return.

I give Rotelli’s three ghosts on the seasoning but four ghosts on the food quantity, hotness and price - so an average of three and a half ghosts. Overall, my dish was very good and very filling - I am so full I do not think I will be eating dinner. Not to mention, but this lunch combo was only $6. We had fast service at a great price – perfect for the lunchtime crowd.

http://www.rotellicharlotte.com/