After being separated from one of my closest friends after she moved out of our apartment, we decided that we needed a girls night out with great food, great drinks, and great company. Our night started by meeting at Maggiano's Little Italy, an addition to Lincoln Square in downtown Bellevue just recently discovered by us, but also one of our very favorite places to treat ourselves. Maggiano's Little Italy has the option of either dining family style, meaning one can pick and choose from different appetizers, salads, pastas, entrees, and desserts on the menu to share with the whole group with a fixed amount each person is charged, or, when you have only a few people to dine with, you can order off the menu ala carte, and just order for yourself. My friend and I are huge fans of the delightful pastas they offer, so we usually stick to choosing a pasta to share. For about 15-18$ two people can easily share a full order of pasta and still have a sizeable amount of pasta to take home.
Maggiano's Little Italy is a very service oriented place that is more than willing to adjust meals on their menu and perfect them to your liking. Last night, my friend and I decided to treat ourselves to an appetizer as well and decided on the brushetta. Being Italian, I am always striving to find places that truly capture taste of food I grew up with. The use of toast dressed in olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and balsamic vinegar, I truly felt I was eating something my gradmother just whipped up in her kitchen.
As an entree we ordered the linguini with clams in white sauce. We wanted to spilt a full order and our waiter, Sean, was very accomdidating and asked if the white sauce was okay for both of us or if he could possibly split the order and provide different sauces (like a tomato or pesto sauce rather than the white). We found this to be extremely refreshing. We also each ordered a raspberry lemonade that was served and really hit the spot on a nice hot day. With our drinks, appetizer, and pasta (with a full meal to take home in leftovers that is just as yummy!), our tab came out to be about $26 or $13 dollars each. Maggiano's Little Italy is a cheap, elegant, and great solution to reconnect with old friends, dates, or catching up with your parents!