EDITOR’S NOTE: The Dining Duo are a couple of foodies who enjoy eating out and sampling the local cuisine in the Mid-South. To ensure the reviews are unbiased and that the duo remain anonymous, their identities are masked behind their favorite comic book heroes.
Fazoli’s
215 Goodman Rd West
Southaven
(662) 536-2426
4 1/2 POWs
When we’re not out doing a Dining Duo as the Bat Family, we don’t exactly eat healthy. Let’s just say that we ought to tithe to Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Arby’s, and a certain nearby gas station. So when we were looking for something to eat for lunch this week, it was unanimous. None of the above. We’re all Wendy-ed out.
So we decided to get an early start on Dining Duo. I overheard Alfred tell Livewire that he had recently had pizza at Italia Cafe. I normally never would pick Italian food by choice, but when I heard that, it kind of made me hungry for Italian food. But, it had to be fast Italian food because the crime fighting business keeps us busy. So since we all agreed that none of us could take another day of our usual go-to fast food places, I suggested we order Fazoli’s. I know. what you’re going to say. There are plenty of nice sit down Italian restaurants that serve the real deal in DeSoto County. Why on Earth would you do fast food Italian? Well, the answer is, because it’s fast and we were in a hurry.
You would think that two Italians (Livewire and Alfred) would want nothing to do with Fazoli’s since they not only cook Italian dishes at home, but ate the real deal Italian cuisine on “The Hill” in St. Louis. But it turned out not to be a hard sell at all. And surprisingly, Fazoli’s not only exceeded my expectations, it even satisfied the office “Italian Mafia.”
My faithful butler Alfred decided to try the baked ziti ($8.99). The dish consists of Penne noodles with marinara and meat sauce, topped with mozzarella and provolone cheese and baked to a nice golden brown. Alfred thought the noodles were cooked just right, that it had plenty of cheese, and was baked well. He was a little disappointed with the sauce. “It had a real strong tomato taste,” Alfred said. “It had a lot of chunks of tomato, which I personally don’t like. The real disappointment was that there was no meat in the sauce.” Still, he thought the portions were filling and that it was extremely reasonably priced. “For fast food, it was pretty good,” Alfred said. “It was plenty of food for one person.” He gave it a solid 4 POWs.
Livewire ordered the lunch special ($6.99) with raviolis. The menu didn’t specify the filling inside the raviolis and she was hoping for a meat filling, but instead it turned out to be cheese. “It was good, but I couldn’t tell what the cheese is,” Livewire said. “I can tell you it’s not ricotta.” The super villain, like Alfred, was also somewhat disappointed with the sauce. It must have been a no-meat sauce day at Fazoli’s. “It was plenty of food,” she said. “But it was supposed to come with meat sauce and it ended up just being marinara.” The noodles were also a bit stuck together, she thought “It’s like they slapped them in there wet and put the sauce on top,” Livewire said. “The marinara was okay. It’s not my favorite, but it’s nowhere near the worst I’ve had.” She also enjoyed the side slice of lasagna that came with it. “It was filling and a good value,” she said. “And it was a decent sized piece of lasagna, which was good.” She gave Fazoli’s 4 1/2 POWs.
For someone who isn’t big on Italian food, my lunch turned out to be fantastic. I decided to try their chicken carbonara ($9.99) which is made with spaghetti noodles topped with a creamy Alfredo sauce, hand-chopped bacon, roasted chicken, and parmesan-roasted broccoli. I think their description is a bit flowery there, but whatever it was, it was delicious. I was impressed at how much food came in the container. Fazoli’s definitely didn’t skimp on the toppings. It was loaded with chicken, bacon, and broccoli. The chicken was very tasty. I thought the bacon added a nice flavor as well. I’m not sure what parmesan-roasted broccoli is, but it just seemed like normal broccoli to me. My only complaint is that there wasn’t anything creamy about the Alfredo sauce. It was good, but very thin and watery, not creamy at all. It mixed well with the spaghetti noodles, so I got the full flavor, but I would have liked it to be a bit creamier. I give Fazoli’s 5 POWs on this one.
All three of us loved the breadsticks. They were nice and buttery and garlic-y and really tasty. But compared to the ones at Olive Garden, these breadsticks are kind of on the wimpy side when it comes to size. “They are on the “junior” side of Olive Garden,” Livewire said. “But they do taste good.”
Fazoli’s definitely passed the “Italian Mafia” test with our in-house genuine Italians. But since they cook their own spaghetti and ravioli, there’s no way Fazoli’s was ever going to top their sauce. But what really impressed us the most was the amount of food and the price. If we had gone to McDonald’s it would have cost us easily over $13 for fast food. Fazoli’s may be considered “fast food” Italian, but you’re way better off eating at Fazoli’s than those other places if you’re looking for something fast. The quality is way better.
4 1/2 POWs out of 5
If you have a suggestion of a restaurant that you would like to see the Dining Duo review, email us at legals@dttclick.com or send us your comments.
Dining and Cooking