Romano's Macaroni Grill - Dublin, CA

Romano's Macaroni Grill
4805 Hacienda Dr
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 560-1520
macaronigrill.com

After an afternoon of wine tasting, DH and I were craving a good, hearty spaghetti-and-meatballs meal. Strings? Nah. Strizzis? Nah. Bruno's? Nope. Campo di Bocce wasn't an option, neither of us like their food or service (and we've given them second, third and fourth chances). Macaroni Grill? We haven't been here in a long time, so we decide to venture into Dublin and felt it was early enough at 4:30pm to avoid the expected mad Saturday night dinner rush.

Parking? Great, no problem.
Seating? Great, it was a 2-3 minute wait.
Service? Great, Christina was simply...great.
Food? Wonderful, for the most part.

We both loved the piping fresh, hot bread, it was delightfully crispy outside and yummily soft inside. The olive oil and balsamic vinegar was a classic and delicious dip for the bread. YUM!

The Caesar salad was so-so; all right, it was edible...but not really that good. The romaine was fresh and so were the croutons, but the Caesar dressing was pretty tasteless.

Spaghetti and meatballs...yum! The spaghetti was al dente (thank you, Macaroni Grill), the sauce was good and the 3 giant meatballs were tender and not overcooked (thank you again, Macaroni Grill). We had an abundance of freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled over our plates at the table, which just made everything yummier!

The smothered chocolate cake was okay. The sauce they call "chocolate ganache" was the best part because the cake alone was a bit dry and bland. The "nuts" sprinkled over the ganache topping were more like "crumbs" they were so small, and no crunch whatsoever. The three dollops of cream were a nice accompaniment to neutralize the sweetness of the cake and ganache.

Macaroni Grill offered this three-course meal for $12.99 (garden or Caesar salad, plus choice of skinny chicken or fettucine alfredo...these two were $11.99...lasagne, pasta milano, chicken canneloni or spaghetti and meatballs, plus choice of lemon passion or smothered chocolate cake or sorbet). That is such a deal...especially since I took most of my meal home to save room for dessert! Besides, spaghetti and meatballs always tastes better the next day.

Maybe the key here is to come in before the crowds (they were coming in as we left), due to the service issues I read in the previous reviews. I've had the Penne Rustica and yes it's good and yes it's salty (prosciutto IS salty and too salty for me, so I just toss 'em over to DH's bowl, he likes salty). I also remember their Pizza Margherita is very good. Hmmm...I'll be back for that...or their spaghetti and meatballs again if I have another craving for that and my kitchen still isn't done by then!