After parking in back, you walk into the small bar/lounge area. As soon as you open the back door you are immediately engulfed in the wonderful smell of garlic and other Italian herbs being used in the various dishes. Those of us who showed up a little early sat at the small bar and had a glass of wine while we waited for the entire party to show up to be seated. Mama Corolla's does not take reservations, so all tables are first come first served.
Once we sat down, we ordered a variety of appetizers, ranging from a wonderful bruschetta, to fried ravioli, steamed mussels and mushrooms. We also were given Italian bread and dipping oil to start off with. The appetizers were delicious and were devoured rather quickly by the table. The entree options were quite appealing as well, as we got a wide variety amongst our group of nine. We had the special, which was bacon wrapped shrimp on a bed of angel hair pasta (served with Italian weeding soup), shrimp scampi, seafood pasta, pasta with clams, pasta carbonara, chicken parmesan and other pasta-based dishes. There also were veal and steak options, but there were only 9 of us! The entrees were wonderfully tasty and filled us all to the brim, but a few of us had to try some dessert. We had tiramisu and chocolate cheesecake, which, despite our full stomachs, were devoured rapidly.
The only negative we found was the difficulty the waitress had in dividing our bills, but, after some deliberation and family conversation, we solved it.
So if you are in the mood for Italian and in the Broadripple neighborhood, we would recommend Mama Corolla's.
Enjoyable atmosphere with great food! I got the Chicken Rigatoni (with chicken strips with spinach in a spicy white wine sauce) and it was delicious.
ReplyDeleteMy one beef, and it is a big beef. There were 9 of us, and they couldn't split the check into separate checks. That's not a problem, they told us that before we ordered, but what they didn't tell us, is that they can only run four cards per bill. Four cards? That doesn't even make any sense! So we had to pay for 9 people, on four cards. Anybody good at math? We aren't. Then once we got it all figured out, our waitress ran the wrong amount on our check.
It was frustrating. Other than that, it was a great dinner. I tried mussels for the first time, and they were good.
I'd give this place a B/B+.
I wouldn't give it that low of score just on the card issue. I know it is a problem that they can't do that. We wouldn't have chosen the place if we had known this. But they have excellent food. So I think its a great restaurant for a smaller group like 4 or 5 people. It's more like a place you might take a date or something like that.
ReplyDeleteThe mussels appetizer made my day. I'm still thinking about how I drank the mussel broth like a child, leaving the spoon on the table and holding the bowl to my mouth. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone.
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