Romano's Macaroni Grill

Our party of two adults and two daughters enjoyed our Friday night dinner at the Macaroni Grill on 116th in Carmel.  It was first time visiting this chain and we were pleased with the food quality, the service, and the overall atmosphere.

With the name "Macaroni", I expected a ho-hum, casual interior and was surprised by the brick, stone, and chandelier-level decor.  Despite the crowd, we were seated immediately at a table that seemed to be covered with a tablecloth.  Our daughters noticed the crayons and realized our table was actually covered with a giant drawing sheet!  This even kept our creative teen happy...

Teen devoured a large steak cooked medium with grilled tomatoes, green onions, and eggplant on the side.  The macaroni and cheese was more sophisticated than she could handle, with peas and a delicate mix of cheeses that weren't bright orange.  Hubby & I both tried it & insisted it was coming home with us as leftovers.

Youngest daughter liked the fries and crispy chicken tenders.  Husband like the lasagna and I really liked my Pasta di Mare with seared scallops, steamed mussels, and shrimp. The marinara sauce is not too sweet and not weighed-down with oregano like at other places.

Beer selections even included local breweries - the wine menu had two selections for moscato that paired nicely with my seafood.  Our server was nice & happily brought samples of each moscato for me to choose between.  

My daughters pointed out that something that made this experience more "special" than a family trip to Olive Garden was the scent of fire-baked pizzas and grilled steaks filling the restaurant.  We thought it was filled with the scent of grilled-goodness to make sure we knew there was more than macaroni here!  

They also liked the half-open kitchen where you could view the last stage of plate prep just before plates are picked up to be served.  Prices run on the higher side and all vegetable sides are fresh, not frozen California blend dumped on the plate.

Disappointed in the service and the food. My wife and I each had the grilled shrimp . The portion was small, over cooked, and actually they got my order wrong.

This really hurts to write a bad review for the Macaroni Grill but they have made me unhappy one too many times recently.

We arrived about 6:30 and we were shocked it wasn't busy ( well now I know why). We were seated right away and there were maybe 10 tables filled and what I counted 3 servers. We had the worst of the 3. He took forever to take our drink order and bring them. He took forever to take our order. When he did he poured the oil on the plate. I figured he was bringing our bread right away. Ummm no. We didn't get our bread till about 10 minutes after we ate our appetizer...that took forever to get to our table and when it did it was cold. It took our food about 40 minutes to come out and then our server never checked back. We had to find someone to bring us our check which took forever as well.

Long story short I just broke up with you Macaroni Grill