About Me

My photo
Lansing, Michigan, United States
I am a Lansing townie, lawyer, and restaurant reviewer for the City Pulse. I love traveling, reading, yoga, and baking, but my favorite hobby is stuffing my face.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Amore in Grand Rapids

My sweet friend Kelly has been telling me about her favorite restaurant in Grand Rapids for a while. So, the last time I had an appointment in GR, I headed over a few hours early so I could stop for lunch. The place? Amore Trattoria Italiana.

Let me be honest with you. The place is not in a great location. As a matter of fact, from the outside, it kind of looks like a dump. Ignore that. The inside is decorated in Italian stuff. Just a ton of stuff, you know? It's not appealing to me, a lover of simplicity, but whatever. Do your thing, Amore.

I asked my waitress what she recommended for lunch and she started talking about sandwiches and lasagna. I wasn't in a sandwich mood and I do not like lasagna at all (way too much cheese), so I pretty much ignored her suggestions and got exactly what I thought I was going to get after doing preliminary research on the menu.

I started with the mista salad. It was everything I like in a salad- greens that are NOT romaine or iceberg, dressed in vinaigrette. The dressing was fantastic. It was covered in a layer of cheese, which I didn't love, but I flicked most of it off easily.

The waitress brought a bread basket. I wasn't impressed. Something in the bread was eerily reminiscent of Pizza Hut, which, try as I might to forget, it apparently a flavor profile that is going to stay with you. The bread also came with a bowl filled with dipping oil and about a metric ton of shredded cheese. Seriously, I know people love cheese, but I beg of you. Take it easy.

My entree was spaghetti with meat sauce. For the most part, I am rarely impressed with pasta. I think it's essentially foolproof and pretty difficult to screw up. In turn, it's difficult to knock my socks off.

However.

This pasta was exceptional. I took a bite and honestly thought to myself "This is how you do al dente." There was a bite to it- the pasta was cooked perfectly. After my first few bites, I noticed something odd. The meat sauce wasn't ground beef only, it actually had pieces of chopped steak in it. Heaven.


My bill was $7.42. $7.42! Get there quick.

No comments: