Let's Eat!
In a few of my reviews on Las Vegas restaurants in my "New York State of Mind List" that served delicious food that reminded me of the New York cuisine I grew up with, my words would say something familiar to "the next best thing to flying from Vegas to New York is eating in this restaurant." Finally in real life, I experienced New York Italian food after flying from Vegas to New York.
Mangiamo is the latest Italian restaurant and pizzeria to occupy the corner spot of the shopping center at the southwest corner of Portion Road and Smith Street. Ever since my family and I moved to this area in 1993 when Blockbuster anchored the shopping center there was an Italian restaurant here. If any of the past restaurants had been as stellar as Mangiamo, I have definitely missing out.
This mom and pop restaurant is separated into two areas. When you walk in there is the attractive glass case showcasing all styles of their appetizing pizza. This is the take out room. To the left, there is a wall that separates the dining room. In the warmer months and during government shutdowns, there is also the outdoor dining patio off the grassy lawn. The dining room provides an intimate environment thanks to the beautiful wall painting of an Italian village on the back wall. The black ceiling with its cozy lighting brings the patron's eyes to the back wall painting. On the north and east-facing sides, windows bring in the sunlight and moonlight. White tablecloths adorn the tables in the center of brown chairs that complement the color pattern. It is in this dining room where my dad and I enjoyed my leading and last dinners on my back to Long Island, New York family trip.
Mangiamo features a two page menu. It is a menu that includes baked dishes, pasta, seafood, chicken on veal, salad, and soup. As for your's truly, the eggplant parmesan fan that I am and who has been yearning for savoring it in a New York Italian restaurant, I was instantaneously decided on this dish both times. At $15, this is a serious bargain. If it wasn't so preciously delicious with the perfect eggplant coated with a sundry of sauce and melted cheese, I wouldn't be writing this. The spectacular meal that Magiamo made me costed about the same price as a beer on the Las Vegas Strip. Speaking of beer, I complemented my first eggplant parmesan dinner with a Michelob Ultra. The second meal was a Coke. The eggplant parmesan dinner included garlic knots, side salad, and choice of pasta. The garlic knots were delicious and addictive. However, being that they are garlic knots they were saucy. I made the mistake of touching my phone while eating one, and believe me that the sauce was more meant for my mouth than the screensaver. In Italian "mangiamo" means "eat more." There was sure plenty to eat. The portions were colossal. The side salad was in reality a large serving of salad. The bowls of angel hair pasta and eggplant parmesan were likewise colossal. Savoring my first meal after hours of flying across the United States on an empty stomach, I had zero issue eating everything. However, on my second meal, it was a two parter.
Both times, my dad and I had the place to ourselves. My observation was that they were doing a lot more take out business. This was the ideal spot to spend time with my dad. Time that is precious. With the moonlight outside and the wall painting in front of me and delicious food below me on a white table cloth table, this was an intimate environment. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin songs were the soundtrack. On our first night we had a really sweet Waitress. She encouraged my dad and I to take our time. She even asked my dad if there was something that he did not want in his salad. The dining room was so relaxing that I could have spent a couple of more hours here. On the second visit which was at an earlier time, the friendly Waitress had to take time away to help out with the take out business. This made sense since the take out was thriving and we were the only ones in the dining room. She was friendly and did check up on my dad and I.
The dinners that I shared with my dad in Mangiamo were truly precious. This is one of the few times that I was able to share Italian food with my dad in a New York Italian restaurant. We both aren't getting younger. This was a stellar restaurant to mangiamo "let's eat" delicious Italian food in an intimate setting. read more