On a sliding scale Mimosa lands somewhere between Pizza hut Bistro and Olive Garden. This is based on overall experience, not just food selection, because on the surface you would love Mimosa's choices; from "Neapolitan" style pizzas to hearty pasta dishes and expansive wine menu. I think they boast 50 different varietals. But to the heart of it...this is based on two meals I had there over about a 3 week period. The first meal started with an appetizer of arincini for $9. While they were tasty and quick to come out, I felt the price point was a little high for only three little arincini. This was followed (Well supposed to be followed) by a Ceaser salad, but I think the server forgot and it came mere moments before the main course. Which could have attributed to its dryness and complete lack of dressing, save for a few drops here and there. After the one bite I just sent it away since the main course was there.
As always the first thing I order at a new (to me) Italian place is the Eggplant Parm. I love it and it is hard to screw it up. The portion was huge, well worth the $14 price point. The sauce was good, the browned cheese and crispy bits offered a nice textural contrast, my only issue was the fish taste on the eggplant. I can only assume this, but I think they must have fried up the eggplant in some oil that had previously used for seafood, using my deductive reasoning (looked at fried seafood on the menu) I believe it was calamari. Everyone knows eggplant picks up the flavors of what it's cooked in, an oversight on the sous-chef's part I am sure. I told the waitress about the off taste of the main course and my hypothesis for its cause and she offered to have me order something else, I declined because it wasn't so bad that it ruined the meal, just noticeable and wanted to let the kitchen know.
After dinner was of course a nice drink and then dessert, I was in the mood for OJ for some reason and asked for recommendations, the server immediately suggested their namesake cocktail, Mimosa, which I gladly ordered, she even said she would ask about having it on the house because of the eggplant, how could I refuse that, and applauded her effort at customer service. It was really good and poured very well from the bar! For dessert, I ordered the Cannoli. Another one of those things I have to order if it is on the menu. Nothing too flashy, it tasted like it had been frozen delivered and assembled in the kitchen before serving. The Ricotta didn't have that fresh sweetness you get when it hasn't been prepared then frozen, By no means was it terrible, it was fine, again a little pricey for what you got at $8.
Now up until this point I am having a normal evening out, I am neutral to my overall experience at this point. Then it went down hill fast when the check came. Not from our server, but from the owner...a rather unpleasant blond lady. She wanted to inform me that there was nothing wrong with my meal and assured me her kitchen knew how to prepare a meal and that it was just my taste buds. She also wanted to inform me that she didn't think that the food didn't warrant a free drink she wanted to save an argument and gave it to me anyway. I was so taken aback, I didn't know what to say, my normally acid tongue was kept in check by the complete lack of respect and customer service coming from this woman. You know that feeling you get when all the comeback lines hit as you are sitting in the car about to leave and you kick yourself for not thinking about it earlier. Well that was me. I didn't think it was possible to ruin a dining experience where the food and wait service were at least adequate, guess I learned something new that night!
Well I was going to talk about the second meal I had there but this got long, so let me just give this recommendation, order the pizza, it's really good, and don't complain about anything or the owner may bite your head off! read more