Please, someone tell me what I am missing here? \n\nMy family loves Italian food. LOVES LOVES LOVES IT. Being super carb sensitive (I think about carbs and I gain 5 lbs. Eating Italian is the bane of my existence for this very reason.\n\nThe premise is nice. A family run, Italian deli. I can dig that. We entered, were instantly greeted, I checked in on Yelp (the Elite thang to do), and perused the menu. I was shocked at the prices. A simple pasta dish was $14.99. For PASTA? None of their dishes came with soup or salad to justify the high cost. \n\nAnyway, my family ordered, freshly baked bread arrived. Piping hot, crispy on the outside, soft in the middle. I had once slice and savored it. This was the best part of the meal. We each had ordered a cup of soup (70 degree weather in late May justifies as cool enough for soup in my book) They were all homemade and they were all awful, My pasta e fagoli was nothing but a weird broth, white beans, and pasta. The minestrone was vegetable soup with pasta. The chicken soup was hopeful, but it didn't have any real flavor. Each cup of soup was an additional $5. Decent sized cups, but when the flavor is lackluster...\n\nNext come our entrees. The stuffed pepper was the only tasty thing ordered, a bit salty, but had a rich complexity in flavor profile and texture. I ordered the four cheese risotto. It was far too salty and thankfully my mama put some of her yummy stuffed pepper sauce into my dish and it perked it up a bit. The risotto was cooked a little too short, it was not to the point of al dente (which to my knowledge is how all noodles in Italian restaurants are served). The other dished ordered was the baked rigatoni. Pasta, greasy meat sauce, and a layer of cheese. Ekk! I tried a bit of it and I swear this AM after brushing my teeth last night and again this AM, I still feel a thin layer of grease on the roof on my mouth (okay, I'm being dramatic). These dishes all ranged from $14.99 to $18.99. I don't understand. Pasta, tomatoes, and buying bulk cheese isn't that expensive. All of the food was wrapped up and taken to go. Again, portions are HUGE, but when the food doesn't taste good, it's just even more of a waste.\n\nService was great. Attentive. Informative. So kudos there. However, $90 for 3 people to eat at an Italian Deli is ludicrous in my mind. Especially when I would rather eat at Olive Garden and it would have been far more satisfying and lighter on the wallet. The restaurant was also very loud. The high ceilings and the absence of a wall in the dining area amplified noise level. I feel like I was robbed eating here. I ate carbs for you, Roma! Carbs! And I gained about 20 lbs while writing this review because of all the thinking and writing about carbs!
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