Michael's Trattoria

Reviews about Michael's Trattoria

• 5 / 5

  By Dana Reig
  Always an incredible dinner. Waitstaff along with mellow atmosphere make this place a no brainer for a nice romantic night out.
  October 27, 2016
• 5 / 5

  By Mike & Debbie Hackenbruch
  We had a group supper of 10 people in July 2016 for a friend who had just become a US Citizen. We asked for dining room #3 as it was smaller and ended up being private for us on this special evening. Gino was our primary server. His wit, humor, and attention to detail, along with a variety of drink and excellent foods ordered off of the standard menu made this a very special evening. Thank you to all of the employees of Michael's Trattoria for making our event memorable!
  October 27, 2016
• 1 / 5

  By Michael Wiley
  What went wrong? The food, plain and simple. My dining partner and I kept it basic, starting our meal with a fresh mozzarella appetizer, which was fine. Little can go wrong with mozzarella, basil, sliced roasted peppers (from a jar) and tomatoes (hot house, unfortunately). The big blunders came from our entrees. I ordered the shrimp scampi and my partner, the meat lasagna.
  
  The scampi consisted of several large shrimp, garlic, capers and a lemon garnish in a white wine sauce, served over linguine. I first tasted the sauce on its own and was introduced with the taste of brine. It was fishy, acidic and sour, making the base of this dish brackish and unfriendly to the stomach. The shrimp possibly started off properly cooked but were poached in acid from the sauce, lending them a hard and chewy constancy. The linguine didn't fare much better. Just on the edge of losing its al dente and saturated in the sauce, it lost all of the sweet starchiness any Italian chef knows to preserve in pasta. The capers overpowered the whole dish, making them the centerpiece of the whole recipe.
  
  This is scampi, remind you. Scampi should be quintessentially simple and succulent, with every ingredient there to highlight and strengthen the shrimp. All you really need is garlic, butter, some olive oil, salt and maybe some Parmesan, to make good scampi. However, this review isn't about the recipe, it's about the execution.
  
  Frankly, this dish was made as bad, if not worse, than Olive Garden, which is horrible food. My partner's lasagna was mediocre and neither great nor bad, serving up pizzeria quality lasagna for $19.00, albeit with more acid and less flavor than a pizzeria would take the time to cook into the dish.
  
  Beyond that, my dining partner didn't receive the beverage he ordered, the bread they served was closer to a baked hot dog bun than true Italian bread, and the bathroom was in the kind of condition I'd expect from a pub.
  
  I don't know what kind of drama is happening behind the scenes here, but from what I experienced, their floor is understaffed and they should probably replace the head chef, regardless of how long they've worked there or who he or she is related to. What went wrong here was systemic. Food doesn't go this wrong unless there are other issues at play.
  October 10, 2016