Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.
Nancy doesn’t ask for very many things in life (okay, let’s wait for the lightning bolt to subside after hitting this newspaper). One day she had a taste for a pizza in a dine in restaurant. I would never pass up a good Italian dinner and remember, happy wife, happy life. She remembered a place in Elgin that coincidentally is in the same shopping center as our favorite donut shop. Looking forward to a “win-win” that evening, off we went to Maciano’s Pizza and Pastaria.
Maciano’s Pizza and Pastaria
3091 US Rte. 20
Elgin 60124
(847) 697-1400
macianos.com
Directions: Take Rte. 47 South to US Rte. 20 East to restaurant.
Estimated Travel Time: 19 minutes
After cruising the parking lot a few times while telling several drivers what we thought of their ancestors, we finally found a parking spot. Good thing, because Jim was almost ready to just pull in to the donut shop at the end of the shopping center, shove some donuts in his face, and call it a night. Maciano’s is a small strip mall restaurant with eight booths and approximately eight tables.
The décor was surprisingly elegant from the entry hallway with windows looking into the dining room, to the mural accenting one wall, and the wooden wine rack by the hostess area. This is obviously a family friendly restaurant judging from all the little bambinos in high chairs gnawing on pasta.
When we were seated and looking over the menu, the waitress brought over a warm loaf of crusty bread. This was an excellent medium for the olive oil and pungent grated cheese on the table. It was difficult to show some restraint and not finish the whole basket since we did want to save room for our entrees.
We decided to start off our evening with the (5) Bruschetta ($9.09) for our appetizer. This was fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, and olive oil on lightly toasted bread. This garlic and basil forward treat went perfectly with the light and airy toasted bread that it was served on, and it was really delicious.
We know what Nancy’s ordering tonight, since she had a taste for a good pizza. She ordered the 12-inch Traditional Thin Crust Pizza ($15.09). She added pepperoni and black olives for an upcharge of $2.85 each. The crunchy broiled pepperoni was a real treat. She said this pizza was pizza-licious!!! It satisfied her craving.
Jim wanted to shake it up tonight and ordered the Shrimp Maciano ($17.39). This was supposed to be shrimp (5) sauteed in a white wine garlic butter sauce and baked parmigiana style on a bed of linguini. Maybe we’re mistaken, but parmigiana style usually means something is breaded and fried and topped with mozzarella cheese. What arrived was shrimp lightly broiled with a few crumbs of what could have been either cheese or breadcrumbs. Jim thought this meal was very disappointing.
We decided not to have a dessert, but instead, we stopped a few doors down and picked up some Country Donuts.
FYI: This restaurant is handicap accessible.
The price for our pizza and pasta indulgence was $54.30. Jim not getting parmigiana style shrimp, bummer…
Go there if you want a good pizza or an Italian sandwich. We saw some sandwiches coming out of the kitchen, and they looked good.
Jim’s take: I hate when the dish you receive does not resemble the menu description at all.
Nancy’s take: I won tonight, my pizza was amazing and I took more than half of it home in a pizza box. No doggie bag for Rosie tonight.
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