Mangia Italian Trattoria!

So last week, my brother in law, his girlfriend, Steve, baby Lucca and I all went to get a no-fuss, quick meal at Mangia!  It was great!  Let me preface this by saying that in order to be an outstanding Italian restaurant, you really need to have something special!  There is just too much competition out there not to be.  With that being said, the ambiance was casual, which is great when you have a baby with you.  The waiters were nice and friendly and understanding of our child's desire to exercise his vocal chords.

The first thing we needed to get in order was getting Lucca occupied with some food, so they brought us some nice crusty bread for the table which Lucca loved.  We then ordered some nice looking pasta salad that they had on their "to go" counter, and they kindly heated it up for us......and either forgot to or purposely did not charge us for it!  I got a cavatelli dish with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage, which was deliciously satisfying.  My husband got the Manicotti, which unfortunately I was too wrapped up with my own dish that I did not bother trying his.  He liked it but wasn't going nuts about it (He's italian by the way, so I'm sure he was being extra critical).  The dishes came with a Salad that had a decent dressing on it.  It was also BYOB so we brought along a bottle of wine to enjoy with the meal.

All in all, it's a nice, no fuss place, with good food and service.  The one drawback that I found was that when taking in the ambiance, the fact that it's BYOB and it's no fuss vibe, I would have expected the entree prices to be a few bucks cheaper.  Pasta Entrees are between $15 and $18 per dish, and a meat or fish dish is upwards of $18.  That is not what I would expect when I am looking for a quick fix friday night out with a child.  I'm not sure if I will be adding this place to my circulation of easy-access restaurants, but it wasn't a disappointment by any means.

I'm sure, that back in my 20's, I wouldn't have even looked twice at the price per entree, but ah the joys of growing older and the responsibilities that come along with that.  I can't help but notice and take into account all of the details, including the prices and unless I am "wowed" by the incredible explosion that is going on with every bite that I take, Mangia will have to lower their prices by a few bucks for me to put this on the A list.