A Beautiful Dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill

Located in Aliso Viejo, near the movie theaters

First, let me start by saying this post is completely uncompensated and is my honest reflection of a really wonderful dinner.

My husband and I were lucky enough to get an entire Saturday to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary this weekend.  We almost never get to the movies or a grown-up dinner, so we opted for both and decided to try go to the Macaroni Grill.  We had not been there in many years and I was a bit concerned that a chain restaurant would not be up to snuff for excellent food.

The restaurant is in Aliso Viejo and they were really being hit by the heat wave this summer.  We were happy that the inside was cool, but a bit crowded and loud.  Instead, we opted for the patio seating, which was awash in lovely Italian style music and an early evening breeze.

13 years and counting!

We received some really good news when we sat down.  All wines are 1/2 off this summer!!  This includes wines by the glass or by the bottle.  We started with a bottle of Chianti and two tapas.  The first was prosciutto wrapped around cheese and then baked and covered in red sauce with a cracker-like bread for dipping.  The bread was terrible.  A cracker-like bread is not ideal for sopping up sauce of any kind.  Instead, I opted to use the delicious foccacia that was already on the table.  The prosciutto was too crispy and really not tasty when it is overcooked.
However, we very much enjoyed the goat-cheese stuffed peppadew peppers that were baked and topped with balsamic vinegar reduction.  I would definitely get these again as those sweet peppers literally bursted in our mouth with the melting goat cheese.

Opt for the stuffed peppers on the right from the Tapas menu

My husband ordered the Lobster Ravioli and I ordered Carmela's Chicken, which is a rigatoni pasta with wild mushrooms, carmelized onions and a marsala cream sauce.  WOW!  Mouth buds in heaven with this one.  Great mouth feel and the sauce wasn't too heavy or over-creamy.  The combination was hearty and sweet in every good way possible.  My husband really enjoyed his ravioli.  Unlike other raviolis he has tried, he could actually taste the lobster in every bite.  The ravioli were large and topped with a slightly tangy creamy lobster sauce.

At this point, a very nice young lady came out to sing for us.  We were so flattered and really dropped our jaws to the table when we heard her singing a lovely opera piece in honor of our anniversary.  That was a perfect way to feel on our special night.  Thank you Megan!

Finally, the waitress (who was excellent, but I didn't get her name) served us a chocolate lava cake with a side of warm chocolate sauce and a vanilla cream on the side.  I swore I was full, but I did manage to get a fair share down.  That is the perfect dessert to share and we loved every bite.

Warm chocolate cake with warm chocolate sauce and vanilla cream

Overall, only one miss on the food part.  The service was excellent, attentive but not annoying and the atmosphere on the patio was outstanding.  We were more than pleasantly surprised at the excellent experience we had with this chain restaurant and we look forward to coming back soon!