pasta

Tuesday’s Treats #172

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Angelo’s Family Pizza & Pasta

Location: Waynesville, NC

Ok, first off, DO NOT go here if you’re dieting or trying to watch your calories, because it will only be a terrible, uphill battle! One of which you will fail miserably, unless you have the willpower of a stubborn mule! 😂 … Seriously, going to a restaurant like this and not trying to eat all the yummy offerings would just be silly.

The rolls alone must have 500 calories each! Oh, but they are simply scrumptious! Oh. My. Goodness. With all that buttery, garlicky, almost yeast roll-eske deliciousness, it took all I had in me to only eat one! I am still having a craving for them!

The pizza is so good as well! Our son got his own personal pepperoni, and we ordered the medium supreme. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so good! The pizza was so big, we thought the two of us could not finish… Shamelessly, we devoured every piece! 😂 (Our friends did get a piece to try!) Our friends ordered the broccoli, bacon and cheese pizza and the meat lovers, in personal sizes, and they loved each of theirs.

Honestly, the staff needs a refresh course in hospitality and serving “etiquette,” as they were just crowded around the front, talking, when we came in, and it took a little bit longer than necessary for them to finally come over. Yet, once we moved to the back room, the server we had and the atmosphere was great! We will definitely be back when we’re in the area!

Website

Tuesday’s Treats #118

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Pasta Mia

Location: Rivne Oblast, Ukraine (Kyivska vul. 84)

Ok, so I’ll be honest. When our translator and driver said we’d stop to eat at a little cafe, along the highway between Rivne and Kyiv, and we pulled up to the gas station here, I was a bit skeptical…well, a lot skeptical. Here, in the US, when you stop for a bite to eat at most gas stations, you better just grab a prepackaged bag of chips and a coke, cuz if you eat in the “cafe,” you may very well wish you hadn’t a later on! Lol!

If you find yourself in this same scenario, and you pull into this cafe/gas station, go ahead and order up a plate! It’s that good! Our translator got the pasta with Parmesan cheese, and I had a bite. Yum! She got a cappuccino as well that looked delicious. I got a latte and an apple strudel kind of thing out of the display case (so sorry. I don’t remember the name of it!). They warmed it, and it was absolutely delicious! They had several pasta dishes and coffees from which to choose, and many more items in the display case, but like I said, I had been skeptical to start; so, I didn’t take in all the choices. The menu is also in Ukrainian; so, I couldn’t read it. The connected store has a nice selection of drinks and snack items as well; so, if you’re not in the mood for pasta, they’ve got you covered. 😉

It was a nice little break on our 3 hour drive in the snow from Lviv to Rivne that day, and I will cherish the memories made with sweet friends. Here is the TripAdvisor site for you to find a little more info, as they don’t have a website that I could find.

*UPDATE 1/2020: the cafe is still there, and I had the original location posted incorrectly. It is between Rivne and Kyiv. However, note this address given above may be wrong, or the restaurant has 2 locations. When above address entered, the location shows inside Lviv city. When only placed restaurant name into gps, location showed outside Lviv toward Ivano-Frakivsk; so, I’m sorry I am unable to give exact location. However, leaving Rivne toward Kyiv, cafe/gas station is on the left, and gas station is a “green one.” (Often these on the highway are either green, blue or yellow.😉) Hope this helps, if you are traveling and searching for it!

Tuesday’s Treats #101

/ The WheatandTares

DePalma’s Italian Cafe

Location: Dacula, Ga

We have been to the location in Athens years ago, but this was our first visit to the new Dacula location. The atmosphere is really cool, and the staff is friendly.

We ordered breadsticks, Caesar salad, chicken Alfredo, lasagna and pizza for our part of five. We were sure we’d have to-go boxes to take home; yet, these were all items we wanted to try.

They, also, brought “house bread” tot he table before the meal; so, we had plenty of bread and carbs! Ha ha. The house bread was homemade Italian, served with a olive oil/balsamic dish to dip. The balsamic definitely has a tangy kick, but it was delicious. I could have eaten the whole plate as my meal.

The breadsticks can be made with meatballs and opinions or spinach and onions, but we just opted for cheese. These were fresh made and delicious as well. As I mentioned before, this was a lot of bread; so, I was trying to moderate myself. The Caesar salad came just in Time, and it was scrumptious. The dressing was just right, and the romaine was crispy and fresh and the Parmesan just right.

Next came out meal that we didn’t think we’d finish because of all we had already enjoyed. My husband and son split the pizza. It was half pepperoni and half sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers. As far as pizzas go, I do like a little thicker crust, but it was tasty and definitely worth ordering again. Our oldest and his girl had chicken fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli, and they said each of theirs was good. I had the lunch lasagna (with the salad), and although, it was definitely a different kind of lasagna than I’m used to, with its spinach, ricotta cheese and a small bit of meat all topped with bread crumbs, it was still delicious. Surprisingly, I ate the whole serving.

Yes, we did have a bit of leftovers, but not as much as I expected. I’d have to say, I have a few other favorite italian restaurants, but this one is pretty good. We’ll probably be back again.

To find out more, you can check them out online.

Tuesday’s Treats #69

/ The WheatandTares

Holston’s Kitchen

Location: Sevierville, Tn



This is the place to get incredible steaks while you are in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area. There are many great choices on the menu, and quite the variety from fried chicken to pasta to fajitas, but the steaks are probably my favorite. They are seasoned just right and cooked to perfection. The atmosphere is really cool, and the staff is always helpful and courteous. 

If you’re in Tn to visit Dollywood, the music theaters or the Great Smokies, be sure to add this to your “must visit” list for a great lunch or dinner. Oh, they apparently have a brunch on Saturday’s as well. 😉

 Check out the menu here. 

Tuesday’s Treats #62

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ML’s Italian Life Cafe and The Cellar

Location: Blairsville, Ga


I have actually done a review on this restaurant before; however, because we had only had desserts at this new location, I thought it only fitting to review again. This new location has brought a few changes and adjustments to both the atmosphere and menu choices, but after today, I do believe I like this one even better than the old. 


The desserts are still some of the best you can find, and because they are made fresh daily, the choices will vary from time to time. However, each one is decadent and served with the utmost class and quality. The coffee is delicious, perfectly balanced in strength and sweetness, and the atmosphere, in which you dine, is incredible. 

This new location actually has two parts. If you park in the downtown square, you can easily walk into the upstairs cafe. However, we are a little biased to the downstairs, “Cellar,” as it’s named for its basement locale. A simple walk around the building and down the steps will take you there. Complete with brick walls, low-lying ceilings with exposed beams, and the smell of a fresh ground brew, this place makes you want to grab a good book or good company, hold a cup of joe in hand and stay a long while. 

The quaint seating arrangements, black tablecloths and rich place settings in the “cellar” type surrounds make you feel you’ve just stepped into another time and place. Everything we ordered was absolutely incredible. Our party of four chose the Five Cheese Tortelloni, Italian Wedge, Chicken Wrap and Pasta Sorrento. All the portions were huge, and Oh. My. Goodness. I cannot describe to you the palette delight! The tortelloni was stuffed with mozzarella, fontina, Parmesan, grana padano and Romano cheese, topped with a house made marinara, and served with your choice of meatballs or sausage. My husband chose both. I didn’t taste the sausage, but the meatballs were to die for, so rich and flavorful. 


The Italian Wedge was beyond what I could have imagined with the ginormous serving. The savory baked balsamic chicken was a perfect blend of deliciousness with the Gorgonzola cheese and applewood bacon. It is normally served with blue cheese dressing and tomatoes, but as I attest both, I opted for a side of the Italian with feta cheese and a side of the garlic Parmesan. I don’t which I liked better. I could not believe how much I enjoyed this, because as much as I like salad, it’s not a “top of the list” choice when it comes to entrees, especially when indulging in an Italian cuisine. Yet, this day, I am so glad I “preferred just a salad.” 

The chicken wrap was just as large and tasty, as was the Pasta Sorrento. There was so much food, we almost opted out of dessert. However, the chocolate peanut butter brownie pie with a side latte called our name out a little too loudly to be ignored. My husband and brother-in-law devoured that yumminess while my sister-in-law and I sipped a cup of delicious Vanilla Nut Latte topped with caramel. It was a perfect ending to a perfect meal. 

We so enjoyed this new, inviting location that, had it not been we had other things on our agenda that day, I believe we could have sat around enjoying the atmosphere and good conversation until dinner time rolled in. We will definitely be back again and again. 

Oh, one more note to mention…they also have fresh pressed olive oils and balsamic vinegars. There are samples to taste, and you can even “sample” these with your entrees. I did try the White Coconut Balamic Vinegar with my chicken, and it tasted just like the best coconut chicken I’ve ever had. These are available for sale as well, and there were several Italian and French imports from which to choose. 


Check out more here on their website. 

Tuesday’s Treats #45

/ The WheatandTares

Vinny’s New York Pizza and Italian Grill

Location: Buford, Ga

If you’re looking for a great pizza joint, Vinny’s is your spot! It’s locally owned, and the owners care about their customers. The atmosphere is very quaint and comfortable, and it is suitable for a business lunch, a ladies night out, a large family gathering or even that very first date.


The serving portions are larger than usual, and the food is delicious! As you can see by the picture above, when I say the portions are larger than usual, I’m not kidding! This is a calzone, and I could only eat half of it! I wish I had taken a photo of the personal size pizza. It’s as big as a small, and the large pizzas…well, let’s just say they can feed an army!  

They have a pretty diverse menu, too. Calzones, pizza and spaghetti is available,and they also have subs, lasagna, eggplant Parmesan and even hot wings. Often, restaurants who have a wide variety on the menu will do some things great and then other things way below average; however, Vinny’s seems to get it right. I haven’t had anything, yet, that I don’t like, and we’ve know about this place since 2005.

Oh, one menu item that I must mention are the Alfredo garlic rolls. Oh. My. Goodness. These are just pure sin! Their regular garlic rolls are delicious anyway, but these are then smothered in Alfredo sauce and served as an appetizer. I have friends who have had these simply as a meal! Those attempting to be health conscious need not apply! 😂

The desserts are supposed to be scrumptious as well, but I am always so stuffed by the end of our meal that I have yet to order a dessert. They have some yummy looking cheesecakes and chocolate cake slices, and I did sample a friend’s “funnel cake,” which is more like little sugar-covered doughnuts. Those were yummy. So, if you’re ever in the Buford area, you should check them out.

Vinny’s is located at the Friendship Road exit off 985.  I had a little difficulty pulling up their website; however, their Facebook page has the location, phone number and most everything you would need.

Tuesday’s Treats #42

/ The WheatandTares

Luciano’s Ristorante Italiano

Location: Lawrenceville, Ga
 This place is a little fancier than you would expect, pulling into the Kroger parking lot to find a spot. The hostess is a little pretentious, and the restaurant seems like it might be with the white tablecloths and decor, but if you can get past that, the food is pretty good. It seems to be a popular lunch spot, as it got pretty crowded today, and it is listed #5 on tripadvisor.com for the city in which it’s located.

The menu is quite limited; so, if you’re looking for an extensive, authentic Italian menu, you might want to go down the road to Carrabba’s. I ordered off of the daily specials menu, because for the price of a simple entree, I could choose the  “3 course entrees.” You get the choice of soup or salad, an entree and a dessert for $12.95.

I had a Caesar salad, pizza mafia (pepperoni, sausage, bacon, black olives) and tiramisu. My husband ordered a Chicken Caesar, and our youngest got the kids pepperoni pizza. Everything was delicious, but the tiramisu was just ok. It seemed more custard/pudding based and was served in this tiny ramekin (like 1-2oz. size!); so, I was a little disappointed at that point.

The bread that is served before the meal is accompanied by this brouchetta-eske sauce with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Yum! …and I’m not even a tomato fan. The sweet tea is really good; however, as the entrees came, our glasses were changed from these really cool, large glasses to these rather small glasses. So, we had to keep asking for refills. I thought that a little odd. Shouldn’t the larger glasses be served with the meal?

Anyway, the food was good, and we might drop back by sometime…if we’re in this parking lot at lunchtime, but I don’t think we will make a special trip. The regular menu prices seemed a little steep for lunch, and they don’t seem to have a wide variety of choices. However, my opinion may be a little skewed by our personal experience, because once our entrees were served, we didn’t see our waitress again for about 20+mins. (Time enough for us to finish, sit waiting, and my husband and son to “give up” and head for the car.) She finally arrived back in the room, put her apron back on behind the bar and came over to the table to ask me if she should box up the leftover pizza.

That’s when my tiny dessert was served by another waiter. She never seemed the slightest concerned about her absence, even when I graciously mentioned we had to hurry now, because we didn’t know it was going to take so long. Yeah, those moments of frustration, and the disappointment in the dessert,  may have slanted my opinion a bit.

Despite this, I chose to blog this “treat,” because of the TA rating, the amount of traffic they received during the lunch hour, and the food was rather tasty. Maybe we just got a bad waitress, and it’s usually better. Maybe we need to try it for a date night, too… maybe…

Check out their website here.

Tuesday’s Treats #29

/ The WheatandTares

Provino’s Italian Restaurant

Location: several in surrounding Atlanta area

We love, love, love Provino’s! It is one of the best Italian restaurants I have ever been to! If you don’t want to overload on carbs, well, you might as well forget it. It could be done, but it would be pretty much torture.

The atmospher here is so romantic, yet, just as enjoyable for family and friends. They have several different sections to choose from, and each area is comfortable and enjoyable. After you order your drinks, they bring you a bowl full of yummy, buttery, garlic rolls. If you’re on a first date, you better beware. These things are loaded with the garlic, but oh, it’s SOOO good.

Along with this, they will bring you a beautifully arranged Italian salad, complete with lettuce, chickpeas, beats, onions, tomatoes and cucumbers, all drenched in their delicious house dressing (an italian oil vinegar)

This is a half order of the Cody Special. The whole order is HUGE, but you do get (planned) leftovers! 😉 This dish is NOT on the menu, and depending on the location, you may have to update them on the ingredients. We were first told about it at the Snellville location. It is a generously portioned dish made with angel hair pasta, rosetella sauce (red and white mixed), chicken and/or shrimp, sautéed mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, all baked to deliciousness. My husband always orders it with chicken only and gets it baked to a nice golden brown. This last time, he had them add a meatball to the dish. Oh. My. Word! This is incredible!!  

This second photo is of their famous lasagna. It is a perfect layering of pasta, meat, ricotta cheese, sauce and cheese, all baked right in the dish to a beautiful golden brown. It is SOOO yummy.

The menu has a great variety, and everything we have had or tasted is wonderful. They plenty to choose from: chicken, veal, seafood and simple pastas. They have several side dishes and delicious desserts. One dessert I have to mention is the one that’s my favorite: the Cafe Provino. This is a delicious, chocolate drenched italian coffee with whip cream and tiny chocolate morsels on top. My husband calls it coffee flavored chocolate milk (warmed). I just call it “heaven in a cup!” 😂 It is so good!!

Oh, go by on your birthday, show your ID, and you get your meal for FREE, too! 😉 You can’t beat that!!

Here is their website; so, you can find the right location for you.  We’ve been to almost every location, and even though, we do have our favorites, we’ve never been disappointed.