Restaurant Review: Manzella's - It is What it is

What it is is one of the most cliche lines that's going around right now. And it describes Manzella's perfectly. If you're looking for some quality Italian-American food in Champaign, I'd point you out to Manzella's. This place is sort of cool, in an old-school sort of way. It's a little dark inside. There are a few wall decorations, though nothing gaudy. They have these empty chianti bottles hanging on the walls, too, which actually is surprisingly interesting on the eyes. It's sort of cramped seating, but it's what you expect when you go into a mom and pop Italian joint.

I've been there a few times, and I've never been disappointed. You don't go into a place like this looking for fine dining. You look for a quality meal at a reasonable price. You want some nice comfort food, a basket of warm bread, and a place to catch up with friends over a good meal. You're not there to transcend the boundaries of foie gras and white truffles. You're there to enjoy a plate of rich, red sauce over layers of noodles and meat and cheese. Manzella's does not disappoint.

So here's the scoop - the bread service is good. They bring out warm, crusty bread that's really tasty. You can make a meal out of just the bread and the olive oil that they bring to the table. Again, nothing fancy - just pretty standard EVOO (for you Rachel Ray fans... both of you), some of the Parmesan out of a bottle, and black pepper not freshly ground, and good ol' table salt. But it's darned good. You don't need special olive oil, fresh Parmesan, freshly ground pepper, and magical sea salt for a good dipping sauce. Making do what you have can be really enjoyable sometimes. This is one of those times.

Every entree includes a soup or salad. Again, nothing special, though the house Italian is pretty tasty - a little sour and tangy, and sort of fun. The manicotti is always good, though every once in a while they don't sauce it quite enough and the pasta dries out slightly on the edges. The lasagna is solid and darned tasty. The spaghetti is generally just par, but then again, when was the last time you really had an experience eating just plain spaghetti? The marinara is just chunky enough so that you know that you know it's there, but not so much that you think that you're eating a tomato dish.

As always, I added on a side of meatballs and a side of Italian sausage. Manzella's passed with flying colors. The sausage order was actually 2 decent sized links, that were grilled up with just a little bit of char. It was meaty, it was juicy, and it was tasty. I don't think that they made it themselves, but it was still good enough. The meatballs were homemade, and they were really good. Meaty, with just enough of the filler in there to make it tender.

Now one thing to avoid is the pizza. We tried to make an appetizer out of it. It didn't work. The toppings were pretty ample, and the sausage on the pizza was definitely good. Unfortunately, the crust was not. Think crunchy cracker-like crust. Dense and like a saltine in taste. In my mind, a thin pizza crust should have a little crisp and a little chew. There was no give to this stuff at all. We'll just be a little smarter and just stick with the bread service, in lieu of the pizza.

We didn't even try the desserts. Two reasons - 1) we were stuffed and couldn't handle it, and 2) nothing was made in-house. I figure that I can get an Eli's cheesecake as well as anyone else, and add a few dabs of whipped cream and some sauce or other.

Again, if you go into Manzella's with a friend, looking for a nice plate or tortellini and some nice bread and a good conversation, you won't be disappointed. At least not in the food. It is what it is.

-foodgeek

Rating: 0.5 star
Manzella's Italian Patio (217) 352-7624; 115 S. First St (west side of 1st, just south of University). Champaign, IL 61820. Appetizers: $3 - $6; Pizzas: $6 - $18; Pasta: $8 - $12; Entrees: $12 - $20.

Restaurant Review: Minneci's - Cool, if Retro Were Cool

You ever have one of those places that has been perpetually on your list of places to try? That was Minneci's for me. There are a couple international groceries right next to Minneci's that I always visit, and every time I drive by, I always say to myself, "I should really try that place some time." They used to have this really bright and gaudy pink neon sign that wrote out "Minneci's" in this lettering that just looked like squiggles which would catch my eyes and cause them to roll. But a few months ago, they updated the sign so that it wasn't so much Miami Vice. So I figured that it was time for me to actually wander in there and have some food.

Now one thing that I really need to do is to make sure that when I'm looking to do a review is to bring along more than just one of my buds. Two people can only eat so much... though we always try to push those boundaries. Hey, we can always work it out in the gym later.

So, I'm off writing at Panera and CJ drops me a line, and dinner is on. The first thing that we notice is that we strolled in at 9, and they closed at 10. The place was pretty much empty, except for the staff, and a couple old guys who were drinking wine. This was sort of cool, actually. I half expected to see some goodfellas in the back, but we didn't. The decor was sort of plain - relatively understated. Except for one thing. Teal upholstery. Very old school. Very amusing. And still very Miami Vice. It was pretty much what I expected, though I didn't know it.

Now, the service was pretty decent. It wasn't busy, our server was pretty good about bringing refills and checking on us just enough to make us feel like we were being served without being intruded on. She gets props for that. She was able to answer my questions pretty well. In my book, if you don't notice a server, then they've done their job well. I didn't really notice her, so she must have done well.

In general, the food was solid, not spectacular. The appetizers looked pretty standard, but she did mention that they made the fried mozzarella sticks in house. So we tried them, but really, they weren't much different than anywhere else. The mozzarella was actually a little bland, and the breading wasn't anything special. Oh well. Even if they won't ever make Zagat's, they're still darned fun to eat. We also decided to get a small pizza with Italian sausage as an appetizer. This was actually darned good. Crispy crust on the bottom, with a little chew still there. Sauce was ample without drowning the pie. Nice and cheesy with plenty of sausage. Only downer - it was just a little bit on the salty side, but that was nothing that a couple sips of water between slices didn't fix.

For dinner, we went with pasta dishes. We split the meat lasagna and the mixed manicotti. In both cases, the portions were a little smaller than I would have liked and expected for the price, though it wasn't much of a concern given that we had already downed mozzarella sticks and pizza. The manicotti was pretty good. I think that I preferred the meat to the cheese, but both were done well. And really, can you go wrong with filling up pasta with meat and cheese, covering it up in sauce and baking it? Which, really is the same result with the lasagna. I really liked the taste and texture of the cheese mix (which presumably is the same for the lasagna and the manicotti).

In addition to the pasta, we also ordered a side of the the meatballs and a side of the Italian sausage. The meatballs were decent enough - maybe a little bit on the tough side, but they tasted good. However, the Italian sausage was a disappointment. It was the same crumbled sausage that went on the pizza, covered in sauce. I had just assumed that it was going to be a link. It tasted OK, but had I known that it was going to come like that, I would have passed. Oh well. Live and learn.

Dessert was mediocre. The cannoli's were decent enough, though not quite as tasty as I have come to expect. And we also tried the zabajone, which was served cold, and was light and creamy, but didn't have a great flavor to it. I think that a better bet would be to trek over to a different place for some sweets and coffee after dinner, rather than doing dessert there.

Overall, it was alright. Not a bad place for a meal, though not exactly a place for a special night, either with the ambiance or the food. Unless you're really into Crockett and Tubbs and have a burning need to relive the mid-80's. And, really, who doesn't?

-foodgeek

Rating: 0.5 stars
Minneci's Ristorante (217) 352-4425; 401 S. First St (NW corner of 1st and Springfield)., Champaign, IL 61820. Appetizers: $4 - $7; Pizzas: $7 - $18; Pasta: $8 - $15; Entrees: $12 - $20.

Long overdue update:  Apparently, they remodeled the restaurant, and then opened a second location in west Champaign.  The original location looks like it closed in 2014, and the west Champaign location closed in 2017.  

Restaraunt Review: Cafe Luna - Tapas

Okay. Part II of the Cafe Luna adventure. We've covered lunch. This time, we're going to tackle the tapas. At some point down the road, we'll get to the actual dinner menu, I'm sure. But for now, we're going to examine how the small plate phenomenon has hit Champaign-Urbana.

Until recently, the only real option for anything resembling tapas would be Radio Maria out in downtown Champaign (which will get it's review in the future, too). So, naturally, when I found out that Cafe Luna had a pretty full tapas menu, I was intrigued. Over the course of two marathon eating sessions, I got myself a pretty good handle on the flavor of the menu. Each of the dishes ranged from $4 to $9, and for $40, two people can have a nice dinner, without wine, and be very entertained.

The item that really stood out to me as a great opener was the fried goat cheese, which was served with caramelized onions and drizzled with honey. Each of the four little morsels of the cheese were great - a little tangy and a little sweet from the honey, and the warm bread that it came with fit the bill well. What seems like the more popular opening dish was an olive tapenade and goat cheese served on grilled sourdough. But my dining partner and I both seemed to agree that the olive spread was a little too salty, and spread on a little too thickly. I think that serving the spread on the side, and letting us apply it on the toast ourselves would probably solve the problem.

Two items that we saw consistently ordered were the fried artichokes and beets and the duck confit ravioli. There was a good reason for that. Quartered artichokes and beets were seasoned and fried, and served with a balsamic reduction. It wasn't anything complicated, but what resulted was a very tasty and fun to eat dish. I had never been a huge fan of beets, but the juicy, sweet, and slightly tangy flavor of this dish has made me a convert. The duck ravioli was a real simple dish - just a filling of a tasty chopped and sauteed duck meat, stuffed into pasta, and then pan fried so that it was nice and crispy and a little chewy. The sauces that were on there were a balsamic reduction and a Asian-style teriyaki which worked really well together. These were definitely winners.

I think that there's a common thread to the quality of the dishes that are done here. Generally speaking, the meat dishes were generally very good, and the seafood left me somewhat wanting. All things considered, 50-50 on the seafood isn't too bad for being in the middle of Illinois, though.

There was an excellent beef kabob that had tenderloin and mushrooms, served with a side of whiskey au gratin potatoes. The beef could have been cooked medium rare, instead of medium well, but overall, the dish was good. I think that the highlight was the carpaccio, which was served with a tangy mustard, mixed greens, capers, and thinly sliced onions. Eating it with the sourdough bread that came on the side felt like I was eating this great roast beef sandwich. Of course, there was one miss. The spicy sausage and cabbage in red wine just didn't feel right. The sausage didn't have enough of a meaty chew to it, and instead felt overcooked. The flavor was okay, but the texture was a miss.

Two seafood dishes were excellent. One was a special, three chunks of lobster tail, just lightly salted and briefly broiled, served rare. It was very simple, and presented in an attractive fashion. Each of the chunks of lobster had a garnish of a different herb - rosemary, thyme, and dill. And half of the dish had this light, sweet pea sauce, while the other side had a richer ginger butter sauce. Both were fun, and the dish is definitely worth getting if they have it. The other dish was the spicy steamed clams and ham. The clams were okay - just standard littlenecks. But the broth was amazing - this savory, spicy liquid that I wanted to soak up every drop of.
Of course, there were some misses. The scallops weren't very inspired, and lacked much flavor. And the mussels and garlic in white wine didn't really have a lot of flavor, and in fact one of the mussels had a cracked shell that almost drew blood when I wasn't paying attention. One dish that could have been intriguing was the yellowfin tuna cubes, coated in sesame and served with soy sauce. I had the misfortune of biting into a piece of tuna that probably shouldn't have been served. It tasted okay, but the cut of tuna had a lot of connective tissue, and ended up being almost inedible. The rest of the tuna was tasty, but the first bite really threw me off. I think that on another occasion, the tuna could be a keeper.

All in all, the tapas were a lot of fun to eat. The service was always pretty solid, though the servers could have been a little more knowledgeable about the menu. I have to say that the tapas menu compares favorably to the other options in this town. It's a place that you could bring a date, you could bring a business associate, bring your buddies, or just bring yourself. I have to say that I'm a fan.

-foodgeek

Rating: 1 star