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It's the most...wonderful?...time of the year!
This weekend, Tom and I decided to foolishly step foot into the mall. We were hoping to pick up a Back to the Future themed Christmas ornament from Hallmark, and possibly a "we're married" ornament for our tree. What would normally be a simple in-and-out job ended in frustration and disappointment.
Time for some therapy thru comfort food!
(Picture borrowed from Google Images)
We drove a short distance to Grotto Pizza, a decent-sized Pizzaria and Italian Eatery in the Wyoming-Valley Mall parking lot. I had mixed feelings about going here because: #1, we didn't discuss where we were going; #2, I've never been here before; and #3, I wasn't really in the mood for pizza.
I quickly pushed my inner-Grinch aside as we passed the gelato display!
(Picture borrowed from Google Images)
I immediately started memorizing the menu, trying to figure out what I'd be ordering today, and then what I'd plan to try in the future. There are few things better than Mom & Pop restaurants!
Tom mentioned that the Grottoboli was excellent, but decided on getting the Chicken Parmesan sub instead. I pretended to be undecided at that point, secretly deciding to order the Grottoboli. We also decided to split an order of calamari as an appetizer.
Grotto's calamari puts Olive Garden's to shame!
Sure, it's only served with marinara for dipping (I LOVE Olive Garden's creamy peppercorn dipping sauce), but the actual calamari makes up for it. Each piece was cooked to perfection. So many times I've gone to Olive Garden and had the batter gooey and falling off of the calamari because it's undercooked. And to make this appetizer even more delicious, the marinara seemed to be fresh. Or at least not canned!
The definition of self-control is being able to take a picture of the food before starting to eat it :)
About 5 minutes after the basket was empty, our entrees arrived:
Tom's "usual" Chicken Parmesan sub:
This is only half because there was no self-control once the food arrived...
And my Grotto-boli:
Again, this is only half because I needed to make room on the plate. It's a stromboli made of hame, pepperoni and capicola with sweet peppers and onions, smothered in mozzarella cheese. And of course, that yummy marinara dipping sauce again! I could only eat half, then took the other half home to have the next day.
As stuffed as we were, we decided to split a cup of the gelato. Since Tom had never had Pistachio ice cream before, that's the flavor I chose. I detected a hint of cocoa powder in with the pistachio, which is never a bad thing.
It really was a tiny scoop, served with a tiny spoon, but the flavor and consistency of the gelato made up for the small portion. It was the perfect end to this meal!
We paid around $30 total.
As always, I'm including the link to the restaurant. It seems that their full menu isn't included, but the address, phone number and take-out menu are available.
http://www.grottopizzapa.com/index.html
For all of my "faithful followers" who have been waiting a year for another blog post...I've decided to start updating once a week. I deleted my Bucket List blogs and will be including the pictures and stories of those experiences over the next year!
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