It was lunch hour and I was driving down Forest when I spotted a new restaurant, Roma’s Authentic Italian Cuisine.
Intrigued and looking to remedy my rumbly tummy, I decided to give it a try.
This Italian cafe is in Marshall’s old spot. You probably noticed that the longtime barbecue joint closed about 4 months ago–or you might remember reading about its closure here on our blog.
To be honest, I never ate at Marshall’s, so I don’t know what this place looked like to begin with. But I can tell you that now it has orange walls and red checkered tables, a somewhat overwhelming color combo.
My friend and I started with the bruschetta. Now I’m no culinary connoisseur, but the brushetta I’ve had is typically served on small crusty, almost cracker-like, pieces of bread. This version, however, was more like Texas toast: big soft pieces of buttered garlic bread topped with a sliced tomato and melted cheese. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly didn’t blow me away.
I ordered the Parmigiana, which is basically spaghetti with shrimp. Again, the food failed to impress me. The tomato sauce was bland and shrimp was lacking (there were only about five small ones). A little disappointing considering it cost $13.
My friend had the Chef’s Special, which sounds like it’d be one of the best dishes on the menu because it has shrimp, veal, and chicken–but yes, you guessed it: not impressed. The lemon butter pasta sauce was actually pretty tasty, but like my entree, the meat portions were on the small side.
Our meal was about $30, which left us feeling…well, a little cheated.
But in Roma’s defense, I do have a friend who frequents this place for the pizza, which we didn’t try and she insists is good. And if you live nearby, Roma’s will deliver to you. Just call 972. 490.7574.