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Show ttly mvlovicd Great China restaurant .... , For a restaurant as ambitiously named as Great China, the dining room is awfully diminutive at the Orem eatery. ? This dive (think faded furniture from the set of "Dynasty" blended with a Chinese trinket shop) offers $5 lunch buffets that are about what you pay for. The dozen or so dishes are mainly greasy, boilerplate renderings of Beef and Broccoli, Chow Mein and Kung Pao chicken. Dish for dollar it's a bargain, but Chinese food aficionados should try elsewhere. Great China, 380 E. 1300 8 South, Orem, J4 SI 224-223- Pier 49 J f t) tot ft I 1 JF BBai;'.:;..- f V . A. j JOSHUA BROWNDaily The Manager's Favorite from the OW Spaghetti Factory features Herald spaghettiwith browned butter and mizithra cheese and meat sauce. Oodles of noodles, the factory way Italian restaurant serves accessible, DAILY At et Can-abba'- -- phere, with dark wood and historical photos showing the area in bygone years, includ- ing a circa 1895 picture of the Provo Tabernacle in all its towering glory. The dining room's most significant feature is a cherry-re- d trolley car filled with booth seating, which, we only imagine, goes over well with the young folks. In fact, the restaurant scores points for its welcoming, mosphere family-friendl- y at- We began our lunch with an order of garlic cheese bread. This appetizer is made from a small loaf of sourdough bread baked with a bubbly crust of d romano, Cheddar and mizithra cheeses. True to its name, the restaurant offers nine different incarnations of spaghetti, although all are pretty basic and pedestrian. There is Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce, Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce, Spaghetti with Browned But- ter and Mizithra Cheese. We tried the Meatballs and Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce. The dish came with two dense, garlic-infuse- cuisine y The Orem location ha&a soothing, almost sleepy atmos- HERALD Orem's University Mall, the Old Spaghetti Factory is just a few doors down from the Gap, the restaurant's spiritual counterpart in the fashion world. Like the Gap, the Old Spaghetti Factory is nice. Comfortable. Inexpensive. AccessibleflJoth do a good job of producing products to precise standards. If. you want a more upscale experience, you'll shop at s Nordstrom or eat at Italian GriD. But if you want basic, reasonably priced, ' reliable merchandise, you'll buy tweed skirts at the Gap and baked lasagna at Old Spaghetti Factory. Factory is the operative word for the restaurant chain, which first opened in rainy Portland, Ore., in 1969. Since then, the eatery has expanded to numerous locations in California and a handful throughout the rest of the country, rendering its take on the cuisine of Mother Italy. mass-mark- family-friendl- meatballs served golf atop a bed of spaghetti noodles and a chunky tomato sauce. The tomato sauce had a heavy acidic flavor. We liked the Spinach Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce better for its mild creaminess. This dish was made with spinach noodles stuffed with cheese, chicken and pork: The lasagna was an explosion of pork, ground beef and tomato sauce, spilling over the nootHes and small helpings of four cheeses ricotta, romano and mizithra. It was filling and entirely passable, but not the sort of dish you remember for days to --ball-sized moz-zarell- a, come. The standout of our meal was the excellent Tuscan Chicken Sandwich, which had just the right combination of bite and richness. The dish is made with breaded chicken breast and juicy strips of eggplant layered with marinated tomatoes, and melted romano and mozzarella cheeses. Served on a baguette, this dish was noteworthy because of its luscious combination of creamy pesto dressing and balsamic vinaigrette. XlOVlOV Old Spaghetti Factory WnereUrrlversity Mall, Orem Price range: $4.29 to $9.59 Family calk Ideal for families Wheelchair access: Wheelchair-accessibl- e bathrooms and parking Info: - : 224-619- 9 Entrees come with sovjfe dough bread and a choice of soup or salad, so you really have to be hungry to plow through the rneal. You have to give the restaurant credit: No one goes away hungry here. Our server was a bit unsure about the exact contents of some menu items. Still, she scored points in friendliness and efficiency, which is indicative of the restaurant as a whole. Tnis isn't the Italian cooking that cafes you'll find in in Venice, but the restaurant is certainly inexpensive, accessible and comfortable. A bit like the Gap, you might say. ff side-stre- Forget San Francisco, it's possible to experience Alcatraz, Lombard Street, Nob Hill and the Bay Bridge in one hour in Provo. Provided, of course, that you want to experience those things through pizza. Pier 49 pizza parlor features San Francisco-theme- d decor and pies named for famous landmarks in the city by the bay. Most pizzas have thick, buttery crusts, a small amount of . sauce and an avalanche of toppings. The restaurant offers traditional pepperoni and such, but also has a slew of inventive creations that feature everything from surimi crab to tortilla strips. 3210 N. University Ave., and other Provo, locations throughout the West 377-449- Costa Azul There is something eerily familiar about the new Provo restaurant in the Fat Cats bowling alley. We'd know their pork burritos and tortilla salads anywhere. The cuisine is a spot-o- n rendering of the food available at the behemoth local chain Cafe Rio, so much so that it's tempting to wonder how and where Costa Azul got its recipes. The restaurant features a walk-u- p station where fresh Mex cuisine is prepared to order. The salads and smothered burritos are so good that the restaurant is sure to attract large crowds. But when it . comes to waiting in long lines for a tortilla salad, well, that's eerily familiar, too. 1200 N. University Ave., 6 Provo, ou X ? 373-187- 16 |
