STANWOOD — A new name and an expanded menu that includes burgers and pizza highlight the changes from Smashed Tomatoes to Alfredo’s Grill.
Alfredo’s Grill is located in the Haggen Food shopping center, and the original menu, like its sister restaurant Smashed Tomatoes in Everett, was created in 2003 by then-owner Cory Pizzuto, a third-generation chef-owner of Pizzuto’s in Seattle. New owners bought Pizzuto’s Southern Italian recipes along with the restaurant and expanded to Stanwood three years ago.
Both restaurants are decorated with French theater posters and dark wood furniture, giving the dining rooms an elegant atmosphere. Somehow, the addition of five burgers, a couple of sandwiches and pizza seems to clash with the setting.
My friend decided to skip the burger choices ($8.49 to $12.99), and ordered the baked spaghetti ($9.99) with meatballs ($2.99). I selected that night’s special, crab fettuccine ($12.99), because our server said it is one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes. Our dinners came with house salads, and we added garlic bread and sodas.
The restaurant does have a short wine list that includes choices from Italy, California and Washington, and most bottles fall in the $20 to $25 range.
The house salads were like the setting — at odds with itself. The salads were made with upscale leafy green lettuce and caramelized walnuts. But the house gorgonzola dressing came in a plastic cup and the salad was topped with shredded yellow cheese. The individual ingredients were tasty but they didn’t come together as a dish.
My friend’s baked spaghetti came steaming from the oven to table, and was topped with lots of mozzarella cheese. But, again, American cheese was placed on top. Italian food generally doesn’t use American cheese.
After a few bites, my dinner partner indicated that the pasta was “too soft.” For him to remark about soggy pasta made me wonder how overcooked it could it be. Answer: very, as was mine. My pasta wasn’t richly laced with crab bits and flakes, but the sauce was creamy, smooth and filled with garlic. My friend’s meatballs, although more plentiful than the crab, weren’t the dense, flavor-filled ones I remembered from previous dinners.
The garlic bread was fresh from the oven, loaded with garlic and richly slathered with olive oil and butter. The marinara sauce for dipping is the same excellent sauce used in the restaurant’s pasta and pizzas.
For dessert, we ordered the house-made chocolate souffle ($6.49), which is a warm chocolate custard inside a chocolate cake “bowl” that’s topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. It was simply wonderful.
Other house-made desserts include marsala mousse, seasonal pie and bread pudding ($3.50 to $4.99). It’s obvious some dedication and thought was put into this part of the menu, and they’re a delightful addition.
While splitting our dessert, my friend and I commented on being one of two tables occupied in the atrium dining area while the Mexican restaurant next door was almost full. Perhaps Stanwood residents feel like we do — the elegant old didn’t marry well to the new.
Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.
Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.
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