Joke!

Location: 

Piada

1315 W Lane Avenue

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 754-1702‎

In Portugese, the word "Piada" translates into "Joke" and I think that's what is happening here.  Someone is trying to play a big joke on people who like both Chipotle and Italian food. It's a chain restaurant set up in the same way as a Chipotle - wait in line for 37 minutes, go through the ordering process, try to find a seat in the overcrowded dining room, fail, and leave. Don't get me wrong, I love Chipotle, but I rarely go in and order - I almost always do it online so I can walk straight to the front! Sorry losers!

But I digress.

Piada is "Italian Street Food" as interpreted by some fat American guy, I have to assume. Why? Well it's literally pasta wrapped in a burrito. Seriously. They call it a piada, but it's a freakin' burrito. So you go up and ask for a piada, or a pasta bowl, or a chopped salad bowl. They have all kinds of toppings, but none of them are good - roasted slimy peppers, soggy nasty spinach, chewy calamari... *ugh* Then you can choose your sauce, a flavorless goo to slather upon your sub-par ingredients. The list goes on of disgusting things to slop into your spaghetti burrito. So gross. They have sides too, like breadsticks and fried calamari, or soup and salad, and I think some of the locations sell wine and/or beer as well.

I've been to Piada twice in my life, and it was twice too many. Chipotle has the winning combination on this concept, and other people need to stop trying to copy it and just do their own damn thing.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 2

Accessibility: 1

Friendliness: 3

Menu: 1

Am I at Chipotle? No, sadly, I am not.

A sideways bag of pasta bowl

Fox is suspicious of this Vegetarian Pasta bowl To Go.

This bowl cost me $8.95

Angel hair, pesto, black olives, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella, green peppers

They tell you in what order to choose your food, in case you're fucking retarded.

Extensively gross menu.

Mi piace il cibo italiano!

Location: 

Petti's Pizza & Restaurant  

29303 Euclid Avenue

Wickliffe, OH 44092

(440) 944-1028 ‎

When I was young, my father worked just down the street from Petti's, and we would often make the drive there to meet him for lunch. Any time we were out, especially for doctor/dentist appointments, my mom would take me over there to see my dad and get some awesome Italian food for lunch. I always made sure to behave extra good so that I'd be guaranteed this trip!

It's been two years since I've been there, but the last time I went was with my mom after we visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's pretty close by (about 10 minute drive) so I knew we had to go. It looked different inside than I remembered, much smaller and brighter, but I suppose when your head is at table level, everything seems gigantic!

Once again, it's been so long since I took these photos/ate here that I don't specifically recall the entire meal. I remember scarfing down everything on my plate, including a salad and several rolls, and I was still hungry - never fear, however, there was a lot of food - I just happened to be pregnant at the time and didn't know it! Hahaha!

I do remember that we were there on a Friday and it was packed. They had a few good specials going on, and our waitress was hilarious and awesome. Petti's has been run by the same family for generations, and probably 80% of the staff is family/related.

All in all, I'd say that if you're in the Cleveland/Wickliffe area, check it out! If you are from Columbus and have ever been to Villa Nova, it's a similar atmosphere, room size, menu, etc.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 5

Value: 5

Accessibility: 3

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

Is this what Italy looks like?

 

Like being at your Italian Gramma's house

Big plate of ravioli!

Good photo of one meatball and one piece of Italian sausage.

My mom got the Lake Perch and some roasted redskin potatoes.

She puts ketchup on lots of things...

Asian Star? How about Five Star!

Location: 

Asian Star Buffet - Festival Centre

2847 Festival Lane

Dublin, OH 43017

(614) 336-8618 ‎

The Asian Star Buffet was a big surprise to me when I was taken there for the first time. I had driven through the Festival Centre before, but somehow I had never noticed the buffet.

Since it's been awhile, as in over two years, since I took these photos, I can't honestly remember everything about this particular visit. I can, however, tell you that we have returned many times since and it has always been delicious. I will be rating on the combined experiences. 

I visited this buffet many, many times while I was pregnant, even alone (which is saying something because I hate to eat alone). After the kid was born, it was the first Chinese buffet we took him to, and he loved it. His first bite of buffet food was cantaloupe, but the second was the breaded chicken for Sweet & Sour Chicken (no sauce). They have some of the best Crab Rangoon in town, and their egg rolls taste like take out egg rolls (instead of the weird, dry, flavorless egg rolls that tend to be on buffets). The best thing about this buffet is the shallow pans. They have a lot of variety and they refill often.  I hate it when you go to a buffet and they have deep pans and the food just sits there for 17 hours getting gross. I do wish they offered more beef dishes, since I am not a fan of chicken, but they offer lots of vegetables so that makes me really happy!

That all being said, here's the rating and some delicious photos!

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 3 (the dining room/food areas are fine, but the bathroom is always so gross, even though it's not dirty, it's very old and worn down, and one toilet is always broken)

Value: 5

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

Mmmm Crab Rangoon - All for me!

Lots of variety at this buffet!

They have a good salad bar that includes tasty sushi (not scary sushi)!

My son's favorite part of the buffet

I love these little sugar buns

They had at least seven different kinds of chicken

Disgusting yet beautiful desserts... Why Chinese people, Why?!

Awesome won-ton broth, not salty at all!

Best decor this side of Hong Kong

Gettin' Back on the Wagon

OK, I said it almost exactly a year ago, that I was going to start doing this blog again, and I meant it. Unfortunately, having a baby in the house takes all precedence over everything else, and that is the cold hard truth.

BUT!

Tomorrow I am going to lunch with a new friend, and I am going to post my first post in a long, long time. I promise. =)