Romano's Macaroni Grill

While downstate in Ann Arbor for my appointment, well, after the appointment was done and over and we could breathe again, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We didn't however feel like driving and weaving through downtown Ann Arbor so we ended up going to Romano's which was right down the street from our hotel.

It is the first time I have been to a Romano's and I wish we had one closer to us in the UP somewhere. The decor was beautiful, using stone and Italian accents, and one of my favorite aspects was that you could see through to part of the kitchen. The lighting was dimmed, which made it feel more romantic and upscale.

With our dinner came a side salad. I chose the Caesar salad and had her crack some fresh pepper on top. . The meal also came with a fresh roll of ciabatta with olive oil to dip in. We both tried a small piece and it was amazing.

My husband ordered the Calabrese steak, which came with Calabrian potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Everything was cooked in a rosemary infused olive oil. The steak was cooked perfectly!

For my main dish, I ordered the "Chicken Under a Brick". The chicken is rubbed in sage and roasted. Mine also came with seasonal vegetables (which happened to be broccolini), and a side of garlic rosemary potatoes. The chicken was moist and had great flavor. The grilled lemon was a great touch and made the chicken even more juicy. I usually don't order chicken that still has the bone in it because I feel like I am doing a lot of work for not a whole lot of meat, but it sounded and was scrumptious.

For dessert, we ordered the Tiramisu to split, which is one of my favorite desserts to order at a restaurant. I also ordered a Cafe Mocha topped with foam. Both were a great way to end a delicious meal. That was some of the best Tiramisu that I have had so far. My drink was slightly on the bitter side, but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, since it is made with espresso. (I still drank the entire thing).

The cool part that made me feel like a kid, was the fact that each table is lined with the paper covering. So our waitress, who was amazing (normally I don't remember their names, but she was so nice that I actually remember, thank you and shout out to Jasmine), came over and wrote her name in crayons.....and then LEFT the crayons. Maybe that is the big kid inside me still but I was excited and left them a shout out!

Macaroni Grill, Main Site
Macaroni Grill, Facebook Page

Graham's Restaurant

A few weeks ago (yes, that is how far behind I am with all of my blog posts lately!), I had to travel downstate to Ann Arbor, MI for a doctors appointment. Before we left town, we decided not to do the continental breakfast, which was like every other continental breakfast I've had, in the fact that it is not special and filled with the same boring things. The hotel next door to us had a restaurant attached and served breakfast in the morning, so we stopped there before heading back to the U.P.

The decor was sort of kitschy, and was filled with bright colors, mixed with vintage looking lights and pictures, and a floral pattern on the seat coverings. It sounds absolutely atrocious, but the weird combination of all of the styles worked very well together and made it feel almost like a coffee joint.

With the most recent change that I've had to make to my diet, I have to cut down on the carbs by nixing the bread, pancakes, waffles (you know, all of the good stuff) and ended up going with an omelet. My omelet, as boring and normal as it may look, was quite good. The eggs were fluffy and fully cooked, the vegetables were fresh and added a great crunch, and the cheese was gooey and all melted on the inside. I didn't eat more than a few bites of the hash browns, but they were just how I liked them; crunchy on the top and soft on the inside.

Everything that I had read on TripAdvisor was either a hit or miss. Many people said that there was never anyone eating there, which I can agree with to a point since we were the only people eating in there, but food wise I don't know why more people weren't there. The breakfast was good, our waitress was overly nice and brought us fresh coffee when we were getting low. It was a great breakfast, and if we stay near here again next time we are down, we will definitely stop in. Maybe for dinner since I heard the meatloaf was delicious!

Graham's Restaurant, Main Site
Graham's Restaurant, Facebook Page