Chicken Parm You Taste So Good

Parm: Plentiful. Affordable. Real. Meat.

I love all Major Food Group restaurants, but one of my personal favorites is Parm. The homey ambiance, affordable price and quality of Italian food keep me coming back for more. This might have been my fourth time at the UWS location this month.

Like every typical Parm visit, we started off with a bottle the Gravelly Ford Pinot Noir (a delicious and well-priced bottle wine) with the Classic Caesar Salad and Calamari with Long Hot Peppers. The Caesar salad is one of the best I’ve ever had, probably because it is overloaded with Parmesan cheese and the croutons are homemade.

The calamari is phenomenal. The squid is firm, but not too chewy and not too fried or greasy. The best part is that it comes with a side of marinara and chipotle aioli dipping sauce. Heaven for a girl that loves condiments!

We also got the fresh mozzmade-to-order, which was super fresh, and the artichoke casino stuffed hearts appetizer, which I’ve wanted to try for a while (please note: the exact name and description of the dish says: artichoke casino stuffed hearts).

After taking a bite, I noticed the stuffing in the artichoke tasted a little smoky and meaty. There was definitely pork or bacon in there, which I don’t eat and not for dietary reasons – I just don’t like the taste. Everyone else at the table loved it, but I asked the waiter to confirm if there was meat in there and he said there was and “stuffed casino artichokes” is a classic dish that always has meat. I’ve gotten stuffed artichokes many times in my life, and they were never stuffed with meat...guess I never got the Parm memo. I was very disappointed that this happened, but I didn’t make a big deal about it because I knew the rest of the meal would be great.

Now you’ll never guess what I got for my entrée….

This chicken parm dinner is a must! The portion size is generous and the cheese covers all of the chicken. I hate when restaurants get stingy with the cheese and only cover half the chicken. I’ll give you an extra two dollars to cover the entire chicken! With this dish, you have the option to get a side iceberg salad or spicy rotini. Definitely go with the spicy rotini. It’s barely spicy and tastes like penne ala vodka. My favorite Major Food Group restaurant is Carbone, and this vodka sauce is very similar to their spicy rigatoni with vodka sauce

Since we didn’t order enough food…we also got the Baked Ziti, which in my opinion is the best thing here!

This picture doesn’t even do the dish justice, although it’s a pretty nice food pic if you ask me. The ricotta cheese, sauce and pasta are all combined perfectly into a “pie slice” and you even get the outer crispiness on the top and bottom, which is my favorite part. Consider it an Italian Noodle Pudding.

Usually, I would give Parm a #foodtosexratio of 9/10, but this time I have to give it an 8/10. It was almost climatic, but I had a major setbackbecause of the pork incident in the artichokes. Needless to say, I will definitely be back in 2016 and will maybe branch out to another location?

What do you eat when you go to Parm? Would love any other recommendations for my next visit!