Daddona's - Big Italian in Westlake

I have been to Daddona's in Solon a couple of times and remember finding it a nice Italian restaurant that served huge portions of good food, so when a Groupon (you of course can try Groupon here) came up for their Westlake location came up I decided to give it a try and am pleased to report that it was a good decision.   The Westlake Daddona's is located in a relatively new strip mall at 29580 Center Ridge Rd Westlake, Oh 44115 (map here). 

Once inside you find a very attractive L shaped dining room done in green and purple with natural wood accents and complimentary art.  The feeling is very modern, but warm and welcoming with a nice upscale look without being formal, a real step up from what I remember of the Solon location.   The tables are set nicely and many of the comfortable seats have a purple cover to compliment the decor. 

I arrived towards the end of a weekday lunch and am quickly seated and review the nice sized menu (see it here).  With $25 of Groupon to play with I ended up with a ton of food and took home a couple of extra meals.  To start you get the basket of fresh baked garlic balls.  Perfect in so many ways these small pieces of dough have a fragrant garlic smell and taste nicely complimented by some olive oil and cheese, I restrain myself from eating all of them as I know that there is still plenty of food coming.

Next up is an order of Calamari and the portion is huge and could be easily shared by a whole table of people.  The squid is nicely fried in a light breading and sided with Marinara sauce.  While a nice dish, I found the squid to be a little under seasoned, I could have really gone for a bit of herb in the breading to boost the flavor profile.  The sauce was nice and mild with chunks of tomato, I thought at first that the flavor was a bit mild, but the flavors built the more of it I ate.

Next up was the side salad that came with the pasta I ordered, of course Daddona's has to make the salad about twice as big as usual and nicely presented the fresh greens with the house Italian.   I took the whole salad home and enjoyed it, nicely balanced and once again the flavor of the dressing seemed to build the more I ate.

Out next was a small Siciliano Pizza topped with Eggplant.  This was another highpoint, with a wonderful medium thick crust that was crisp on the outside and soft and flavorful inside.  Topped with a zippy tomato sauce with the perfect level of spiciness to wake up my taste buds and complimented by the Romano Cheese, this was different than the common overly cheesy pizza we all enjoy.  The eggplant cubes were perfect, with no bitterness, but just enough firmness and no breading.   Most of the pizza went home with me and was almost as good the next day for lunch.

Finally we got to the main course, Linguine with Red Clam Sauce, which was a huge portion of al dente pasta topped with a silky tomato sauce loaded with tender clams.  The dish was nice and tasty, although once again it seemed a bit mild at first but the flavor profile built as I ate more.  The portion size was huge and despite my best effort I had a huge portion to take home for dinner the next day.  

Daddona's serves oversized portions of good to excellent Italian food in a very attractive setting.  It seemed to me that everyone left with with large portions for later.   The sauces are varied, but even those that tend towards a less bold flavor profile have good flavors that reveal themselves gradually.   You won't go wrong here, especially if you are hungry.

Agave - Crocker Park Upscale Mexican

I know its been a bit sparse on new posts, a combination of revisiting some favorites and trying to find new worthy places. This past week was especially quiet as the motorcycle was in the shop. Luckily I got it back for the weekend, so I headed to Crocker Park in Westlake to have lunch at Agave Tequileria and Cochina. Agave is located at 20 Main Street, Westlake, near the Movie Theater. The restaurant is very sleek and modern, with a warm, darkly lit interior set off by the large bar and the wall of windows in the front. Since it was a nice day I had lunch on the small patio in front, a nice and casual set up with a good view of the people walking by. My server was nice and attentive, although she did forget to give me the chips and salsa, the other server on the patio was nice enough to bring me some. The chips were ok if nothing special and the salsa was good if a bit mild; it was thick and fresh tasting, with just a hint of heat and smoke. For lunch, Agave offers a nice small menu of items that are available for $8 (see the list here). I decided on the Shrimp Fajitas (and yes I know from watching Alton Brown on the Food Network that fajitas actually refers to Strip Steak, so that shrimp fajitas is just another American bastardization of the Spanish language). As opposed to most places that bring you the fajitas on a sizzle plate, Agave serves them up on a large plate with some pico de gallo, guacamole, rice and a small cup of beans. The Fajitas were 5 large tail on shrimp, large slices of onions, peppers and tomatoes. Although each of the ingredients on its own was fresh and flavorful, as a whole the dish was a bit soupy and lacked the punch I associate with fajitas. After some time trying to figure it out I came up with two things, first there was a lack of seasoning both on the spice end and it was missing the nice citrus contrast you get from the squeezed lime, and second not being served on the sizzle plate meant that the ingredients were just pan sauteed, this resulted in the whole being a bit wet, the peppers were way undercooked and most importantly, there wasn't the wonderful burnt/caramelized flavors you get from the hot pan. For some people having tail on shrimp might be a problem as well, especially for an item that is suppose to be eaten rolled up in tortillias. The the rice was a good Spanish style rice and the beans, while not refried, were a nicely prepared cup of pintos with a little cheese on top. I will say that only giving two small sized flour tortillas seemed a bit miserly, especially for an $8 lunch. Overall, the food was good, just nothing exceptional or memorable. Agave may be a good choice if you are looking for some Mexican food in an upscale setting and you like your food on the mild side. For me the combination of the price and the lack of excitement from the food will mean I will probably look elsewhere.