<p>Boyfriend and I have a reservation at Palio on Sunday. We have never been there, and I am pretty sure I have never been to an italian restaurant or eaten any italian food that didn't come from a box or a can... so this is an adventure. Looking down the menu, I know we don't eat any kind of sea food, not hugely fond of veal, and I am not convinced that he would eat eggplant, but that's the only limiting factor. If you have eaten there, what do you like? </p>
<p>This is pricey for us and I insisted on the reservation after our more modestly priced plans fell through, so boyfriend will be extremely annoyed if we don't like it. XD</p>
<p>You’ve never had italian that didn’t come in a box or can? so you’ve never had Olive Garden? lol damn…</p>
<p>Palios is not real italian food. It’s just wannabe italian.</p>
<p>That’s right, I’ve never been to Olive Garden. lol. That was our original plan but the car we were planning on using is no longer available, so I wanted to stick closer to downtown. Though looking at a map I am probably still going to need some sort of a bus to get there, hopefully the blue buses run that far. The AATA buses will be done before dinner.</p>
<p>Bearcats: Not the point. Unless Chef Boyardee works there it is different from anything I have had before, which was the point in me asking what’s good.</p>
<p>“Bearcats: Not the point. Unless Chef Boyardee works there it is different from anything I have had before, which was the point in me asking what’s good.”</p>
<p>Classic comeback TwistedxKiss. Most of the world has also missed out on “real italian food” as compared to bearcats 3 star Michelin standards.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with 3 star restaurants? I love 3 star Michelin restaurants. How I wish I lived in Paris!</p>
<p>Anyway, back to Ann Arbor. When at Palio, I always recommend pasta. the sauces aren’t made from cratch, but they are decent.</p>
<p>… Are you telling me the sauces come from… a can?</p>
<p>I will have to make my own italian food to escape from the can, it seems. haha</p>
<p>I bet a restaurant is classier than canned pasta sauce. Probably from a jar.</p>
<p>That’s right. There’s nothing wrong with cooking TK. Don’t forget to add lots of garlic! hehe!</p>
<p>there is cheap italian food, there is expensive italian food, and then there is non-italian food. Palios falls in the last category.</p>
<p>It’s like comparing PF Chang to that little ghetto chinese noodle shop in chinatown. PF Chang, despite what they call themselves and higher prices, is not actually chinese food, while the latter is actually chinese food. And if i want to eat chinese food, i’d go to that ghetto noodle shop over PF Chang any day of the week, despite it being cheaper</p>
<p>Palios serve americanized “italian food” that is not made the italian way, and it reflects in its shytty taste. The pasta sauce, for instance, taste artificial with preservatives. You can also taste that they dont make their own pasta from flour, but rather buy premade dried pasta that you get from the grocery store, just from the texture. It is not about whether it’s expensive or cheap.</p>
<p>bearcats, most “Italian” or “Indian” or “Chinese” restaurants in the US are “Americazined”. Authentic ethnic food is hard to find because it will not appeal to the majority of foreigners. You should watch the movie “Big Night”.</p>
<p>Palios is obviously not authentic, but it can only be described as Italian.</p>
<p>Bearcats is a food ■■■■■, it’s amusing and then it isn’t. I didn’t ask what the most Italian meal at Palio is. I grew up in SE Michigan, it is well established that it is not a hotspot for fine dining. I don’t even know if I’d like “fine dining.” The nicest restaurant I’ve ever eaten at is the Outback, my favorite is probably either Max n’ Ermas or Ray’s Red Hots (!!!), I do not have particularly expensive or rich tastes. Pretty much warm food that is typically pleasing to the general American public is pretty much fine! Hell, I even like the cafeteria food. </p>
<p>I am thinking I’ll try “tortelloni con formaggi.” Reading the description it sounds like it’s made of foods I like, though I’ve never had pomodoro sauce. Hopefully they don’t put TOO much basil in it. I like basil but some restaurants seem to put it on their food like it’s ketchup. I’d like to taste the rest of the food, too. o.O</p>
<p>I was thinking in a few months when I turn 21 I’d ask where I should go for dinner and my first glass of wine, I can’t imagine what kind of uproar that will cause. :P</p>
<p>TK, for your 21st, hop on a train, go to Chicago, stay at the Sofitel and eat at Alinea; the best restaurant in the US…yes, even better than Per Se.</p>
<p>I figured I’d google the name… $150-$225 (Those are the two options).</p>
<p>alinea is NOT the best restaurant in the US come on now… i could come up with 3 in NY better than Alinea, and per se is one… but the 24 course tasting menu is pretty damn good i have to say… I like everest in chicago though</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s clearly not expensive enough.</p>
<p>The $225 option is only for very serious foodies. It contains way too much food, complex concoctions and takes too much time to finish for the majority of people to truly appreciate. </p>
<p>For most people, I highly recommend the $150 option, which is a bargain considering the quality. Such a meal (two Michelin stars as no US restaurant is truly worthy of three-star status, not even Per Se) in Paris would cost twice as much. But yeah, a meal for two, including a nice bottle of wine and tip would cost roughly $500 at Alinea, which is still expensive. </p>
<p>TK, that gives you a couple of months to find yourself a rich boyfriend! hehe!</p>
<p>bearcats, I ate at Per Se and at Alinea. I also ate at Daniel, Jean Georges and Le Bernardin. I also ate at the White Barn Inn in Maine, the Woodlands Inn and Resort in South Carolina and the Inn At Little Washington in VA. I never ate at the French Laundry or Masa, so I cannot speak to those two. Alinea is the best US restaurant I have been to to-date, with Per Se coming in at a very close second and Daniel a distant third. Of course, that is based on two dinners at Daniel, two dinners at Alinea and one dinner at Per Se (also two dinners at Le Bernardin and one dinner at Jean Georges). Maybe I had Per Se on an off night, but the dinner we had that night, although excellent by any standard, did not quite match the dinners we had at Alinea. </p>
<p>All of those restaurants would be overrated as *** Michelin restaurants, which beckons the question; why did Michelin grant them *** status. They are all excellent and certainly worthy of ** status, but *** is a little bit much. Those restaurants cannot compete with the likes of L’Arpege, L’Ambroisie, Alain Ducasse, Pierre Gagnaire, Le Meurice, Maison Troisgros, Maison Pic etc… in France.</p>
<p>In short, the US in general is not as good as Europe when it comes to haute cuisine. There are at least 20 restaurants that are better than Alinea in France and at least 20 that are better in Germany and Italy combined.</p>
<p>I have also been to both Per Se and Alinea and I would give Per Se the edge just because the 24 courses at Alinea werent consistent. I also liked Masa more but there’s really no direct comparison between Masa and Alinea, totally different food. You didnt miss anything by not going to French Laundry.
And yes, european fine dining beat the US by a mile. Not even comparable.</p>
<p>“The $225 option is only for very serious foodies. It contains way too much food, complex concoctions and takes too much time to finish for the majority of people to truly appreciate.”</p>
<p>Hell, if it were me and I were going to spend $150 on a meal I’d just as soon say “screw the money, I’m going all out on this” and get the whole $225 plate. How many times is someone going to eat things they’ve never heard of and can’t pronounce made of things that I would never ever put together.</p>
<p>Bearcats, how much fine dining experience do you have? (That’s not a rhetorical question even if it sounded like one… I’m curious)</p>
<p>I also googled Masa… So these restaurants that are $30/meal are in the same league as $300/meal ones?</p>