My husband and I dined at Mama Stortini's at Kent Station on September 5th. They moved into to the recently vacated space that Zephyr Grill & Bar used to occupy. If you loved Zephyr, no worries - you can still enjoy their food at the atmospheric Icon Grill on 5th near Westlake Center in Seattle!
This was our first time trying this place, and we were very hopeful because the menu looked delicious! Our server was Haley and she was very good to us. Sometimes when our server greets us with his or her name, I tell them my name and the names of my guests - just for fun. She said she was terrible with names, but she remembered them after all!
We started with an appetizer because we wanted to try as many different dishes as we could, within reason. We ordered the small toasted ravioli dish that comes with 4 crispy little cheese-filled pasta pillows and ample marinara sauce. It was delicious and nice & hot!! I would order this again and would be tempted not to share next time.
We love places that bring you fresh bread with your meal and the bread Mama Strortini's served was warm, chewy, soft and delicious. The mini loaf was the perfect amount of bread for us and the olive oil and balsamic vinegar were outstanding.
The next course was our salads. I ordered the Maytag Blue Cheese salad made with sweet lettuce leaves, and the perfect amount of blue cheese, tomatoes and almonds. The menu said the salad came with pear tomatoes, but it seemed like they used a Roma tomato. It was a good salad! My husband tried Mama's Favorite Little salad and really enjoyed it, too.
I love pizza. No, I don't just love pizza - I really, REALLY love pizza. Getting all your food groups in one bite? Perfect! I prefer thin crust pizza that stands firm and doesn't go limp when you pick up the crust. My favorite pizza is Fondi's pizza and Zeek's pizza, so I HAD to try Mama Stortini's pizza because it was on the menu! Big mistake. I wish I hadn't ordered it. It was served on a cutting board and it looked disappointing: very flat and the cheese was all one color and looked like it could have cooked longer. When I picked up a slice, it drooped like Kleenex and the pepperoni started to slide off with the cheese. I decided to eat my slice with a knife and fork. That's all I ate - just one salty, soggy slice. I gave my husband a slice and we agreed that it was just "OK." It would be decent as a left-over, but it would really only suffice as a form of protein to fuel energy, rather than something of enjoyment. I didn't even have to ask - Haley just removed the pizza from our bill and handled everything very cordially.
On the other hand, my husband's meal was delicious. He loved every bite and regretted giving away the one bite he shared with me. I thought he was going to lick the plate clean after he finished, but he behaved and did not do that. I think he must have ordered one of the specials because I did not see it on the online menu. He had cheese tortellini with tender chicken chunks with carrots and peas in a delicious Alfredo sauce.
Even though my main dish was a disappointment, I would go back again and get something else. Next time I'd try a different main course because there are so many other tempting dishes on the menu! I would also bring a thicker jacket because it was really cold inside!
If you've eaten at Mama Stortini's, I hope you had a good experience! Let me know what you thought.