Sunday, April 17, 2011

Classico Italian Pizza & Pasta - 3rd Visit!

Well…despite a terrible experience when we recently had breakfast at Classico Italian Pizza & Pasta, we came back to try it for dinner.   Our first visit to this restaurant was at lunch time and it had been OK.  We were encouraged to try Classico Italian again after hearing the news that management had decided to stop serving breakfast…definitely a move in the right direction!


We started out with a decent salad…  We noted that from the time that we sat down, service was prompt and the servers were very courteous…a great change from our breakfast experience, but more in line with our earlier luncheon visit.



The meal was accompanied by a basket of Garlic Knots.  They certainly look great…the problem was that we had to ask for them… Another problem was that we couldn’t detect any garlic in or about these rolls.



Laurie’s entrée was the Fettuccine Carbonara.  This dish consisted of fettuccine noodles sautéed with smoked ham, bacon and Romano cheese in a creamy Alfredo sauce.  It was fairly tasty, with nice Alfredo sauce.  The only downside was that the ‘smoked ham’ appeared to be thin sliced deli meat.  Still, Laurie enjoyed the meal.



I ordered the Romano Chicken… Asiago-encrusted chicken breasts with Alfredo sauce on a bed of linguini.  It looked good and I enjoyed the meal, although it certainly didn’t fall into the “top Italian dishes I’ve ever had” category.



To summarize, the meal was very acceptable…good but not great.  Classico Italian Pizza & Pasta is probably the best Italian restaurant in Loudon County Tennessee and its located in Tellico Village, a major development on Tellico Lake.  Many of the residents in Tellico Village are retired and the restaurant should benefit from the fact that a segment of that population doesn’t explore too far from home.

Classico Italian’s pricing is a bit high in comparison to our favorite Italian restaurant in East Tennessee, Willie’s Italian Restaurant, which is an hour away in Seymour.  The Chicken Parmesan at Willie’s is more flavorful than Classico’s offering and it’s less expensive…only $8.95 vs. $15.95!  Both come with Garlic Knots and a salad.  Willie’s salad is chilled and the Garlic Knots actually are loaded with garlic!
Enough said… Classico Italian Pizza & Pasta Restaurant is an acceptable choice for lunch or dinner.  They do have live entertainment at times and we’ve had good reports in that regard.  The restaurant is located at 318 Lakeside Plaza in Loudon Tennessee, just off County Road 444.  (Tellico Parkway)  Phone: 865-458-9316.

4 comments:

  1. Coming soon to Almost Heaven South - our first homemade pasta - you can be the guinea pigs if you like.

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  2. It is discouraging when one goes out for a meal, pays good money (which is not easy to come buy these days and MUST be stretched to the limit!). It does not sound like you were very impressed. Sometimes some friendly advice to the chef on what you liked and what could be better goes a long way. Blessings, Catherine

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  3. Classico is my new favorite Italian Restaurant -not just in Tellico but in all of East Tennessee! i recently went to check it out and had an amazing experience with their delicious food ...since then i've been coming there at least once a week. This is a great restaurant and i highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. Great food, prompt service, and fair prices. i only hope the best for this restaurant and hope it stays for a long time! Good luck and please keep up with the good work!

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  4. don'tworryaboutit22... Either you haven't been to too many Italian restaurants or you and/or your family own Classico. It's OK, but not really great...and it's overpriced. Willie's in Seymour TN has much better food and it's much more reasonably priced. I'll try Classico again for a quality check just to see if it's improved. I'd like it to be great as we live relatively close to it. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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