It's only four short weeks into the semester and already I miss the comforts of home - cookin' that is.
I love Italian food and have attempted to make it several times with a few successes here and there. But more often than not, my lazy cooking methods have resulted in noodles permanently burned to the bottom of the pot and sauce that tastes like sucking on a garlic-flavored gumball.
It's just those culinary casualties that tempted me to search out some real Italian cuisine. Something just like Mom would make.
In my hunt for some yummy 'psketti, I decided to go with proximity and check out one of the closest authentic Italian restaurants around - Emil's, 2012 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing. Just a short jaunt down the city's main drag, the restaurant is dubbed, "Lansing's Original House of Pasta," and has been serving Lansing since the early 1920s.
The interior of the restaurant reminded me of some hole-in-the-wall pasta spot my grandpa would take me to as a kid, where rich stained glass illuminates the vinyl tablecloths and white paper place mats and the walls are covered with pictures and paintings of Italy.
The aroma inside Emil's is distinct - Parmesan cheese, mmm.
When it came down to picking my dinner, I decided to go cheap and slurp down the all-you-can-eat spaghetti special, which is offered for $4.50 each Tuesday. Emil's also offers more expensive dishes such as steak, chicken, enormous salads and, of course, any kind of pasta you could want - ranging from $8-$15.
So let's get down to business.
Just like many Italian restaurants, dishes come with bread for the table and a choice of soup or salad. The bread was plain, whereas I always crave the buttery garlic stuff common at other restaurants. My salad was small and nothing special, but I still cleaned the plate.
As an appetizer, I ordered some mozzarella cheese logs that were some of the yummiest I've had, and not the hard, cold kind you find at fast-food joints. But I do wish I would have ordered the bruschetta - toasted bread with chopped tomatoes, Romano cheese and olive oil. The folks sitting at the table next to me had it and I was downwind from the amazing smell the whole time.
On my Official Spaghetti Yumminess Scale of 1-10, the unlimited spaghetti and meatballs hits around a seven. The sauce was rich, full of spices, garlic and chopped tomatoes, yet not overwhelming. The two meatballs that accompanied the dish were also tasty and not dry or too spicy. My only complaint is that with the all-you-can-eat dish, meatballs only come with your first plate of pasta. What's a growing gal to do?
My dinnertime grand total was $11.08 for the mozzarella sticks, which I split with friends, unlimited spaghetti, salad and bread - not too shabby.
All in all, Emil's is worth the wait. Most evenings after 5:30, the restaurant fills up with families and it can take up to a half hour to be seated. But have no worries, the service is prompt (especially with the pasta dishes) so you'll be filling your belly in no time.
It's worth the short drive or bus ride to taste the yummy goodness of Emil's, so eat up, or as Mom would say, "Mangia!"
Sarah Frank is the MS&U enterprise reporter who can't cook. She would love for you to invite her over for dinner. Reach her at franksa2@msu.edu.
