Mi Piace25 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena
626-795-3131
Located in Old Towne Pasadena Mi Piace is a very popular restaurant. Everytime I go there is a line for tables. I think people are more attracted at the location than the food. Not to say the food is bad but it's just nothing outstanding. But most importantly I don't think the food is worth the prices they charge.
Caprese is my standard appetizer at Italian restaurants. I like caprese because they are light and refreshing. Most appetizers at Italian restaurants are heavy, fried items. That doesn't work when you're going to have pasta for the entree. This caprese has the best presentation I've seen. They cut the tomato and then put slices of buffalo mozzarella. The tomatoes were fresh and firm. But the mozzarella was a bit soft and wattery. But overall a good solid appetizer. But is this worth, $10.50? Not in my book, no matter how nice it may look.
My entree was the spaghetti con polpette, a fancy name for spaghetti and meatballs. Now I will say the meat sauce was very tasty. It had a nice taste to it, with a little spice. The meatballs were huge, though a bit dry. But that is solved by cutting them up and mixing it with the meat sauce. But one thing I didn't like was the small amount of spaghetti. I mean there is more spaghetti in a can of Chef BoyRdee. I mean come on. Priced at $11.95 another example of how overpriced Mi Piace is.
Service was average. We wait a bit longer than usual for the server to come to our table. But she was nice and kept our drinks full. But there were long stretches of time she was gone and we didn't see her.
The host who seated us, either thought he was a comic or was just an arrogant jerk. It was about 3pm and there were plenty of empty tables. We asked to be seated outside and the host said "I wouldn't mind doing that." Now I was a bit put off by that comment. Again he could have been trying to be funny. But really he came off like an arrogant jerk.
I would not go back to Mi Piace again. The food is good but not outstanding and certainly not worth the prices they charge. If you go to Mi Piace on a Friday or Saturday night, you can expect to wait a very long time for a table. It's that busy thought I don't see why.
