Family Dining: Michelangelo’s

Mrs. CoolDMZ and I are inventive and skilled chefs, which mitigates the fact that as a family of 4 we don’t eat out terribly often. Our forays as a family into the local dining scene could probably benefit other family units who are considering eating out and don’t want to waste the trip. First up, midtown darling Michelangelo’s on 17th and I.

At first glance, Michelangelo’s doesn’t seem like the kind of place that little kids would enjoy or be enjoyed at–it’s small, the tables are close together, and its clientele enjoys fine dining at the kind of out-of-the-way restaurant that features a handwritten nightly specials sign and a wine list. However, the clientele is also the midtown laid back crowd, so a few kids enjoying a meal in a funky restaurant is more likely than not to be mild entertainment.

Foodwise, Michelangelo’s is a good restaurant, not a great one. The bread is so-so; pre-sliced, which makes it seem storebought; the wine list seemed good, however, though I’m not much of a wine enthusiast. The menu is tidy and varied, with some nice specials to round out the options (including, on the night we visited, stuffed calamari, which had us baffled. What gets stuffed? Is it the ring part? How does the stuffing stay in? Is it calamari steak rolled around something? Does that count as stuffed? These were questions we were not adventurous enough to ask, except rhetorically). My daughters split a plate of spaghetti & meatballs, which they both enjoyed. I had shrimp with garlic & olive oil, which was bland; plenty olio, not enough aglio. The desserts were great. All in all, Michelangelo’s is a good restaurant with a few atmospherics that put it over the edge.

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Author: CoolDMZ

"X-ray vision to see in between / Where's my kimono and my time machine?"

6 thoughts on “Family Dining: Michelangelo’s”

  1. Michelangelo’s has, by far, the best fetuccine in town. I’ve never had better in a restaurant.

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  2. Tell me more of these great desserts. What were the options? Worth it for a coffee & dessert outing?

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  3. I personally sampled the tira misu and the flourless chocolate cake. The thing about tira misu is that it’s either bad or it’s excellent in my book–there’s not much middle ground. Either you do it right and it’s fabulous or you do something wrong like use Nilla wafers instead of lady fingers or don’t soak the lady fingers. This one was great. The flourless chocolate cake was gigantic, as if they took a regular chocolate cake and extracted the flour.

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  4. I really dig Michelangelo’s, but never really thought of it as a place to take young kids. I definitely prefer them over the other Italian restaurants in the neighborhood (both chain and not).

    Italian food should be simple, fresh and not overpriced, and they do all three. I sometimes pop in there just to drink a glass of wine, they usually have something good on special. Wine is also available to go at a retail (not restaurant) rate.

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  6. Although I love Michelangelo’s, I had a rotten experience last time I was there (coincidentally, the same night as CoolDMZ). I ordered penne without cheese, but it arrived with a blanket of Parmesan, so the server graciously offered to fix it. She reappeared barely two minutes later with a new plate of pasta. I was surprised that the kitchen managed to cook a new dish so quickly. Then I realized it was the exact same plate of pasta – with the cheese stirred into the sauce to disguise it. So tricky! Who knew a plate of pasta could become a tool of deceit?

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