Mama Carolla's - Revisit

Being the eternal optimist, we returned to Mama Carolla’s after many years between visits. My in-laws were visiting and had fond memories of the place, so we thought it would be fun to take the kids again, since they were almost too young to remember the last time we were there. Everyone (well except me usually) is typically happy with an Italian menu, and I did remember some redeeming qualities in this place, even if I am still fairly jaded about Indy’s Italian food in general.

The place definitely isn’t lacking in charm—I love the setting of an old house in SoBro with all the small dining spaces made up of the various rooms in the house. This place just feels like an Italian restaurant and is fairly oozing with charm. Our server was also quite charming, and did a good job making sure we didn’t run out of anything we needed. The food was paced well and while you felt like you weren’t rushed through it, you didn’t feel impatient either.

My favorite thing at every visit has always been “Holly’s artichoke fritters,” ($7.99) and this time was no exception. They are little fried balls of artichoke and breadcrumbs and then they’re stuffed with goat cheese. When you bite into them, the inside is nice gooey, tangy goat cheese and you get even a little tangier flavor with the lemon aioli that is generously drizzled over the top. I don’t think I will ever go to Mama Carolla’s without getting these. If they took them off the menu, I would be very sad.

We also had an order of the cheesy garlic bread ($4.99). This is basically a big hunk of bread with a lot of cheese melted over it. I mean, you can’t really go wrong here, although once we got the regular loaf of bread that comes with every meal, I think I sort of preferred the simplicity of it with some seasoned olive oil even more. You could really taste the bread and enjoy the crusty edge.

Hubby and I split the rosemary chicken lasagna ($16.99) because it just sounded interesting and just different enough. It was a variation of classic lasagna that was made with chicken, rosemary, mushrooms, spinach, ricotta and mozzarella and then just on the plate underneath, there was a tomato butter sauce. It was good, I mean, it had a decent flavor and a lot of spinach and mushrooms, which I liked. I also liked that it wasn’t tomato sauce heavy, which I wasn’t in the mood for. It didn’t blow my mind, but I didn’t feel disappointed either. I was really glad we split it though, as it was the right amount of food for the two of us, especially considering it also comes with a salad. I had the garden salad with the creamy Italian dressing. The dressing was lightly sweet—so not my favorite, but it was an okay salad. My son’s Caesar was better.

My son had the chicken parmesan ($16.99). It was your classic parmesan with a breaded chicken cutlet covered in lots of cheese and topped with lots of marinara. There was also penne pasta underneath. I’m not sure what was up with this dish, but it was not good. There was something off about the chicken to me—it almost tasted freezer burned or something. Without discussing it at the time, he seemed to agree and while he happily ate the pasta, but the chicken went largely uneaten.

By far the best entrée on the table that night was my daughter’s dish. She had a special that consisted of homemade goat cheese-filled ravioli with spinach, tomatoes, large pieces of chicken and mushrooms on top of it. It was served in a vodka cream and tomato sauce. There was a lot going on here, but all the parts of the dish were prepared just right and they all went together well. The chicken was tender and fresh, and the goat cheese flavor cut through some of the richness of the dish. Having some freshness of the veg was good too. I think maybe going with specials is a good idea here, as there is more of a likelihood perhaps that they are fresher.

We had a good time, and a nice bottle of wine, and I really liked those fritters. The meal was fine, but again, nothing that made me change my mind about Italian food in Indy.

Mama Carolla’s

1031 East 54^th Street

Indy 46220

317/259-9412

www.mamacarollas.com 

Guest Post: Mama Carolla's

by: @whitetimothyd

We embarked on a tour of indianapolis restaurants earlier this year to explore places we had not eaten for each letter of the alphabet. Last week we visited Mama Carolla's in Broad Ripple for our letter M. We had heard that if you want to experience authentic Italian Mama Carolla's was a great restaurant but if you want an innovative new spin on Italian cuisine, look elsewhere.

I'll start with some background:  the restaurant has been open in a renovated house since 1997.  An important note is the reservation protocol which does not allow reservations for parties of less than 6Tuesday to Thursday and does not take reservations of any kind on Friday and Saturday (closed Sunday and Monday). 

The first thing that stood out as we approached the restaurant from the rear parking lot was the beautiful outdoor seating area. We would have loved to sit outside on most any night but it was windy enough we choose to go inside.  It's important to point out that the restaurant is a renovated house that makes for a charming space but a quick updating by removing plastic flowers and cat pitchers on the shelf over our table would make a positive difference. 

The wine list was very approachable and we ordered a Monsanto Chianti Classico that was well priced but perhaps served a bit warm. For starters we ordered the fried mozzarella and garlic cheese bread. The mozzarella was very good topped with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. The bread was a bit more confusing. It was a round loaf that had slits cut in it with the cheese placed on the top. The top of the bread was fairly tasty but this left a large portion of bread beneath with no seasoning, garlic or cheese. 

To accompany out main course I ordered the Italian wedding soup which had great flavor but slightly unconventional thin short noodles. My wife got the Caesar salad which had good flavor but was rather heavy with dressing. 

For the entrees my wife ordered the veal Parmesan with angel hair pasta but I was enticed by the special for the night, blackened pork tenderloin with local corn and tomatoes and Tuscan mashed potatoes.  The interesting part about these entrees was they set the expectations I mentioned earlier on its ear because the traditional Italian veal dish felt heavy and should have been more delicate. The pork was a perfect medium (as ordered) and was the highlight of the entire meal.  So while blackened pork tenderloin feels more Cajun than Italian it was a delicious way to showcase local produce.   Keith our server was great and I have him to thank for steering me towards the special. We'll definitely be back and hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can sit outside.

Please follow the rest of our AtoZ tour of Indy on twitter @whitetimothyd.

Mama Carolla's

1031 E 54th Street

Indianapolis, IN  462/0

(317) 259-9412

mamacarollas.com

Mama Carolla's

At the request of a reader who is searching for good Italian in Indy, I decided to head over to Mama Carolla’s in Broad Ripple. I have been there before, probably 2 years ago, and had a pretty good meal. This thing I like about this place is it is a neighborhoody restaurant with a lot of charm. It is in an old house that has been converted but keeping a lot of the old charm of the house including a nice warm fireplace as you walk in the front door. This place is also very reasonably priced, which is an unusual thing for Italian restaurants around here. Generally, the menu is pretty typical of a Midwestern Italian restaurant, with a few variations, and a bit more selection than many.

Man, is this place popular though—there were 6 of us and we waited at least 40 minutes to be seated and we got there at 5:45! They don’t take reservations at all on the weekends and only for parties of 8 or more during the week. Every square inch of the place was packed with people including the outside area that was heated only with patio heaters (and it was probably about 20 degrees). Luckily we got a seat at the bar and had some wine—and the hostess was very helpful, coming up to us several times to update us on the status of the table that we were waiting on.

Once we were seated in one of the little alcoves that are scattered throughout the house, we were promptly greeted by a very friendly server who brought us drinks and took an appetizer order. They have great bread (for free), and if you get the cheesy bread (an extra charge), it is even better, garlic bread coated with a layer of cheese. (And they will still bring you the free bread as well). We also got the artichoke fritters which are probably my favorite thing on the menu (pictured here). They are little balls of artichoke hearts and goat cheese fried and served with a goat cheese sauce lightly drizzled over the top. I really like these fritters!

Everybody at our table got an entrée except for me; I had the mussels from the antipasto menu. And before I go on, the antipasto menu has lots of things that sound really good. You could make a great meal out of antipasto. The mussels were good—the broth was really good, lots of garlic and chili pepper—had a bit of a kick to it after a few of them. The mussels were a great size (I prefer them small) but I am not sure if they were a little overcooked or a little past their prime, but they were a little, well, soft is the only way I can describe it.

One of the nice things about this place is that every entrée comes with soup or salad. I had some soup and a bite of hubby’s Caesar salad. They were both good. I had the soup of the day, creamy potato with proscuitto—it was tasty. So you can really have a nice meal for a very reasonable price if you want to just get an entrée and the soup or salad. I think the entrees ranged from about $11-20 or so.

Hubby had spinach and cheese ravioli in a pesto cream sauce. It was quite tasty and I liked that the portions aren’t as overwhelming as at most Italian restaurants. I had a sample of several other entrees including the veal saltimbocca and chicken parmesan. The veal was drenched in tomato sauce which detracted from the taste of it. I don’t think saltimbocca is supposed to be covered in tomato sauce and cheese, but hey, everyone has their own recipe I guess. Actually, the chicken was better since it is supposed to have tomato sauce on it and the chicken was perfectly cooked.

The wine list is up my alley, lots of Italian wines, which are some of my favorites. There are a lot of little touches that make the experience a bit nicer than average. They leave water on the table, and a nice jug of olive oil. Also, one of the people in my party wanted me to mention that he was happy that when they refilled his iced tea, that they brought a new glass with a fresh lemon since normally at most places, they just pour you a refill without a fresh lemon.

Overall, this place is a great value and has quite a bit of charm and a friendly staff. The food is pretty good and I would say to date, it is my favorite Italian in Indy (not that I have been to all of them for sure). If you don’t mind a wait, check it out.

Mama Carolla’s
1031 East 54th Street
Indy 46220
317-259-9412
(no website I could find)