take my order 'cause (filomena's) like a carryout

Thursday night of a long week can only mean one thing: takeout for dinner. I've passed Filomena's Italian Kitchen many times while gallivanting down Manchester, so I figured tonight was as good as any.

After navigating a rather awkward parking lot, I walked in to a very home-y feeling place.  A plethora of well-aged ladies, couples and small families filled up most of the space. Among them, a group was enjoying a bottle of wine - as I do not see wine on the menu, I am assuming it's a BYO type place (Filomena's - 1).

My order was taken right away and came up much faster than I expected (that, or I got lost in the time warp that is my smartphone). Since it was our first trip, we stuck with the basics: red pasta, white pasta, salad and garlic bread.

(Ok. So it was garlic bread with sauce and cheese. Big diff.)

I dug into the Pizza Bread first - an Italian loaf with sesame seeds split into two, then covered with marinara and a "blend" of cheeses and baked until delicious. When I cut into it, the cheese kind of slid off making it a bit if a messy project.  But hey, I'm not that picky.  The bread had been toasted to a nice crisp on the outside, while the amount of sauce perfectly helped to soften up the middle.  The melted cheese was a bit too much for me and was heading in the rubbery direction by the time I got home.  Overall, though, a solid selection.


Our side salads were on the basic side - romaine and iceberg with tomatoes, red onions and a sprinkling of provolone.  Balsamic Vinaigrette was the house dressing and it just didn't do it for me (surprisingly, the hubs loved it though).

I chose one of my favorite dishes like ever for my entree - spaghetti with marinara (that's foodie like... right?).  My ideal spaghetti dish has a mild flavor and lands on the saltier side of the sugary-salty spectrum.  And this hit the nail on the head. Steady flavor, not over powered with garlic, complemented by a sprinkling of cheese and fresh parsley basil something green (I promise, I've been practicing my foodie skills, but the flavor was just so mild, I couldn't pinpoint the herb).  Regardless, just my style.

Per my usual, I stole politely asked the hubs for a bite of his Penne Alfredo with Chicken - purely for research, of course.  His dish was also quite a solid piece.  Garlic definitely hinted through, but it was not overpowering.  The sauce itself had a nice not-too-heavy consistency, but there definitely could have been more.

bottom line: great first takeout experience; left me intrigued enough for another visit sometime soon.