Most fast-food restaurants have value menus, but the thought of treating my family to a junior burger and fries for dinner just doesn’t cut the mustard. Fazoli’s, on the other hand, offers a bargain that my dad and I were eager to try on a recent Thursday evening.
Every Thursday, the casual eatery offers a slice of pizza, half order of spaghetti and meatballs, and a half serving of fettuccine Alfredo for $2.99. Can ya beat that?
Other specials include Monday night’s spaghetti marinara and breadsticks for $1.99; kids meals on Tuesdays for 99 cents; and Saturdays with half orders of lasagna, spaghetti with meat sauce and fettuccine Alfredo for $3.99.
THE MENU
The order (for two): Two Thursday night specials, one with cheese pizza, the other with pepperoni.
Fazoli’s is all about Italian, and while our orders did not taste made to order, they were quite good.
Each eat-in order comes with unlimited breadsticks, and they were excellent — warm and buttery with a hint of garlic. I could have kept on eating, but the two that came on my plate were plenty with all the other selections. Marinara sauce doesn’t automatically come with your order, but you can ask for some for dipping.
The half-servings are small, but the plates arrived full of food. The square slice of pizza is a nice size, with enough toppings to make it taste good. However, while whole pizzas most likely are made fresh, these slices tasted as if they’d been kept under the lights for a while. The flavor was good, but the texture of the dough was a little questionable. Dipping the pizza in the marinara sauce made it better.
The two pastas together made a whole order, so it was a plentiful amount of food. Parmesan cheese and hot red peppers, placed in shaker jars on the table, helped boost the flavors even more.
Everyday offerings include salads (among them chicken Caesar and grilled chicken with artichokes), oven-baked pastas, signature oven-baked sandwiches and specialty pastas (such as chicken piccata and carbonara). Most baked pastas come in small, regular and family-size. The latter is a nice option for takeout to serve your crowd at home.
THE SERVICE
As with any fast-food eatery, you’re on your own from ordering to cleaning up. One difference though. You’re given a pager that alerts you when your order is ready.
THE SPACE
Fazoli’s looks like most other fast-food restaurants, though the decor leans toward Italian. It’s a neat, clean space with a large soda/condiment bar and tables along the side and center.
THE VERDICT
Fazoli’s has always taken a step beyond traditional fast food. With its new value menu, this chain is keeping an eye on patron’s purses too. That’s something we all can appreciate.
If you go
Where: Fazoli’s, 2332 Shallowford Village Drive; 3016 Battlefield Parkway, Fort Oglethorpe; and 4550 North Lee Highway, Cleveland, Tenn.
Phone: 499-5155 (Shallowford Village Drive); 706-861-7989 (Fort Oglethorpe); 423-339-2822 (Cleveland).
Hours: 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Price range: $3.89 (small baked pastas)-$16.99 (family-size chicken fettuccine Alfredo).
Alcohol: No.
Payment: Cash and major credit cards.