In between all the fancy meals and high-end dining, we come back down to earth with a slew of family style restaurants that we like all around Orange County. When a craving for a casual Italian meal gripped us recently, we called some of our family together and met at Cosmo’s Italian Kitchen in Aliso Viejo.
Cosmo’s has been a local favorite for years. It’s quite unpretentious in its decor, which is mostly made up of booths big enough for eight and plenty of tables in one large room. The restaurant has a good sense of indoors-outdoors via two entire walls of glass.
It always has a sense of happy energy generated by diners and the hearty plates of food, along with enticing aromas wafting your way. And, the prices here are so gentle,we smile even before ordering.
One of the owners is almost always on hand, giving us a sense of security and extending a sense of friendship to customers. Bob Quinn, Toni Williamson and Dick Fisher created Cosmo’s as an extension of their enthusiasm to bring the community a gathering place where families could drop in at any time for lunch or dinner and find home style food. They also use the restaurant as a facilitator for school, church and charitable support and fund raising.
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Cosmo’s: casual, family style food at affordable prices |
This trio was already dedicated to honest food, all homemade from scratch and fresh daily. They hand-stretch the pizza dough and bake all their own bread. They cook their variety of meat sauces slowly so that the flavors meld gently and envelop your chosen pasta in a blanket of fine Italian essence.
The menu is stacked with lots of dishes that bring comfort. I preface all food talk with this: portions are extremely generous.
Appetizers, soups and salads run $3.95 to $9.95. Tuscan style bruschetta, fresh mozzarella and tomato salad, a bowl of steamed mussels (cioppino style), vegetable laden minestrone or one of the salads are good for my palate. The crispy calamari appetizer also is a nice treat.
Pizzas, which cost $6.95 to $9.95, can be dressed up as you wish. From a simple Margherita with only mozzarella, tomato and basil, to a choice of three toppings and a few house specialty pizzas, all are highlighted by that fresh dough baked to a perfect crispness.
I recommend you try the pizza rustica topped with grilled chicken, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato and mushrooms drizzled in a roasted garlic cream sauce. Now that’s some pizza!
Cosmo’s also serves several Italian style sandwiches, popular items at lunch, of course. But, it’s the specialties of the house that give us our core value and most appreciated authentic taste.
Several pastas are offered. Sauces of marinara, Bolognese with ground meat, spicy tomato, pesto, Alfredo or with sausage or meatballs give you plenty of options.
Lasagna is a fine affair, all layered in soft, wide noodles with Bolognese sauce and two kinds of cheese. There’s also a tasty vegetarian version. Manicotti (large tube pasta stuffed with ricotta and parmesan cheeses and topped with marinara sauce) is a nice find. The homemade ravioli have an assortment of fillings, with the definitive one being stuffed with lobster.
All of these dishes are $8.45 to $9.95, the exception being the lobster ravioli at $12.95.
I haven’t even touched on at least half the menu that’s given to specialty pasta recipes, seafood and family favorites. The cioppino is a bowl full of seafood and shellfish in a rustic tomato sauce dashed with wine. If you enjoy smoked salmon, try the bowtie pasta with the lightly smoked fish, marinara sauce, plus a dash of cream and cognac.
Wide pasta sheets, also called rotelle, rolled around spinach and a duo of cheeses and topped with a vodka cream sauce is a nice dish. Gnocchi and fettuccine Alfredo weigh in. Clam and scampi entrees join lobster cannelloni, calamari in wine sauce, sausage with polenta (a hands down taste winner) and chicken in several styles. It also has a trio of veal choices and a top sirloin steak.
All of the aforementioned entrees are $9.95 to $15.95.
The wine list at Cosmo’s is limited but sufficient to its casual demeanor. Among the labels are wines with names like Antinori, Kenwood, Penfolds and R.H. Phillips. Most are in the $16 to $25 range.
We enjoy the friendliness and the flavors at Cosmo’s and we keep promising ourselves that we’ll manage a Monday night noodle meal, a Wednesday night ravioli special or the Sunday family spaghetti feast. I’m told these three special nights are ultra popular and that’s what it’s really all about. However, we still seem to get there on weekend nights.
The original Cosmo’s,the one we go to,is at 23411 Aliso Viejo Parkway in Aliso Viejo. The phone number: (949) 448-9040.
A sister restaurant now is open in the Las Flores area on the inland route of Oso Parkway. That one is at 28562 Oso Parkway (at Antonio Parkway), Las Flores. Phone: (949) 216-9029.
Pavilion Makeover
Hurry to Pavilion restaurant in The Island Hotel Newport Beach before April 15 or you will have to wait awhile for your next reservation. The restaurant is closing on the 15th for a complete renovation and name change, set to reopen in June.
It will be called the Palm Terrace Restaurant & Lounge, and will have an oasis-like motif with tropical stylishness. The plan calls for a design scheme in deep greens, soft celadon and elegant bronze, enhanced by sleek, richly upholstered furnishings and lush plantings reinforcing the “tropical oasis” theme.
The artfully retooled menu will showcase executive chef Bill Bracken’s American style cuisine, including his signature “small bites,” allowing guests to customize their own tasting menus.
Las Vegas style entertainer Jimmy Hopper has become quite popular in the lounge. His inimitable music and vocals will continue as part of the new remake of the restaurant and lounge space.
For reservations and more information, contact The Island Hotel Newport Beach at (888) 321-4752, or visit the Web site at www.theislandhotel.com.
Wild, Crazy Tacos
It’s time again for one of OC’s most enjoyable yearly eatathons.
The 14th Annual Wild & Crazy Taco Night will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 19 at the Share Our Selves center.
Tickets are $50 and are only available in advance.
This is crazy, funny and enticing taco mania that we look forward to each year. Our most prominent chefs,almost three dozen of them,have signed on for the good-natured competition to make the most intriguing tacos on the planet.
We just come along and devour them all as we help those in need with this unique fund-raiser. We also enjoy the margaritas and beer.
A seven-night Mex-ican Riviera cruise is offered as part of a raffle drawing. Tickets for that are $25 each. Not a bad prize to try for.
Tacos in previous years have been stuffed with every imaginable ingredient, every sort of entree ever envisioned, over-the-top food extravaganzas for the eye and the tummy popped into a taco shell, and dessert tacos that have kept us talking until the next Wild & Crazy Taco Night rolls around again.
There’s every reason to believe that the chefs, as usual, will try to make us smile and remember all this creative cuisine for months to come.
Share Our Selves is a local nonprofit that provides services for the poor in OC. All services are free. They include medical and dental care, counseling and case management, food, clothing, financial assistance, legal aid and special holiday programs.
It began in 1970 with a small group of community-minded people who wanted to make a difference. It has grown into one of the largest volunteer-based nonprofits in the county.
Share Our Selves: 1550 Superior Ave., Costa Mesa. For tickets, call Karen Harrington at (949) 515-5400, ext. 31 or Teri Williams, the committee chair, at (714) 960-0534.
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Fullerton Votes Down Restaurant Plaza Plan Within Downtown Hub
Fullerton’s City Council last week rejected a plan for a fast-food court with a plaza and distinctive architecture in a part of the city’s downtown recently changed to allow restaurants.
The council voted 3-2 against the project, which called for a 6,000-square-foot building with several eateries on Chapman Avenue near Harbor Boulevard, in the city’s restaurant heavy downtown.
Designs for the project called for a pedestrian plaza and Googie architecture from the 1950s.
It was set to replace older office buildings at the site.
The majority of council members voted against the project citing concerns about the loss of 17 parking spaces, use of a neighboring city parking lot and incompatibility with neighboring residential areas.
Developer Cameron Irons, who owns other restaurants downtown, expressed willingness to compromise on the project before it was defeated.
He now could seek to come up with a new proposal for the site, including restaurants without a central eating area in favor of parking.
The city recently expanded downtown zoning that allows for consideration of restaurants on the parcel.
Downtown already is home to more than 40 restaurants, which have turned Fullerton into a hotspot for diners and bar hoppers.
